Today we’d like to introduce you to Leon Xavier.
Leon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey through the arts began when I was about 12 years old. My cousins and I would go to a roller skating rink in North East Philly called Jamz. All the kids would come to the middle of the rink and dance battle. I instantly fell in love with Hip Hop and began to break dance myself. In my later years of high school, things started changing and I took up rapping. I quickly realized that I didn’t have a rapper persona and discovered DJing. One of my friends (Marcus Branch) DJ’d a house party for students at the University of the Arts and I realized that this was it. I was 17 years old at the time. I bought my equipment and started doing house parties nonstop every weekend. It was a great experience for me, but for years I didn’t earn a dime. Everything I did was out of pure love of the art form. By the time I was 21 a group of friends and I began a new series of events called “First Friday”. The event gained A LOT of traction in the city and through this, I met all the major players in the area including my current business partner, DJ waters. Initially, I only wanted the DJ to be on the microphone but he showed promise on the turntables. We locked in a residency at a bar called Kung Fu Neck Tie for every Thursday and “Thursday Night Groove” was born.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Navigating the industry has been the furthest thing from a smooth road. In my early years of DJing, there were a lot of lessons to be learned. One of the first lessons I had to learn was the ability to differentiate the “party” and the “work”. I lost a lot of very important equipment due to negligence and quickly became aware of the importance of professionalism and the necessity of having a back up of everything.
As I advance my career, I continue to notice dissonance when it comes to understanding what it means to be a professional DJ. Many folks on the outside looking in do not recognize how much time is put into DJing; seeing only the actual event itself rather than the years of collecting music, hours of practice or money spent on quality equipment. Because of the rapid growth in the industry, many people just want a cheap service and explaining both your worth and quality becomes redundant. At the end of the day, being firm in the value of your brand will always allow you to come out on top.
We’d love to hear more about your company.
I own a creative company called Thursday Night Groove Music House. TNG for short. We are DJ’s and producers. We’re known for bringing the Groove to Hip Hop. It’s been Trap season since 2011 and we feel that people are craving something new. We set ourselves apart with everything we do. Our sound is very fresh and we remain innovative. We approach our music from a dancers perspective and always consider how it is going to make people move on the dance floor. This past year we performed all over the country and have sold out some of the biggest venues in our home base, Philadelphia.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was always social. I had a lot of friends in different areas because I went to a few different schools. Because I had a variety of friends, that resulted in me listening to a variety of music. Everything from panic at the disco and fall out the boy to Lil Wayne and Diplo. I was all over the place. That shaped my music taste today. I wanted to express what I was hearing in my head to people, which is what inspired me to DJ and now produce my original content.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thursdaynightgroove.wixsite.com/thursdaynightgroove
- Phone: 215 390 7073
- Email: DJLeonXavier@gmail.com
- Instagram: LeonXavier_
- Twitter: LeonXavier_
Image Credit:
@BryceLennon
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
