Two Cal Poly students are set to open for the DJ Disco Lines on Thursday at the Madonna Expo Center.
Cal poly students James Dowie and Matt Zahn each individually kickstarted their DJ careers in the party scene in San Luis Obispo. Now, the two have the opportunity to play for a sold out crowd of their peers and classmates.
”I looked up the capacity of the Madonna Event Center and it was like 2,600 people,” Zahn said. “It made [me] realize, damn, that’s going to be the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for.”
In March, Up and Up Festival, a music festival production company, held a nationwide competition for a Disco Lines concert to be held near a college campus. According to their website, their sale process involved students crowdsourcing demand on their campuses leading up to a 48-hour competition period and the colleges with the most pre-sales win a festival, where Cal Poly won first place.
James Dowie, a business administration senior from Park City, Utah, got seriously involved in DJing through the fraternity DJ scene about 2 years ago. As a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity, he was exposed to different types of EDM music and saw potential in it as a career.
“My love for music, dancing and just an internal rhythm drew me to DJing,” Dowie said. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to see artists such as Micheal B, John Summit, others and gone to Coachella the past 2 years.”
Dowie has opened for some big names at local venues in SLO, gaining a following in the community. In the past few months he has performed at the Fremont Theatre, opening for Max Styler, Stoley and Chepe Florez.
“Building a strong network has been the key to getting these opportunities and has definitely helped myself grow as a DJ,” Dowie said.
Matt Zahn, a landscape architecture senior from Sacramento, grew interested in DJing as a film student at Cuesta College. It wasn’t until attending his first music festival when he saw an opportunity in house music.
“Music was like one of the main things that kind of drove my editing style. Kind of like picking the song first and then editing the video based off of that,” Zahn said. “I just looked at YouTube videos, taught myself how and DJed in my room.”
Zahn gained more of a following being the resident DJ for the Central Pacific Ski Club since transferring to Cal Poly. Receiving praise from his party goers about his music, he stayed DJing for this group for about three years.
“Ski Club really helped me get my name out there and have a core group of people around me who supported me.” Zahn said.
Zahn has continued to try and stay involved in events all over SLO, broadening his range of network to work with. He prefaced the importance of networking, consistency and word of mouth.
“If people keep seeing your name on event flyers and out DJing, they’re going to start to wonder, ‘Who’s that guy?’” Zahn said.
In April, Cal Poly students voted on Instagram stories which student DJ would open for Disco Lines. The two DJs simultaneously won the social media competition, earning themselves an opening spot for a night filled with good music and vibes.
Tickets for the Disco Lines show on May 9 are currently sold out. More about Dowie can be found on his Instagram. Zahn can also be found on his website.