São Paulo – It was amid the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic that DJ Eduardo Smith decided to move to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With the events market at a standstill in Brazil, the musician, born in Ceilândia, a satellite city of Brasília, decided to seek new opportunities in the Arab country, which had reopened its doors to tourists.
“I first went to Dubai as a tourist in 2017 and liked the destination. I saw there was a market for DJs. Since I was out of work here, I decided to move, even though I didn’t know anyone there and spoke only a little English,” Smith recalls.
“I sold my car in Brazil and went to Dubai in October 2020. I didn’t know anything about the country’s culture and spent almost eight months looking for work as a DJ. I kept trying really hard, reaching out to people and sending my material to agencies and venues. I only did a few freelance gigs here and there in marketing. It was hard to adapt at first.”
“Despite the difficulties, the gamble paid off. Little by little, the doors started to open. First, he was invited to play on Fridays, then Thursdays, and soon Saturdays were added to his schedule as well. As Dubai’s market began to pick up again, more opportunities came his way, until Smith was invited to perform at Expo 2020, which began in October 2021.”
The recommendation for him to work as the official DJ for the Brazil Pavilion at the event came from one of the agencies he worked for in Dubai. “They wanted a DJ who was already working in the country and who knew how to curate the cultural music for the fashion shows and the closing party. And I knew how to do that,” Smith recalls.
“It was so much fun performing at Expo 2020. The ambassadors, the Brazilian committee, everyone had a great time. It seemed like they were under a lot of event-related stress, and there they were able to relax. The experience was a milestone for me, and it also helped validate my work on a global stage.”
In addition to Dubai, the Brazilian DJ is also interested in working as a DJ in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “To start playing in Qatar, I just need to organize my schedule,” he says. As for Saudi Arabia, he’ll have to wait a little longer before investing there.
Brazilian beats for the world
Raised by a military father and a civil servant mother, Smith had a strict childhood. Music, with no influence from anyone, came into his life at the age of 14 when he heard an ad for a DJ course on the radio. With his mother’s support, he enrolled, and a few months later, he graduated.
After the course, his career was built step by step, with performances at parties, clubs, and weddings in Brasília. Encouraged to keep studying, Smith decided to get a degree in Advertising to help him as a DJ.
“Even after graduating, with a website and promotion, I wasn’t very well known while working in Brazil. My career only took off when I went to Dubai. During the high season, which runs from October to March, there’re weeks I play every day.”
Smith says that his ease of adaptation helped him gain acceptance. “Unlike in Brazil, where one music style can dominate the dance floor for a longer time, in the UAE diversity is the rule. You’re often performing in front of people from 30 different nationalities at once. So you have to please all 30 at the same time. The audience can’t stand the same kind of music for long—you have to switch it up very quickly,” he explains.
In addition to performing in countries like England, Ireland, Thailand, and the Maldives, Smith has shared the stage with Brazilian DJ Alok in a show for over eight thousand people, as well as with one of the vocalists from the American group Black Eyed Peas. “That was a huge achievement. And like I say, we’re opening the market for other Brazilian DJs,” he says.
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