Josh Schiopota, a junior computer information systems major, recently put his DJ skills to greater use by landing a job as the new DJ for the Rathskeller.
The Rathskeller, located on the lower level of the Student Center, provides a restaurant and hangout space for students by offering arcade games and pool. They have restaurant seating and food provided by Grill ‘72, which includes wings, hot dogs and burgers, making this the perfect hangout for students.
Schiopota found out about the job opening on Handshake, a website that helps college students find jobs. He also works as an employee in the Information and Technology department, making the process of hiring a DJ easier.
“That was unique for me because usually, if I’m doing a gig, I reach out to a promoter,” Schiopota said.
Previously, Schiopota performed at numerous parties and live events. His first event was performing for Bar Lucci, and he recently performed at a fraternity during Kent’s Homecoming weekend.
When he became a DJ, he purchased a speaker and other equipment, allowing him to learn how to leverage having more equipment. Having his own equipment opened up more opportunities for him to learn how to DJ. Since he already had the equipment, this made it easier for him to ask promoters or event holders if he could play at their events.
Schiopota was inspired to become a DJ by watching his older brother, Nathan Schiopota, a senior entrepreneurship major, DJ at events. He would often go along with his brother and help him DJ and attributes him as his inspiration.
“It was definitely my brother, so he did a few fraternities back when he was a freshman or sophomore,” Schiopota said. “He got me into it, and I kinda went from there.”
Nathan remembered when Josh told him how he inspired him to continue DJing. “That made my day,” he said. “It’s been really cool to be able to teach him something that he also enjoys.”
The brothers often will DJ together; recently, they performed a set for the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon during Kent’s Homecoming weekend.
“I had him open, and he did really good, and then I finished the rest of the time,” Nathan said
They also use DJing as a way to bond and have fun together as brothers.
“We’ll just do it randomly on weekday nights, when we shouldn’t be staying up, and we’re just up later than we should,” Nathan said
Along with his brother teaching him, Schiopota also spent a lot of time sitting in his bedroom, messing around with songs and learning transitions himself.
“A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, go on YouTube and see what other people are doing,’ but I feel like that’s not very authentic to me,” Schiopota said. “I’d rather DJ how I want to and figure out my own style.”
Schiopota focuses on playing beats and providing a chill and “groovy” atmosphere for the Rathskeller. His music style often includes minimal house and UK garage music.
“You can just sit down and study and have fun, and not worry about having to listen to lyrics or anything like that,” Schiopota said.
Schiopota enjoys interacting with the crowd during his sets by incorporating music liked by everyone and trying to find a “middle ground” by searching through SoundCloud and media software. Though he doesn’t play much pop music, he still finds ways to incorporate it when attending events.
“Luckily, my brother and I have a large catalog of pop songs that are house remixes, so it’ll be a beat and it’ll transition into a bass drop, you’d hear a house song or an EDM song,” he said.
Schiopota shared how his favorite thing about being a DJ is having the ability to play the music he loves and seeing the crowd’s reactions to his music.
“My main thing is — I love music, and that’s kind of the reason I got into it in the first place — just playing music for people that I think they would like,” Schiopota said.
Schiopota plays his set every Wednesday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in the Rathskeller.
Ava Drozd is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].