Simon and Morris Faks are 2 of the top DJs in New York. They’ve performed for thousands of people, worked with celebrities like Marshmello and Alesso, and played sets all over the world—from France to Morocco to Italy.

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Follow Simon and Morris on Instagram:

https://instagram.com/faksproductions

https://instagram.com/djsimonfaks

Check out Yaakov Shwekey on Momentum

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(0:00) Coming up…

(2:40) Who are Simon and Morris Faks?

(3:14) Immigrating to America at age 16

(4:20) "I couldn't read and write"

(5:53) Buying DJ equipment for fun

(8:30) Grinding to establish themselves as the go-to DJs

(10:03) 20-hour days: working full time and DJing on the side

(11:26) Introducing party lighting to their experience

(12:10) Going all-in on DJing

(13:01) Did you have to deal with competetion?

(15:17) Working 72 hours straight

(17:57) Building up a premium brand image

(18:50) Nightmare scenarios: equipment failures, power outages, and explosions

(23:51) Working with Justin Bieber, Marshmello, Alesso, and more celebrities

(25:50) Work-life balance (or lack thereof)

(28:22) Coolest events and destinations (Anguilla, Paris, Rome, Saint-Tropez, Casablanca…)

(29:28) Shipping their own equipment across the world to Anguilla

(30:31) DJing in Game of Thrones, 11 days of 3 parties a day

(31:25) Performing with Alesso in the center of a mountain

(31:48) DJing with Marshmello

(32:29) Do you take requests?

(33:48) The sacrifice DJs need to make: “it’s a hard business.”

(38:47) Bringing on more DJs to expand their operation

(39:31) Getting into music production?

(40:11) Learning the back end / admin work

(41:12) Being honorable in business

(42:38) Why you need a good attitude in the service business

(43:53) Should people follow their passion?

(46:22) What's it like being business partners with your brother?

(48:27) Donating their services to underprivileged families

(50:12) Momentum Moment

(51:29) Closing thoughts

(53:51) Outro