Maxwell Zembur, aka DJ Mixwell, during his Up & Up performance in the fall of 2024.
It’s a Thursday night and just off Madison St., in an old wine cellar, a crowd of people await Maxwell Zembur, known in this setting as DJ Mixwell, as he prepares to begin his set on stage. Lights are flashing, music is blasting, and groups of fellow students, peers, and aspiring musicians are gathered to watch Mixwell do what he does best. Although it's hot in the room and people are stumbling over one another trying to get to the stage, as soon as Mixwell begins his set, everyone cheers, filling the room with dancing, hollering, and praise for all that is DJ Mixwell.
Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Zembur came to the University of Oregon for something new, a fresh start after growing up on the east coast, he decided that he wanted to come out west for a change. Zembur was first introduced to music around first grade, when his parents signed him up for piano lessons. From there, he picked up the clarinet and ultimately discovered his love for singing, joining choir in seventh grade. His earliest memories of house music are in the car listening to popular songs on the radio from artists Avicii, David Guetta, and Tiësto, but it wasn’t until his Freshman year at the UO that he truly fell in love with house music.
During his first week at the UO, Zembur attended a show for popular DJ Dr. Fresch at a show put on by Up & Up, a college music festival series that allows student communities to compete to win a concert featuring a major artist. Now, as a student ambassador for Up & Up, Zembur has had the opportunity to open for well known artists, such as Matroda, “my favorite show would definitely be opening for Matroda in the fall of 2024. That was one of the biggest shows I've ever done […] and it was really nice to be able to come full circle with wanting to be a part of Up and Up my freshman year.”
Zembur takes a lot into account when creating a set for one of his shows, the first being the environment, making sure that what he plays is going to match the energy of the crowd, venue, time of year, etc. But once he’s up there doing what he loves most, all that matters to him is creating a fun setting where all feel welcome to enjoy the large energy that is house music. “While I'm up there, it's such a rush, honestly, it's a lot of fun because people are enjoying the music that I'm playing, and it's nice to see that I'm able to provide that and provide a good time for people,” Zembur describes.
DJing is more than just pushing buttons on a board. Zembur spends time creating remixes, new beats, and experimenting with multiple different styles of music to create a hodgepodge of sound. DJing is all about combining sounds that weren’t originally intended to go together. Zembur talks about how important it is to stay true to the kinds of remixes you want to make, rather than trying to recreate others. In order to successfully DJ, you need to understand tempo, beat, pulse, and all the ins and outs of producing and recording mixes. It isn’t an easy task.
Now, as a second year advertising student, Zembur has his sights set on making it out of Eugene and potentially playing in a music festival someday. His other main goal is to produce good quality music that he feels truly reflects his artistic style. All of this while being a full time student is something that Zembur has learned to balance, saying, “I definitely like to have a balance, like I usually will work on school in the mornings, and then I kind of like to work on music towards the evening time.”
Committed to his passions and all things house music, it is clear that Zembur plays a big role in the Eugene music scene. Zembur describes the music scene as diverse, with shows ranging from rock bands to DJ sets, and sometimes combining both. However, while the Eugene music scene is quite popular among UO students, Zembur feels as though it’s dying compared to years prior. “There's a lot less house show venues, because UO is cracking down on the frats and the police are starting to get more involved, so they're not really having as many shows as there used to be, which is a little nerve-wracking because people in the music scene want to put stuff together,” Zembur describes. While this may be true, he mentioned that the music scene remains strong, and how it is more important now than ever that people support local artists in pursuing their dreams as aspiring musicians.