By Cindy Arora
Tesoro High School seniors Sameer Wason and Alex Zeppos started their DJ business, WZ Sound, because the two loved making music and throwing a good party – and they happened to be good at both.
What started out as a passion project evolved into a masterclass in how to run a business when the students found themselves in charge of DJ’ing neighborhood parties, football games, pep rallies, and school dances.
“It has been an amazing experience,” Wason said. “We don’t do it for the money, we do it because I love to DJ and Alex loves being a sound engineer … the money is a bonus. What we really enjoy is seeing people happy and enjoying themselves.”
Wason began to tinker with music production when he was in middle school, after a family vacation forced him to seek entertainment without his phone or internet. What he had was his laptop, music, and the app GarageBand, which gave him everything he needed for a full-featured recording studio.
“I started throwing stuff together and it just clicked for me,” Wason said. “It was really fulfilling, and it all just started from there for me. I eventually wanted to make something that I would listen to, which sounds simple to do, but it’s not.”
Zeppos and Wason knew each other as familiar faces in the music programs in middle school and then at Tesoro High School. Wason had begun to DJ at local parties, and it was at one of these events where he and Zeppos began to talk shop, and the idea of a business sprouted.
“Something clicked inside of Alex that made him think we could take this to a different level, we could make a structure, and a real functioning business,” Wason said. “At school a few days later, he came up to me with a business logo and an Instagram account.”
Zeppos felt confident that WZ Sound could be a viable business. He could just see it. They were offering a service that’s often costly at a lower price point, so all they had to do was the marketing to get discovered by locals.
“I had to do a little sweet talking with Sameer, but once we got started, there was no turning back,” Zeppos said.
After a shopping spree at Guitar Center, where the two spent their own savings, they began grassroots marketing and began to get gigs.
“It has been a whirlwind, especially lately, we are doing so much work … DJ’ing on boats, tons of grad parties and events on campus,” Zeppos said. “It has been such an experience to see how the process of a business really works. It gives you a unique perspective and teaches you how to problem solve. Nothing ever works out the way you think it is. There’s always a problem at any gig. But we’ve learned to figure out the issues when they happen. It’s a great life skill.”
As Wason and Zeppos prepare to graduate, they are training Tesoro High School students who will continue providing on-site professional sound, lighting, music, and DJ services for the school district.
Wason will head to Los Angeles after graduation to work toward his law degree, and Zeppos is moving to the University of Chicago, where he’s majoring in business finance and playing football. But they won’t stop the music any time soon.
“We are training the next generation to keep the business going. We have real hope on what next year will be like for the students,” said Zeppos. “But we also plan on keeping the business going, and still doing lots of big parties in Los Angeles and Chicago.”
Wason agrees. “I don’t want our business to stop. It takes a lot of commitment, but we love what we do.”