What's In A Name! The Legend Behind The Names Of Your Favourite DJs!

Know what you didn’t know about the names of your favourite DJ’s and the stories behind their monikers!

How many times have you danced away to the tunes of your go-to EDM favourite only to have an intellectual moment going-“But what does this name actually mean!”

1. AVICII

Tim Bergling was trying to figure a DJ name for himself when he remembered the term ‘Avicii’ which he came across in an online chatroom. In Buddhism, this term refers to lowest level of the Naraka or hell. A realm into which the dead who have committed grave misdeeds may be reborn. Hmm. Bet you’re not going to listen to him the same way now, are you?

2.Moby

Aah, this one is something many of us have guessed upon! Well putting rumours to rest, yes, Moby’s name is indeed inspired by the legendary book character. But what’s astonishing is that he actually is the great-great-great grandson of Herman Melville, the author of the successful book Moby Dick!

3.Diplo

Thomas Pentz, famously known as ‘Diplo’, got his stage name from his childhood fascination- dinosaurs! His favourite dinosaur was the Diplodocus, a plant eater with a 90 foot long neck. Now isn’t that the cutest moniker story!

4.Deadmau5

Probably the wackiest name origin in this list is of Joel Thomas Zimmerman aka “Deadmau5”. In his early teens while working on his computer it suddenly crashed and smelled terrible. He immediately opened it up to find a dead mouse inside! And well, the name stuck!

5.DJ Snake

“DJ Snake’s” real name is William Grigahcine and he earned the moniker “Snake” after he constantly evaded the police due to his graffiti art. Once the moniker stuck, he adapted it to his stage name as well!

6.Calvin Harris

“Calvin Harris” aka Adam Wiles, decided to use his current moniker instead of his real name because he thought that the “racial ambiguity” would bode better for his career.

“I thought people might not know if I was Black or not,” Harris said in 2009. “After that, I was stuck with it.”

7.Hardwell

“Hardwell’s” DJ name was decided by his father. His real name is Robbert van de Corput, and if you translate ‘Corput’ in English you get ‘Hardwell’! So, the Dutch DJ’s name in English actually translates to Robert Hardwell.

8.Laidback Luke

Contrary to the DJ’s moniker, you might want to watch your step with supposedly-“Laidback Luke”! He is a registered Kung Fu Master and even competed in a Martial Arts World Championship in China in 2013.

So these were some weird, some awesome, some plain straightforward stories behind the names of your favourite DJ’s!

Which one of them was your favourite? Can you come up with an extraordinary DJ name for yourself?

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