Ansel Elgort proclaimed he’s serious about his dance music career. While he could’ve been just another celebrity DJ, he explained in an interview he just scored a deal with Island Records.
Elgort, best known for his roles in The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, spoke with Rolling Stone about his plans. Already, he’s performed at prime events and locations, like Pacha in Ibiza and the Electric Zoo festival in New York, and had been shopping around his original music to major labels.
"I played them some tracks and said, 'These are more poppy. These are more clubby," he explained about his approach. "These are more radio-friendly.' The ones that were more radio-friendly, they were like, 'No, we've heard this before. We want the different ones. We want the special records.' I was like, 'Major labels aren't supposed to like these records!' I thought the point of a major label was to just release crap! But Island totally proved that wrong and was like, 'We want the best record that all the kids at the dance-music festivals are going to love.'"
Elgort, like Zedd and a few other dance music producers, comes from a musical background, so a career behind the decks and in the studio isn’t that much of a stretch for him. During the interview, he explained he started with musical theater, picked up piano along the way, and got inspired to create EDM after hearing early Avicii and Skrillex tracks. Now, he has a track called “To Life” that will see a release in the near future.
Yet, while this interview establishes Elgort as a legitimate producer, he has to live down the stigma of being a celebrity DJ. The term has been tainted ever since Paris Hilton started playing in Ibiza, but plenty more fall within this scope. We list 10 stars that have attempted DJing in some form.
Image Courtesy of Nancy Rivera/ACE/INFphoto.com
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James Iha
This former Smashing Pumpkins member has enjoyed a decent rock career since then, performing in Tinted Windows and A Perfect Circle. He also manages to do the occasional DJing gig.
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Taryn Manning
Pennsatucky from Orange is the New Black occasionally DJs…and she’s not half bad.
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Solange
Beyonce’s sis has managed to have a successful singing career and has turned into a fashion icon. And, with fairly frequent gigs, she can add DJing to her list of achievements.
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Elijah Wood
You might easily dismiss Elijah Wood as a DJ. However, what many don’t realize is, the actor best known for being Frodo sometimes uses vinyl behind the decks.
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Tommy Lee
When your rocker career fails, take a stab at DJing. Methods of Mayhem didn’t take off, so Tommy Lee seems to be waiting around in the DJ booth before that next Motley Crue tour.
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Lil Jon
Too basic for crunk and too bizarre for pop, Lil Jon has turned toward EDM. That has resulted in single “Turn Down for What” and a DJing career.
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Peter Hook
Leaping from a career in New Order, a major synthpop band, to DJing doesn’t seem like that far of a leap. Hook, unfortunately, has received multiple allegations of pre-recording and faking his sets.
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Ansel Elgort
As much as he’s the teen celebrity everyone loves to hate, Elgort, as DJ Ansolo, seems to have the most legit career so far, making remixes and performing in EDM’s top clubs.
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DJ Pauly D
He supposedly gets a ton of money for DJing, but DJ Pauly D, no matter how hard he tries, will never be able to shake the fact he owes his career to the Jersey Shore.
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Paris Hilton
Hilton thinks of herself has one of the top DJs in the world. While she commands a decent salary, having other assist you behind the decks as you stand there and smile doesn’t fit under the definition of DJing.