To say Jessu has exploded onto the Twitch DJ scene would be an understatement. With over 1 million unique viewers in just the last year alone, Jessu has cultivated an international following that is now recognized as one of the fastest-growing channels on Twitch.
In a recent interview with EDM Sauce, Jessu sat down to discuss the last year of building a career on Twitch, her fast growing fanbase and what its like performing virtually.
Where did your love for electronic music, specifically house, come from?
“I’ve been listening to dance music since the days of Deadmau5, Kaskade, Daft Punk, all that good stuff. It probably started around middle school. I actually took a dance class, and I remember my teacher would always play Pendulum for us. I’d say that planted the seed for my love of drum and bass now. I don’t actually DJ that (DNB), but it’s something I love working out to and listening to. Hopefully one day I’ll start DJing that!
I saw Pendulum at Shambala in 2017. That was freakin’ incredible! My friends introduced me to Shambala in 2014. That was a long time ago! When they took me there, that’s when my house music genres really expanded. I got to hear all the other genres, and that’s when I fell in love with it.”
Over the months your viewership has skyrocketed! You recently hit the 50,000-follower mark. Congrats! What do you think have been key factors for pulling in viewers?
“Consistency. Good music, of course. Also, finding a niche that works for you.
It’ll make you stand out from the crowd, because Twitch is very much over saturated with so many things right now. You could do a bunch of stupid stuff, like eating ghost peppers, or shaving your head, and whatnot. It’s going to make people watch you, but you have to make sure that what you’re doing is making you happy too. Otherwise, you’re going to get burnt out like super fast! That’s where consistency comes in. It will keep you consistent if you love what you’re doing already. Then the viewers will just come naturally.”
Streaming took off in 2020 with all the lockdowns. Lots of artists started streams for the first time, and lots of music fans watched streams for the first time. Do you see streaming staying current as restrictions ease up?
“I’ve been on Twitch well before the pandemic began, and I’ve been seeing it grow and change during 2020. I’ve talked to other DJs who’ve come to Twitch after the pandemic started. Seeing them grow, and talking to them about how it’s changed their lives and that they’re going to keep doing it after things open up; That gives me hope for the music part of Twitch.
It’s been really fun connecting with these other DJs virtually around the world, and really getting to know them better. Especially really big DJs that I’ve looked up to my whole life. Really getting to talk to them, connect with them, and raid them on Twitch has just been insane! I never would’ve seen myself being able to do that. You really can’t do that during a live show. You can’t talk to them while they’re performing, but you can do that on Twitch, which is friggin’ cool! It just makes the performance much more intimate. I can’t see that going away. I’m definitely not going to stop streaming when the world opens up.”
For the complete interview, visit:
https://www.edmsauce.com/2021/01/07/jessu-shares-experience-twitch-dj-interview/
