By: Nick Amon
It’s your senior year in high school. Friday creeps around and before you know it you get a generic text about some party a random kid decides to throw at last minute. The majority of us would shrug this off, and search elsewhere for some other more reliable plans. But what if that kid, the same kid you shrugged off happened to throw one of the biggest parties of the year? I bet you’d feel pretty dumb for at first glance writing it off so easily, wouldn’t you? That feeling is what many people who missed one of Tyler Moxley’s parties in high school became vividly familiar with.
Moxley, being an 18-year-old senior at Eastern High School could easily be considered an average kid, eagerly itching to leave the halls of public school like many of us were our senior year. Who knew a mention by a friend of a somewhat unknown “learn how to DJ in two weeks program” would send Moxley down a path he’d never return from. Send him down a path that would inevitably pave his interests for years to come. The mere name Tyler Moxley was simple put aside as “DJ UhOh” was born. Simply put, when breaking in his newly acquired DJing skills Moxley had no struggle of finding a venue, all he had to do was send out a couple texts and boom, the venue was his house.
From his living room to Fourth Street Live, Moxley has developed himself into a mogul in the DJing community in the short time of 4 years. With an incredible sense of social networking, Moxley now performs from places ranging to Sully’s to the newly acquired tailgating scene that landed an appearance from Christopher “Big Black” Boykin at last week’s EKU game. All it took was four years in which allowed him to develop a sense of determination to strive to be one of the best DJ’s in Louisville. Today not only does Moxley see through the eyes of a DJ, but he sees through the eyes of an intuitive businessman. He sees the variety of interests people have when it comes to music itself, and specifically targets the interests depending on his audience. What this does is allow Moxley to avoid the fog of finding and strictly sticking to one style of DJing, and it allows his versatility to enhance him into realms in which will ultimately allow him to prosper as an up and coming entrepreneur.
Inspired by DJ’s such as A-Trak, Diplo, and Afrojack, Moxley has become able to pinpoint each characteristic of these prominent DJ’s across the world and absorb what he feels is best to learn from each. He’s able to see and decipher what his talent has become in his life, and how he can incorporate it with his major as well. Moxley is a communication major and plans on creating an Event Company in the near future with one of his close friends. Seeing the business side of the DJing world, Moxley believes “who you know comes first, what you know comes second.” Strongly feeling this, Moxley knows you must first know someone who can allow you the position to showcase your talents. This state of mind reveals the amount of intelligence the prospering DJ pertains when it comes to networking and connectivity. It also shows the connection of the impact UofL has had on Moxley and how it has allowed him to create a foundation of contacts for the future to come.
Growth is something everyone as an individual must face in order to truly find success. “I’ll always have room to grow when it comes to my talents. For instance, I still need to buy and update some of my equipment. But give me about ten years, then I think I’ll be at my pinnacle” Moxley responded when asked of the personal growth of his talents. Confidence is a factor carried by Moxley and is well suited when it comes to his DJing abilities. He seems to withhold the combination of confidence and humbling respect, and is said to not be ashamed to maintain his humbling presence if his DJing ever became known on a larger scale.
When we think of finding a major at the University, people at times consciously decide against their talents and what they feel confident in. They go against their first decision many times and may choose to major in something they’ll later regret. With Moxley, he has found the loophole. He never once forgot of his talents and interest in DJing, and instead of throwing it all away he decided he was going find something he could use to benefit his DJing. “Networking is one of the most important pieces of advice I’d give someone.” This is how Moxley responded when he was asked what advice he would give to someone pursuing their interests as he is.
Moxley is purely an example. He is an example of someone who here at UofL continued to follow their dreams and talents, and simply decided to compliment them with their studies. Now not only is Moxley DJing inside his living room at one of his house parties, but has transformed himself into a business fueled persona named “DJ UhOh.”
