Voyage LA: Meet Eliza May

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliza May.

Eliza, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started with music in my childhood. I learned to play piano at the age of five and finished music school at 13. Back then, I never really thought of a career in music. I graduated from university with degrees in management and translation in economics. While in school, I did some journalism gigs on the side and became involved with the college radio station where I became an on-air DJ. From there, I learned to mix records and eventually moved to Moscow, where there were more gigs available. That’s where I first saw DJ’s scratching and became hooked. I entered my first DJ competition, and a year later I decided to visit the USA to study from two of the best turntablists in the world – DJ Qbert and DJ I-Dee. Fours year after that, I moved to LA to pursue DJing full time.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think anyone in this world has a smooth road. We all have our obstacles and challenges. My main challenges were to adapt to a new culture and language. My friends thought I was crazy to move to a new country knowing very few people. But the local DJ community has been extremely kind and helpful, especially in the beginning, and I’m very thankful for that. The other challenge was to be away from my family. My parents still live in Russia and it took over two years for me to be able to go back to visit them after moving to the US. But all of the challenges and obstacles are possible to overcome if you have a dream and a goal and know what you want from life.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I got known in the DJ World for my turntablism skills. I’ve been posting scratching and beat-juggling videos online for several years, but I more recently got into production and started releasing original EDM tracks as I am doing more club gigs lately and looking forward to playing festivals hopefully in the near future. I’ll have two new singles out this summer. It’s great to be able to incorporate some of the tricks I learned in turntablism and apply them to my mix sets.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What is there not to like besides the traffic? I love LA. The weather is great. You can go to the beach and the mountains on the same weekend. There are lots of beautiful places to hike and the variety of food is amazing. Also, I love the community. To be surrounded by talented artists – musicians, actors, models is very inspiring. There are so many opportunities and like-minded people here! So I think it has a great atmosphere to create, collaborate and stay motivated.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.djelizamay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djelizamay/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djelizamayofficial
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/djelizamay

Meet Eliza May