My Body My Mind

My Body My Mind: What is your current opinion on your body image? Are you happy with how you look?
DJ Alex Loveridge: Right now I am very happy with myself and how my body looks, and if I were given the chance I wouldn’t change a thing about my physical self.

MBMM: Have you always felt this way? What did you like/dislike about your body and why?
DJAL: For the past year or so, I’ve been very happy with myself and the way my body looks, but I wasn’t always that way. Like most people, high school was when I really started to wish I looked a different way, especially when it came to my acne and my teeth before braces…and especially my teeth with braces. One thing about my appearance that I really wished would change was my curly hair, (even though I love it now) and all I wanted was for it to be straight. Eventually, I gained more self-confidence thanks to friends, loved ones, and the internet, and I learned to love the way I look. After living with curly hair and being a skinny dude for this long, I wouldn’t want to change any of it.

MBMM: What helped you become comfortable with your body image and how you look today?
DJAL: This is going to sound like kind of a blunt and shallow answer, but it actually really helped me out when I was at the age where I was most self-conscious of my appearance. When I was 16, my first real high school girlfriend said something to me that I still think about from time to time…she said “hey…you know you’re hot, right?” My answer was “no, not really.” Then she said “oh, well you should…because you are.” Even though it was just one compliment from one person, that person was two years older than me, and that was pretty great for 16-year old me. That compliment didn’t instantly make me love myself and the way I looked, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

MBMM: Has your body image had an effect on your DJing?
DJAL: My body image has definitely had an impact, in ways both positive and negative, on my entire DJing career, from the very first party I played when I was 16, right up to DJing a good friend’s birthday a little over a month ago. I started DJing in 2009, and I was asked to play at a friend’s 17^th birthday party a few months later. I didn’t know much, but I knew enough to be able to keep music playing constantly. I had a lot to worry about, and because I was still self-conscious about my looks, it definitely showed. I only knew a few people at the party, so I barely talked to anyone, didn’t socialize before playing, and when I was playing, I never danced and I’m pretty sure I didn’t look relaxed at all. As I learned more, I became more comfortable, and after I met HappE, the DJ who taught me how to play, I really became more comfortable. He told me that no matter who I am or what I look like, as long as I walk up to the turntables and act like I own the place, people are going to listen…and if I have the skills to back it up, people are going to dance. Now, I remember that every time I’m about to start DJing, and since I’m finally comfortable with myself and my appearance, I’m genuinely relaxed and having a good time.

MBMM: How do you feel about yourself while you are DJing and creating music?
DJAL: Producing is a much more private process than DJing, where I can think and talk to myself and not worry about anyone or what they think. Although no one is around, the fact that I’m creating something and being able to express myself in such a way does give my self-confidence a boost. However, when I’m DJing at a show or house party, it’s a very different experience. Since I’m in front of a crowd and I’m the one that’s giving them a show…it may as well be a DJ requirement to be confident. If I got behind the decks at any venue, even a house party, and I didn’t look like I seriously believed that I was a great DJ, why would anyone else? I find that the more I look like it’s no big deal and I’m having a good time, the more people end up dancing. Also, the more I see people dancing and having fun, the more confidence I have.

MBMM: How does your personality transcend into your music?
DJAL: My personality is a huge influence on my music as both a producer and a DJ, but in different ways for each. Like I said in the question before this one, producing is a very private process, so most of my songs are done either by myself or with a very close friend that started producing with me back in 2007. Since I’m either alone or collaborating with Josh, I’m free to just make music for the sake of making music, and since there’s nobody to impress, I can make the song go along with how I’m feeling at the time, which is one of my favorite ways to relieve stress. I produce songs in lots of different genres of music, and usually my mood decides how the music will sound whenever I sit down with a new track. When I’m able to do that, the sounds that I make as stress relief end up being different than if I were writing a song specifically to put it in my next DJ set.
When I’m putting together a list of songs for a night of DJing, the feeling of those songs is very different. Instead of focusing on the mood that I’m in while I’m compiling the songs, I have to think to myself “what would Friday night Alex want to see in this playlist? Which songs would I choose to not only draw a crowd to the dance floor, but also keep them there?” Sometimes it is difficult to get into that mindset, but usually it isn’t much of a problem. Lately I’ve found that I get a much more expressive set if I just have one huge playlist to pick and choose from as the night goes on. That way, if people stop dancing I can immediately find a song that will bring them back, which wouldn’t be so easy to do with a pre-planned, extra precise set.

17 year old Alex DJ-ing at a house party

19 years of age, DJ-ing at a friend's 21st