Interview with Your Shot founder Steve Pillemer

Tell us a bit about the Your Shot Competiton

Your Shot launched in 2010, and the idea came about when I realised that there were thousands of young people out there who had the desire to become DJ’s, but had no idea how to do it. On top of this, many had no prior experience, and weren’t able to get that chance and take the first step to becoming a DJ. Your Shot is the first competition where you don’t need experience to register, giving people the opportunity to begin achieving their dream. At the moment, we’re being told that we have more registrations to be in Your Shot than they’re receiving for X-Factor and Australian Idol! The great thing about Your Shot is that it’s only six weeks of training, and then they’re able to perform a 25 minute set at a major event that we run over two days, where there are back to back shows in different rooms, so it’s pretty full on! There are business people there, and if they like the performers then hopefully they offer them sets in their clubs or shows.

Do you have a past in the music industry yourself?

I get asked this question a lot actually! No, I don’t. I have no idea how to DJ! I actually completed a marketing degree at Macquarie University, and then I realised that that world was just so boring, and definitely not what I wanted to be a part of. I come from a family involved in finance, which only stemmed my belief that I didn’t want
to be in that industry. So, after about a year in the nightlife scene, I got the idea for Your Shot, and the rest is history!

As we’ve seen, Your Shot has become so successful. What was your motivation to really get Your Shot off the ground?

Thank you so much! Yes, well it took off by itself really. There were DJ competitions everywhere, and they only focused on kids with experience. I thought, ‘there are singing and dancing shows giving kids with no experience a go… let’s make a DJ version!’ Honestly, all you need is passion and determination. With Your Shot, 61 percent of our participants have gone on to perform at club gigs and shows. We’re really happy with how we’re going.

So this really only takes six weeks, to get these contestants to performance level?

Yeah! It’s pretty great that it can be compressed, and it’s not even a full time course or anything like that. It’s a three hour training session a week for six weeks. Basically, we make a call out for registration, and then there is an interview process, where they just tell us in five minutes why they want to be a DJ. From there, we select 76 kids in each state, and each winner from each state gets to perform at Stereosonic.

That’s incredible! So which performers have come from Your Shot?

One of the best performers we’ve been lucky enough to have through Your Shot is Tigerlily, who was just recently been crowned In The Mix’s Australian #1 Female DJ. She’s doing really well for herself and just keeps getting better and better.

Where do you see Your Shot going in the future?

We’re currently exploring all options in Australia and overseas as well. We’re growing at 30 percent each year in terms of registration, so we’re only getting bigger and better. We’ve actually had plenty of offers to do a reality show but have turned them down, because we’d rather give hundreds of kids the opportunity to become DJ’s than select just five or six for a show.

Well thank you so much for your time Steve, it’s been wonderful and the very best of luck with it all!

It’s been a pleasure Clare, thank you.

With registrations for Your Shot 2014 flying in, the team at Your Shot have just announced that registration for the 2014 Alize Wild Card Competition is now open.
The Wild Card component is a stand alone competition for DJs with a minimum of 12 months experience, who are looking to get a leg up in the scene. As with the main competition (see press release below), the Wild Card prizes are simply spectacular. Each state winner will play at Stereosonic 2014 with the chance to head overseas to the newly crowned Top 20 club in the world – Paradise Club in Mykonos, as well as a secret overseas destination courtesy of Red Bull.
This truly is a place to be discovered, with a number of life changing contracts up for grabs. 360 Agency (home to The Stafford Brothers, Grant Smillie, Feenixpawl, Hook N Sling & more) have a booking contract on offer, Alize Australia have a sponsorship contract available and for the DJ/Producers out there, the chance to have your own music featured on the very first Your Shot Compilation thanks to onelove Recordings.
What you need to do to enter – Three easy steps: