By Matt Skoufalos
As a child growing up in New Jersey, D.J. Patel loved recording music from the radio broadcasts in his home. He played a bit of piano, and would go on to become an accomplished dancer/choreographer, but Patel believed the most direct way of communicating the emotions that he felt from music to was by becoming a deejay. He dreamed of kicking off parties, watching crowds roil and churn, and taking everyone through the experience from behind the turntables.
“Music relieved my stress; it took me to my happy place,” Patel said. “Through music, I expressed my different culture to the world. You just feel it. So, I went into deejaying because you can help make memories for people.”
“It’s kind of a blessing,” he said; “you’re making someone’s event more memorable, and it’s something that makes me happy.”
Patel started by trawling the CD bins at the local video stores in North Jersey, taking his inspiration from the discs within; soundtracks from Bollywood movies were among his favorites. He would convert them into audio files on his home computer, and then remix the individual tracks with digital audio workstation (DAW) software like ACID. Self-taught, his passion for music propelled his proficiency in software as Patel grew and developed his own library of music.
“I learned it here and there on my own, and just kind of went with it,” he said. “I never went to school for computers; I just learned by doing it. I got inspired listening to the radio, and then thought, ‘What would happen if I took this song, and this other song, and mashed them up? I started building my collection, and doing my own thing.”
Patel began sharing some of his remixes with friends, building confidence in his abilities. But if he were going to become a working deejay, he’d need to invest in an equipment setup. Eventually, Patel worked up the nerve to share his dream with his father, who laughed it off and told him to focus on his schooling. He persisted, however, and in the 11th grade, with some support from his mom, eventually borrowed $1,000 from dad to pick up a pair of speakers and his first audio mixer.
“I’ve always been a person who followed my heart no matter what,” Patel said. “That’s where the real answer is.”
His father was more convinced by his son’s promise to repay the loan once he began earning money from the business, and after three or four gigs, Patel did just that. Ultimately, he said his dad was “glad that he didn’t say no,” to his son’s dream, but reminded him to finish his education, and told his son to save more of the money he earned than he spent.
Patel wasn’t picky; it didn’t matter whether his clients were hosting 10 people or 1,000. When he started out, his main focus was learning how to read a room and react to the crowd; learning how to gauge whether the audience was connecting with the song he was playing, and if not, how to rescue the mood.
“The beauty of deejaying is, because you do such a variety of events, you have to be open to everything and what people like,” Patel said. “Every year for me, what I liked changed. I would mix Bollywood with EDM or house, and take it wide to the people. There’s so many genres that it’s ridiculous.”
For his first gig, Patel remembered bringing along his home desktop computer, which he connected to the party host’s home audio system. Before he’d made enough money to purchase his audio software, Patel had to be quick to mix down the onboard voiceover that otherwise would loudly proclaim to the audience that they were listening to the free trial version. (Sometimes he wasn’t fast enough.)
“I would critique myself after every event, and think about how I could improve,” Patel said. “From there to now, I’m running with the top brands you can get. I only mess with RCF or Yorkville speakers; digital mixers, Sennheiser and Shure mics.”
Those modest, early moments helped build his confidence. From starting off with smaller gigs at first – birthday parties, Sweet Sixteen celebrations, anniversaries, baby showers – Patel grew to book parties backing entertainers from around the world, and ultimately traveled to deejay across the country and around the globe.
In Hindu tradition, his name, Darshan, refers to the act of seeing and being seen by a deity or holy person; a “glimpse” or “divine sight” that’s considered auspicious. His friends shortened it to “Darsh,” and audiences came to know him as “DJ Darsh.”
“I’ve played in Mexico, the UK, Canada, India, Colombia, and in 2026, I have Italy coming up,” Patel said. “I want to go back to India to play because the deejay scene is on the rise; that’s something by which I could hopefully reach a bigger audience.”
In addition to broadening his musical library, learning about the musical and cultural tastes of audiences around the world also gave Patel experiences that he could never otherwise have accessed. He spoke about opening clubs, meeting major entertainers, and enhancing his performances with professional lighting rigs, smoke machines, and other visual and atmospheric effects.
However, none of these means as much to Patel as the mindfulness of a well-chosen song. He aligns his selections with the lyrical content of the moment as much as with the melody and rhythm of the songs. Those considerations allow him to communicate his own emotions for clients who are enjoying a special celebration.
“When you’re dancing, you don’t care what they’re saying as long as the beat’s right,” Patel said. “For family stuff, I pay closer attention to the lyrics. If the words touch me, then I’ll play that. I give every client their special moment; that special touch from my point of view.”
As his career in imaging informatics has taken off, Patel has continued to deejay and to develop his mixes. He plans to continue marketing his business, DJ Darsh Entertainment, to broader audiences, and hopes to travel more to reach them with his signature style.
“Music touches your soul,” Patel said. “The emotions that come out of it have impacted me to this day. You just feel it. I’ve met so many people. Everyone has their own way of celebrating, and music feeds your soul.”
