On May 2, aspiring DJ and UO student Sam Kramer was one of the four openers for Grammy nominated house music duo SIDEPIECE at McDonald Theatre. What began as a hobby during his sophomore year has culminated in bookings all across Eugene.
Kramer fell in love with electronic music after seeing his first EDM show — Flume — in Bend. “Having a few people teach me what they did helped in the beginning, and YouTube and TikTok videos can help show how to do some cool transitions,” Kramer said.
Kramer says one of the challenges of being a DJ in a college town is finding opportunities to showcase his talent, but he has taken advantage of every opportunity.
“I’ve been very lucky to have a really great support group through my family and friends,” Kramer said. Even when opportunities are hard to come by, the outpouring of people who come to see him spin makes it all worth it.
Kramer acknowledges that while he may not become as big as SIDEPIECE or Flume, he is enjoying every second of the ride. Opening for SIDEPIECE, one of Kramer’s favorite EDM duos, was the experience of a lifetime.
“That was probably the biggest show I’ll ever play,” Kramer said. “To DJ with that big of a production, in Eugene, where everyone has been there throughout the whole journey was so special.”
Kramer was selected to be an opener by winning a student DJ competition put on by UO’s Up & Up Festival. Up & Up is a nationwide college networking platform for colleges to spotlight various EDM producers and rising DJs.
After failing to receive a spot to open for Croatian producer Matroda in the fall, Kramer contacted connections at Up & Up until he solidified a spot in the competition. After three rounds of voting, Kramer narrowly pulled out a win.
“I got a two minute video with at least two transitions,” Kramer said. “I didn’t make too many edits; I just kind of let the music speak for itself.”
When he opened for SIDEPIECE, Kramer’s family came into town to watch his performance.
“My brother’s girlfriend called my parents and said this is either going to be the start of his career, or the biggest show that he’ll do, and so they were like ‘okay, we can’t miss it!,’” Kramer said.
Around 30 of Kramer’s family and friends showed up wearing matching shirts with the words “I <3 DJ KRAMER” on them.
While Kramer did know about the shirts, he was still blown away by the sight of seeing the entire crowd supporting him. “It was insane, definitely was a little emotional when I saw that,” Kramer said.
While many DJs choose a stage name, Kramer decided to keep things simple and use his last name as his moniker. “I’ve been Kramer my whole life, and it was cool to see my own name as the logo in the background,” Kramer said.
During his set, Kramer couldn’t wait to play a remix of “Messy” by Lola Young. “There was an unexpected drop in that I had been gatekeeping in the remix,” Kramer said.
Apart from opening for SIDEPIECE, Kramer DJed a private party for Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty the weekend of their exhibition game in Eugene. “It was really fun when Sabrina would come up and request Romanian songs because her parents are from there.”
From nights at Webfoot to shows at McDonald Theatre, and even Lake Shasta on Memorial Day weekend, Kramer has spent his senior year remixing whenever and wherever he can.
After his last performance in Eugene on June 7 at Rennie’s Landing, Kramer hopes that wherever he ends up, getting the party going can be a side hustle he can continue to thrive in.
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