How to build a DJ Sax career with Jason Whitmore

What does it take to be a successful DJ Sax and build a career?

In this podcast episode I’m talking to DJ Sax player Jason Whitmore about how he’s build a huge career using social media. Jason shares how he has learned the performance skills he has needed to be successful for 20 years.

What is DJ Sax?

Nigel:  You are really well entrenched and have been for a long time in the whole DJ Sax, House Sax world. Can you give us a really quick overview of what that looks like from a practical point of view? 

Jason: Yeah, essentially it’s really just as opposed to, playing saxophone in a traditional band, drums, piano, bass, guitar, whatever – I’m playing along with the DJ or with some sort of pre-recorded track.

And most of the time it’s popular music that’s being played these days. It’s house music, electronic dance music. And it’s pop. It’s got a broad appeal because you’re playing popular music but it adds an element that doesn’t exist in the recording.

I’m just improvising, by the way. It’s not like I’ve written parts out or I’m reading music or reading charts. So it’s fun for me because it’s different every time. And it’s fun for the audience, I think, because it’s unique and it, brings something different to songs that they already know.

Building a DJ Sax career

N: If we’re thinking specifically about cultivating a career playing with DJs as a saxophone player, can you give us a bit of an overview of what you’ve learned through the process of building your career? 

J: As you’re asking me that, it made me think of a serious crossroads that I met. I could brand myself as part of a group. There’s a DJ group called Goldfish. It’s two guys and so they perform dance music mostly electronically, but they have as many different actual instruments on stage with them.

I’ve often thought, ‘do I need to establish a group and a brand, attach myself to a DJ and be this partnership, this group?’

And at least at this point in my career, I really feel I’m better off, and I like being, just Jason Whitmore on Sax. I’m featured with other DJs and other producers on their recordings, but I am my own individual brand. My website is my name. My social media is all my name. From a business standpoint, I’m more versatile just branding myself individually. And, from a working standpoint, I can work with anybody. So, it multiplies opportunities out there. 

DJ Sax Masterclass

N: Hey, I hope you’re enjoying the episode so far. Just a real quick mention that Jason’s done an amazing masterclass for our members inside Sax School where he breaks down his entire process of playing DJ Sax.

The way he thinks about the notes, his note choices, the way he builds up a solo to create excitement with the audience, and so much more. It’s all included with Sax School membership. But you can actually check it out for free with a 14-day trial. That’s running right now – go check that out.

14 day free trial

Okay. Let’s get back to the episode. 

Building a brand as a DJ sax player

N: What’s most interesting to me, and I think interesting to people who are just new to this whole idea of how do I go out and start to get busy is the fact that you’re thinking about a brand. Whether it’s your own brand or a band brand, right? It’s about building a brand. Do you agree that you really need to be responsible and in charge of your own brand these days?

J: Absolutely. You have to make that conscious choice. Like ‘I am Sax School Online’. ‘I am Jason Whitmore on Sax’. I am, whatever my brand is or my group name, and you need to lean into that. 

And with social media, especially, that is the name that you portray. And everything that you do, every live performance, every social media post, every recording – that is the name. Because otherwise you could be so fragmented and you could lose so much opportunity to really cultivate this visibility and identity of who you are.

Consistency in Social Media

N: I love what you’re saying there about consolidating and having consistency in what you’re doing. So can you give us an example, in basic terms, how you do that?

Because I’ll be honest with you, Jason, like we’ve only ever met this way. And I reached out to you a few years back because I kept seeing your stuff on socials. I thought, who is this guy?

I love all the stuff that you’re posting and everything was so consistent. So can you tell us a little bit about how you approach doing that? And I hope I’m hoping you’re not just going to say, ‘Ah, I’m too lazy to do that.I just, this is what I did.’ Because I think you’ve got a system!

J: Yeah. So I decided early on that my brand, my name, is just going to be me. Frankly, it’s easiest because my name is my name. I tried to think of something easy, that said who I am and what I do in a handle.

And, when on a stage and you’re playing in a band, you get a solo, what does the lead singer say? Hey, ‘Nigel on Sax, Sam on drums, Elliot on bass, Jason on Sax’. So I’m Jason on Sax from a social media standpoint.

You have to be consistent and you have to create content. Obviously, that’s a part of what we do. Frankly, I like it. It’s fun. And it’s my practice, it’s my creativity. It’s my way to just create at home, whatever I decide I want to do. I get to do what I feel like doing. And I like that process. It’s fun for me. It’s another aspect outside of actually playing the horn. So I enjoy doing it and I try to do it consistently.

Creating Engaging Content

N: There’s a bunch of things that you’ve hit on there. The first is about the consistent naming across all of your social platforms. And then the consistent look of all the stuff you’re doing, consistently putting out content. There were loads of photos that I saw of you on Instagram and they all look great. Even the photos had the same sort of look. Obviously, they’re you, but you were thinking about how you presented yourself, like the clothes you had, the style, the image. There was a feel to the type of photos that you were taking, and then you were sharing them consistently. So that’s part of building the brand.

And then more recently, I love all of the playing things that you’ve been sharing on YouTube and Instagram. I guess you’re sharing stuff on TikTok too, right? So the multi-sax things that you’re recording. 

J: I love that. I love that process. I love playing in an ensemble, but I’m a soloist. So what, I’ve just figured out a way to record all the parts and use what’s called a masking effect. And that applies to almost any video editing software. But, you have one still wide shot, you stand over here, record that part. And then you stand over here and record this part. I try to change clothes. So it looks like there are four different versions of me. And then you edit them all together.

N: He’s got three brothers that all look the same as him!

Man, there’s so much great information in here. And in a minute, Jason’s going to dig into how he got started playing DJ sax. And that’s quite an interesting story too. But first I just wanted to ask him about all the great content he’s putting out on social media. Is that something that helps him to get more gigs? And maybe that’s something that you could do as well. Here’s what he said. 

Connecting through Social Media

J: You’re always engaging with either a DJ, the promoter that’s running the event or whatever, or the venue itself. You’re always engaging with them. And you’ve got to have some sort of backlog of content to validate who you are and what you do and your audience. Because ultimately that’s what those people are going to care about too.

Does anybody even know this guy? If I hire him, are people going to care? Are they going to come and follow? Or they’re going to come and buy drinks at my establishment or follow me or whatever? 

N: Yeah, that’s the first thing anyone does these days too, right? The first thing they do when they want to find out about somebody, we all do it. You Google them, right? 

J: Right or wrong, it is the world and there’s it’s a great tool if we look at it from a more positive standpoint. It’s a great tool. To just be involved in your music and your brand and be creating all the time. Because even if I’m creating just for the ‘Gram, just to build visibility and likes, I’m also getting practice.

Like I’m learning more about my own playing as I do that. I’m learning more about playing in tune. And I’m building my strength and my lung capacity. I’m learning new music a lot of times. And I’m learning more about the technical aspects of recording, mixing and video editing.

Connecting with a global audience

N: You touched on it, but then another really important part about sharing all the time is that you’re connecting with a wider audience. So you live in San Diego, right? Correct. Yeah. So You’re gigging in San Diego, people in San Diego are gonna know about you. But what about people in Sydney or, Bangkok or somewhere?

You can reach people all over the world from the content that you’re putting out on your socials. And that’s the way the music games play these days, I think.  So you’re building up your socials to prepare for going out and playing  gigs.

And obviously, you’re a lot further down the track now and you’ve established all that. But are you still conscious when you’re at the gig of taking photos and videos – grabbing that content that you can share afterwards? 

J: Absolutely. Yeah, that’s crucial. And just, last night I was at a gig and it was more of a corporate event kind of thing.  And I was working with a violin player and the two of us were playing together over backing tracks. It wasn’t a live DJ, but we had pop music playing that we were playing over. And we’re always, It’s taking content. You have to try to monopolize those opportunities and get good photos, get good video clips, things that you could share.

Because again, right or wrong,  if the world can’t see that you’re doing these cool events and that you’re playing with this person and that person and these different venues, then they don’t know. And the more people that you can network that you’re doing that with just multiplies that effect.

If you’re playing with the DJ, you shoot stuff together. You co-brand you co-share posts, you tag each other. You put things out that are also show that other person in a good light. So they’re more likely to share it. And you do things that benefit others and eventually, it ends up benefiting you as well.

Be easy to work with

Plus it shows that you’re easy to work with and enjoyable to work with. That’s a really important part.

Whether it’s the DJ, the promoter, or the venue owner, people want to hire people that they like to work with. Make it easy for them, and don’t ask tons of annoying questions. Don’t show up late. Don’t do a bad job. Those things are obvious, but, be somebody that they’ll want to hire because you’re cool, and you’re nice and you’re easy to work with. You do a great job and you bring your friends – you need to be that person. And you can do that with your social media and the things that you post too.  

N: Yeah, I think what’s really interesting about that, is that is exactly the same in the world that you’re talking about.  And it’s the same if you’re playing in a West End show, or if you’re playing on a cruise ship, or if you’re playing in a jazz group. It’s the same everywhere. Music is a social thing. It’s all about people – interactions between humans. And you need to be a good human if you want to be busy. 

Backing tracks

N: When you talked about that gig last night with the violin player, so are you bringing those backing tracks with you? And where are you sourcing them? Like how do you get a repertoire of things together like that?

J: That’s a good question. Every gig is different. In the gig that I did last night, I was hired. The violin player owns a production company. So she was the boss. She brought a sound man and an admin assistant, sound equipment, the backing tracks. So she provided all of that and I was working for her.

And of course, she was working for the end client – the people putting on the event.

So in other cases, there’s, I’m the boss. And so, the end client, whether it’s somebody throwing a party or an event, will contact me directly. And then I’ll hire a DJ and I’ll make sure he has the right music.

Essential gear for DJ sax

N: Okay, so that’s the backing track side of things. Obviously, you’re going to need a microphone, a saxophone, a mouthpiece and a reed. So can you just talk us through your favorite performing setup? 

J: Yeah, I’ll start with the saxophone. So I’ve been playing Cannonball horns for a few years now.  I absolutely love their horns. So, I play alto primarily but I did just recently get a bari if you’ve seen it in some of my videos. And I love playing that horn. But I don’t know when, or how I’m going to use it in an actual gig setting, because it’s probably not the right horn for a DJ gig. I just love playing it. So I got one anyway. 

N: You’re playing a Durga on that, aren’t you? 

J: Yeah. Yeah. Theo Wanne makes the best mouthpieces in my opinion. They’re not the cheapest, but you absolutely get what you pay for. And I feel it’s a fact, that the majority of the quality the style of the sound that comes from you starts closest to your mouth with that mouthpiece and the reed setup. 

How Jason got started in DJ Sax

J: The first time I saw it done I was in Miami at a restaurant/night club and there was a DJ. Then there was a guy playing percussion and then there was a guy playing saxophone. And yeah, I thought that was really unique. It was inspiring. And yeah, so I hopped right into it. It’s been so much fun. I really love it. 

N: How long ago was that Jason? 

J: It was around 2005-ish. Yeah. Like the early 2000s. So I’ve been doing this for close to 20 years or so. It’s become a lot more popular.  In the events and the venues that I play it’s more frequent that you see some sort of musician playing alongside the DJ, because it adds this really cool new live element that didn’t already exist

There are more and more musicians that are starting to do it. I feel like the venues are starting to want to get involved and bring those kinds of musicians in. And DJs are starting to get instrumentalists to play along to make their set unique.

 Yeah, it’s starting to catch on. But it never ceases to amaze me still almost every time I play, there’ll be somebody there that’s ‘Oh my God, I would never thought to see a saxophone’. So it’s still new enough. It’s fresh and people are really interested.

New audience for saxophone

N: I bet social media has played a big role in getting awareness out for this style of music too, right

J: Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. And clearly, social media is the way we all learn and spread knowledge and news these days. 

N: Yeah. I’m seeing loads of people sharing great videos of DJs with a saxophone and those videos are so popular. I know you’ve got a great following on socials, but there’s a bunch of other people doing it too. And it’s great. I love that because the fact that there are lots of other people doing it means that there’s a big demand for it, right? And it means you can reach a bigger and bigger audience. 

That’s what I love about this too, is that people that initially are going to a dance club or to a big electronic dance festival or something like that. They aren’t necessarily looking for horn players, but they’re getting it now. They may have just said, ‘okay he plays sax. So that’s a jazz player’. And I’m not really into that style of music. I feel like we’re reaching an audience and broadening their listening repertoire. So yeah it’s great for us instrumentalists. Because we’re getting in front of people that otherwise might not turn on a saxophone record. 

N: Yeah, 100 per cent Jason. Because I often think that the younger generation of people don’t see a saxophone player in any of the popular music, or at the gigs that they go and see.

Jason’s Musical Journey

N: So I think it’s great to be reaching more younger people with saxophone so we can keep saxophone going. And I love the art form of playing with a DJ too, I think it’s brilliant. 

For listeners who may be new to you, Jason – you didn’t start out as a DJ house saxophone, DJ sax player, did you? What were your saxophone roots? 

J: Believe me, I had no idea that I would be doing this kind of thing when I started. When I started playing the saxophone, it was in the sixth-grade band in public school, just like a lot of kids. I chose music over PE that particular school year, just because it sounded different and cool or whatever.

Musical influences

But I didn’t really have any big musical influences. I just wanted to try it, whatever. And gradually over the years I got into school, I got better and I started to like it. Fortunately, I had good teachers and it was a good music program at my school. It really fostered the whole art form And so I really started to like it.

And then when I decided what I was going to do when I grew up, I thought of music. I was like ‘I don’t want a real job!’  So I continued on and got my degree in music at university. And that’s when I started playing professionally. I started playing in blues bands. My background really is blues and RnB and Pop music. That’s really what inspires me. 

It was artists like David Sanborn, whom, unfortunately, we just lost recently. I’ve been listening to a lot of them lately as I always have. He was a big inspiration. And I feel like although he can play jazz anytime, he’s really known as this big pop, R&B, kind of soul sax player. And that’s what I’ve always identified with.

A lot of people are turned off by jazz because it can be really complex and difficult to understand. It’s maybe difficult to hear sometimes. So I’ve always been inspired by blues, RnB, soul, like those kinds of styles. And that style, that type of playing fits really well in modern dance music, pop music. The blues is really effective in EDM music.

Learning to play DJ Sax

N: Were there specific playing things that you felt you needed to work on when you did that transition? What did you need to work on to move from doing blues gigs to hearing that band in Miami and thinking, Hey, ‘I’m going to have a bash at this too’ and going and playing with a DJ. I’m asking this because there are probably people listening who’ve never played with a DJ and would probably find the idea of DJ Sax quite terrifying. 

J: Yeah. I’ll admit when I started, I was a little terrified too. I was, like, ‘are people going to be interested in a band instrument? Is it cool enough for this kind of venue and this kind of, environment?’ Are people going to think it’s cool or is it going to be lame? Yeah. So I was a little timid going into it. When you do anything with confidence, I think people respond to that. 

N:  Yeah. 

Tips for confidence

J: So you’ve got to go in with confidence when you’re playing DJ Sax. Obviously, confidence comes with being prepared. It’s helpful to be able to just listen to something and very quickly pick it up.

• what key is it in?
• What sort of style should I play along with this recording that’s going to play?
• How am I going to play in the context of this recording so it feels natural and it sounds like it was supposed to be in the recording originally?

Just being able to hear and respond and play within that context and really understanding –  that is what’s going to help people respond well to it. 

N: When you’re going to do your very first  gigs, were you quite systematic about working on specific tunes and trying to find the language that works? 

J: I’m too lazy for that much preparation. Maybe I shouldn’t say that out loud. That’s not great advice, people!

But there was definitely no setlist. I never work on a set list ever. Because I think first and foremost, the DJ’s role is to be able to shift on a dime and keep the people on the dance floor or the people in the audience. It’s their job to keep people happy and engaged in the music.

So they need to have that flexibility to switch styles of music, switch songs, lead the audience in a way that they’re going to be happy and engaged and really into it.

So if I give the DJ a set list, I’m like, ‘okay, these are the songs I play really well. You’ve got to play these right in a row’,  -then that screws up his ability to have that flexibility.

So I won’t do that. I won’t ever do that with any DJ. I think they need to come first and I need to be versatile enough to follow whatever he’s doing and just follow that lead. And I make that clear with every DJ that I play with, particularly when it’s a new person who’s never played with an instrumentalist, which happens a lot.

Find more about Jason Whitmore

N: All right. Wow. So much to think about from this conversation today, Jason. I really appreciate you taking the time and hopefully, that’s been helpful for everybody who’s listening.

And if you’d like to find out more about Jason, well we know now it’s “Jason on sax“, right? 

J: Yeah. Go go find me on Instagram is the easiest, or TikTok. Jason on Sax –  shoot me a DM. I answer questions all the time. I’m relatively accessible. So if you’ve got a question, just hit me up. 

N: Yeah, cool. And don’t forget if you’re a Sax School member or if you’re thinking of joining Sax School, we have got some lessons from you, Jason, inside Sax School that’ll help you. They cover the basics of getting started with playing with a DJ and the sort of tactical things that you need to understand for playing in that style.

In fact you did a DJ Sax masterclass for us, which was brilliant. It really breaks down the whole process of starting to play in that style and gives you a few building blocks that you can use to build your skills up and your confidence. So definitely go check that out.

J: Yeah. Those were a lot of fun to make. I hope those have been helpful. 

N: So helpful. Yeah. So many of our members are using it. And like I said earlier, it’s been very interesting for us. We’ve been doing this for over 10 years now and we’ve seen our students grow up and progress. And now a lot of them are out playing, gigging. And yeah, it’s absolutely been useful for them.

So thanks so much, Jason. And thanks everyone for listening. 

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