Interview with an Influencer: DJ Tigerlily (@djtigerlily)
We chat to DJ Tigerlily on how instagram help take her through the ranks of the music scene, Tigerlily now commands an enormous online presence amassing a following of over 623k followers on Instagram supported by a large following on most socials. Don't miss out on her tips on Instagram success!
This week we are lucky to speak to DJ, music icon and influential Instagrammer Dara Hayes, better known as DJ Tigerlily. Forged from an origin story moving through the ranks of the music scene, Tigerlily now commands an enormous online presence. She has amassed a following of over 623k followers on Instagram supported by a large following on most socials.
Dara takes us through the whole story, how she got her shot and how she took that to rise to the influencer she is today. She shares how she stays on top of the massive presence and how she stood out within the fiercely competitive music industry. Keep reading!
Introduce yourselves, tell us about how you started DJing?
Hey guys, my name is Dara Hayes, probably better known as DJ Tigerlily! I started DJing back in 2011, thanks to an amazing program called Your Shot. Your Shot is an Australian created program that gives young kids (well I was young back then) like me the opportunity to learn how to mix! I entered into a 6-week training program and ended up coming 2nd overall out of all the contestants in my year! That was a pretty amazing achievement for me and gave me a good head start into the crazy dance music industry that I’m now in.
I scored my first residency at Soho in Sydney as a prize from the Your Shot competition and it was a great way to start exposing myself to an audience that was reactive to what I played and how I performed.
What social media channels are you active across? What is your favourite and why?
All of them! There are too many now it does my head in. My favourite one by far is Instagram because it allows me to interact with my followers in so many different ways, through photos, videos, and also, personal conversation in the DMs!
How important has social media been to your current success?
It’s definitely been a big factor as to why I’ve done so well for myself so far. But I have my lovely amazing kind hearted followers to thank for that as they have been following my journey every step of the way!
It’s important as an artist to have a good knowledge of who you are and how you are going to present yourself on social media. Consumers these days want to get to know you, want to see behind the scenes of your life etc, and so having a presence on social media is very important in my opinion.
What are two learnings since starting out?
Don’t always post what you think, it can backfire.
Don’t get discouraged when a hot bikini photo gets more likes than a song that you spent hours creating and are really passionate about!
Career highlight since being an influencer?
I won Cosmopolitan’s Performer of the Year this year, that was a huge achievement for me to see my music and my social media combining into one awesome feat!
What is your favourite post that you have shared and why?
The posts that are my favourite are the ones that I am most passionate about. My favourite post is actually one of a campaign that I shot for PETA speaking out for Veganism!
What content works best on your feed and why?
Being a DJ means that the majority of what I do happens at night so the content is dark. I try really hard to mix it up between night and day content because a feed full of dark shots looks super depressing… you’ll see what I mean when you go onto other DJ’s profiles!
Showing my followers what I do on a day to day basis, what I am passionate about, as well as my late night DJing escapades seems to work well for me! I like to regularly post videos and quotes too!
You have a huge fan base, how do you keep them engaged?
It’s a hard one that’s for sure! On a platform like Instagram that is now so oversaturated with millions of accounts, keeping your followers on their toes can be difficult. I like to have a regular schedule for my releases i.e. I always release my #TEAMTIGERRADIO (weekly podcast) every Tuesday morning so people know when and where they can get it.
However, I also like to mix things up on my feed and my stories by posting a combination of DJing/Music/Travel/WorkingOut/PersonalLife etc.
What equipment do you use (Camera/software/photo editing apps)?
For social media: Samsung Galaxy 9S to take the majority of my photos. I edit them on Lightroom on my phone. A lot of my content is from professional photographers at shows and they work with a whole heap of different equipment.
For DJing and production: I make music using a software program called Ableton. I mix live on Pioneer CJD 2000s and prefer to mix on a Pioneer Nexus 900!
How do you go about choosing the brands that you work with?
I am pretty selective these days in regards to brands that I work with. I will admit, I made some mistakes in the past, accepting good paying jobs with teeth whitening companies, hair growing serums etc, but realistically all these companies are doing is making huge amounts of money off women’s insecurities about themselves and I’m not about that any more. I love to work with brands that resonate with my personal belief systems, morals, my lifestyle, and my general style!
What has been your favourite brand collaboration to date and why?
I can’t choose between Adidas and JBL. Both brands are brands that I have personally LOVED for years. Their products are just amazing and I use to buy both brands as a teenager. Collaborating with brands that I adore on a personal level is an incredible feeling!
CREDIT: @djtigerlilly
