Feature Photo by Dusana Risovic, Bonnaroo 2024 Press Selects
Story by Matthew Olson
DJ Veggi, known as Veggibeats on social media, rolled up to Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival following his 27th birthday.
Since leaving campus, the MTSU alum has continued to gain attention as an online music producer and DJ. The foundation of his career started with EDM and house music. Since beginning his music career, the quirky artist attracted 1.3 million followers on TikTok and 218, 000 followers on Instagram.
In a Sidelines interview at Bonnaroo, Veggi discussed his journey to signing with top talent representation company Creative Artists Agency signing him and how artist manager Sean Thompson was instrumental in connecting him with industry professionals. He also talked about his upcoming tour and his excitement about expanding into new markets.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed.
How do you think MTSU helped you in your career?
Honestly, it helped a lot. I mean, it’s interesting because [I] initially transferred there for audio production, and then I switched to music business. It really helped out, taking all the specific classes, like music publishing, arts management, contract law, copyright law, really translated well … [I took] a lot of classes that translated into what I do.
Who are some of the other artists that you collaborated with? Like, you have artists featured in some songs in your set.
Yeah. I mean, more recently, I haven’t played this one out yet, but I have a feature coming out with Rick Wilson. And then, I also have some new songs coming out with DJ SP. You know, they were featured on the song, “Exceptional.” The most recent single I released Friday was kind of like almost like a breakout single. Me trying to be the frontman and also the DJ. It’s like it’s kind of a cool pivot right now in the career.
What genre under the electronica or EDM genre would you say best suits you?
I always say disco-funk house. My main sources of inspiration are like, Kaytranda, SG Lewis and Channel Tress. Everyone within that wheelhouse. I would say definitely house, for sure. Classic house and, like, Funkhaus.
How did it get to this point that you are playing Bonnarroo?
So, I signed with CAA last year. Sean has been really connected and he used to be the day-to-day manager for DJ Nightmare. And, we’ve been facilitating a connection with CAA for a few years, and [I] finally signed with them in the summer of 2023. And then they were the ones that booked us.
What acts are you excited to see this weekend?
I mean, unfortunately, I’ve only been here [Sunday] so far, but I’m really excited to go back and see Four Tet. I got to catch a little bit of Yves Tumor. And, then, of course, Fred Again… it’s gonna be sick.
How’d you feel about your set turn out?
[It] was really great. We opened TheOther Stage today. There was, like, a really good turnout. The energy was up and people were just camping out. Yeah, we were a little worried because there was that thunderstorm warning. And thankfully … we pulled through.
So, where did you come from before all of this?
I’m born and raised in LA, specifically, city of Lakewood, California,and I spent a lot of time in Long Beach, too. So that’s like where I went to elementary school. And a little bit for, like, my freshman year of college. And atfter about a semester at Cal State Long Beach I decided I wanted to pursue music production, to do something in the confines of music, and MTSU, honestly, it was the perfect degree for what I was looking for. It was a Bachelor of Science in Music Business.
Do you think things picked up for you pretty quickly after you graduated in 2019?
I graduated in the spring of 2019. I didn’t really start picking or getting traction until probably a year later. I was just posting mashup DJ videos on TikTok early in 2020, like, when the pandemic started/ And, that’s when, you know, things are picking up. I was releasing music independently. I popped up on Sean’s page. He emailed me offered to work for me and then took it to where it is now.
