Hey Mr Deejay

FROM a young age, Victor Chan knew that academics was “not his thing”.
Describing himself as a person who likes to learn things the hard way, Chan – who turns 28 in September – gave an insight into the circumstances that led him upon his unique career path, which sees him working as both a club deejay, and a gym manager.
His journey began at age 15, when he walked into a deejay store that doubled as a teaching academy.
Initially, he wanted to buy some equipment and teach himself to use it.
Coincidentally, the person he was speaking to behind the counter was store owner and academy founder Bryan Burger, also a well-known local deejay.
So what happened next?
“I told this guy behind the counter that I did not have a budget, and he put down his pen and told me deejaying was not for me.
“So I told him I was going to learn from him. It was [initially] to prove him wrong, but that is how it all started.
“I convinced my mum to pay my tuition fee, and she was like: ‘Please don’t let this be another thing that you start and then give up’.
“So my daily routine was [to] come home from school, change, and go for deejay classes [while] taking public transportation. I would pay more attention there than school.”
What happened after you left school?
“I was only 17. It was hard for me to get any gigs. No one would listen to me, because I was only a kid.
“I would spend time with some older deejays. They were kind enough [to advise] me. I spent years building contacts.
“There was a lot of bedroom deejay-ing, where you practise in your home, or play at house parties.
“My first ever gig was with a group of my friends, at an abandoned building called Paradiso. We just wanted people to know us.
“There were four to five deejays in there who played different types of music. We had a cover charge, but it was very hard, because people just did not want to pay.
“Even now, people don’t want to pay [to see you] if they have not heard of you before.”
What were you doing other than deejaying?
“I was doing odds jobs for a while. I was even working behind a bar making coffee. It didn’t last long, when I was 18, I met [former TV host and deejay] Joey G.
“He had a studio (Sound Box) in Damansara Perdana for a radio show (Turn It Up, on the now defunct Capital FM) and there was equipment in there we could use for free.
“[At] that time I knew I wanted a career in sound and music. I needed to learn sound engineering, but because my academic qualifications were so bad, no school would accept me.
“I asked Joey if they were hiring. He said: ‘No’. I said: ‘You don’t understand, I am willing to work for free!’.
“So he said okay, and told me to start working the following year.”
So how did you get into the fitness industry?
“It got to a point when I realised I needed to do more. A couple of years ago [international fitness chain] F45 came to Malaysia.
“I knew a guy who was a trainer. His boss asked if he knew any deejays, specifically [those who played house music], which is what I play. So [he] asked me to play at F45’s opening.
“I played, the boss was happy and asked if I wanted to be the resident deejay for the gym every Saturday morning. I said: ‘Yeah sure!’, [and] one thing lead to another.
“I [hung] out there all the time. I started deejaying, and I also started posting videos and pictures of the gym on social media.
“From there it led to this position [where] they asked if I wanted to be manager of this studio [in Damansara Heights].”
How do you balance being a manager at a gym and deejaying?
“I try not to take gigs on weekdays. On Mondays to Fridays I work at the gym.
“On Fridays after my day job, I start my deejaying job at 11pm. I also have regular gigs on Saturday night.
“Friday night gigs end at 4am [on] Saturday morning, and then I have to get up at 8am to come [to Damansara Heights] to deejay at 9am.
“The trick is to not drink. I don’t smoke and I rarely drink. That is how I manage my lifestyle.”