Fresh Off The Stage: MUTO

For the 6th edition of the Simply Thriving Lifestyle Series, we got some insight on Tampa based DJ Sammy Muto. MUTO  is taking over the bar scene in his hometown. He found his passion post freshmen year of college after moving back to Tampa and hasn't looked back. Muto gives us some insight on how he got started, what he loves about his art, and what inspires his music. Check out his SoundCloud to hear mixes, originals, and music that Muto bumps on the daily!

What is your name and what do you do?

•  Sammy Muto (Muto) and I’m a DJ based out of Tampa, FL.

Where are you from?

•  Tampa, FL born & raised.

 What does a typical day look like for you (if there is such thing as “typical”)?

•  Well depending on what my schedule is that week, I’ll usually get up and try to get a workout to start my day, after that I’m straight to the office where I’m either keeping up with emails, schedules, promos, etc. or I’m working on music production (edits, bootlegs, originals, remixes, etc.)

What drew you to DJ’ing?

• It’s actually kind of funny how it really just came out of nowhere. I went to Mississippi State University my first year of college never even touching any sort of jog wheel, production software or anything. I moved back home that summer and met my friend Brandon who actually was one of the guys that started Smokehouse. Smokehouse was basically a collective of DJ’s and Producers that all have that dream of going big time with it. A few of those guys were actually Too Kind, Kyle Kinch and Blunts & Blondes to name a few. So to say I lucked out is definitely an understatement. From meeting Brandon and him getting me involved, I guess you can say I took it from there and here I am today.

 When thinking of new mixes, what beats or sounds do you look for in music?

•  To be honest I’m pretty open to any sound or beat, new or old, from any genre. One of my favorite things to do is blend those genres from old and new. One routine I do now is blending Here Comes The Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze with Happy Birthday - Louis the Child x Whethan. That definitely exemplifies what I mean by blending old style and new style when you hear it. With that being said though, I’m always messing around with it trying to find something new and stay fresh. 

What artists do you listen to on a daily basis?           

• Louis the Child, Nitti Gritti, Mac Miller, Throttle, RL Grime, Whethan, Kanye West, I could go on for hours about this!

 Who has been some of your favorite artists to remix?

•  I’ve actually taken a little break from putting out remixes and originals, but I definitely have to say anything Post Malone I’ve been leaning towards recently.

How would you describe the feeling of getting on stage and performing for an audience?

• It’s my getaway, anytime I’m playing I lose all stress and just love every second of it. Sure it’s my career now, but to be able to say I do what I love for a living is a blessing.

Do you have any pre-show rituals that you do to get ready for a show?

•  Honestly, not really I’ve never really thought about that. I just make sure I’m ready no matter what because if I’m not, what’re we going to do?

What makes you thrive in general (i.e., family, friends, lovers, hobbies, etc.)?

•  Definitely having a group of friends with the same goals & work ethic as me. The friends that push me to work harder are the real ones.

What drew you most to Simply Thriving Brand?

•  Working with a lot of my friends from the Tallahassee area is how I found out about Simply Thriving, but just the overall message of the brand is awesome to me. They just announced that they’ll be donating proceeds of each sale to Youth Entrepreneurship and that’s everything to me. Going past your job description to make a difference is huge.

 How would you describe your personal style? What/who inspires it?

•  I would say my personal style is unique. I used to try to stick to mostly hip-hop or mostly house, blending those together. However, recently I’ve tried to go past that by bringing in older tracks, different genres, just trying to be as original as possible. Anyone can download the top 100 tracks from a DJ Pool and rinse them the entire night. It’s the guys that are rinsing tracks that you completely forgot how good they were that make that DJ unique to me. I never thought that way until I met a guy I’d call a mentor now, DJ KU. He definitely inspired me to be original, be unique.

What is your advice for aspiring creatives, especially those wanting to break into the DJ/music business?

•  The advice I’d give them is probably the same thing KU told me, be original, be unique, stand out. Nowadays, anyone and everyone can be a DJ, it’s going to be the hard work and originality that’ll pay off in the end.

Does the unknown scare you? Why or why not?

• I wouldn’t say it scares me necessarily. Do I think about it? Hell yeah, but it’s the unknown. You can spend 24 hours a day thinking about the unknown, worrying about it, or you can take those 24 hours and be the best you can be. Your choice fam.