Person of the Week: Myron C. Johnson aka DJ Energizer

Name: Myron C. Johnson aka DJ Energizer
Occupation: DJ, Promoter and CEO of Energizer Entertainment
Education: Jackson State University (Bachelors) and Capella University (Masters)
Location: Byram, Mississippi

Q: When did your love for music start? What’s your earliest memory of just simply listening to music? What did you listen to?

A: With me being an 80s baby, it probably started around the late 80s. I was around the age of 8 or 9. Around that time, I was listening to Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. That’s basically when it all started.

Q: How long have you been a DJ?

A: Five years this month…

Q: Did you always want to be a DJ?

A: Nope. (lol) I actually wanted to be a hype man. That’s what I really wanted to be, but I used to wonder how DJs scratched and mixed the music, how they kept the crowd going and all that good stuff. So, I prayed about it and one day I told my mom and my sister, “I think I’m about to start being a DJ.” They were so supportive about what to do and how to do it… what I should do as far as getting a website going, DJ name, charging and other stuff. So, I’m actually glad I became a DJ versus a hype man because I guess God was saying, “Ain’t nobody calling a hype man every week.”

I thank God that I’m a DJ because I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing. Trying to have two ‘real’ jobs is hard to do… not that I can’t do it.

In addition to being a DJ, I’m an instructor and recruiter for a trucking company in Flowood, Mississippi. I also do events under the name Energizer Entertainment. My events include live bands, poetry and comedy. I try to mix it up a little bit.

I do guest speaking events. I also do events for my city… Canton, Mississippi. That’s where I’m from. I do events every year or every other year for the youth in that area.

Q: What was your first gig? And, tell us about the biggest gig you’ve ever had.

A: My first gig was my own event. When I first started deejaying, in order to get my name out there, I had to host my own events and parties. Within a year, a lot of big things happened for me as far as deejaying at the top locations in Jackson that everyone knew about… like Freelons, Slicks (now called the M-Bar), Dreamz (now called Magnificent)…

My first year was really big for me. It moved really fast. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was very blessed while I was trying to get my name out there.

My biggest gig was when I was deejaying at Freelons. That’s one of those places a lot of DJs probably wish they could get into to deejay. So, I have to thank my sorors and DJ Unpredictable for reaching out to me to deejay their events.

Also, being able to travel to Memphis to deejay at weddings is kind of big. When people reach out to you from another city or out-of-town, that’s good.

Q: What is Energizer Entertainment? Who a the major players? And how did you transition from DJ to promoter?

A: Energizer Entertainment is a name that I branched off of my deejay name. And my deejay name came from my line name given to me when I became a Sigma. So, that’s how the whole ‘Energizer’ came about. My frat brother came up with that name. It was actually ‘Blue Energizer’. So, I took ‘Energizer’ and basically ran with it.

Right now, I’m doing things myself. If I need help, I’ll ask people that I’m really close with like my wife and frat. It’s stressful, but I like it.

As far as people performing for me, I have a team of singers and a live band. I put all of them together and we do events.

It was easy transitioning from DJ to promoter. With deejaying, I put my own events together. Everything pretty much flows together. When I’m deejaying, I’m promoting my own events.

Q: With everything that’s currently going on in the world, as far as police shootings..Black Lives Matter… does that motivate you even more to provide a nice and safe place for people to hang out and escape from the day-to-day stressors in life?

A: Oh, definitely. I was just talking to my wife about this last week. We were both feeling down about everything that’s going on in the world. It’s just so confusing and frustrating to the point where you’re wondering, “Why do other people hate us so much? Like, what did we do to them?” Of course, they don’t have a legitimate reason.

I’m the type of person… I love everyone. I don’t care who you are. I’ll talk to you. I’ll have a conversation with you and not even know you. That’s just who I am.

So, that’s one of the reasons why I started having events. With me being in the business five years, I’ve seen the ups and downs of doing these events. I’ve had nobody come to my party to maybe five to ten people… to maybe forty to sixty… to over one-hundred. I’ve seen it all. I’ve lost out on some money ,but I didn’t trip about it

Around the summer of 2013, I was about to stop doing parties and events. A friend of mine and my wife told me not to worry about it and that you can’t make people come to your events and support you. My wife told me to take a break, but don’t quit. So, I started focusing on deejaying, work and my family. I took a step back and started thinking. Later, I was able to come back after reinventing some things. I prayed about it. Everything that I prayed and thought about, God ended up allowing me to do it in His time.

So, in January 2014, I started doing live bands. Live music is one of the things I’ve always wanted to do. And when I started doing that, as far as people coming out to support my events, the crowd has been consistent for almost three years straight.

I didn’t always profit. That didn’t stop me from doing what I was doing. It was never about the money for me. It’s about people coming together to have a good time, taking the load off and forgetting everything throughout the week.

Q: Tell us about Energizer Saturdays at The Med Grill. What’s the entertainment and crowd like?

A: Energizer Saturday is an event I used to come up with different themes for on Saturdays. It’s something I used to do when I was only throwing parties. Growing older, you have to do new things and start thinking better. So, this time, I switched things over and started doing it with a live band and live music. I have a couple of singers come out and perform. Sometimes I offer live music, comedy and poetry in one event. That’s really the only type of event I do now because I know that it’s something people are looking for. My main thing is to get people out of the house that’s 30, 40 or 50 years old… looking for something nice to do and somewhere nice to go without worrying about a big crowd or people fighting. It’s also perfect for those looking for a new place to go with their significant other.

Q: Recently, you hosted a relationship panel featuring Merc. B., Miss V. Woods, Devin Harper, Stacy J. and Ty A. Patterson. What was that experience like? And what outcome are you trying to achieve as far as relationships?

A: That was a great experience. That was my third relationships event. Last year, my wife and I did an event called Couples and Convo. Then, we did an event called Single But Satisfied.

The one thing I liked about The Relationship Panel is that it included people from different walks of life….different ages…different experiences. A lot of people were enlightened. The main thing was to get people to talk about things they wouldn’t normally talk about at home with their significant other. Or to hear some things that they’ve already thought about or told their significant other. It was all about coming together to discuss relationships, love, sex, infidelity or cheating, what to look for in a mate, when to start dating and how to let go if you’re in the wrong situation. We talked about things people already know about. But it’s good to hear other people say it. And sometimes it’s just easier to hear it from somebody else.

I loved the crowds participation. I loved the atmosphere. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Q: Cocktails and Sushi Sundays at Wasabi Sushi & Bar is one of your newest events you’ve been promoting. Tell us about it. Will this be an ongoing event?

A: DJ Unpredictable, Upscale Nitelife, JB Entertainment and I are all in it together. We’re trying to give people something new to do by creating day parties where people can come out and have a good time. We want them to enjoy good music, food and drinks. We’re doing it on Sundays right now. We’re supposed to do it every Sunday in July, but we may move it to first and third Sundays in August. At some point, we may extend it to Saturdays around the time that football season starts.

People that live out-of-town have day parties to attend every weekend. So, we’re trying to bring that environment here.

The theme for July is Sunday Daydreaming.

Q: Are there any other community or social events you’re involved in?

A: I have some upcoming speaking events involving young boys. I’ll basically be discussing becoming an entrepreneur. Personally, I think we should teach out kids how to save while they are young. We should also teach them the importance of working hard, owning something and supporting each other.

My brother and I have a fitness thing going on in Canton, Mississippi with about fifty people. It’s free to the public. You just have to sign a waiver to participate. All you have to do is bring a mat and water. We teach them about eating right and drinking water to make sure they lose the weight. We try to motivate them. We don’t fuss or talk about them. We work with them. We even pray with them at the end of the workout. This happens every week at 6PM across from the Canton Community Center in the big field and right next door to the Canton Fire Department… Monday thru Thursday.

We do it because we love it and we want to see people turn their lives around.