It’s sometimes easy to forget that many of the internationally renowned artists we see today playing to thousands of people, once led very different lives. We took a look at some of the industry’s top DJs and their previous jobs – check them out below.
Amelie Lens – Fashion Model
Despite growing a love for raving at the early age of 15, Amelie Lens started her working life in fashion after being scouted at Dour Festival. For 10 years she then juggled DJing and modelling, with her passion often being weighted towards music as she turned down many model gigs to follow her dream of being a DJ. Years later, it’s clear she made the right choice.
Patrick Topping – lifeguard
Geordie Wizkid Patrick Topping has seen a meteoric rise to the dizzying heights of house & techno’s most in-demand names. With a jam-packed tour schedule seeing him play in every corner of the earth, it’s safe to say life was once very different for the former lifeguard. During his early DJ career, Patrick worked at the local swimming pool in Newcastle whilst running his own club night Motion.
Nina Kraviz – Dentist
The Russian techno queen, known for her heavy-hitting track selection was once filling teeth instead of dance floors. At one point in the early 00s, the former fully qualified dentist would work during the day at a war veterans hospital in Moscow, and play at a local club residency by night.
Artwork – Record shop worker
One of UK dubstep’s pioneers as part of Magnetic Man and more recently a champion of house and disco on the global circuit. Artwork began his days in music at a record shop on a busy market street in Croydon. Above the store named Big Apple records, he built a small studio where much of his early dubstep was produced.
Eats Everything – Builder
Before breaking into the music scene with his 2011 deep house track “Entrance Song”, Dan Pierce spent his days as a builder, before going on to become a recruitment consultant making cold calls every day. Never turning his back on DJing and working tirelessly to hone his skills, now he tours the world under the alias Eats Everything.
Solomun – Filmmaker
Before discovering his love for electronic music and after parties, Diynamic boss Mladen Solomun ran his own film production company. For five years, he and a few friends produced short films until Solomun turned his attention to music, the rest is history.
Fisher – Professional surfer
Love him or hate him, Fisher has slingshotted to international fame with tracks such as Losing It and Ya Kidding being the catalyst for his success. However, rewind back the years and you wouldn’t find Fisher behind a DJ booth. Instead, you’d see him riding waves in Australia as a professional surfer.
Dixon – Professional footballer
Co-founder of Innervisions and previous number 1 DJ on the Resident Advisor polls. Despite this, things could have panned out differently for Dixon if it weren’t for fragile cartilage in his knees. Once even playing for East Germany national team, before his injuries led to a change in career. Dixon didn’t fully let go of his football passion though, as he became the vice president of local club FC Magnet Mitte.
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