You may have heard (KCV)’s mash-ups at Harry’s, Tiff’s on the Landing, the Pageant, or at our very own Kappa Sigma house. This week’s Campus Celeb (and honorary cutie) is an up and coming DJ from LA. And did I mention he’s six feet tall?!! It’s only a matter of time before Kesar Varma makes it big – this musical genius is confident, engaging, and beyond talented. Like him on Facebook and check out Parentheses are Mandatory – his latest mash-up on SoundCloud. If you like what you hear, be sure to tell him –someday you’ll brag about meeting him before he became famous.
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Grade: Freshman
Major: Anthropology
On Campus Involvement: Ashoka Co-Social Chair, Kappa Sigma
Secret Talents? Accents. I can do accents really well.
What’s your best one? My Indian one. I’m Indian…
Understandable…What’s your kryptonite? My dog! And puppies in general.
So why are the parentheses mandatory? Because everyone has something special about them and something that defines them. Also SoundCloud wouldn’t let my username be KCV so I had to add parentheses.
What got you started with DJing? I heard Steve Aoki’s remix of “Pursuit of Happiness” when I was on my way to prom junior year, and I started getting really into house music. So when we had an end of the year pool party and needed a DJ, I volunteered to do it even though I had no idea what I was doing. And so I just fell in love with it and kept doing it and got better at it. And now I sit before you as Campus Celeb.
What projects are you working on right now? A lot of what I’ve done so far has been mainly mash-ups, which use other people’s music to make new songs and new sounds. But this summer I’m working to produce original songs so that should be interesting.
So how do you do that? It’s all on my own computer – you don’t need a studio anymore to produce music. I have people I work with and talk to about what I need to do to produce music.
What’s your theme song? “So Good (Good Ass Intro)” by Chance the Rapper
Favorite gig you’ve played? Opening for Macklemore
Celebrity boy crush? Ryan Lewis. He left before I could even talk to him! He could have at least said hello….
Celebrity girl crush? Sophie Revere
Favorite artist? Eric Prydz or Dirty South
Least favorite artist? Will.i.Am because he thinks he’s a house music producer but tries to make it pop music instead of letting it have its own niche in modern music.
Dream collaboration? Tommy Trash – he’s a DJ. His music is very unique, and his story is really inspirational. He was studying to become an orchestral trumpet player before he became a DJ so his music is really based in actual musicality.
What’s your favorite aspect of being a DJ? When people come up to me and tell me that they liked my music or they had fun at the event I was playing. That’s definitely the most rewarding part for me.