By day, Christopher Muniz teaches students the craft of writing at USC Dornsife. By night, he’s dropping beats at sold-out music festivals.
During the day, you’ll find Christopher Muniz training students in the art of essay writing. On nights and weekends, however, things take a less studious turn. You’ll find the writing professor performing as a DJ at festivals like EDC Mexico or Nocturnal Wonderland, where his bass-heavy sets keep the crowds moving late into the night.
It’s a little bit of a double existence. “Some people don’t know I’m a professor, and then some people know I’m a professor but don’t know I’m a DJ,” he says.
For Muniz though, the craft of writing — he teaches the subject at the USC Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences — and a DJ skillset have a lot in common.
“Preparing for a set is almost the same as preparing for writing an essay. You’re auditioning ideas, you’re figuring out what goes in what order, you’re thinking about your audience or your reader,” he says. “There’s a lot of overlap that appeals to me. I think it helps make me a better writer, a better teacher and, of course, a better DJ, as well.”