Tailgating season has begun, and DJ Roügh has made the Sigma Chi tent just like a bar in Tigerland.
Senior Nick Simpson, or “DJ Roügh,” started playing music as a high school student in Mandeville. His journey started because of his dissatisfaction with high school parties. He said people would just stand around not doing much, and he didn’t like that. He enjoyed dancing and expected that to get better in college.
He eventually realized that college parties weren’t any different “There wasn’t a DJ, and they were doing the same thing as high school,” Simpson said. “So, I was like, I want to learn how to DJ, so people are actually dancing.”
During his sophomore year at LSU, Simpson began DJing at house parties and other gigs.
Simpson has played at Fred’s Bar & Grill in Tigerland frequently this semester and will open for Hippie Sabotage there on Oct. 12. When he’s DJing, he said his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers are always there to support him, which helps because he said he strays towards the “shy” side.
“Whenever I’m playing at Fred’s or something, they’ll promote it and show up,” he said. “Even if there is not a crowd, it’s them, so it makes it way more comfortable for me.”
Simpson is a film major and said he will have to see where this takes him before he’s open to making it his career. He said this path isn’t his only plan, but it might be if his gigs keep getting bigger.
The rest of his semester includes more gigs at Fred’s, The Revelry and other parties around Baton Rouge. He’s dropping his first song on Oct. 29.
Simpson’s biggest advice for college students interested in DJing is to start by buying a soundboard.
“That’s all you need to start, and then you just have to practice a lot until you get comfortable with it,” Simpson said.
Sophomore Marco Petroni, one of Simpson’s fraternity brothers who has watched him grow as an artist, said Simpson contributes a “tremendous amount” to the planning, development and execution of their social events.
Other fraternity brothers praise Simpson’s impact.
“The tailgates get bigger, parties get more energetic and the bars usually fill out by the stage,” senior Holden Horridge said. “It’s also been cool seeing him go from only playing a few parties here and there to playing at Fred’s and other bars most weekends.”
DJing may not have been what Simpson planned to do during his time at LSU, but for now, it’s how he’ll spend the days before he walks across the graduation stage.
