By Matt Kyle | Staff Writer
San Antonio junior and DJ Henry Barajas said he thinks music can make or break an event. Often, the responsibility of what to play falls on the shoulders of a DJ, who must ensure the momentum of a party is never lost by guiding the energy of the crowd with the music they play. Barajas said he likes to think of himself as “the captain of the ship,” taking the people in the crowd on a journey.
Barajas has performed as a DJ under the stage name “DJ King Henry” for just over a year. He has performed at a multitude of events, including fraternity parties, sorority events, bars and even the block party celebrating Baylor’s Big 12 Championship victory. This past weekend, Barajas performed at Scruffy Murphy’s, which he said took a lot of hard work to achieve.
Barajas said he performs to express himself creatively. He said performing as a DJ is the perfect way to connect his passion for music with his people-loving, extroverted personality.
“Being a DJ is an art because people are having a good time, and I can make them feel some type of way — especially on the dance floor,” Barajas said. “I think art is whatever moves you. So I’m able to really express myself creatively whenever I want to make the crowd feel a certain way, like a euphoric feeling, or I want them to feel like they’re the main character or like they’re at a club in Miami. That’s the way I’m able to express myself.”
Barajas said he started off by performing at small events hosted by friends, which allowed him to begin in a safe environment and develop his skills. He later moved on to fraternity parties and began performing regularly at Cricket’s Bar and Grill last summer.
Barajas said his big break came when he performed at several back-to-school events last fall. This included Zeta Tau Alpha’s (ZTA) Welcome Back Bash, which was his first paid Greek event — something Barajas deemed “monumental.”
Copperas Cove junior and ZTA president Ashley Wilson said she hired Barajas when he was recommended by a member of the sorority.
“He was super interested and so excited to do it,” Wilson said. “He did an amazing job at our first event. Everyone had so much fun. Then, it became our goal to have him at all of our events.”
ZTA isn’t the only Greek organization that loves DJ King Henry. Minneapolis junior and Phi Beta Sigma treasurer John Deustch said Barajas is Sigma’s go-to DJ for events because of his versatility and how he interacts with the crowd.
“He’s a great DJ,” Deutsch said. “He has such a wide variety of music tastes that he can really do any event. He’s very versatile. He can do weddings, he can do parties, he can do any event. He really feeds off people’s energy. And conversely, it’s very easy to feed off of his. He’s very fun-loving and outgoing. He’s just out here trying to have a blast.”
After a year of hard work, Barajas said he managed to land a gig at Scruffy Murphy’s through the bar’s old DJ, a friend of his. Barajas said that performing at Scruffy Murphy’s was his ultimate goal when he first started and that playing the gig was him “living the dream.”
“I could feel the heat from the DJ booth — people singing along and just enjoying themselves and having a good time,” Barajas said. “I can’t describe the feeling you get whenever you play a song that everyone wants to hear, especially somewhere like Scruff’s. It’s a common place where everyone goes and where there are no cliques. People don’t really care what fraternity or sorority you’re in. It’s the one bar we have in Waco that has just a culture behind it.”
While Barajas said he takes pride in his progress, he also said there is still room for improvement. Barajas said that he wants to continue raising his profile as a DJ and that he plans to organize and host his own events in the future instead of simply being the entertainment at other people’s events.
Barajas said he loves performing because it allows him to bring people together to have a good time.
“Music is the greatest invention of our society because of its diversity and how it makes us feel,” Barajas said. “It’s a really interesting phenomenon. Even though you may find a song really entertaining, the person next to you might hate it. That concept is fascinating to me. I really want to bring everyone together and be able to play music that everyone likes. You know that feeling whenever you’re at a party and singing along with somebody, and everyone knows the words to a certain song? That’s how it feels for me being a DJ. When I turn down the music, and I hear everyone singing, I get this huge hit of dopamine. It makes me so happy.”
