Salerno
Our Resident DJ
SALERNO is a 15 year old professional musician, DJ & producer, who has been performing with some of today's biggest stars, in front of thousands of people around the country.
He is currently the resident DJ for The Camplified Summer Tour - www.camplified.com.
As well as being an up and coming DJ on the hot electronic music scene, he is also lead guitar player for rising pop star, JAX.
SALERNO produces original electronic/dance/dub step music and spins at teen nights, clubs, festivals, major events and private parties, across NY and NJ and has a strong loyal following.
Live Performances: Opened for and/or performed with Justin Bieber, Jonas Bros, Selena Gomez, Kesha, LMFAO, FSTK, Good Charlotte, Boys Like Girls, Asher Roth, Drake, Cody Simpson, Miranda Cosgrove, just to name a few.
Venues include but not limited to: Nassau Coliseum, Jones Beach Theater, PNC Theater, Giants Stadium, Gramercy, Irving Plaza, Bamboozle, Warped Tour, Crocodile Rock, Starland Ballroom, Webster Hall and many more.
Q&A with 15 year old musician, Mikey Salerno – June 9, 2012
Q – so what are you; a DJ, a guitar player, a producer?
M – I don’t really think I need to have a label. I am an artist who uses music as a way to express myself and make people happy…but yeah I do all of those things.
Q – how did you get started in music?
M - I started playing guitar when I was 7, never really took lessons, just listened to a song and then played it. I met Jax (www.jaxwantsyou.com) when I was about 10 and I have been her guitar player ever since. We have done over 200 shows together and plan on doing a lot more in the future. Becoming rock stars is our fulltime job.
Q – so how did you become a DJ?
M - I discovered electronic dance music about 2 years ago. I got turntables and a mixer and started mashing things up and remixing stuff. In between sets at our concerts, I used to get to DJ a little, to entertain the crowd while the bands got on and off stage. But once I got LogicPro and a synthesizer, I discovered a world of creating music that was limitless. Now I get gigs as a DJ when im not working with Jax.
Q – What is you most memorable experience in music.
M – That’s really tough cause there have been so many great ones. When we opened for Justin Bieber in front of 18,000 people, that is pretty hard to beat. Doing 4 shows with Jonas Bros was really fun and doing the Camplified tour in 2009 was great. I recently DJ’d a side stage at The Electric Daisy Carnival at Met Life Stadium, that was insane. I was not allowed in the festival because I was too young, so they gave me a set at the exit gates as the crowd left. Armin Van Buuren finished his set and like 25,000 people came dancing out of the gates and I spun for them for about 30 minutes.
Q – If you had to pick only one genre of music to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?
M- There is no way I can choose! No way! I mean, I listen to dub step, house, rap, punk, rock, metal, pop, alternative, grunge, blues, jazz and even a little classical. I had to buy a server just to hold all my music; I think im up to about 8,000 songs.
Q – how do you find time to do all this and still go to school?
M – It’s tough. I am in the studio and on the road so much, keeping up with academics is hard. I have some very cool teachers who understand and work with me and some who could care less and want homework handed in on time. People have a hard time believing that a 15 year old kid can be a professional anything, so they just want to put you in a category and move you along with everyone else. Have you met me? I am not like everyone else, I am different and I like it that way…deal with it.
Q – What’s next for Mikey Salerno?
M – I don’t need to look at what is next cause its here right now, in front of me. Jax has been in the studio almost 24/7, for the past six months and has created incredible new music. We are about to take the world by storm and explode onto the national music scene. That’s my day job, but on the side, I have been working with different artists, rounding out my craft and soaking up as much experience as I can get. I was just asked to be the resident DJ for Camplified 2012…I am doing what I love to do and living my dream.
