We recently had the chance to connect with Clay Brooks and have shared our conversation below.
Clay, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
One thing a lot of people don’t know about me is that I’m a full-time firefighter for the City of Raleigh. A normal day for me can consist of a multitude of things. Whenever I’m not at the fire dept, a normal day usually consists of either finding, creating, or just mixing music! Somedays I will dedicate the day to finding new music, and then some days I’ll work on expanding my knowledge about music in general. Music production is a never ending cycle of learning, once you think you have learned everything there is to know, you humbly find out that there’s so much more, and that’s why I love music production.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Clay Brooks or as most people know me ( DJ CLAY ). Im a DJ/Producer located in Raleigh. I fully got into music production in college, when a good friend of mine noticed my love for music and told me about FL Studio. That was roughly 2016 and what started out as producing hiphop beats. Fast forward to now, I have been a DJ on Glenwood South for roughly 3-4 years now. I am in an unique position as my main DJ gig at the moment is at Whiskey Rose ( the rowdiest country bar in Raleigh ), but I have a huge obsession for Techno music. The past year I’ve released 1 techno song on all streaming platforms, with another being released on September 19th!
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
As a DJ, I remember the feeling of playing a sing-a-long song for the first time and having the crowd singing it back louder than the music. At that moment I felt powerful, but it also made me the realize the power that music has on people.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I will say I’m currently still working on this one myself. The fear of what others think, has held me back for so long. Recently I finally found courage in not caring what people think. It was even holding me back from releasing content and promotional videos. A good friend of mine said to me last month ” People will talk about what you do, no matter what you do. Those are the same people that are satisfied living their average life. Are you gonna let someone hold you back that Is okay with being average? ” That quote made me realize that everything he said was accurate. People are always going to have an opinion, don’t care about their opinion, and do what makes YOU happy.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
The belief of treating everyone with the same respect that you would like to be treated with. For the music industry this one is huge. As a new DJ trying to find gigs, sometimes continuously showing face and being a respectable person will land you a gig quicker than you think. When it comes to GMs, promoters, etc, your first interaction means the most. If you go about it in a respectful way, they will remember that forever.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
For me I know this may sound crazy, but I find myself most at peace whenever I’m DJing and the venue is slammed packed. I strive under high stress / high intensity situations. Whenever you look around and all you can see is a plethora of people dancing, singing, and having fun, that’s when I find myself at peace.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_djclay_/
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/G67BUPtSiUBXumVBkk
- Other: * Spotify Link *
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Bmo1Z6NT6nR07QLB42yaX?si=fl62G_gKSKqpozXV4Nm5vA
Image Credits
Leah Taylor , @taylormademedia.nc
