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Featured Guest:
DJ Prashant DJ, Singer, Choreographer Founder, Bollywood Dreams Entertainment & Jai Ho! Dance Parties Published Date: January 31, 2026 Join host Jackie Morreale as she interviews DJ Prashant, a Cornell graduate who built a 16-year career as a DJ, singer, dancer, and cultural connector. This episode provides a look into the DJ life and offers insight on how to follow creative dreams, sharing experiences from his journey. Learn about his DJ business and experiences and the mindset required to achieve success in the entertainment industry. 🎧🎶 Listen to/watch the full podcast recording, or read the transcript below: |
Full Interview with DJ Prashant:
"There is no such thing as this age or that age. Anybody watching this podcast at any time who wants to be different can start that process. The journey itself is so beautiful and so rewarding. I've had the opportunity to travel the world, perform, bring people together in places I never thought I would even visit, like Peru, and other South American countries. To be able to connect with people is just fantastic. "
- DJ Prashant (Wisdom for Wannabes episode 37, 10:30)
Great quotes from the interview:
(More great quotes throughout the transcript in blue below.)
- "I love bringing people together. It truly gives me so much joy... Music and dance are such a powerful way to do it because I feel like they connect with us on a primal level."
- "The most surprising thing is that I am literally doing it. Sometimes I wake up and I'm like, is this really happening?"
- "Success really looks like how inspired are the people that are around you? Working with you, through the thing that you're doing."
- "Jai Ho literally just means, in English, I guess the translation is Be victorious... Every time my dance troupe and I have a practice, we come together and we say Jai Ho! at the end of it."
- "I was 27 when I quit Intel. I don't want to be 35 and look back at this moment and think I could have done something else."
(More great quotes throughout the transcript in blue below.)
DJ Prashant
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Celebrate "Sweet 16" Anniversary with DJ Prashant and Friends in Portland, Seattle, San Fran, or San Diego!
Interview Transcript:
Jackie Morreale (00:00)
Hello and welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, the podcast that explores wise words and business, beauty and betterment. I am the host, Jackie Morreale. Today's guest truly embodies living the dream and remixing it all along the way. DJ Prashant is a Cornell University graduate who left the traditional path to build a 16-year career as a DJ, singer, dancer, cultural connector.
Based in Oregon, he's helped bring Bollywood music and South Asian culture to dance floors across Portland, Seattle, and far beyond. DJ Prashant is also a TEDx speaker whose talk explores not only the history of film and music industries and how they have grown an influence in culture since the 70s, but also his own story, which is filled with passion, identity, and the courage to follow what lights you up.
Prashant, welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes! I'm so excited to have you here today.
DJ Prashant (01:01)
Thank you, Jackie. Thanks for having me. Thanks for doing this. I'm really excited. Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (01:06)
Thank you. Those of us who may not know the connection, who may not have been there with us 20 years ago, I just wanted to share that we know each other. We go way back, back in the day, Big Red, Cornell, when we were students there a million years ago.
It was all a dream and I remember it. I'm so proud to see you living that dream every day today. I'm just proud to be able to say that I know a famous musician personally. I admire you, Prashant, and all that you've done to pursue your dreams. I thank you for paving the way for other creatives and for making so many people in the world happy.
DJ Prashant (01:44)
Thank you so much. My goal now is to keep doing it. So, when my daughter's a teenager, she can tell her friends, Yeah, my dad's a DJ, you know? You've gotta take it one day at a time, one step at a time.
Jackie Morreale (01:54)
She will be extremely proud of everything you've built, and so am I.
Let's jump right into the questions (because I feel myself fangirling!). For listeners who may be meeting you for the first time, can you just start with your name, your hometown, and where you're based now?
DJ Prashant (02:12)
My name is Prashant Kakad. I was born in India on the West Coast in a city called Nashik. It's a beautiful pilgrimage city. Grew up in Mumbai, which most of you probably have heard of. It's one of the biggest cities in the world and home to India's film industry, Bollywood. I moved here, went to school at Cornell. I was Jackie's teaching assistant. That's how we connected. Then job got me at Intel in Oregon. I chose to leave Intel but stay in Oregon and started my own journey as a DJ and choreographer, community event organizer, all that fun stuff. This was way back, 2009. So, since 2009, I've been doing this.
Jackie Morreale (02:48)
So 16 years, living this amazing musician, dancer, singer, DJ lifestyle. This is the Sweet 16 year. 2026, huge that far away, my friend. Don't tempt me. I'm super excited, and it feels like the time to celebrate your Sweet 16.
DJ Prashant (03:00)
That's right, we're celebrating it this Saturday, January 31, 2026. Jackie, you should take a flight and just come!
Jackie Morreale (03:13)
Thank you! So this Saturday, in Portland, and then you have an entire schedule all throughout the West Coast. Next is Seattle, then Bay Area, then San Diego. You are just in DJ Prashant world domination phase, my friend. I can't wait to see where you go next.
DJ Prashant (03:27)
Yes. And I hope to come to your city, too.
Jackie Morreale (03:33)
My gosh, to get you on the East Coast, too. I would love to see you in the clubs in Miami. But that's again, just me fangirling. So, I kind of know the answer to this one, but at the core of what you do, what is your passion?
DJ Prashant (03:46)
I love bringing people together. It truly gives me so much joy. When I even worked at Intel or even at Cornell, I was always knocking on my friend's doors, let's go, this thing happening, we need to be there. That was always a thing that I really enjoyed doing, bringing people together. Music and dance are such a powerful way to do it because they connect with us on a primal level. We've been dancing, making music, and listening to music since way before we started recording history. It's something very native to us. That was a way to bring us together. Those questions and ideas of where do you go to school, your political leanings, etc. etc., all the things are important, but they take a back step and we get to connect with each other. To me, that is needed now more than ever before, for human beings to just connect and find common ground.
So, bringing people together is my number one passion, whatever it takes.
Jackie Morreale (04:43)
That runs so deep. Bringing people together with so much positivity, good vibes over music that connects all of us no matter what language we speak, what culture we're part of, what views we have. You really have this way of connecting with people. And yes, I was there 20 years ago, and I was a witness to the fact that you have this magnetism that brings people together forever, for your whole life. I'm so happy to be a small, small part of that.
What is your favorite part of your role, day to day?
DJ Prashant (05:11)
We have to acknowledge the thing that I get to do, which is actually DJ and lose myself. That's the number one. That's what I work for, 100%. But then aside from that, the fact that I get to be somebody that through my work provide income, job, hopefully an interesting job, to people here in the US, some people in India. I really, really like that. I love the fact that not only am I on my journey, but that other people around me, who are part of my team, are doing hopefully less boring work, and more work that they see a connection with, and they see the results of it. That's my day-to-day favorite part is to work with my team and to be part of their journey as well.
Jackie Morreale (05:55)
Amazing. You're living your dream, and having the confidence, the courage to live your dream has led to so many other people able to live this dream with you?
DJ Prashant (06:03)
It is so necessary, right? We need our team to be able to do this. It is a community-building effort. Paying extra attention to the community that's working to make it happen, I think it's super important.
Jackie Morreale (06:16)
I already know that you're the best boss ever. You just have those vibes. So let's talk more about your journey to getting to where you are now, 16 years later. My gosh, you've been living this DJ, singer, dancer dream, after Cornell, after Intel as an engineer. Looking back, what surprises you the most?
DJ Prashant (06:35)
Ooh, that is a really good question. To me, the most surprising bit, honestly, is that it's happening and it's happened. I remember being a teenager, and even when I was at Cornell, I used to call my mom, and I used to cry. I felt so stuck. I was like, I'm doing this program and I have amazing people, I'm at a great school, I'm really grateful but this is not really it... What should I do? Should I come back to Mumbai again? Should I do this, do that? From being that, having lived so many years as someone that really felt like was cut out for something else and not knowing how or when... I don't have any kind of entertainment background in my field, so there's nothing that really had a path.
So, the most surprising thing is that I am literally doing it. Sometimes I wake up and I'm like, Is this really happening? That is honestly the most surprising, beautiful gift. That dream that I close my eyes and I sent out in the universe so many times as a teenager, sometimes crying, sometimes frustrated, sometimes confused, it's actually happening.
That is wild.
Jackie Morreale (07:45)
Wow. Speaking of great teams, it sounds like your mom was a huge support system for you and supportive. Thank you to the universe for giving back everything you've put out there, because you really do put out a lot and make a lot of people come together and be happy. Thanks, mom! Shout out to mom and dad!
DJ Prashant (08:00)
Yeah. Thanks, mom and dad. In fact, I have a quick detour, and then we'll come back.
My mom is such a pragmatist, so practical. Even now, it's not necessarily always like this, or always going up whichever direction on the camera is going up, you have waves. Sometimes I'll mess with my mom when I'm like, Mom, it's been so hard, et cetera, et cetera. I count how many seconds it'll be before my mom's like, You should do an MBA or get a job or something. She's very much in that. It's changing now that it's been so long, and she knows that I'm trying to tease her. But I've got to acknowledge my dad, who was
much more than anybody else in my life. I was honestly also very surprised by that. Indian parents, Indian culture, especially if you go back 15, 16 years, it wasn't like, Oh yeah, absolutely, DJ, that sounds great. Anything that's not part of a stable income, a stable way of supporting yourself was very much like, What are you doing?!
And out of care.
Everybody in my life was telling me, What are you doing? Are you sure? You should really think about this, and would give examples of other people who tried and failed. They were doing it from a place of care.
I understood it then I understand it now, but my dad was one person who's like, If you're feeling it in your heart, go for it. I want to acknowledge my dad for that, and also my mom for supporting me and being that pragmatic ear or voice in my ear, too.
Jackie Morreale (09:24)
Wow, so you really have like the yin and the yang between your parents. You have the visionary dad who's going to support your artistic dreams. By the way, I think most ethnic families are very similar, in that you want stability and you want a better life for your kids. You want it to be easier for your kids, right? And families in general, we're both parents - you always want your kids to have the safe, stable path.
DJ Prashant (09:47)
It hard to juggle both. It's like, Yeah, I want you to do everything that you would really want to do, but I also want to make sure that you make a living. All of those are realities and very much part of the wisdom of life, you know?
Jackie Morreale (09:59)
You're smart and your mom knows that you're smart. You have your master’s from Cornell. Yes, you could get a PhD or an MBA in your sleep, but not everybody can do what you're doing. Just this past week, I lost my grandmother who was 99. It really makes me think: if you haven’t done your DJ thing, if I didn't start my podcast, one day we're going to be old and we're going to say, What if...
DJ Prashant (10:18)
Yeah!
Jackie Morreale (10:19)
Right? If you don't try, then for sure you'll never succeed in it. But if you try and you keep going, one day you will. I'm convinced.
DJ Prashant (10:24)
Yeah, that is 100 % true. I literally remember telling myself that. I was 27 when I quit Intel. I was like, randomly, until 35, I was like, I don't want to be 35 and look back at this moment and think I could have done something else. At the time, 35 felt so old, you know, but now... but now I'm realizing…
The older I get, the more I realized that: There is no such thing as this age or that age. Anybody watching this podcast at any time who wants to be different can start that process.
The journey itself is so beautiful and so rewarding. I've had the opportunity to travel the world, perform, bring people together in places I never thought I would even visit. I've DJed in Peru, in Colombia, and other South American countries.
To be able to connect with people. It's just fantastic. I had the sound engineer of Nirvana helping me figure out this thing that was happening with my laptop in the middle of my DJ set in Peru. It was just wild. I was like... It's happening right now.
He had retired and lived there and found out that I was coming there to DJ and decided to show up and introduce himself. It was just so beautiful.
Jackie Morreale (11:29)
You're living this dream life. You had this dream since you were a teenager, to be an entertainer, DJ, musician, dancer. This path that you've taken, has, like you said, ups and downs and waves and it's really come up with so many other blessings that maybe you hadn't have anticipated, right? This worldwide travel, different languages, different cultures, bringing Bollywood to Peru, like you just mentioned, collaborating with a Nirvana sound guy. So many cool unexpected things. I'm circling back to the last question.
Sounds like surprises probably happen to you every day, Prashant!
DJ Prashant (12:09)
That is so true, Jackie. In fact, one of my favorite things, in spite of all the challenges, of which there are many, is to be able to manage a business, et cetera.
One of my favorite things is that I have no idea what my next phone call, next email, next text message is going to be. Like you! Like you reached out to me and I was just so happy, and now here we are talking.
It's the journey of taking on something that is wanting to come that is maybe not necessarily a path that is very well traveled. It also has amazing surprises all along the way.
Jackie Morreale (12:43)
That's so sweet that you included me in those amazing surprises. Oh man, I definitely agree. That's the best part about being creative and being open to new ideas and an uncharted journey. People probably said to you when you left Intel at 27, What are you doing, man? You have the ideal job. Everybody wants this job. Everybody's trying to get this job. You have all the right stuff on paper.
DJ Prashant (12:46)
It's true.
Jackie Morreale (13:07)
And somehow your ladder was up against the wrong wall. I just heard this quote. I think it's great. You're climbing the ladder, but it's up against the wrong wall, right? So even if you have to start at the bottom rung and work your way up, at least it's up against the wall that you want it to be on. How amazing is that, that all these blessings have come as a result of following your inner intuition and your dreams?
DJ Prashant (13:13)
Yeah, that is an amazing quote. I love that. I'm going to remember that.
Jackie Morreale (13:33)
Let's talk about your big break, because every creative person who's been doing this for 16 years has one. Is there a particular moment or moments that kind of shifted what you're doing from passion to profession?
DJ Prashant (13:46)
I guess there are several, but one that really comes to my mind right now. It is a really interesting thing that happened very early on. To be clear: I had no idea what a DJ is when I was growing up. Until I met you, I probably had no idea what a DJ was. I had never gone partying, never gone clubbing.
Jackie Morreale (14:08)
I don't believe you, by the way. Impossible.
DJ Prashant (14:12)
100 % fact of life. When I quit Intel, I wanted to go to India and do Indian Idol, like singing. DJing was not even in the realm of things. I was literally thrown into it by my friend who was like, I'm throwing a fundraiser, I want you to play music. I was like, what are you talking about? It was something that really just came into my life.
After I had quit my job, I was supposed to get up at 5am and practice singing all day pretty much. At the same time, my friend asked me to do this thing for a fundraiser. I bought this $75 little device and it behaved like a $75 little device because I would press the button and it was just a little moody. It would do the thing that it needed to do a second later, two and a half seconds later. You never knew when it was actually going to do the thing. It was practically impossible to DJ with it.
Jackie Morreale (15:00)
Don't tell me what tech it was. I don't want to know the brand. No bad shout outs...
DJ Prashant (15:00)
Yeah, exactly. That's not the tech you want. I finally invested $300 and got myself a really simple but professional gear that would do the thing. I just started to learn what DJing was. This is very, very early on. I'm not even thinking DJing as a career.
It's more like, I got one gig at a small place in Portland once a month, but I wanted to do a good job of it while I was doing it. So I started to just learn. Before I knew it, I was trying to figure out a way to mix two songs together. Then from two became, let's try to do a 10-minute set, to a one-hour set. I would upload them before there was SoundCloud to some other website.
A friend of mine, I met him at Cornell and he used to work at Aloft hotels. They're normally by airports. He was on the treadmill listening to this DJ set that I sent to all my friends from Cornell and at the end of the treadmill, he is like, Today I was listening to this thing that Prashant sent me and I felt like my jogging, like my treadmill session, was better because of it.
So he called me and he invited me to come and DJ at his hotel. He said, I'll cover your flight. I'll pay you a little bit, but at least you'll get an opportunity to come out.
Then I called about 40 different nightclubs in Boston, in Washington, DC. I was going to Virginia to see him. In New York City, there was this European promoter from a small club in Hell's Kitchen called Karma. He called me back.
He was the only one who called me back.
He said, I heard your voicemail. I had left this on a Thursday. I needed to DJ on a Thursday night and I could bring hundred people. He said, I heard you can bring a hundred people on a Thursday night. If you bring a hundred people, I'll pay you $150; if you bring fewer than a 100 people, you're not getting paid. I said yes and I went.
Jackie Morreale (16:50)
Where was I, by the way? I was in New York. I want to go to Karma in Hell's Kitchen. Seriously.
DJ Prashant (16:52)
I wish I had, that would have been amazing.
Jackie Morreale (16:58)
See a star born like that on a Thursday night, I would have dropped everything! Are you kidding me? I would have totally been your whatever, 100th person or 200th person or whatever.
DJ Prashant (17:04)
There were 40 people who came.
(Continued below)
Hello and welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, the podcast that explores wise words and business, beauty and betterment. I am the host, Jackie Morreale. Today's guest truly embodies living the dream and remixing it all along the way. DJ Prashant is a Cornell University graduate who left the traditional path to build a 16-year career as a DJ, singer, dancer, cultural connector.
Based in Oregon, he's helped bring Bollywood music and South Asian culture to dance floors across Portland, Seattle, and far beyond. DJ Prashant is also a TEDx speaker whose talk explores not only the history of film and music industries and how they have grown an influence in culture since the 70s, but also his own story, which is filled with passion, identity, and the courage to follow what lights you up.
Prashant, welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes! I'm so excited to have you here today.
DJ Prashant (01:01)
Thank you, Jackie. Thanks for having me. Thanks for doing this. I'm really excited. Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (01:06)
Thank you. Those of us who may not know the connection, who may not have been there with us 20 years ago, I just wanted to share that we know each other. We go way back, back in the day, Big Red, Cornell, when we were students there a million years ago.
It was all a dream and I remember it. I'm so proud to see you living that dream every day today. I'm just proud to be able to say that I know a famous musician personally. I admire you, Prashant, and all that you've done to pursue your dreams. I thank you for paving the way for other creatives and for making so many people in the world happy.
DJ Prashant (01:44)
Thank you so much. My goal now is to keep doing it. So, when my daughter's a teenager, she can tell her friends, Yeah, my dad's a DJ, you know? You've gotta take it one day at a time, one step at a time.
Jackie Morreale (01:54)
She will be extremely proud of everything you've built, and so am I.
Let's jump right into the questions (because I feel myself fangirling!). For listeners who may be meeting you for the first time, can you just start with your name, your hometown, and where you're based now?
DJ Prashant (02:12)
My name is Prashant Kakad. I was born in India on the West Coast in a city called Nashik. It's a beautiful pilgrimage city. Grew up in Mumbai, which most of you probably have heard of. It's one of the biggest cities in the world and home to India's film industry, Bollywood. I moved here, went to school at Cornell. I was Jackie's teaching assistant. That's how we connected. Then job got me at Intel in Oregon. I chose to leave Intel but stay in Oregon and started my own journey as a DJ and choreographer, community event organizer, all that fun stuff. This was way back, 2009. So, since 2009, I've been doing this.
Jackie Morreale (02:48)
So 16 years, living this amazing musician, dancer, singer, DJ lifestyle. This is the Sweet 16 year. 2026, huge that far away, my friend. Don't tempt me. I'm super excited, and it feels like the time to celebrate your Sweet 16.
DJ Prashant (03:00)
That's right, we're celebrating it this Saturday, January 31, 2026. Jackie, you should take a flight and just come!
Jackie Morreale (03:13)
Thank you! So this Saturday, in Portland, and then you have an entire schedule all throughout the West Coast. Next is Seattle, then Bay Area, then San Diego. You are just in DJ Prashant world domination phase, my friend. I can't wait to see where you go next.
DJ Prashant (03:27)
Yes. And I hope to come to your city, too.
Jackie Morreale (03:33)
My gosh, to get you on the East Coast, too. I would love to see you in the clubs in Miami. But that's again, just me fangirling. So, I kind of know the answer to this one, but at the core of what you do, what is your passion?
DJ Prashant (03:46)
I love bringing people together. It truly gives me so much joy. When I even worked at Intel or even at Cornell, I was always knocking on my friend's doors, let's go, this thing happening, we need to be there. That was always a thing that I really enjoyed doing, bringing people together. Music and dance are such a powerful way to do it because they connect with us on a primal level. We've been dancing, making music, and listening to music since way before we started recording history. It's something very native to us. That was a way to bring us together. Those questions and ideas of where do you go to school, your political leanings, etc. etc., all the things are important, but they take a back step and we get to connect with each other. To me, that is needed now more than ever before, for human beings to just connect and find common ground.
So, bringing people together is my number one passion, whatever it takes.
Jackie Morreale (04:43)
That runs so deep. Bringing people together with so much positivity, good vibes over music that connects all of us no matter what language we speak, what culture we're part of, what views we have. You really have this way of connecting with people. And yes, I was there 20 years ago, and I was a witness to the fact that you have this magnetism that brings people together forever, for your whole life. I'm so happy to be a small, small part of that.
What is your favorite part of your role, day to day?
DJ Prashant (05:11)
We have to acknowledge the thing that I get to do, which is actually DJ and lose myself. That's the number one. That's what I work for, 100%. But then aside from that, the fact that I get to be somebody that through my work provide income, job, hopefully an interesting job, to people here in the US, some people in India. I really, really like that. I love the fact that not only am I on my journey, but that other people around me, who are part of my team, are doing hopefully less boring work, and more work that they see a connection with, and they see the results of it. That's my day-to-day favorite part is to work with my team and to be part of their journey as well.
Jackie Morreale (05:55)
Amazing. You're living your dream, and having the confidence, the courage to live your dream has led to so many other people able to live this dream with you?
DJ Prashant (06:03)
It is so necessary, right? We need our team to be able to do this. It is a community-building effort. Paying extra attention to the community that's working to make it happen, I think it's super important.
Jackie Morreale (06:16)
I already know that you're the best boss ever. You just have those vibes. So let's talk more about your journey to getting to where you are now, 16 years later. My gosh, you've been living this DJ, singer, dancer dream, after Cornell, after Intel as an engineer. Looking back, what surprises you the most?
DJ Prashant (06:35)
Ooh, that is a really good question. To me, the most surprising bit, honestly, is that it's happening and it's happened. I remember being a teenager, and even when I was at Cornell, I used to call my mom, and I used to cry. I felt so stuck. I was like, I'm doing this program and I have amazing people, I'm at a great school, I'm really grateful but this is not really it... What should I do? Should I come back to Mumbai again? Should I do this, do that? From being that, having lived so many years as someone that really felt like was cut out for something else and not knowing how or when... I don't have any kind of entertainment background in my field, so there's nothing that really had a path.
So, the most surprising thing is that I am literally doing it. Sometimes I wake up and I'm like, Is this really happening? That is honestly the most surprising, beautiful gift. That dream that I close my eyes and I sent out in the universe so many times as a teenager, sometimes crying, sometimes frustrated, sometimes confused, it's actually happening.
That is wild.
Jackie Morreale (07:45)
Wow. Speaking of great teams, it sounds like your mom was a huge support system for you and supportive. Thank you to the universe for giving back everything you've put out there, because you really do put out a lot and make a lot of people come together and be happy. Thanks, mom! Shout out to mom and dad!
DJ Prashant (08:00)
Yeah. Thanks, mom and dad. In fact, I have a quick detour, and then we'll come back.
My mom is such a pragmatist, so practical. Even now, it's not necessarily always like this, or always going up whichever direction on the camera is going up, you have waves. Sometimes I'll mess with my mom when I'm like, Mom, it's been so hard, et cetera, et cetera. I count how many seconds it'll be before my mom's like, You should do an MBA or get a job or something. She's very much in that. It's changing now that it's been so long, and she knows that I'm trying to tease her. But I've got to acknowledge my dad, who was
much more than anybody else in my life. I was honestly also very surprised by that. Indian parents, Indian culture, especially if you go back 15, 16 years, it wasn't like, Oh yeah, absolutely, DJ, that sounds great. Anything that's not part of a stable income, a stable way of supporting yourself was very much like, What are you doing?!
And out of care.
Everybody in my life was telling me, What are you doing? Are you sure? You should really think about this, and would give examples of other people who tried and failed. They were doing it from a place of care.
I understood it then I understand it now, but my dad was one person who's like, If you're feeling it in your heart, go for it. I want to acknowledge my dad for that, and also my mom for supporting me and being that pragmatic ear or voice in my ear, too.
Jackie Morreale (09:24)
Wow, so you really have like the yin and the yang between your parents. You have the visionary dad who's going to support your artistic dreams. By the way, I think most ethnic families are very similar, in that you want stability and you want a better life for your kids. You want it to be easier for your kids, right? And families in general, we're both parents - you always want your kids to have the safe, stable path.
DJ Prashant (09:47)
It hard to juggle both. It's like, Yeah, I want you to do everything that you would really want to do, but I also want to make sure that you make a living. All of those are realities and very much part of the wisdom of life, you know?
Jackie Morreale (09:59)
You're smart and your mom knows that you're smart. You have your master’s from Cornell. Yes, you could get a PhD or an MBA in your sleep, but not everybody can do what you're doing. Just this past week, I lost my grandmother who was 99. It really makes me think: if you haven’t done your DJ thing, if I didn't start my podcast, one day we're going to be old and we're going to say, What if...
DJ Prashant (10:18)
Yeah!
Jackie Morreale (10:19)
Right? If you don't try, then for sure you'll never succeed in it. But if you try and you keep going, one day you will. I'm convinced.
DJ Prashant (10:24)
Yeah, that is 100 % true. I literally remember telling myself that. I was 27 when I quit Intel. I was like, randomly, until 35, I was like, I don't want to be 35 and look back at this moment and think I could have done something else. At the time, 35 felt so old, you know, but now... but now I'm realizing…
The older I get, the more I realized that: There is no such thing as this age or that age. Anybody watching this podcast at any time who wants to be different can start that process.
The journey itself is so beautiful and so rewarding. I've had the opportunity to travel the world, perform, bring people together in places I never thought I would even visit. I've DJed in Peru, in Colombia, and other South American countries.
To be able to connect with people. It's just fantastic. I had the sound engineer of Nirvana helping me figure out this thing that was happening with my laptop in the middle of my DJ set in Peru. It was just wild. I was like... It's happening right now.
He had retired and lived there and found out that I was coming there to DJ and decided to show up and introduce himself. It was just so beautiful.
Jackie Morreale (11:29)
You're living this dream life. You had this dream since you were a teenager, to be an entertainer, DJ, musician, dancer. This path that you've taken, has, like you said, ups and downs and waves and it's really come up with so many other blessings that maybe you hadn't have anticipated, right? This worldwide travel, different languages, different cultures, bringing Bollywood to Peru, like you just mentioned, collaborating with a Nirvana sound guy. So many cool unexpected things. I'm circling back to the last question.
Sounds like surprises probably happen to you every day, Prashant!
DJ Prashant (12:09)
That is so true, Jackie. In fact, one of my favorite things, in spite of all the challenges, of which there are many, is to be able to manage a business, et cetera.
One of my favorite things is that I have no idea what my next phone call, next email, next text message is going to be. Like you! Like you reached out to me and I was just so happy, and now here we are talking.
It's the journey of taking on something that is wanting to come that is maybe not necessarily a path that is very well traveled. It also has amazing surprises all along the way.
Jackie Morreale (12:43)
That's so sweet that you included me in those amazing surprises. Oh man, I definitely agree. That's the best part about being creative and being open to new ideas and an uncharted journey. People probably said to you when you left Intel at 27, What are you doing, man? You have the ideal job. Everybody wants this job. Everybody's trying to get this job. You have all the right stuff on paper.
DJ Prashant (12:46)
It's true.
Jackie Morreale (13:07)
And somehow your ladder was up against the wrong wall. I just heard this quote. I think it's great. You're climbing the ladder, but it's up against the wrong wall, right? So even if you have to start at the bottom rung and work your way up, at least it's up against the wall that you want it to be on. How amazing is that, that all these blessings have come as a result of following your inner intuition and your dreams?
DJ Prashant (13:13)
Yeah, that is an amazing quote. I love that. I'm going to remember that.
Jackie Morreale (13:33)
Let's talk about your big break, because every creative person who's been doing this for 16 years has one. Is there a particular moment or moments that kind of shifted what you're doing from passion to profession?
DJ Prashant (13:46)
I guess there are several, but one that really comes to my mind right now. It is a really interesting thing that happened very early on. To be clear: I had no idea what a DJ is when I was growing up. Until I met you, I probably had no idea what a DJ was. I had never gone partying, never gone clubbing.
Jackie Morreale (14:08)
I don't believe you, by the way. Impossible.
DJ Prashant (14:12)
100 % fact of life. When I quit Intel, I wanted to go to India and do Indian Idol, like singing. DJing was not even in the realm of things. I was literally thrown into it by my friend who was like, I'm throwing a fundraiser, I want you to play music. I was like, what are you talking about? It was something that really just came into my life.
After I had quit my job, I was supposed to get up at 5am and practice singing all day pretty much. At the same time, my friend asked me to do this thing for a fundraiser. I bought this $75 little device and it behaved like a $75 little device because I would press the button and it was just a little moody. It would do the thing that it needed to do a second later, two and a half seconds later. You never knew when it was actually going to do the thing. It was practically impossible to DJ with it.
Jackie Morreale (15:00)
Don't tell me what tech it was. I don't want to know the brand. No bad shout outs...
DJ Prashant (15:00)
Yeah, exactly. That's not the tech you want. I finally invested $300 and got myself a really simple but professional gear that would do the thing. I just started to learn what DJing was. This is very, very early on. I'm not even thinking DJing as a career.
It's more like, I got one gig at a small place in Portland once a month, but I wanted to do a good job of it while I was doing it. So I started to just learn. Before I knew it, I was trying to figure out a way to mix two songs together. Then from two became, let's try to do a 10-minute set, to a one-hour set. I would upload them before there was SoundCloud to some other website.
A friend of mine, I met him at Cornell and he used to work at Aloft hotels. They're normally by airports. He was on the treadmill listening to this DJ set that I sent to all my friends from Cornell and at the end of the treadmill, he is like, Today I was listening to this thing that Prashant sent me and I felt like my jogging, like my treadmill session, was better because of it.
So he called me and he invited me to come and DJ at his hotel. He said, I'll cover your flight. I'll pay you a little bit, but at least you'll get an opportunity to come out.
Then I called about 40 different nightclubs in Boston, in Washington, DC. I was going to Virginia to see him. In New York City, there was this European promoter from a small club in Hell's Kitchen called Karma. He called me back.
He was the only one who called me back.
He said, I heard your voicemail. I had left this on a Thursday. I needed to DJ on a Thursday night and I could bring hundred people. He said, I heard you can bring a hundred people on a Thursday night. If you bring a hundred people, I'll pay you $150; if you bring fewer than a 100 people, you're not getting paid. I said yes and I went.
Jackie Morreale (16:50)
Where was I, by the way? I was in New York. I want to go to Karma in Hell's Kitchen. Seriously.
DJ Prashant (16:52)
I wish I had, that would have been amazing.
Jackie Morreale (16:58)
See a star born like that on a Thursday night, I would have dropped everything! Are you kidding me? I would have totally been your whatever, 100th person or 200th person or whatever.
DJ Prashant (17:04)
There were 40 people who came.
(Continued below)
DJ Prashant in action around the world:
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(Continued)
Jackie Morreale (17:08)
So 40! That's still a lot for a Thursday night.
DJ Prashant (17:12)
Me and my 40 disciples, you know? So I didn't get paid, but he really liked what I did, I guess, in a way. I didn't learn DJing from YouTube or anybody else, no school or anything. I was doing things based on what felt right to me. He connected with that. He said, Look, I'm not going to pay you but if you want to come back on Saturday (because my gig in Virginia was Friday), come back on Saturday, I will ask my regular DJ to step aside and pay you then.
After that, I kept coming back to New York for several months.
So, your question was, what was the thing that really made me feel like this is something real? Now coming close to answering.
Jackie Morreale (17:51)
The moment? Yes. So the big break. What was the moment when things shifted from passion to profession?
DJ Prashant (17:57)
Yeah. From just being in my bedroom making these mixes to all of a sudden DJing in a nightclub in New York City, and this was an interesting club that went on till 5 a.m. I would start DJing at 10 p.m. Then from 10 to 2 a.m. I would DJ to the first crowd that was the regular, most nightclubs end at 2 a.m. Then from like 2 to 2.30 it would be a bit quiet, but then 2:30 to 5 a.m. would be that wave of the after-hours people.
I would DJ like to seven hours non-stop from a cutout where people couldn't see me. You know, the thing that DJing has become now where you're on the platform and you're raising your hand up? It wasn't exactly like that when I started. I was not even visible to people. I had to peep through a small hole to see what people are doing.
But it was seven hours of being on that journey.
At the end of the night, I would be like, Let's go! Wired up even more. That was that early break moment for me, where I started to realize that I needed to take this more seriously. I'm doing it for seven hours and I'm not tired, or I'm not done with it. In fact, I'm already excited to do it all over again.
Jackie Morreale (19:02)
You're a machine. That's just pure love poured into everything that you're doing. I'm surprised you don't live in New York right now but I know Portland's got you quite busy on the West Coast.
DJ Prashant (19:07)
Yeah. My yin yang. I love being in the middle of it, but I also really enjoy, you know, Ithaca! Maybe Ithaca did it to me. I swear, Jackie, when I was there, I thought to myself, I should just retire here. I fell in love with the slow pace of Ithaca. Even though I came from Mumbai, such a busy city, the opposite of it really attracted me. I think Portland is like a good middle ground, of going out on weekends to different places and being really busy, but then come back to something that's more home, you know?
Jackie Morreale (19:43)
There's something magical about Ithaca, if we're relating it to Portland. Very different to go on a Saturday night to Hell's Kitchen and rock the house for seven hours and then be able to go home, enjoy the community. It is such an amazing community up there. There are so many intellectuals who really care about the environment, and so many hiking and skiing opportunities. There's kind of something for everybody.
DJ Prashant (20:06)
Yes. Must visit Portland.
Jackie Morreale (20:08)
Must visit. I know you have a big show on Saturday. Let's go to the next question. Has your definition of success changed over time? And if so, how?
DJ Prashant (20:19)
Yeah, definitely. When I was a teenager, success was this: if I were a multi-millionaire and with billions of fans, that is what really attracted me, or that was what it was like, even, put in front of me. I was in Mumbai, and it was the ultimate dream city.
Now to me, success really looks like how inspired are the people that are around you? Working with you, through the thing that you're doing. On a basic level, how happy am I doing what I'm getting to do?
It doesn't have to necessarily be that I have to be 100 % happy all the time because that is just not the reality that we live in, but to be able to just have the more fundamental focus on it. Also, how present am I able to be, whether it's time spent with my daughter or the next project I'm working on? I think those fundamental things are definitions of success because if those things are in the right place, then the result kind of comes from there.
Jackie Morreale (21:20)
Man, I love this conversation. I'm going to the next one, because I can't wait to hear what you have to say. On culture, joy, and Jai Ho!, which I know from Slumdog Millionaire, right? Jai Ho! is so exciting, triumphant, victorious. What was the reaction when you first brought Bollywood music to the Portland scene?
DJ Prashant (21:40)
That's a good question. The truth is, so many people still in Portland are discovering me. We live in our own bubbles, and so every time a new person experiences it, it's very refreshing for the most part. People love getting to know it. As I mentioned earlier, I used to go to Hell's Kitchen and DJ there.
The audience there was so eclectic, it was people from all over the world. So I would throw in Euro house and then Sunday I'm playing top 40 and African music and Indian music and reggaeton and it was like a mix mash of everything. I was a young DJ, so it was very hard for me to like. My next DJ set would always be influenced by what I had played the night before or so to say, the last time.
So, I would come to Portland, and I would DJ at my Jai Ho! Bollywood party but invariably these other songs would come into my mix because they were just floating around in my head. Some people would literally come up to me and be like, We came for a Bollywood party; can you play more Indian music?
Jackie Morreale (22:45)
Are you serious? They heckled you?
DJ Prashant (22:48)
I love food. So, I like to relate things on food. If you go to a place that is claiming it's an Indian restaurant and then you order what you think is chicken tikka and then suddenly you have Mexican spices or something, something is going to feel different.
I appreciate the people who would say that to me. Although in the moment I was like probably not very excited because obviously I was playing a song because I was really feeling it.
Jackie Morreale (23:12)
You're the Bollywood dream, right? You came from Mumbai, you're living this dream, you're it. So, you're the artist. Whatever is flowing through your veins is it, in my opinion, whatever genre of music it happens to be.
DJ Prashant (23:23)
Listen to Jackie, anybody who is requesting songs should listen to her.
Jackie Morreale (23:29)
I'm telling you, you're the artist. You set the tone, man. Here you are flying around the world, DJing for these amazing venues and mixing it up and making people feel stuff. Then you get home and they're like, you're not playing enough Indian music.
By the way, Indian music is amazing. I remember those days back at Cornell. The Bangra dance team, how big it was, and the following, and the excitement and the happiness. I love to do Zumba personally. Every time I'm at Zumba, we play Bollywood or Bangra style dance and I love how it does play well with house and with reggaeton and with all the different kinds of music. African music, trance, whatever from around the world. That's what it is.
DJ Prashant (24:12)
Yeah, and literally for the last four years on my YouTube. Right after COVID, I came up with this thing: I really need to be living my dream more, rather than just day-to-day operations. So on my YouTube, I put out a lot of content. I've literally made mashups of Bollywood with reggaeton, with techno, with house music, with Afrobeats. It's been really fun to bridge the gap in that way.
Jackie Morreale (24:34)
Well, that's really what you do. What is it about Bollywood music in particular that's able to transform a room?
DJ Prashant (24:42)
I feel like the energy is just on. Even when you're at Zumba, I wonder if this is your experience, where the energy level with everything else was here, and then, like an Indian song, no matter if it is Bollywood, Bhangra comes on, and the energy goes right over there. It's over-the-top high energy.
There's a lot of romance, and there's a lot of emotion, and there's a lot of like rich musical heritage. It draws from classical Indian classical music a lot. I love all of that, but if I were to pinpoint one thing that is so distinct about Indian pop music, it's the energy. It can be just so high energy and sometimes difficult.
I see people I wouldn't say struggle but confused, like how is it that a dance party can have such a high energy for such a long time. There are people that come out that will stay there that way, 10 pm to 2 am, they're going hard, non-stop.
It's not a normal sort of a human experience but I feel like going through that leaves you in a state of like a burden off. Like at the end of that night, you're just spent energetically and therefore your cup is ready to be filled again, and hopefully with really good vibes.
Jackie Morreale (25:54)
Man, I love that comparison to your cup being spent so that you're open to new things, new opportunities and not being spent because you're exhausted, but it's renewing what you have, right?
Jai Ho! I know it's central to your work. What does it mean to you?
DJ Prashant (26:13)
Thank you for asking that. I heard the term growing up in India more times than I can count. It's like hallelujah in a way, that's how old it is. It's pretty much as old as the language. Jai Ho literally means, in English, Be victorious. But to me, I was honestly very reluctant to name my parties that, because Slumdog Millionaire had just come out and I didn't want to sound like a sellout.
I want to give credit to Mike Walker who works for McMenamins, which is a big, really cool company here in Oregon and Washington. He's the marketing director there. He was working with me on these parties and he kind of like encouraged me to like think about this name. I'm glad I did because it is something that I truly resonate with the meaning of. My hesitation was just the fact that it had been part of Slumdog Millionaire. But I had to just go past that and be like, Yeah, this is truly what it is. It is that force out on, whether it's social media, whether you hear it as a song, or whether you hear it as a promotion.
The bottom line is to go past your difficulties.
Make your effort to be victorious.
Every time my dance troupe and I have a practice, we come together and we say Jai Ho! at the end of it. Every choreography is a challenge; when you've when it first comes on, we're not sure how it's going to look and how it's going to feel. Then we find our way through it.
Jai Ho is: Be victorious. You could use it as your mantra to bring some energy.
Jackie Morreale (27:34)
Well, Jai Ho! to that. So not only are you making the music, making the music videos. Managing a company, by the way, you're also mixing the beats, you're also performing for seven hours in Hell's Kitchen or wherever around the world. You're so many things, I don't have enough fingers. You're also coming up with original choreography, which you practice with your troupe and then perform at your Jai Ho! parties in Portland and around the world?
DJ Prashant (28:02)
Yeah, that is, I teach them. That is part of what really keeps me in Portland is that my dance community is here. It is not something I post actively on social media as much; they're my family. We meet regularly and work on choreographies. This Saturday, we're performing a song that I'm really excited about.
We just had our last practice yesterday and it's come together really well. That is something that I'm really passionate about, to be in a room and focus on dance. I love that I get to spend time like that.
I hope more people, whether it's Zumba, whichever way, whichever way you have access to be able to bring dance into your life. Whether it's just you in your kitchen cooking food and dancing, whatever the case may be.
Dancing is so important in our lives.
Jackie Morreale (28:50)
I really could use some Jai Ho! party next time I go to my kitchen or the gym or whatever the club the restaurant. I really see this thing blowing up everywhere around the world. What you guys are doing on the west coast is amazing. I know you personally have performed around the world, but I would love to see the team that you've built, this community of dancers, explode. More to come.
Let's talk about the business side a little bit. You gave a TEDx talk. Oh man. Is there anything you cannot do? I'm going to add public speaker, inspirational speaker to the list of things that you do.
So you gave your TEDx talk now 14 years ago, and this was just two years into your journey. I had to look at the date, because my gosh, you were so polished, and it was so informative, and energy-filled, and inspiring. I literally got up off my feet when I'm watching you on YouTube, because you also ended with a teaching session for your own choreography of this amazing Jai Ho! dance session.
If you were to do another one today, what is one insight that you would add?
DJ Prashant (29:55)
Thank you, that's a good question. Thank you, it's hard for me to honestly watch that TedX talk.
There are things that happen that we have no control over that are major setbacks in many, many ways.
It doesn't remain this dreamy journey all the time. We go through waves. I lost a really dear friend three years back. Tore my ACL dancing right after COVID. There are things that happen and those things are always a time to check in and see if this journey is really feeling like that.
That this is the path for you. For me, I like to assess, do a deeper check-in, and see how I'm feeling. If you tear an ACL or you lose a friend, obviously that is such a big scar in different ways.
In that moment when I am done DJing, when I've finished that high moment, if I'm able to like pause and be like, How's this feeling? Like the thing that I'm working, how is that feeling? It's good to check in. If that ever happens to me where DJing is not fun or teaching dance is not fun, et cetera, I might need to just see what else needs to happen and it's okay.
It's not a one-and-done. It's not like you switch from one career to another and then you're done.
It's more like life is a journey, and the idea is to be able to honor that voice within us, that sometimes whispers or sometimes is really loud or sometimes it's not even accessible to us, but we can tell that something is muffling in another room.
I think the idea is to honor that side of us and bring it in.
It's a journey, which is what I would say.
Jackie Morreale (31:33)
I agree. I think one of the hardest things is acknowledging and trusting your own inner feelings enough to actually follow them. Now, you have a proven track record of doing it that it works for you. But when it first starts, you're like, all right, I know something's off, this doesn't make me feel good or whatever. Like you said, sometimes it yells, but sometimes it whispers. How do I listen?
I think it takes like a really wise person like you to acknowledge that you do have to check in with yourself.
DJ Prashant (31:59)
Yeah, that's right.
(Continued below)
Jackie Morreale (17:08)
So 40! That's still a lot for a Thursday night.
DJ Prashant (17:12)
Me and my 40 disciples, you know? So I didn't get paid, but he really liked what I did, I guess, in a way. I didn't learn DJing from YouTube or anybody else, no school or anything. I was doing things based on what felt right to me. He connected with that. He said, Look, I'm not going to pay you but if you want to come back on Saturday (because my gig in Virginia was Friday), come back on Saturday, I will ask my regular DJ to step aside and pay you then.
After that, I kept coming back to New York for several months.
So, your question was, what was the thing that really made me feel like this is something real? Now coming close to answering.
Jackie Morreale (17:51)
The moment? Yes. So the big break. What was the moment when things shifted from passion to profession?
DJ Prashant (17:57)
Yeah. From just being in my bedroom making these mixes to all of a sudden DJing in a nightclub in New York City, and this was an interesting club that went on till 5 a.m. I would start DJing at 10 p.m. Then from 10 to 2 a.m. I would DJ to the first crowd that was the regular, most nightclubs end at 2 a.m. Then from like 2 to 2.30 it would be a bit quiet, but then 2:30 to 5 a.m. would be that wave of the after-hours people.
I would DJ like to seven hours non-stop from a cutout where people couldn't see me. You know, the thing that DJing has become now where you're on the platform and you're raising your hand up? It wasn't exactly like that when I started. I was not even visible to people. I had to peep through a small hole to see what people are doing.
But it was seven hours of being on that journey.
At the end of the night, I would be like, Let's go! Wired up even more. That was that early break moment for me, where I started to realize that I needed to take this more seriously. I'm doing it for seven hours and I'm not tired, or I'm not done with it. In fact, I'm already excited to do it all over again.
Jackie Morreale (19:02)
You're a machine. That's just pure love poured into everything that you're doing. I'm surprised you don't live in New York right now but I know Portland's got you quite busy on the West Coast.
DJ Prashant (19:07)
Yeah. My yin yang. I love being in the middle of it, but I also really enjoy, you know, Ithaca! Maybe Ithaca did it to me. I swear, Jackie, when I was there, I thought to myself, I should just retire here. I fell in love with the slow pace of Ithaca. Even though I came from Mumbai, such a busy city, the opposite of it really attracted me. I think Portland is like a good middle ground, of going out on weekends to different places and being really busy, but then come back to something that's more home, you know?
Jackie Morreale (19:43)
There's something magical about Ithaca, if we're relating it to Portland. Very different to go on a Saturday night to Hell's Kitchen and rock the house for seven hours and then be able to go home, enjoy the community. It is such an amazing community up there. There are so many intellectuals who really care about the environment, and so many hiking and skiing opportunities. There's kind of something for everybody.
DJ Prashant (20:06)
Yes. Must visit Portland.
Jackie Morreale (20:08)
Must visit. I know you have a big show on Saturday. Let's go to the next question. Has your definition of success changed over time? And if so, how?
DJ Prashant (20:19)
Yeah, definitely. When I was a teenager, success was this: if I were a multi-millionaire and with billions of fans, that is what really attracted me, or that was what it was like, even, put in front of me. I was in Mumbai, and it was the ultimate dream city.
Now to me, success really looks like how inspired are the people that are around you? Working with you, through the thing that you're doing. On a basic level, how happy am I doing what I'm getting to do?
It doesn't have to necessarily be that I have to be 100 % happy all the time because that is just not the reality that we live in, but to be able to just have the more fundamental focus on it. Also, how present am I able to be, whether it's time spent with my daughter or the next project I'm working on? I think those fundamental things are definitions of success because if those things are in the right place, then the result kind of comes from there.
Jackie Morreale (21:20)
Man, I love this conversation. I'm going to the next one, because I can't wait to hear what you have to say. On culture, joy, and Jai Ho!, which I know from Slumdog Millionaire, right? Jai Ho! is so exciting, triumphant, victorious. What was the reaction when you first brought Bollywood music to the Portland scene?
DJ Prashant (21:40)
That's a good question. The truth is, so many people still in Portland are discovering me. We live in our own bubbles, and so every time a new person experiences it, it's very refreshing for the most part. People love getting to know it. As I mentioned earlier, I used to go to Hell's Kitchen and DJ there.
The audience there was so eclectic, it was people from all over the world. So I would throw in Euro house and then Sunday I'm playing top 40 and African music and Indian music and reggaeton and it was like a mix mash of everything. I was a young DJ, so it was very hard for me to like. My next DJ set would always be influenced by what I had played the night before or so to say, the last time.
So, I would come to Portland, and I would DJ at my Jai Ho! Bollywood party but invariably these other songs would come into my mix because they were just floating around in my head. Some people would literally come up to me and be like, We came for a Bollywood party; can you play more Indian music?
Jackie Morreale (22:45)
Are you serious? They heckled you?
DJ Prashant (22:48)
I love food. So, I like to relate things on food. If you go to a place that is claiming it's an Indian restaurant and then you order what you think is chicken tikka and then suddenly you have Mexican spices or something, something is going to feel different.
I appreciate the people who would say that to me. Although in the moment I was like probably not very excited because obviously I was playing a song because I was really feeling it.
Jackie Morreale (23:12)
You're the Bollywood dream, right? You came from Mumbai, you're living this dream, you're it. So, you're the artist. Whatever is flowing through your veins is it, in my opinion, whatever genre of music it happens to be.
DJ Prashant (23:23)
Listen to Jackie, anybody who is requesting songs should listen to her.
Jackie Morreale (23:29)
I'm telling you, you're the artist. You set the tone, man. Here you are flying around the world, DJing for these amazing venues and mixing it up and making people feel stuff. Then you get home and they're like, you're not playing enough Indian music.
By the way, Indian music is amazing. I remember those days back at Cornell. The Bangra dance team, how big it was, and the following, and the excitement and the happiness. I love to do Zumba personally. Every time I'm at Zumba, we play Bollywood or Bangra style dance and I love how it does play well with house and with reggaeton and with all the different kinds of music. African music, trance, whatever from around the world. That's what it is.
DJ Prashant (24:12)
Yeah, and literally for the last four years on my YouTube. Right after COVID, I came up with this thing: I really need to be living my dream more, rather than just day-to-day operations. So on my YouTube, I put out a lot of content. I've literally made mashups of Bollywood with reggaeton, with techno, with house music, with Afrobeats. It's been really fun to bridge the gap in that way.
Jackie Morreale (24:34)
Well, that's really what you do. What is it about Bollywood music in particular that's able to transform a room?
DJ Prashant (24:42)
I feel like the energy is just on. Even when you're at Zumba, I wonder if this is your experience, where the energy level with everything else was here, and then, like an Indian song, no matter if it is Bollywood, Bhangra comes on, and the energy goes right over there. It's over-the-top high energy.
There's a lot of romance, and there's a lot of emotion, and there's a lot of like rich musical heritage. It draws from classical Indian classical music a lot. I love all of that, but if I were to pinpoint one thing that is so distinct about Indian pop music, it's the energy. It can be just so high energy and sometimes difficult.
I see people I wouldn't say struggle but confused, like how is it that a dance party can have such a high energy for such a long time. There are people that come out that will stay there that way, 10 pm to 2 am, they're going hard, non-stop.
It's not a normal sort of a human experience but I feel like going through that leaves you in a state of like a burden off. Like at the end of that night, you're just spent energetically and therefore your cup is ready to be filled again, and hopefully with really good vibes.
Jackie Morreale (25:54)
Man, I love that comparison to your cup being spent so that you're open to new things, new opportunities and not being spent because you're exhausted, but it's renewing what you have, right?
Jai Ho! I know it's central to your work. What does it mean to you?
DJ Prashant (26:13)
Thank you for asking that. I heard the term growing up in India more times than I can count. It's like hallelujah in a way, that's how old it is. It's pretty much as old as the language. Jai Ho literally means, in English, Be victorious. But to me, I was honestly very reluctant to name my parties that, because Slumdog Millionaire had just come out and I didn't want to sound like a sellout.
I want to give credit to Mike Walker who works for McMenamins, which is a big, really cool company here in Oregon and Washington. He's the marketing director there. He was working with me on these parties and he kind of like encouraged me to like think about this name. I'm glad I did because it is something that I truly resonate with the meaning of. My hesitation was just the fact that it had been part of Slumdog Millionaire. But I had to just go past that and be like, Yeah, this is truly what it is. It is that force out on, whether it's social media, whether you hear it as a song, or whether you hear it as a promotion.
The bottom line is to go past your difficulties.
Make your effort to be victorious.
Every time my dance troupe and I have a practice, we come together and we say Jai Ho! at the end of it. Every choreography is a challenge; when you've when it first comes on, we're not sure how it's going to look and how it's going to feel. Then we find our way through it.
Jai Ho is: Be victorious. You could use it as your mantra to bring some energy.
Jackie Morreale (27:34)
Well, Jai Ho! to that. So not only are you making the music, making the music videos. Managing a company, by the way, you're also mixing the beats, you're also performing for seven hours in Hell's Kitchen or wherever around the world. You're so many things, I don't have enough fingers. You're also coming up with original choreography, which you practice with your troupe and then perform at your Jai Ho! parties in Portland and around the world?
DJ Prashant (28:02)
Yeah, that is, I teach them. That is part of what really keeps me in Portland is that my dance community is here. It is not something I post actively on social media as much; they're my family. We meet regularly and work on choreographies. This Saturday, we're performing a song that I'm really excited about.
We just had our last practice yesterday and it's come together really well. That is something that I'm really passionate about, to be in a room and focus on dance. I love that I get to spend time like that.
I hope more people, whether it's Zumba, whichever way, whichever way you have access to be able to bring dance into your life. Whether it's just you in your kitchen cooking food and dancing, whatever the case may be.
Dancing is so important in our lives.
Jackie Morreale (28:50)
I really could use some Jai Ho! party next time I go to my kitchen or the gym or whatever the club the restaurant. I really see this thing blowing up everywhere around the world. What you guys are doing on the west coast is amazing. I know you personally have performed around the world, but I would love to see the team that you've built, this community of dancers, explode. More to come.
Let's talk about the business side a little bit. You gave a TEDx talk. Oh man. Is there anything you cannot do? I'm going to add public speaker, inspirational speaker to the list of things that you do.
So you gave your TEDx talk now 14 years ago, and this was just two years into your journey. I had to look at the date, because my gosh, you were so polished, and it was so informative, and energy-filled, and inspiring. I literally got up off my feet when I'm watching you on YouTube, because you also ended with a teaching session for your own choreography of this amazing Jai Ho! dance session.
If you were to do another one today, what is one insight that you would add?
DJ Prashant (29:55)
Thank you, that's a good question. Thank you, it's hard for me to honestly watch that TedX talk.
There are things that happen that we have no control over that are major setbacks in many, many ways.
It doesn't remain this dreamy journey all the time. We go through waves. I lost a really dear friend three years back. Tore my ACL dancing right after COVID. There are things that happen and those things are always a time to check in and see if this journey is really feeling like that.
That this is the path for you. For me, I like to assess, do a deeper check-in, and see how I'm feeling. If you tear an ACL or you lose a friend, obviously that is such a big scar in different ways.
In that moment when I am done DJing, when I've finished that high moment, if I'm able to like pause and be like, How's this feeling? Like the thing that I'm working, how is that feeling? It's good to check in. If that ever happens to me where DJing is not fun or teaching dance is not fun, et cetera, I might need to just see what else needs to happen and it's okay.
It's not a one-and-done. It's not like you switch from one career to another and then you're done.
It's more like life is a journey, and the idea is to be able to honor that voice within us, that sometimes whispers or sometimes is really loud or sometimes it's not even accessible to us, but we can tell that something is muffling in another room.
I think the idea is to honor that side of us and bring it in.
It's a journey, which is what I would say.
Jackie Morreale (31:33)
I agree. I think one of the hardest things is acknowledging and trusting your own inner feelings enough to actually follow them. Now, you have a proven track record of doing it that it works for you. But when it first starts, you're like, all right, I know something's off, this doesn't make me feel good or whatever. Like you said, sometimes it yells, but sometimes it whispers. How do I listen?
I think it takes like a really wise person like you to acknowledge that you do have to check in with yourself.
DJ Prashant (31:59)
Yeah, that's right.
(Continued below)
DJ Prashant photos
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Watch DJ Prashant's TedX Talk (2011):
(Continued)
Jackie Morreale (32:00)
For someone torn between the safe path and the calling of any kind that whispers or shouts, what wisdom would you offer?
DJ Prashant (32:08)
I try my best to practice now as well, and I pay attention to things that I'm doing that I'm not required to do. I'm not supposed to do them, but I love to do them, or I am almost obsessed with them and I can't stop doing them.
I think that if you have anything like that, it doesn't even mean that you're actually doing it. It could be that you're thinking about doing it, but you can't stop thinking about doing it.
Anything that is repetitive; it's okay if it defies logic. It's okay if it defies your reality. But if that is coming in any form, to be able to do something about it.
I had no idea I was going to teach dance and choreograph and all of that, but I loved to dance. I would just show up to any dance class. Anything. I would travel. In Ithaca, I would travel 20 miles on my 1989 Honda Civic on a Tuesday night just to salsa dance.
Jackie Morreale (33:02)
Where was their salsa dance in that area?
DJ Prashant (33:05)
Okay, so I had a whole routine in Ithaca. I danced four to five nights a week. Thursday night at Olivia's, Tuesday nights at Common Grounds.
Jackie Morreale (33:14)
The Common Grounds? Seriously. I had no idea how cool my TA was.
At that time, you said you wanted to be a DJ, a dancer, all these things, but I had no idea that you were actively doing this at night. So you don't sleep?
DJ Prashant (33:28)
I was just dancing. I was really frustrated with my life and dance was a very good escape, where I could just forget about all these existential stressors that I used to have and instead I would just go out and dance.
Including that, whatever it is that you are finding, you've got to act, even if the thing that you want to do feels like it's over there, and what you're doing is a little thing over there.
The little things, the little actions, one thing leads to another.
Like maybe you see yourself as a yoga teacher, but you've never taken a yoga class or you don't have the means to do it. Show up to one community yoga class that's like $5 and just attend. You never know, you might strike a conversation with a teacher there and they happen to have a scholarship they're offering and maybe you're the perfect fit for it. Next thing you know, you are that yoga teacher. You just never know what can come if you give yourself an opportunity to do an action that is at least in the same universe as whatever it is that you think you have a vision of. If you have a vision.
And if you don't have a vision but you're still feeling like what I'm doing is not for me, like I am doing a really cool creative work but really it's not for me... do what is it that you're feeling like doing, even if it's like, I feel like going to theaters and watching movies all the time. Do it, give yourself the opportunity to make yourself happy and treat yourself. Basically, treat yourself.
Oftentimes, these things come out of the #treatyourself way of life.
Keep giving yourself the opportunities, no matter how little it is and no matter how seemingly unrelated it is, because you just never know.
Jackie Morreale (35:04)
Man, if you hadn't uploaded your stuff to SoundCloud, and your buddy at the hotel, hadn't heard it on the treadmill and gotten you in, then you're making all these calls and got into Hell's Kitchen. There's such the snowball effect. Giving yourself permission to treat yourself. I agree.
It's all about the baby steps. So let's do a little bit of a quick fire question session, and find out more about your favorite things. You ready to ask this, Prashant? Okay. Favorite food?
DJ Prashant (35:25)
Indian food!
Jackie Morreale (35:30)
Favorite place?
DJ Prashant (35:35)
I loved visiting Peru and in Cusco. Would love to go back. Would love to take my family there. Cornell - would love to take my daughter there.
Jackie Morreale (35:49)
Amazing. Reunion soon. I could see you on the slope rocking the house.
Favorite instrument?
DJ Prashant (35:55)
Yes! Ooh, my voice, the vocal chords.
Jackie Morreale (36:04)
I love to hear you say that. That's amazing. Favorite dance move?
DJ Prashant (36:08)
The pelvic thrust, lol.
Jackie Morreale (36:10)
Okay, no more questions asked. Favorite Bollywood movie?
DJ Prashant (36:14)
There's a movie called Tamasha. The story is very connected to your podcast and to our journey here as well. I would highly encourage Tamasha to check it out. I would recommend you, Jackie, check it out. It's a mid-2010s movie.
Jackie Morreale (36:26)
With subtitles, right? I can't wait.
Favorite up-and-coming singer? You're already 16 years in, so give somebody else a shout out.
DJ Prashant (36:34)
That is really sweet. There are a couple that I discovered on this rabbit hole on YouTube. I was just blown away by this really young Indian singer, based in India, too. I hope to get that information and link it to your podcast if we can. But so much talent.
Jackie Morreale (36:53)
Man, I totally agree. I would love to shout out a really talented young singer in India.
Favorite song to light up a crowd? What's your go-to?
DJ Prashant (37:06)
There are so many. Okay, I'm going to be a bit biased and pick a mashup of mine. ⁓ Yes, you know the song Pump It by Black Eyed Peas? I mixed that in with another Bollywood song and the lyrics of the Bollywood song are like, at least part of it is English, it's Move Your Body and so it's like a mashup of Move Your Body and Pump It.
They both have a lot of energy in a different way. Combining them together... every time I play it I see the energy in the room just shoot up and it's just amazing.
Jackie Morreale (37:40)
I can't wait to hear it. Favorite Bangra or wedding moment? Because I know you have done your share of weddings.
DJ Prashant (37:47)
I DJed a wedding in Spokane, which was before COVID. Two doctors who met in their 40s, getting married on a timeline different from most people's. Indian bride and Caucasian-American groom.
He literally, as a total surprise to her, sang this song, TUM HI HO, in Hindi and played the music and created a whole 10-minute-long performance that was so heartfelt and so beautiful. I was so touched to be there in that room with them. It was really special.
Jackie Morreale (38:18)
I'm sure that they really appreciated you being there to give them the opportunity to share that moment.
Favorite venue to perform at?
DJ Prashant (38:23)
There are so, so, so many. But right now, I'm really loving one in Seattle, there's a venue that has a 50-foot wide LED screen and about 20, 30 feet tall. It's an AR gaming venue, but it turns into a nightclub when I'm there. I love playing it.
I threw a fake Indian wedding event last year. The fake Indian wedding is basically there's no bride and groom, but then there's everything else: the Indian food, the decor, the music, the entertainment, and I used that screen for these incredible Indian backdrops of weddings. It was just so fun. Every single time. I threw a winter wonderland party recently and I had videos of like horses in the wild in the snow.
It really affords me a lot of escapism, creating spaces where you can just go and forget about everything enjoy yourself.
Jackie Morreale (39:17)
Do you ever have an event where you just show up with music? It sounds like you think of every detail. When you're there, bringing people together and entertaining them, you think of everything from what's on the screen to what you're mashing up, the dancing, the decor.
DJ Prashant (39:31)
Like a theme, theme this Saturday. Yeah, I love doing that. It's so fun to create experiences.
Jackie Morreale (39:39)
That's what it is. You're really creating experiences for people. Your creativity just exudes from you, and people pick it up. I think that's the energy that they get.
Favorite book?
DJ Prashant (39:51)
Favorite book? The Alchemist, easily. I've read it so many times, over and over and over again. I'll just go in there, pick it up, read it again, and it gets me every single time. There are new things that come out of it every time.
Jackie Morreale (40:02)
Isn't that the best? You could open up any page and get something new out of it.
Favorite quote for life? If you have one.
DJ Prashant (40:09)
It's funny that you're asking me this because we met at Cornell and as part of my application for Cornell, I had to write a statement of purpose and there was a quote, by Paul J. Meyer, that was how I started it. I followed this format where there's a quote and then how I explain my life around that quote. But now here I am living my life and I literally will think about that quote.
The quote is: Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, enthusiastically act upon, and sincerely believe in will inevitably come to pass.
It's such a mantra for somebody in my situation where you're trying to create this Candyland experience or winter wonderland or whatever the case may be.
There are challenges everywhere but centering myself in this ethos and principle that: Is this something I sincerely believe in? Is this something that I ardently desire? Is this something that I'm enthusiastically acting upon?
Because if I follow some of those things, then no matter what the outcome is, I am going to be happier because of it.
Jackie Morreale (41:10)
Wow, a quote that you used on your paper to get into Cornell 20 plus years ago? And here you are still using this amazing, inspiring quote and living your life based on it.
DJ Prashant (41:14)
Yes, that's right. Trying to. Making it a practice to try to bring myself to that level every time.
Jackie Morreale (41:26)
You must have some amazing creative juices flowing. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
So, you just let the cat out of the bag a little bit that the Sweet 16 this weekend that you're celebrating has a Candyland theme. Everybody, make sure you get your tickets to go out! It's Mission Theater, right in Portland, is your first stop.
DJ Prashant (41:32)
Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (41:46)
So, tell us a little bit more about the event. What can people expect? I'm sure people are flying in from all over the world. Give us a little bit of a sneak peek.
DJ Prashant (41:54)
Thank you. This one's really special because we are showcasing several videos that I have shot locally, featuring other local artists to my music, whether it's mashups and other music I've created. It's part of a grant that I won from the Regional Arts and Cultural Council.
So, 8 to 9 p.m., you come in. It's a theater, so we're going to put that screen to some good use.
9 PM, I'm going to teach everybody dance lessons, bringing back that older tradition from my journey. Everybody comes to learn a dance move, and my dance group's going to perform.
Then, of course, it's a party after that. But here's the thing. I have like giant candies we have been making as part of this. We're going to create this Candyland experience, so please come dressed like it's your birthday party. There's going to be a cake that we will enjoy at the end of the night.
Jackie Morreale (42:43)
You got the viewing, the lesson, the performance, the party, the after party, the cake at the end. Visionary, my friend.
DJ Prashant (42:53)
I'm now even more pumped to get together and party.
Jackie Morreale (42:57)
When people walk into one of your events, like this one on Saturday, the Candyland and the Sweet 16, how do you want them to feel?
DJ Prashant (43:03)
I would love to always be somebody who surprises people with the experiences.
I'm not just saying me, my team, or my dance troupe.
This is the biggest thing that I want people to take away: I am one part of many creatives who like to hold space for Music and Dance to bring us together and give a sense of community, and a real community. There are communities around Music and Dance and those are the best communities.
Jackie Morreale (43:28)
Best communities!
When you walk into a space and you're surrounded by the people that you're describing, the community that you're describing, you can just feel it. It's palpable. There's a pulse.
The world needs more DJ Prashant.
DJ Prashant (43:40)
Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (43:40)
Thank you so much for everything you're doing. Thank you for always being that voice of inspiration. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
I don't know why we met all those years ago, but I really appreciate you being there. Then, now, future. Keep doing what you're doing and making people happy around the world.
DJ Prashant (43:57)
I genuinely want to take the time to also thank you, Jackie, for holding such an amazing space.
Spending this time with you, it just feels uplifting to be in your presence.
That is exactly how I felt, even all those years back when we first connected. I was like, this is somebody who holds a big amount of joy in their heart, and they are happy to share that with the world.
I'm really, really glad that you tapped on me to come on your podcast and that you're doing this journey, and that there are people all over the world that are getting inspired from your journey. Thank you for bringing me on and allowing me to share my story with you and your audience.
Jackie Morreale (44:37)
Thank you so much, Prashant. It means a lot to me. I can't wait to see you again soon. Rock on. Jai ho! Jai ho. Have a wonderful day. Take care.
DJ Prashant (44:42)
Me too. That's right, Jai Ho!
Jackie Morreale (32:00)
For someone torn between the safe path and the calling of any kind that whispers or shouts, what wisdom would you offer?
DJ Prashant (32:08)
I try my best to practice now as well, and I pay attention to things that I'm doing that I'm not required to do. I'm not supposed to do them, but I love to do them, or I am almost obsessed with them and I can't stop doing them.
I think that if you have anything like that, it doesn't even mean that you're actually doing it. It could be that you're thinking about doing it, but you can't stop thinking about doing it.
Anything that is repetitive; it's okay if it defies logic. It's okay if it defies your reality. But if that is coming in any form, to be able to do something about it.
I had no idea I was going to teach dance and choreograph and all of that, but I loved to dance. I would just show up to any dance class. Anything. I would travel. In Ithaca, I would travel 20 miles on my 1989 Honda Civic on a Tuesday night just to salsa dance.
Jackie Morreale (33:02)
Where was their salsa dance in that area?
DJ Prashant (33:05)
Okay, so I had a whole routine in Ithaca. I danced four to five nights a week. Thursday night at Olivia's, Tuesday nights at Common Grounds.
Jackie Morreale (33:14)
The Common Grounds? Seriously. I had no idea how cool my TA was.
At that time, you said you wanted to be a DJ, a dancer, all these things, but I had no idea that you were actively doing this at night. So you don't sleep?
DJ Prashant (33:28)
I was just dancing. I was really frustrated with my life and dance was a very good escape, where I could just forget about all these existential stressors that I used to have and instead I would just go out and dance.
Including that, whatever it is that you are finding, you've got to act, even if the thing that you want to do feels like it's over there, and what you're doing is a little thing over there.
The little things, the little actions, one thing leads to another.
Like maybe you see yourself as a yoga teacher, but you've never taken a yoga class or you don't have the means to do it. Show up to one community yoga class that's like $5 and just attend. You never know, you might strike a conversation with a teacher there and they happen to have a scholarship they're offering and maybe you're the perfect fit for it. Next thing you know, you are that yoga teacher. You just never know what can come if you give yourself an opportunity to do an action that is at least in the same universe as whatever it is that you think you have a vision of. If you have a vision.
And if you don't have a vision but you're still feeling like what I'm doing is not for me, like I am doing a really cool creative work but really it's not for me... do what is it that you're feeling like doing, even if it's like, I feel like going to theaters and watching movies all the time. Do it, give yourself the opportunity to make yourself happy and treat yourself. Basically, treat yourself.
Oftentimes, these things come out of the #treatyourself way of life.
Keep giving yourself the opportunities, no matter how little it is and no matter how seemingly unrelated it is, because you just never know.
Jackie Morreale (35:04)
Man, if you hadn't uploaded your stuff to SoundCloud, and your buddy at the hotel, hadn't heard it on the treadmill and gotten you in, then you're making all these calls and got into Hell's Kitchen. There's such the snowball effect. Giving yourself permission to treat yourself. I agree.
It's all about the baby steps. So let's do a little bit of a quick fire question session, and find out more about your favorite things. You ready to ask this, Prashant? Okay. Favorite food?
DJ Prashant (35:25)
Indian food!
Jackie Morreale (35:30)
Favorite place?
DJ Prashant (35:35)
I loved visiting Peru and in Cusco. Would love to go back. Would love to take my family there. Cornell - would love to take my daughter there.
Jackie Morreale (35:49)
Amazing. Reunion soon. I could see you on the slope rocking the house.
Favorite instrument?
DJ Prashant (35:55)
Yes! Ooh, my voice, the vocal chords.
Jackie Morreale (36:04)
I love to hear you say that. That's amazing. Favorite dance move?
DJ Prashant (36:08)
The pelvic thrust, lol.
Jackie Morreale (36:10)
Okay, no more questions asked. Favorite Bollywood movie?
DJ Prashant (36:14)
There's a movie called Tamasha. The story is very connected to your podcast and to our journey here as well. I would highly encourage Tamasha to check it out. I would recommend you, Jackie, check it out. It's a mid-2010s movie.
Jackie Morreale (36:26)
With subtitles, right? I can't wait.
Favorite up-and-coming singer? You're already 16 years in, so give somebody else a shout out.
DJ Prashant (36:34)
That is really sweet. There are a couple that I discovered on this rabbit hole on YouTube. I was just blown away by this really young Indian singer, based in India, too. I hope to get that information and link it to your podcast if we can. But so much talent.
Jackie Morreale (36:53)
Man, I totally agree. I would love to shout out a really talented young singer in India.
Favorite song to light up a crowd? What's your go-to?
DJ Prashant (37:06)
There are so many. Okay, I'm going to be a bit biased and pick a mashup of mine. ⁓ Yes, you know the song Pump It by Black Eyed Peas? I mixed that in with another Bollywood song and the lyrics of the Bollywood song are like, at least part of it is English, it's Move Your Body and so it's like a mashup of Move Your Body and Pump It.
They both have a lot of energy in a different way. Combining them together... every time I play it I see the energy in the room just shoot up and it's just amazing.
Jackie Morreale (37:40)
I can't wait to hear it. Favorite Bangra or wedding moment? Because I know you have done your share of weddings.
DJ Prashant (37:47)
I DJed a wedding in Spokane, which was before COVID. Two doctors who met in their 40s, getting married on a timeline different from most people's. Indian bride and Caucasian-American groom.
He literally, as a total surprise to her, sang this song, TUM HI HO, in Hindi and played the music and created a whole 10-minute-long performance that was so heartfelt and so beautiful. I was so touched to be there in that room with them. It was really special.
Jackie Morreale (38:18)
I'm sure that they really appreciated you being there to give them the opportunity to share that moment.
Favorite venue to perform at?
DJ Prashant (38:23)
There are so, so, so many. But right now, I'm really loving one in Seattle, there's a venue that has a 50-foot wide LED screen and about 20, 30 feet tall. It's an AR gaming venue, but it turns into a nightclub when I'm there. I love playing it.
I threw a fake Indian wedding event last year. The fake Indian wedding is basically there's no bride and groom, but then there's everything else: the Indian food, the decor, the music, the entertainment, and I used that screen for these incredible Indian backdrops of weddings. It was just so fun. Every single time. I threw a winter wonderland party recently and I had videos of like horses in the wild in the snow.
It really affords me a lot of escapism, creating spaces where you can just go and forget about everything enjoy yourself.
Jackie Morreale (39:17)
Do you ever have an event where you just show up with music? It sounds like you think of every detail. When you're there, bringing people together and entertaining them, you think of everything from what's on the screen to what you're mashing up, the dancing, the decor.
DJ Prashant (39:31)
Like a theme, theme this Saturday. Yeah, I love doing that. It's so fun to create experiences.
Jackie Morreale (39:39)
That's what it is. You're really creating experiences for people. Your creativity just exudes from you, and people pick it up. I think that's the energy that they get.
Favorite book?
DJ Prashant (39:51)
Favorite book? The Alchemist, easily. I've read it so many times, over and over and over again. I'll just go in there, pick it up, read it again, and it gets me every single time. There are new things that come out of it every time.
Jackie Morreale (40:02)
Isn't that the best? You could open up any page and get something new out of it.
Favorite quote for life? If you have one.
DJ Prashant (40:09)
It's funny that you're asking me this because we met at Cornell and as part of my application for Cornell, I had to write a statement of purpose and there was a quote, by Paul J. Meyer, that was how I started it. I followed this format where there's a quote and then how I explain my life around that quote. But now here I am living my life and I literally will think about that quote.
The quote is: Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, enthusiastically act upon, and sincerely believe in will inevitably come to pass.
It's such a mantra for somebody in my situation where you're trying to create this Candyland experience or winter wonderland or whatever the case may be.
There are challenges everywhere but centering myself in this ethos and principle that: Is this something I sincerely believe in? Is this something that I ardently desire? Is this something that I'm enthusiastically acting upon?
Because if I follow some of those things, then no matter what the outcome is, I am going to be happier because of it.
Jackie Morreale (41:10)
Wow, a quote that you used on your paper to get into Cornell 20 plus years ago? And here you are still using this amazing, inspiring quote and living your life based on it.
DJ Prashant (41:14)
Yes, that's right. Trying to. Making it a practice to try to bring myself to that level every time.
Jackie Morreale (41:26)
You must have some amazing creative juices flowing. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
So, you just let the cat out of the bag a little bit that the Sweet 16 this weekend that you're celebrating has a Candyland theme. Everybody, make sure you get your tickets to go out! It's Mission Theater, right in Portland, is your first stop.
DJ Prashant (41:32)
Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (41:46)
So, tell us a little bit more about the event. What can people expect? I'm sure people are flying in from all over the world. Give us a little bit of a sneak peek.
DJ Prashant (41:54)
Thank you. This one's really special because we are showcasing several videos that I have shot locally, featuring other local artists to my music, whether it's mashups and other music I've created. It's part of a grant that I won from the Regional Arts and Cultural Council.
So, 8 to 9 p.m., you come in. It's a theater, so we're going to put that screen to some good use.
9 PM, I'm going to teach everybody dance lessons, bringing back that older tradition from my journey. Everybody comes to learn a dance move, and my dance group's going to perform.
Then, of course, it's a party after that. But here's the thing. I have like giant candies we have been making as part of this. We're going to create this Candyland experience, so please come dressed like it's your birthday party. There's going to be a cake that we will enjoy at the end of the night.
Jackie Morreale (42:43)
You got the viewing, the lesson, the performance, the party, the after party, the cake at the end. Visionary, my friend.
DJ Prashant (42:53)
I'm now even more pumped to get together and party.
Jackie Morreale (42:57)
When people walk into one of your events, like this one on Saturday, the Candyland and the Sweet 16, how do you want them to feel?
DJ Prashant (43:03)
I would love to always be somebody who surprises people with the experiences.
I'm not just saying me, my team, or my dance troupe.
This is the biggest thing that I want people to take away: I am one part of many creatives who like to hold space for Music and Dance to bring us together and give a sense of community, and a real community. There are communities around Music and Dance and those are the best communities.
Jackie Morreale (43:28)
Best communities!
When you walk into a space and you're surrounded by the people that you're describing, the community that you're describing, you can just feel it. It's palpable. There's a pulse.
The world needs more DJ Prashant.
DJ Prashant (43:40)
Thank you.
Jackie Morreale (43:40)
Thank you so much for everything you're doing. Thank you for always being that voice of inspiration. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
I don't know why we met all those years ago, but I really appreciate you being there. Then, now, future. Keep doing what you're doing and making people happy around the world.
DJ Prashant (43:57)
I genuinely want to take the time to also thank you, Jackie, for holding such an amazing space.
Spending this time with you, it just feels uplifting to be in your presence.
That is exactly how I felt, even all those years back when we first connected. I was like, this is somebody who holds a big amount of joy in their heart, and they are happy to share that with the world.
I'm really, really glad that you tapped on me to come on your podcast and that you're doing this journey, and that there are people all over the world that are getting inspired from your journey. Thank you for bringing me on and allowing me to share my story with you and your audience.
Jackie Morreale (44:37)
Thank you so much, Prashant. It means a lot to me. I can't wait to see you again soon. Rock on. Jai ho! Jai ho. Have a wonderful day. Take care.
DJ Prashant (44:42)
Me too. That's right, Jai Ho!
Listen to DJ Prashant's favorite mash up:
To learn more about DJ Prashant's upcoming events, visit: LinkTree for Jai Ho! Dance Party.
For more on Bollywood Dreams Entertainment, visit: www.dreamsperfected.com
Continued reading and watching, recommended by DJ Prashant:
The Alchemist. Published July 1, 2015. By Paulo Coelho (Author).
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Tamasha film (2015)
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