Edge Forum

Whether it was air guitaring in your bedroom or MCing into a hairbrush, lots of us have had dreams of musical stardom while growing up. But for those that take it seriously enough to pick up an instrument or mic, can you really make a career doing what you love?

Yes you can, according to our musical role model Dan Axom, who makes a living out of DJing and sound work. 'There's no magic to it' he insists- just a whole load of grafting.

Hi Dan. Can you tell us a bit about Upfaders, your new music initiative for York?  

Upfaders is modelled on a pilot project I started with a Youth Offending Team. Its an inclusive project; the only criteria is you’ve got to be into music. We do music production skills and each person makes their own track which we get put on vinyl. They then learn to perform and DJ and MC over the music they made. At the end of the course we hold a big event to launch the new talent.   

What I found from doing music courses all around Yorkshire was that it's just short courses and people need a longer time than that to develop. That’s why this is a 16 week programme. We hope to just introduce some more skilled people into York, to create a great scene. I really enjoy it, I enjoy collaborating with people. I’d like to see it get bigger and get some records out. It'd be good to see some of the young people involved playing out in York.
 
What do you do?

I make music, I DJ and do sound work.  I help and teach other people to do the same. I’ve been really into music from an early age; as soon as my mum went out my dad would turn the telly off and put some music on. It went on from there really and after a while I wanted to be more than just a consumer, I wanted to make music. There is always music to fit no matter what mood you’re in. If your in a really bad mood you can put Slayer on and if your in a really good mood you can put… Slayer on!

What was your journey to get to where you are?

I’ve been through all kinds of jobs and college courses and all the formal education and training I’ve done bares no resemblance to what I’m doing now for a living. I trained as an artist and product designer but all the time I was doing these jobs I was still trying to find what I really wanted to do. Music was my hobby but it meant more to me than anything else. I thought I should listen to what my heart is telling me and take my hobby more seriously and try harder at it. After a while I started to get paid more and more for my hobby and thought that it would be the right time to jump ship from the 9 to 5. Fortunately things have continued to pick up but its been pretty intense at times.

What was your education like?

It was alright, I did alright. I struggled because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I just marched blindly on and ended up going to college and not really knowing why I was doing it. Everyone was saying you want to get yourself to college, so I did. You want to get yourself to uni, so I did. I just seemed to get caught up in it I suppose.

What does success mean to you?

Being happy I think is what counts most. If any one is really happy that must mean they are successful, like they’ve cracked it. Success is something you measure yourself, its that satisfaction you get from doing a good job. Its not money or anything like that. I wouldn’t be doing the job I’m doing if it was based on money.

What challenges have you faced?

The first challenge you face when you do something like this is cash flow, there is none of the stability of a salary. Record labels appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, so you can’t count on it.   Keeping motivated when your doing a job you love is never a problem but cashflow is.

Did you have any support?

Moral support but that’s about it. Not initially to be honest, a lot of people wondered why I was quitting what was a good paying job. My family were confused at first, they wondered why I was messing around with drum machines and records, I think they were a bit worried. They are dead proud now though and they have been dead supportive. I think once they knew I was deadly serious about it they were behind me.

What drives you? (include what kept you going through the hard times).

Improvement. Trying to get better at everything all the time. Some days I think, ‘I’m quite good me’, but then I look at other people and see how much better they are. Some days it frustrates me because I think I want to be up there but in a way it's quite inspiring to think, 'look where they are, I’m getting better and I could maybe get that good'. Especially with a practical skill like music, its just practice, practice, practice. There’s no magic to it: if you put the hours in you will get better and if you don’t you won’t. It’s quite simple in that way.   

When times are hard I just think back to how miserable I was in other jobs I did. You’ve got to believe in yourself. You’ve got to keep focused because you can guarantee one thing: that if you lose focus it will only get worse. You have to keep your head down and graft.

Who is your Role Model?

There are loads of musical rolemodels, people like Q-Bert and Getto-Tech DJs like Godfather. But I never really had any business role models because I don’t really know anyone who does what I do.   Anyone who is doing well in music is a good role model because you have to really graft.

What advice would you give to young people?

Young people need to focus and put time in.   When you are young you’re into that many things you hardly skim the surface.    If you really want to get somewhere with it you have to put time aside to do what you want to do and you will pick things up so fast.   
You hear these people who pick up a guitar then you see them 6 weeks later:
'Where is your guitar?'
'Oh yeah, I flogged it.'  

'Why did you flog it?'
'I couldn’t do it.'

'Well, how much did you practice?'

People think they are going to pick it up and be like Hendrix! I could have cut out 10 years of messing about if I knew that this is what I should be doing with my time. I still practice daily. It’s not like riding a bike. If you don’t practice for a week you’ll be worse than you were last week. Don’t get it confused with fashion. If you’re in it for fashion, it’s the wrong reasons, I’m into it for Art. Do your own thing!   Too many people are imitating a style, do your own thing and work hard.

What do you think education should be like?

It should be suited to people’s individual learning styles.  Whether that’s realistic in a class of 30, I don’t know. It should be well guided and put into context. When I was at college I didn’t know why I was there or what the job would be like when I finished. Work experience is something they should push more, more practical experiences. I think it should be more practical and better linked to industry. I had an image in my head of what the job I trained for would be like and when I got there it was nothing like what I expected.