DJ Clueless Your Shot Interview

DJ Clueless Your Shot Interview

YOUR SHOT, presented by Alcatel, is back in 2016, continuing its quest across the east coast of Australia to unearth Australia's next top DJ talent.

With programs for singers and dancers to get noticed and make something of their talents, YOUR SHOT provides an option for young Australian's wanting to become DJ's, with no previous experience necessary to enter. Launching in 2010, over two thousand contestants have made the journey and completed the YOUR SHOT training experience with 61% of these people now holding residencies and performing regular gigs, including past contestants DJ Tigerlily, J-Trick, New World Sound and more who have gone on to achieve great things.

'YOUR SHOT is as much about building confidence and teaching useful skills to applicants as it is about finding the next star DJ" explains YOUR SHOT director, Steve Pillemer.

He continues, 'The idea came about when I realized there were thousands of young people out there who had the desire to become DJ's but had no idea how to do it. YOUR SHOT is the first competition where you don't need experience to register, giving people the opportunity to begin achieving their dream."

YOUR SHOT's success has also landed the brand overseas, having expanded to the United States for the launch of YOUR SHOT USA web series in 2015. With over 20 million views, the series has achieved great success, including praise and partnership with arguably one of the biggest names in dance music history and YOUR SHOT ambassador, Tiesto, crediting the competition.

'YOUR SHOT is an incredible concept, contestants get the chance to learn to DJ and play in front of a crowd, and from then on maybe they can become the next superstar" Tiesto says.

Combining all suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, YOUR SHOT gives ninety contestants from each state the opportunity to get their shot at becoming a performing DJ.

Each contestant receives a six-week full DJ training course at The Academy where they will learn the basics required to become a successful DJ and will put together their first ever DJ set. Following their training, each contestant will perform for the very first time at a jam packed, two day YOUR SHOT event in each state.

The final YOUR SHOT event in each state will see the contestants performing alongside some of the top headline DJs from Australia as well as the best up and coming talent. Every contestant will perform to the best of their abilities in the hopes of taking home the title of YOUR SHOT champion along with life-changing prizes. Each state contestant and Wild Card winner will receive an all expenses paid trip overseas to play their very own set at some of the world's hottest and most renowned party destinations including Snowbombing (Austria), BPM (Mexico), Your Paradise (Fiji), ZoukOut, (Singapore), Chasing Summer (Canada) and Sunburn (India).

Previous YOUR SHOT contestant DJ Tigerlily (Dara Hayes) says, 'The YOUR SHOT experience really taught me that anything was possible. If you're able to dedicate your time and energy to something that you're passionate about, then the world is your oyster. For me, that was DJ'ing and performing, and YOUR SHOT really gave me the belief and the drive to realize that I could achieve even my biggest dreams."

Registrations are now open and will close on May 13, 2016 unless capacity is reached sooner. To register go to the YOUR SHOT website: http://www.yourshot.com.au/register/

Interview with Tori Roe (DJ Clueless)

Question: What is Your Shot?

Tori Roe: Your Shot is the most amazing opportunity out there for people who dream of becoming a DJ. It's a programme which gives hopefuls basic DJ training and creates a platform for them to get noticed by industry professionals, leading the way to club gigs and more!

Question: Who can apply for Your Shot?

Tori Roe: Anyone over the age of 18 with dreams of becoming a DJ can apply!


Question: Can you talk us through how the programme gave you, your -big break'?

Tori Roe: I didn't actually place in the competition! I think most of the success comes with dedication and hard work post competition. Your Shot is an amazing starting point though. It taught me the basics of DJ'ing and gave me the opportunity to meet a whole heap of industry professionals and like minded DJ's! The Yourshot community is like one big family - even when the programme is over for the year you still have this whole new support network to help inspire and motivate you along the way!


Question: What inspired your passion for DJing?

Tori Roe: The first time I ever walked into a club I was mesmerised by how the DJ controlled the vibe of the room and brought so much happiness to the crowd with each build and drop. I already had a strong love for electronic music and when I heard about the opportunity of Your Shot I realised I had to sign up!


Question: Where do you find your musical inspiration?

Tori Roe: I look for it everywhere! I'm a House DJ but it's super handy having music for any situation. I search for new music online every single day- most stuff I won't download for my sets but sometimes you'll come across a super unique song that blows you away. I love watching a whole range of sets too- looking at the way other DJ's play can be a massive source of inspiration for me too!


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?
Tori Roe: Probably being overlooked for a lot of serious gigs at first due to not being taken seriously. There's a certain stigma around female DJ's, and a misconception is that most female DJ's get gigs because of their gender rather than their talent. At first it was certainly hard for me to gain that respect but over time promoters won't deny you gigs if you're constantly performing as well as every other DJ regardless of gender.


Question: How difficult is it being a female in a -very male dominated industry'?

Tori Roe: As there definitely are less females I view it as kind of a 'boys club" rather than a male dominated industry. At first it was a struggle to gain respect as a talented DJ until people actually came and watched me play and made up their own minds. So I think a lot of female DJ's would go through that too. I'm finding recently that there is this amazing sense of girl power and community amongst the small percentage of female DJ's who are sticking together and supporting each other and it's so amazing and positive to see!


Question: What advice do you have for females with a passion for becoming a DJ?

Tori Roe: Don't be intimidated by the amount of male DJ's. The next generation of DJ's are coming through and us females are just as capable as the boys! There's no reason why we can't one day have an equal split of female and male DJ's playing in nightclubs- that would be the dream haha.


Question: What's the story behind the name, DJ Clueless?

Tori Roe: Can you guess my favourite movie? ;)


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Tori Roe: When I'm not listening to house music I'm into artists like RÜFÜS, Chet Faker, Rudimental and The 1975- so many good vibes.

Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Tori Roe: Australian female DJ's such as NERVO and Alison Wonderland were my first inspirations and the first time I realised DJ'ing wasn't just for males- seeing them perform definitely helped me to make the decision to enter Yourshot!


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Tori Roe: Hot Since 82! He's a Tech House producer and DJ from the UK and he's behind a solid portion of my favourite tracks!


Interview by Brooke Hunter