Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Whitney Nghiem. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Whitney, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
In the music industry, there are a variety of avenues to explore creativity. For myself, live events and concerts are what keep my creativity alive. It’s one thing to sit in my bedroom and DJ/produce, but the energy of a live crowd is what motivates me to share my passion and connect with others.
It can be difficult feeling the pressure of trends and competing to be heard/stand out. I believe it’s inevitable that there are ebs and flows in this industry. I closely rely on my friends and family as a great support system to keep me going when times get tough!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My interest in DJing began around 2015 when I was in college and just getting into the EDM scene. I graduated with a Marketing degree but wanted to find a creative outlet in music. When I landed a job at Insomniac Events, it felt like the perfect blend for my passion and career. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit soon after. During that time, I was able to shift my focus towards DJing and attended Icon Collective Production School in Los Angeles. My ultimate goal has been to create an entire brand surrounding my artist alias, MERAKII. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it and where it’s going to go, but I have to remind myself to enjoy the process!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey?
The first would probably be consistency. Whether it was listening to music, downloading songs, or practicing my skills, I dedicated a portion of my day towards working on music – almost like a gym routine!
The second quality is being open to feedback. I would send my DJ mixes to friends and family to see what areas I could improve on and I continue to do so with my produced tracks. I’m very appreciative of the support system I have and I wouldn’t be able to grow without them.
The third quality is being confident in yourself. There will always be people to compare to and I’ve definitely been in the position of feeling like what I’m doing is not good enough. However, I’ve realized that it’s about knowing your capabilities, resources, and willingness to achieve those goals.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Yes! I’ve been brainstorming on a new project and I would love to collaborate with other EDM DJs to create a collaborative mix together! So if you’re into trap, hip hop, bass music, etc – reach out to me and I would love to connect!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merakiimusic_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merakiimusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneynghiem/
- Youtube: youtube.com/@merakiimusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/merakii_official
Image Credits
Anthony Vega Joshua Mejia Dutches Richards Justin Edmunds
