Thien- Old

“There have been nights where something was off,” DJ Thien reluctantly admits. “My energy wasn’t right or the crowd’s energy wasn’t right, and it was just like beating a dead horse until the set was over.” Perhaps that’s what Thien was thinking when he moved to Raleigh from Florida four years ago and decided to keep his DJ habit on the DL. Thanks to a persistent ex-girlfriend and a work association with a local DJ crew, Thien ended up filling in last-minute for another spinner. His low-down interest was out of the bag. “[My set] was kind of the missing link with the night that they had started,” he says of his first gig in the area. “Through that party alone, eventually word got out that some people like the music I play, so I started getting asked to do gigs.”

That music—an arresting blend of house, electro and dub-step—plays into the dance techno aesthetic, while leaving Thien plenty of creative space to mix or remix as his ear guides him. It’s still not easy, but if you believe him, the gamble is totally worth it. “Being on the edge of new music and trying to expose people to new things and being in a crowd and trying to keep the energy level going … it’s always a battle,” says Thien. “Sometimes a whole crowd comes out that love it and end up sweating it out all night and that is the biggest payoff. When people come and thank me and tell me how much fun they had, that is the best thing ever.” —Ashley Melzer