Meet Saad Waseem | Producer, Engineer, DJ

We had the good fortune of connecting with Saad Waseem and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Saad, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Growing up, my parents encouraged me to try different things creatively. However, coming from an academic background, there was always a heavy focus on school. While I excelled in my studies, I was always doing something creatively on the side: clothing, music, DJing, or videography. As I was finishing my last year of university, I realized that the thing that brings me true joy in life is art. I reached out to some connections I have in the music industry, found an opportunity, and dropped out the following semester. Sometimes you have to follow your heart and your dreams!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m excited to show the world my upcoming DJ project: HDDN VLLY. I have been working on this with my team and co-producer Clayton “PDub” Penrose-Whitmore for almost 2 years now. The music we have is incredible and something very unique to the current sound-scape of electronic-pop music. Our vision is to bring hip-hop culture to the electronic music world, and bring dance culture to hip-hop. What sets us apart is is our fearlessness to blend and connect these two worlds, and doing so with a high standard for the sound.

There have been many challenges and setbacks (cough, COVID) but I haven’t let these hurdles disrupt my vision. Since I dropped out of school, I have no other option but to make this work — I have no “plan B”. This mentality has taught me one of the most important lessons in pursuit of an artistic career: resilience. Things can get emotional at times and sometimes you’ll feel like you want to hang it all up, but you can’t let a few small bumps in the road derail your journey. Stay true to your vision, to your path, and keep pushing forward!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them on the wild ride that is Miami, Florida: the city that is always going full speed. I’d start the weekend with a trip out to the beach to breathe the ocean air and get uncomfortably moist in the humid air. After we get showered up, I’d take them out to Wynwood for the night: a super youthful part of the city with a lot of great clubs and bars. One of my favourite parts about the city is the energy it exudes. No matter the time, you can always find somewhere to turn up or to chill out… sometimes both! As creatives, it is extremely important to experience life, culture, and find inspiration outside of the studio. Not only does it give your batteries some time to charge, but it also fuels your creativity when you’re back on the grind.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m incredibly grateful to have phenomenal mentors: Redd Eyezz and Anshu “AM” Sharma who have more experience in this industry than I have had living-years on this planet. They showed me a path forward to success in a cut-throat industry by integrating me into their team. With their blessing, I get to work with high-level music professionals and extremely talented artists. My development over the past three years has been extraordinary and I can’t wait to see where I will be three years from now!

Website: www.happynotsaad.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happynotsaad/

Other: https://www.twitch.tv/happynotsaad