The House Music DJ Shares Her Playlist Every Month

My name is Leila Hassan, and I'm a house music dj from Sydney, Australia. Every month I put out a new episode of my podcast "Key of Life", which is a mix of house music tracks that I've been listening to the month before, as well as some new releases and old favourites. My listeners are lovers of house music, and in particular, the funkier indie/nu-disco style.

I started this podcast because I love the music, and I wanted to share my mixes with house enthusiasts all over the world. I've always listened to other podcasts and felt inspired to make my own. My favourites right now are Let There Be House, Release Yourself, Defected, and Noir Recommends. I love the way Glen Horsborough took Let There Be House and built an international brand on it, holding regular events and launching other artists. This has definitely inspired me, and I hope that's something I can achieve in the future with Key of Life. I only started making podcasts back in June of this year. Before then, I had thought about it for almost a whole year! I had no clue about where to start, and was way too obsessed with perfection.

I release an episode on the first of every month for the time being. I find that a month is about the right amount of time to source the tracks and think about how I'm going to put them together in a mix. I often plan my podcasts on the long commute to my day job, and I try to listen to as much music as possible while I'm doing other things. At present, I'm only paying for the music, but I have invested in a good quality mic, and of course my dj gear! In the near future, I will think about investing a little more in marketing. There is no point having an epic podcast if nobody knows it exists!

It's early days with Key of Life, so I can't speak of any financial rewards, unfortunately! I've claimed my podcast on Listennotes, and put up a classified ad for sponsors, so fingers crossed! The non-financial benefits of podcasting are that I get to practice mixing, so that if I am asked to perform at short notice, I'll already have a fair idea of which tracks work well together. Secondly, I'm getting my name out there and building a following, which I'm hoping could lead to more paid gigs. More importantly, I get to engage with like-minded people all over the world through our love of music!

I'll have a look at all the tracks I've 'Shazzamed' over the last month, and download these as well as some new releases and promos from websites like Traxsource and Beatport. I'll analyse the tracks in Mixed in Key, and make a playlist according to key and BPM in Rekordbox. I'll set some cue points, put it on a USB and start mixing! I'll record the mix on my phone using the DJM-REC app. Then I'll listen to it, and make notes on what could be improved. It doesn't have to be perfect! Then I'll record my intro on the mic separately. After that, I'll put my theme song, intro, and mix together using Audacity. Finally, I upload it to hearthis.at, and announce my new episode on my Facebook page. Since I began learning to dj, I've met other djs/producers who are just starting out. I would probably choose to interview these artists first, and in person!

I announce new episodes on my social media (Facebook and Instagram). I upload my podcasts to a few websites like Soundcloud and Mixcloud, but I find that hearthis.at has the best engagement.

My advice for new podcasters is to get a good quality mic, learn how to use Audacity, and being consistent with your podcasting is more important than being perfect! Don't stress too much over the details. My podcast was nameless for the first few episodes!

facebook.com/djleilahassan
instagram.com/theartistformerlyknownaslulu