We had the good fortune of connecting with Dalton Loughlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dalton, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Djing and any career that is your passion and doesn’t have a corporate structure is always a gamble. You have to really believe in yourself. You’re only as good as your last gig.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I pride myself in being versed in all genres. When I play hip hop I dont like being washed in my selections. I like to be able to play all the current new bangers mixed with whatever classics I see fit. And that goes across all genres House, Hip Hop, Reggaeton, and even Wedding sing along vibes. I release music under the monicor ‘The Gifted Program’ because I do feel it was a gift growing up in NYC where I was able to absord the best of the best of all these sounds. And now living in Miami adding more latin flavor to my already pretty deep latin bag from NYC. Im pretty lucky.
Go check out some of those The Gifted Program releases.

No it was not easy at all. Its a constant battle against myself trying to stay at the top of the foodchain in a business where so many djs are trying to make it. Also navigating the politics and managers at different clubs who are super moody and weird. You can have an amazing set but if some manager is in a bad mood or they dont like you they will write bad reviews about you even if you killed it. I always pride myself when I see managers like that come and go and im still working for the company. Because my skills outweigh the weird sketchy politics. Thats why I practice so much to make sure my skills outweigh the weirdos who try and knock you off your horse.

This past year I have headlined Marquee NYC, Little Sister NYC, The Box NYC. E11even Miami, Hyde Beach Miami, Daer South Florida and many others. I pride myself in keeping it going in two of my favorite cities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In NYC we would go to the Metropolitan Museum and central park, then maybe over to dumbo on the ferry. We would eat bacon egg and cheese, pizza, and drink coconut margaritas at my favorite spot in the lower east side. Then at night we would hit Little Sister and The Box two places I dj often, and some down town bars like Spring Lounge. We would also go walk around Chinatown and eat at some of my favorite dim sum spots.

In Miami we would go to the beach of course. I like South Pointe Beach and also Light House point in Key Biscayne.
At night we would go to Vendome, Dantes Hi Fi, & E11even. Also might take you to Monty’s in Coconut Grove and walk around Coco Walk and get Margaritas from Bodega. Also hang poolside at The Mondrian.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mother who was an actress raising me in a house where I saw her make a living doing what she loved. And all the djs and producers I was influenced by growing up like Kid Capris, Mark Ronson, Eric Lepeau, Eric Morillo, Shm and so many more. Just legends!

Instagram: DaltonNYC

Image Credits
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