Daily Inspiration: Meet DAMON 22

Today we’d like to introduce you to DAMON 22.

Hi DAMON , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Well, well, my story is a special one because I’ve been through so many different avenues in life in my career as a Producer/DJ.

Well, it all actually started when I was about 23 years old. I had a best friend that was very musically inclined, and he would always talk about music and be playing and he got me motivated and to let you know, I had no musical background whatsoever. My rhythm was pretty horrific. The motivation got me intrigued at the time. I had a girlfriend in high school who was all about the rave scene, but not gonna lie. I was a little stickler and a square about it, because I thought everybody does drugs and everybody’s doing crazy horrible things. She took me to my very first one. It was in San Bernardino and it was called Gotham/Hudson old school vibes multiple rooms. I actually fell in love with it!
So years go by and my best friend and I at the time we had an epiphany about and we said let’s give it a try. I was very fortunate enough that I have my family help invest into equipment and I would just practice with him. I had these drumsticks that I would take everywhere with me because I wanted to practice my rhythm because I was so bad at it. I would literally be drumming and banging on everything even when I was driving, which was also very scary. People would look at me like this guy drumming on a steering wheel. It looked hilarious, but also probably psychotic. So I was working at this job and thinking over things it’s a lot harder than I thought with this music career that I thought might blowup. Mind you we haven’t made a song yet still was terrible at rhythm and nothing was going anywhere, but this call at work, changed everything in my life one call. I used to do landscaping and do trash out to repo homes for a bank. I got a call and I missed it and then later on the day I listened to the voicemail and apparently it was a CEO of a record label in Orange County. I will not display the name because later on you’ll see why. So in the voicemail it said “sorry I missed your call. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can so we could discuss more of the deal”. I never reached out to a record label before nor have I had any information about record labels or who to talk to nothing whatsoever. So I gave the person a call back and apparently the CEO missed dialed the number by one number and it came to me. Talk about the universe telling me something, because I was getting kind of close to quitting. So at that point, my motivation went to the roof. That right there was the moment that changed my life, even though I didn’t really work out with the record label, lots of misguided information and manipulation at that label and that’s why this industry is a crazy one. I am always grateful that the universe helped me by making that person dial the wrong number to get me motivated to where I am today.

Throughout my time growing and learning through this industry, I realize that one call that I missed made me open my eyes in different ways of the music, industry. It’s not for the faint hearted. You gotta really have tough skin in this industry because rejection and misguidance is very common. That’s why they call it a cutthroat industry. There was many times to where I got screwed over on a deal because I didn’t realize what was going on I would do pay to play.
There was one time to where I made such bad decisions because I wanted this so bad that I was homeless in Orange County living in my car for a while. My family was very disappointed in my decisions. Same with friends becausefinancially I made bad decisions horrible decisions.. Didn’t have a good friends I chose the wrong people to screw me over. There’s been times to where I was so depressed that I wanted to take my life. I was so lonely and lost. I had an attempt but the universe denied it and I’m very thankful it did. There was a portion to where I had to get back on track and I stopped music for two years because I needed to find a direction. I never wanted to give up on Music because me taking that separation to focus on myself and find the true meeting what I love. It helped me gravitate more towards Music. By taking that separation publicly, I was still making music during those two years, but I focused on what I love what got me inspired being able to tell my story through my songs it’s aggressive and very intuitive. Each song is like my child. I have lots of children and hopefully one day one of my children will grow to something much better and that child is very successful. I’m gonna be a proud father. That’s how I see my music. I’m trying to make a lot of children. My music is known to beemotionally charged, high-energy sets that fuse hard techno, traditional techno, and riddim/dubstep into a dark yet danceable sound. Originally from Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, growing up immersed in California’s rave culture—attending countless underground events that sparked my passion for music and inspired me to chase a future on the biggest stages.

Driven by a mission to make people feel something deep and real my sets are like stories—dark, sinister, and gritty, but always with a bounce that keeps the crowd moving. My music carries both sex appeal and emotional depth, wrapped in a visual style that’s equal parts raw, weird, and irresistibly fun.

I performed at legendary venues like Avalon, Catch One, The Circle, Discopussy, and Legacy Nightclub, as well as countless warehouse raves throughout California and Las Vegas, with collectives, like Beatsync, Mayhem, AYCA, TBS, Unity, Sxcty, Closer, and Insomniac.

Im more than just a DJ, The DAMON 22 brand is a vibe architect—blending heavy bass, dark textures, and raw emotion into every set. Whether you’re deep in the pit or vibing in the shadows, DAMON 22’s music invites you to let go, move your body, and feel something real.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the music industry it is not a smooth road at all! But that’s why I love it! You meet interesting characters of people some are good s9me bad some are true some fake. There’s many times where I had to “pay to play”so I could perform in front of people. I would drive two hours for a show that I never got paid for and hire a photographer or videographer so I can have the content so I lost money. There was one time where I sold 50 tickets and I was so excited i’m proud of myself. I also got a good timeslot but two days before show day the collective said hey we wanna put you in the opening spot. I didn’t do it. I kept my timeslot, but I got reduced to 30 minutes. Same with everyone else on the lineup. So in the DJ world 30 minutes set it’s not that long at.

I feel like it makes it more meaningful going through all this stuff hitting so many potholes bumps divots U-turns in the road to achieve what I love most is producing and performing at raves and to show my art in front of people, I understand it makes my story more unique.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My specialty is producing electronic dance music, but not just any ordinary, electronic dance music. I specialize in remixes and storing telling with my music. When I perform at shows at raves not a DJ well technically so to speak. I use DJ equipment, but I do not play other peoples music. I only play what I produce, composed and remix only. UsuallyDJs play other artists/people’s music. It’s just not for me. When you come see a Damon 22 show you’re coming to see a unique storytelling vibe that makes you dance. When your coming to see Damon 22 you are here to see the art of what Ive create and you feel the rhythm through a roller coaster of emotions that will make you continuously dance.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
One of the best ways for networking in this industry, especially electronic music is to go out and reach out. Its not gonna come to you at all! If you do not go to the clubs go to the warehouse raves go to festivals you’ll never meet the right people. I’m a very shy person and It’s hard for me to get out of my comfort zone to introduce myself. I still till this day I work on it but by working on it, I’ve noticed more and more. I had more opportunities by being approachable.
Just being a good person in general is also Key and having an ego is definitely not welcome whatsoever. Be genuine be nice people and be approachable and have a good time. There’s a lot of great wonderful people in this industry and you have to go look for it by going to raves Afters festivals, mixers, etc.. is one of the best networking tools.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://damon22music.komi.io
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damon22music
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@damon22music
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/umNmCcvYfjZjNDv1J8

Image Credits
Zederic
Dakota Kass
Eric 710
Vani Vermo