OUAB’s Big Spring Concert 2017 on Friday, March 31st, 2017. Credit: Courtesy of Joshua Farr

For the first time in Big Spring Concert history, two OSU student DJs earned the opportunity to open the show this year.

OUAB offered a competition for students to submit and perform their own sets at The Big Bar in December, and the winners of this competition were selected to open for Cashmere Cat, A$AP Ferg and Rae Sremmurd.

Nine contestants were judged based on criteria such as song selection, stage presence, crowd response and technicality.

Ultimately, the scores of two contestants were higher than everyone else’s, so OUAB extended two opening slots for BSC.

The two winners selected were Adam Wolf, a.k.a. “DJ AWol” a fourth-year in operations management, Jonathan Robinson, a.k.a.“DJ New Flow,” a fourth-year in public health. Each started making their own music within the past year.

“I started making music this year as a creative outlet and to distinguish myself as a DJ,” Robinson said. “I mainly produce song edits called bootlegs or mashups. Essentially, I combine various samples from different songs like a capella vocals, instrumentals, and sound effects to create a new track.”

Wolf said he draws his inspiration from artists like Flume, Kid Cudi, RL Grime and Alison Wonderland, while Robinson said he is inspired by the versatility of Diplo and Drake.

Currently, both Wolf and Robinson perform locally, but would like to expand the reach of their music and gain a larger audience.

“My goal is to headline a big-time music festival like Lollapalooza,” Wolf said. “Everyone starts somewhere, and anyone could be the next big things if they’re passionate and put in the work. You can’t limit yourself in any way for what you’d like to achieve.”

After graduation, Robinson is pursuing a Masters of Health Administration at Johns Hopkins University, but would still like to do music on the side.

“As a side hustle, I plan to DJ venues in Baltimore, especially ones around the various colleges and universities in the area,” Robinson said. “I will also keep posting my own productions on my SoundCloud page as a creative outlet just for fun.”

Wolf also intends to continue creating music and DJ venues whenever possible.

“I’m going to continue to work hard, post new content on my SoundCloud, and find more opportunities to DJ.”