Life & Work with Christian Hoffer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Hoffer.

Christian, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was about 5 years old, I became obsessed with local hip hop and top 40 radio stations. I would sit in my parents’ basement playing with legos for HOURS listening to all of the hot local mixers, paying attention to the big songs of the time, and vibing out with my city from the comfort of my parent’s basement.

This planted a seed and once I got to middle school, I knew I wanted to make music a big part of my life. From there, I joined the choir to learn music theory and went on to compete as a singer over the next 9 years. About halfway through that process, electronic music was starting to surge across America, and thanks to a few cultured friends, I caught wind of what some of the early dubstep/ house music artists were doing and once again felt like that kid in the basement playing with legos.

I became obsessed with dance music and began collecting records and DJ equipment, then slowly started DJing my friends’ parties in high school. This inspired me to start writing my own songs, and begin my own business as a professional party rocker. This skyrocketed when I got to college a few years later as I would go on to become an entrepreneur and DJ at Ferris State University – where I began throwing my own events at local house parties, bars, and clubs… a movement which would soon spread to other surrounding cities in Grand Rapids and Metro-Detroit. Once this began moving, I began getting bigger opportunities to open for national and regional acts in surrounding cities, picked up a Redbull sponsorship, and became the “official” DJ of my school – representing us at other campuses and events across the state.

Fast forward a few years and I stumble into the iHeartRadio studios in Grand Rapids, MI on a job shadow. I quickly knew this was a place I wanted to spend a lot of time and begged the Program Director to teach me everything he knew… which he agreed to. This then led to a 1-year internship with the company, followed by immediate employment with the 2 biggest radio clusters in Michigan.

I went on to host a weekly mix show on Channel 955 in Detroit, 104.5 WSNX in Grand Rapids, as well as a night show on 93.7 B-93, and countless other weekend and fill-in slots across the cluster. This allowed some other radio stations to catch wind of what I was doing, and I was soon after offered a job as the full-time night host at Top 40 station 94.7 Hits FM in Montreal, where I hosted nights for 3 years.

Fast forward to today, I am a full-time DJ with multiple residencies here in Michigan and a plethora of other opportunities regularly coming my way (thankfully!!). I just completed a 16 city US tour thanks to the help of some booking partners and am looking forward to crossing more cities off of my list in 2022.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been *literally* living in the trenches since I started. There are moments of glamour – where I get to open big shows, support well-known artists, and be in the spotlight… however a large portion of what I do requires early back-breaking set-up and late-night tear-down.

I’ve had lots of “NO’s” along the way, and lots of encounters where people don’t see my vision, but at the end of the day – this is just fuel to my fire. As a working DJ, this is a grind that I’m very familiar with and something that likely won’t let up anytime soon… and I love it!

Some of the biggest struggles are being my own business manager, booking agent, day-to-day accountant, and more. As a self-employed business owner, I wear MANY hats on top of my performances. It can be a grind, but I love it!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What do I do? I am a professional DJ, MC/ Host, remixer, producer, and event curator. What sets me apart from others is my unique ability to unite groups of individuals with diverse backgrounds through my energy in the entertainment setting. I’m most proud of being able to enter a room of people, not knowing who will be there, and put together a performance that makes the room feel like a group of friends hanging out.

My happy-go-lucky aura combined with my desire to break down the social boundaries is a huge asset for event creators.

I am NOT shy in any capacity and I am constantly thinking on my toes at each event. This is a huge benefit that I bring to the party atmosphere that is imitated by many, and matched by almost none.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is making other people smile.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.heychoff.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/heychoff
• Facebook: facebook.com/heychoff
• Twitter: twitter.com/heychoff
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq2FpdhXP-1_lcVVqEzDbcQ
• SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/heychoff

Image Credits
@thealiendirector