The crowd moves to the rhythm of his tunes as he mixes and shuffles songs like a pro. Junior Isaac Scherer’s side gig, being a DJ, is evolving from a hobby into a more serious side hustle.

One of Scherer’s most recent events, the Sept. 25 PALS picnic at Elizabeth Milburn Park, was a success. The picnic went on with his sound in the background, with music catering to about 400-500 people.

“This is our ninth annual time doing it,” PALS teacher Jared Lippe said. “This was the best sound we’ve ever had, for sure. For just a few hours, a fun, collaborative time, and a celebration of PALS for our picnic.”

Scherer volunteered himself for the job after seeing past years’ difficulties concerning the sound system.

“The system made it loud enough that people at Cedar Park High School said they could hear me from Milburn,” Lippe said. “[Isaac] brought fun to it. The music brought energy and fun to it, so that just made a whole different energy to the event.”

In comparison to previous years’ PALS picnics, this year’s event has undergone major changes.

“Last year, you couldn’t even hear the teachers talking and the music was just slow,” senior Kiana Muck said. “So having him DJ really hyped everybody up and we were able to hear the teachers better so we could participate better in all of the activities. And it was just an overall vibe because the music was super loud and he had a great playlist.”

According to Muck, song choices made by Scherer influenced the audience’s personal music taste in the long run.

“There are songs he added where I was like ‘oh my gosh, I forgot about this,’” Muck said. “So I added them into my own playlist because they were bangers.”

Muck said that after his gigs, Scherer’s DJing talents did not go unnoticed and were frequently praised by fellow listeners and onlookers.

“You can tell he’s so passionate about music that he ends up having fun with it, but if [the atmosphere] was serious, he made sure all the music was not explicit,” Muck said. “He made sure that his setup was professional. So I feel like he took it very professionally, but made sure to have fun with it.”

Scherer said his interest in the industry stems from his father’s previous experience working with sound systems, including designing the South PAC’s sound system. Live music was what fueled his relocation to Austin, the live music capital of the world, and now fuels Scherer’s passion as well.

“My dad has always been in the music industry, so he used to have a really big sound system himself,” Scherer said. “He was downsizing and got a new, smaller one, one that I’m more capable of running. So he made it to where it’s something I can do on the side to try and make some extra money.”

Besides the music, Scherer enjoys communicating and bonding with those around him while he DJs.

“I think the best part is [about] the connections with people,” Scherer said. “You know, you’d think if you’re playing music, most people, the only time they come up is for song requests, but sometimes they’ll come up and just kind of start talking to you about it and asking questions.”

According to Scherer, one thing that many DJs grapple with is curating the playlist in the most optimal way possible, to entertain the maximum number of people.

“You can’t please everyone,” Scherer said. “So that’s a struggle. If someone wants a vibe, you have to find songs that fit different genres to please more people. But I’m definitely hearing complaints that certain people don’t like the music when others do.”

Scherer said that the trick to accomplishing this goal is to observe the crowd, see what songs people are gravitating towards and also see what sounds do not work in that particular moment.

“Something you kind of have to start picking up on and learn is reading the room,” Scherer said. “You have to read: ‘are people liking this style of music more or this style of music more?’ So after I played the first five songs or so, I started piecing together what people were liking and started moving other [songs] around.”

After his success at the PALS picnic, he has now been asked by the Student Council to DJ at the school’s upcoming annual Trunk or Treat festival, and is hoping to attract new business.

“It’s a great opportunity to get out there, especially because at Trunk or Treat, there’s going to be parents there,” Scherer said. “And right now, my main focus is I’ve got some business cards and to hand those out to parents and [book new gigs].”