AUST10 Talks DJing On Twitch and How To Start Live Streaming

Known for his multi-genre Twitch streams, we interviewed AUST10 about his DJ career and how he got started live streaming.

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Have you ever thought about live streaming on Twitch and broadcasting your DJ sets to a worldwide audience? That’s exactly what Chicagoland-based DJ AUST10 does every week on his Twitch channel.

A former resident at the famous now-closed club Medusa’s, AUST10 started live streaming during the pandemic in October 2020. He now streams weekly on his Twitch channel, and often hosts guests DJs like STVN LEON.

After meeting AUST10 a few months ago at EDC Orlando, we interviewed Austin about his live stream DJ setup, his goals for the future, how to get started on Twitch, and more.

https://soundcloud.com/premier_edm/cta-series-episode-002-aust10

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When did you start streaming on Twitch? What kind of music do you usually play in your sets, and what do you enjoy most about streaming?

I started streaming on Twitch in October of 2020 and just recently started again in November 2021. My sets are typically in the 124-128 BPM range and can include bass house, tech house, electro house, progressive house, and big room. Usually, a lot of the tracks I play are mashups with top 40, throwbacks, and hip-hop/pop. Occasionally I’ll switch it up and play some at 100 BPM or around 150 BPM…every week is a little different. 

One of my favorite things about streaming is the ability to play whatever I want whenever I want. For example, if I’m feeling a more chill vibe one night, I’ll play a chill set.

You describe yourself as a “Lighting Design Enthusiast” on Instagram. What kind of lighting rig do you have set up for your streams? Also, what DJ gear do you use?

For my current live stream setup, I use 8 moving head lights, 7 LED pars, 6 LED pixel panels, 2 LED strip washes, and a fog machine. I program and run the DMX fixtures using American DJ’s MyDMX3.0 software and the ArtNet fixtures using ArKaos’s LEDMaster software. 

For the DJ gear, I mix on two Pioneer CDJ-2000 NXS2 with a DJM-900 NXS2. I connect the DJM mixer to my computer via USB to get the audio output for the stream and also send the audio to my sound rig via an external mixer. For the speakers, I run two Electro Voice (EV) ETX-18SP subs paired with two EV ZLX15-P tops – it BUMPS.

In terms of lighting and visuals, what equipment would you recommend to a DJ who’s creating their home studio from scratch and has little knowledge of production?

Without any knowledge of lighting/production, I’d say the easiest way to start out would be buying a couple of cheap lights from Amazon. I think a lot of them have sound modes now too. As long as there is some kind of lighting, whether you go all out, or have a few color-changing LEDs, that should be good. Another option would be setting up a green screen and replacing that with visuals in the streaming software.

What are some venues you’ve DJed at previously? And what are some venues or festivals you’d like to play at in the future?

Before COVID-19, I was a resident DJ for about two and a half years at Medusa Chicago Nightclub in Elgin. I was performing there every Saturday night and I loved it. The crowd was more of a festival-type crowd versus a typical club crowd in my opinion – people always had so much energy and were always singing along. I’ve also been on the Space Camp lineup the past two years and have performed at Bass Station a few times. There have also been times where I’ve jumped on the decks with some of my Chicago homies when they were performing around the city. 

As for festival goals, performing on any festival stage would be a dream. Spring Awakening would be a cool first festival to perform at since it was the first EDM festival I ever attended.

Where do you see your DJ career headed in the next few years? How do you plan to continue growing your following on Twitch?

I’d really like to start getting more into music production and eventually release some tracks.  Additionally, I’d like to perform at Chicago venues such as Electric Hotel, Tunnel, Sound Bar, Tao, and Prysm. Drink Nightclub out in Schaumburg would be cool too. I just love the higher energy crowds and the venues with a good production setup. 

As for growing my following on Twitch, I post weekly on social media, and I am always trying to reach new followers. In the past, I’ve done raid trains with other DJs who stream on Twitch too. I’m also planning some upcoming streams with guest DJs.

Lastly, what’s some advice you have for DJs that are considering streaming but haven’t actually tried it yet?

The biggest piece of advice I can offer though is to ensure the audio quality is good – don’t use the built in microphone on a computer or phone. Every DJ controller or mixer has outputs that can interface directly with the streaming software so the audio is just as clean as what the DJ hears. Making a Twitch account is easy, and then you can make it as complex as you want in regards to the number of cameras, scenes, and graphics.