Last Thursday, six Northwestern DJs brought raging energy to the Evanston Rocks stage, competing for a chance perform at the ever-anticipated Dillo Day. Communication junior Caroline Hughes, whose stage name is Luminosity, won Battle of the DJs, Mayfest’s annual pre-Dillo competition. The Daily found Hughes in the afterglow of her win, ready to talk about the art of DJing and her upcoming set at Dillo on June 1.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

The Daily: How did you first get into DJing?

Luminosity: I started kind of DJing on a virtual studio type thing when I was in middle school and kind of did that for a long time, really got into producing music. And then last summer I went ahead and bought my first deck, which is what I play on now.

The Daily: What style of music do you prefer to play?

Luminosity: I think I’m a pretty good mix. My biggest two are definitely EDM and dubstep, but I like to throw a lot of different stuff in there. So, recently I’ve been looking a lot into like trap music and incorporating that into EDM, as well as a lot of Spanish music.

The Daily: How did you prepare for your set at Battle of the DJs?

Luminosity: A lot of hours putting stuff together, for sure. I tend to, whenever I prepare for a situation like that, I try to mix as much as I can and record it so I can kind of hear it back. I use my roommate and my friend back home, and I sent them mixes every day asking for feedback and whatnot until I got it just right.

The Daily: How did it feel to perform in front of such an energized crowd?

Luminosity: It was really, really great. It’s really easy to really get into it when the crowd’s feeling the energy as well. I have my teammates to thank for that. I’m on the field hockey team and so I had basically all my teammates there cheering for me — to the point I couldn’t hear myself they were screaming so loud.

The Daily: How did it feel to find out you won?

Luminosity: That was amazing. I was kind of in shock, and it still doesn’t really feel real yet. I was in the car with my dad because he came and helped me move my stuff and whatnot, and I was in the car just like freaking out, just like calling my mom, calling my sister, texting my teammates that I won. It was quite great.

The Daily: Have you started thinking ahead to your Dillo Day set?

Luminosity: I have. I’ve started layering some stuff together, trying to see what are some good transitions. When I’m DJing, I never make the same set twice. So, all my sets will be almost completely different. I use some of the same songs but like, for the most part, I try to incorporate new things, as well as bring back some crowd favorites.

The Daily: Have you ever performed for anything of that size?

Luminosity: Never. I’ve been slowly progressing, I went from like a house party to Battle of the DJs and now this, it’s kind of — it still feels unreal … to perform for a crowd that big, on a stage that big.

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Twitter: @stephencouncil