Meet Varun Iyer | Music Producer, DJ, and Podcast Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Varun Iyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Varun, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
There are times where I definitely feel like giving up on music and going towards what’s considered a “normal or “stable” career. The pressure of overnight success is tremendous at times and I’ve had people, mainly my family, question the validity of what I’m doing. At the end of the day, I’m doing what makes me happy money aside. I personally believe that everyone should do what they’re passionate about, and not be pressured to do something that they don’t have the heart for.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am mainly a music producer, specializing in beats solely at the moment. My favorite thing to do when it comes to my production is sampling. I firmly believe that art is derived from what came before, whether it’s a painting, a technique used in photography, or even a scene in a film inspired by an old Spaghetti Western; nothing is original. So to the people that think sampling isn’t true creativity, look back and learn your history. With that being said, my biggest idols in music are the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, The Alchemist, MF DOOM, etc,. My journey into music started when my best friend and now frequent collaborator Brandon Douglas, know as Bran Movay, showed up at my front door the summer before my sophomore year and asked if I wanted to record a verse for this album he was working on. I instinctively said yes, not knowing it would spark a passion inside of me to do this full time. After that, I knew I wanted to make music or be apart of the music world, but I was just lost and didn’t know where to begin. Then COVID hit, and I locked myself in my room and discovered my love for beatmaking and sampling; and here we are today. One thing I’ve learned is that this shit isn’t easy; nothing in this industry is going to be handed to you. You can be the most talented producer, artist, creative director all in one, but you still have to put yourself out there and be as annoying as you can be to get people to even notice you. At this point in time, there is no more “letting the art speak for itself”.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Week long trip with the boys, that’s a tough question. I would honestly take them to eat at Canne Rosso in Deep Ellum; their hot honey ham pizza is to die for. For the night life scene in the area, get to know the many amazing DJ’s around the city. They range different genres from house music, disco, reggae, dancehall, reggaeton, the list goes on. My favorite spot to go too though is Curfew Bar on West 5th street in Fort Worth. This is the bar that re-ignited the spark inside of me for house music and DJing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First off, I want to shoutout my parents. Even though they come from a different upbringing than i did and don’t really understand what I want to do in my life, they ended up being super supportive in the long run and I will always cherish the love and wisdom they display towards me. I also wanna thank my peers. They know who they are. The artistic community in the DFW area is one that has been very supportive and open to collaboration on multiple occasions. I have a huge list of people I want to give a shout out to but they know who they are if they end up reading this article.

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