Top 10 DJs Who Started Late In Life

Many of the biggest-name DJs in the music industry are known for starting their journey as teenagers before breaking through into the big time.

However, some started DJing later in life, beginning their careers after working in other jobs before launching into the music scene and hitting clubs and festivals.

Read on and discover ten amazing DJs who started later in life, mastering their skills and entering the scene to compete with the industry’s best artists.

Top 10 DJs Who Started Late In Life

Starting a DJ career is typically associated with youth, with DJs such as Steve Aoki, David Guetta, and Hardwell taking up the decks before turning twenty.

This guide explores a selection of late-blooming DJs who emerged on the scene much later in life and started producing and DJing music at the highest level.

10. Guy Gerber

The electronic music producer and DJ Guy Gerber has long been passionate about music, but his early career saw him focusing exclusively on guitar-based acts.

While he enjoyed experimenting with the tools used to create electronic music, such as drum machines and synthesizers, he was primarily interested in English bands.

Well-known acts such as My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division reflected his core tastes and his early work echoes this approach to instrumentation and composition.

Born in 1974, Gerber didn’t venture into electronic music until the mid-2000s, when his debut full-length album, 2007’s Late Bloomers, was released.

Released on Cocoon Recordings, the record label owned by techno pioneer Sven Vath, it paved the way for Gerber’s transition into electronic music production.

Inevitably, Gerber soon mastered the art of DJing, becoming highly regarded for his blend of house, techno, and progressive house DJ sets.

Collaborations with leading artists, including Miss Kittin and Puff Daddy, secured Gerber’s breakthrough into the mainstream music scene.

Guy Gerber continues to perform regularly at clubs and international music festivals and make music on his Rumors record label.

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9. James Murphy

As with Guy Gerber, James Murphy’s music career was characterized by a love of rock music before he began DJing in various dance music genres.

Born in 1970 and raised in New Jersey, he listened to acts such as David Bowie, the B-52’s, and the English progressive rock band Yes.

His early career reflected this passion for guitar-based music, with Murphy joining the band Falling Man in the late 1980s and the bands Pony and Speedking throughout the 1990s.

Murphy’s breakthrough came in 2002 when he started the electronic dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem through DFA Records.

The band enjoyed huge success in the underground music scene, producing a series of popular tracks, such as “Losing My Edge.”

Around this time, Murphy also became a club DJ, appearing in many of the top venues in the United States and worldwide.

He continued to DJ and release his own music following the break up of LCD Soundsystem, collaborating with various producers on new tracks.

Read more: Learn how to beatmatch.

8. Claude VonStroke

The American house music producer and DJ Claude VonStroke, whose real name is Barclay Crenshaw, moved to Detroit from Cleveland, Ohio, when he was a child in the mid-1970s.

He was initially interested in hip-hop music, and as a young adult, he moved to Los Angeles to begin working in the entertainment industry.

Throughout the 1990s, he worked as a production assistant and location scout on various productions in the movie and television industry.

This led to his first brush with famous DJs as a crew member on the documentary Intellect: Techno House Progressive, produced between 2002 and 2003.

His personal experience with this production and conversations with other artists paved the way for a transition into DJing and collaboration with Justin Martin and Christian Martin.

The trio soon formed the label DirtyBird Records, with VonStroke making music in his leisure time before turning it into a full-time job.

Approached by the iconic club and label Fabric to record a mix while DirtyBird Records’ reputation grew to become one of the most celebrated labels in house music.

VonStroke has gone on to enjoy a hugely successful career, playing alongside many DJs from the tech house scene and releasing dozens of tracks.

In 2023, he took a hiatus from the moniker Claude VonStroke, using his real name and making music in the bass genre.

7. Purple Disco Machine

The German DJ and producer Tino Piontek, also known as Purple Disco Machine, was fascinated with music production as a teenager, experimenting with Cubase.

However, it wasn’t until much later in life that he finally broke into the industry and began to play records in front of a crowd.

Born in 1980, Purple Disco Machine’s first release hit the market in 2012, followed by a succession of minor singles over the following years.

It wasn’t until 2017, when he released the single “Devil in Me,” featuring Joe Killington and Duane Harden, that he finally gained the recognition he deserved.

The single showcased his characteristic style, fusing elements of house and nu-disco, finally paving the way for his international DJ performances.

His biggest success to date, the song “Hypnotized,” followed in 2020, receiving double platinum certification and peaking at number 2 on the Italian charts.

Purple Disco Machine’s industry reputation was secured in 2023 when he won the Best Remixed Recording award for Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.”

Learn more: How to get your music heard.

6. London Elektricity

Tony Coleman was in his mid-thirties when his music production career took off, and he would go on to become among the most influential figures in drum and bass.

Born in 1961, it wasn’t until 1996 that Coleman first launched the London Elektricity brand along with co-founder Chris Goss.

The duo released their debut album, Pull The Plug, on Hospital Records in 1999, with Coleman among the early DJ producers in the genre.

When Goss departed London Elektricity in 2002 to manage the Hospital Records label, Coleman continued to work extensively in the dance industry.

He would revolutionize the live drum and bass scene by introducing live instruments and vocals at shows, which many producers emulated in their releases.

Throughout the 2000s, London Elektricity delivered a prolific output that included many singles, EPs, and albums, as well as recordings of live performances.

Coleman also showcased his DJing skills around the UK, releasing a series of mix CDs and performing a guest set on BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix in 2008.

5. Craig Charles

The British actor Craig Charles is best known in the United Kingdom for his role in the comedy series Red Dwarf and other appearances on TV in the 1980s and 1990s.

Born in 1961 and with a career spanning several decades, he’s been involved with musicians in various forms from the 1980s to the present day.

Having worked as a radio DJ curating music for his audience since the early 2000s, he became a fully-fledged club DJ in 2011.

Working under the name The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, he has DJed at many UK-based music festivals and niche venues.

In addition to performing live DJ sets, Charles frequently live streams the events, including the popular Craig Charles Fantasy Weekender.

The success of his DJ gigs led to additional radio station work, notably the Funk & Soul Show, which airs on BBC 6 Music.

In 2024, he showcased his skills on two turntables with an additional high-profile performance, appearing at Glastonbury and on the main stage at the Wilderness Festival.

Tip: Find out how to stay relevant as a DJ.

4. Steve Davis

Another regular fixture of British television throughout the 1980s and 1990s was Steve Davis, the world champion snooker player who dominated the sport.

Born in 1956, Davis won a string of international competitions throughout his career before finally retiring from snooker in the early 2010s.

However, this wasn’t the end of his working life, and Davis surprised many sports fans when he turned his attention to music as a new venture.

While Davis had been a fan of progressive rock as a teenager during the 1970s, he decided to start DJing in the techno DJ scene.

Beginning in the mid-2010s, he performed sets at a series of clubs and bars around the UK before heading on to international events.

This included a DJ set for Boiler Room, the legendary organization known for hosting some of the best techno DJs in the world.

While some celebrity DJs are often viewed as a gimmick, Davis has earned high praise from other DJs in the industry, complimented for his eclectic taste in music.

He’s also explored other genres over the years, even playing the synth at a gig in a cathedral for the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2024.

3. Fish56Octagon

The British DJ Fish56Octagon is another great example of an artist who worked in various industries before breaking into the music scene later in life.

After completing his formal education, Fish56Octagon, sometimes referred to as Fish, worked in marketing and other job sectors.

During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he began to explore his passion for music and learn how to DJ in his spare time.

Thanks to the power of social media and music, he was able to accumulate thousands of followers on TikTok in a short time.

By 2023, Fish56Octagon had mastered his craft, branching out into various music genres, including speed garage and psy-trance.

He soon gained a cult following of admirers who appreciated his passion for a wide range of music, amassing over 500,000 followers on Instagram.

By 2024, he had made it to the big-time, performing DJ sets at some of the most iconic festivals in the United Kingdom, including Glastonbury and Creamfields.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t until that year that he was finally able to quit his day job and focus entirely on pursuing his passion for music on a full-time basis.

Despite questions from the media, Fish56Octagon has refused to disclose his real name to this day, and speculation continues online.

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2. Chapter & Verse

Like Fish56Octagon, Chapter & Verse had no connection to the music scene for most of his professional life, only venturing into the profession in his 40s.

What began as a hobby soon escalated into a thriving career, with the artist collaborating with many of the best underground DJs working today.

Known for his driving tech house DJ sets and appearances on multiple renowned labels, he’s delivered numerous sell-out shows in Europe and the United States.

His original tracks have also proven to be incredibly popular, with the likes of Steve Aoki and Dmitri Vegas regularly spinning them in their mixes.

Chapter & Verse first ventured into DJing in 2017, rapidly rising through the ranks of the world’s best DJ from the early 2020s.

The release of “Dreams” in 2020 catapulted him into the mainstream, and a string of chart-topping dance releases followed ever since.

1. Raja RAM

Another late starter in the world of DJing who grew up listening to other genres in his youth is Raja RAM, the Australian musician who forged his early career in jazz.

Born in 1940, he left Australia in the 1950s to become a hippy, later returning to his home country to study the flute at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

By the mid-1960s, he had once again left Australia, this time moving to New York and working in the jazz scene before becoming a psychedelic musician.

This early work would later influence his transition to becoming a famous DJ, with RAM being a key player in the emerging psychedelic trance scene.

An offshoot of psychedelic rock that emerged in the 1970s, the genre would become a mainstay of music festivals over the decades.

Raja RAM’s background in jazz is reflected in his intricate DJ sets, which he has performed at major events around the world.

He continues to work in the music scene to this day, releasing singles and albums both in the psychedelic trance genre and traditional jazz.

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Summary

While many big-name artists learn DJing early, getting old isn’t a barrier to pursuing your dreams and breaking into the dance music scene.

The older DJs we’ve covered in this article serve as an inspiration for anyone considering hitting the decks and exploring their musical expression in the DJ booth.

With hard work and dedication to the craft, becoming a great DJ later in life is an achievable goal that has the potential to lead to a successful career.