Layer by Layer
Jack Suficiencia
In the middle of a packed room, the music swells, and strangers move to rhythms they don’t fully understand but feel deep in their bones. Behind the decks, Jack Suficiencia doesn’t just play tracks—he builds connections, threading moments of joy, longing, and discovery into his sets. For Jack, DJing isn’t just music; it’s a way to process life, one beat at a time.
“DJing to me has always been more than an art,” Jack says. “It was the start of a new beginning, a blank slate in one of my darkest times.”
His story begins with a gift—a DJ controller, small and simple, given as a graduation present. At the time, he didn’t realize it would become the thing that helped him through the silence that followed.
Graduation should’ve felt like freedom, but for Jack, it was a free fall. “I felt lost in a world without structure,” he admits. The weight of expectations—his own, his parents’, his peers’—became suffocating. Friends landed jobs; LinkedIn feeds buzzed with success stories. Meanwhile, Jack sat with rejections, unanswered emails, and the creeping question: What’s wrong with me?
Therapy became a lifeline, helping him untangle the knot of self-worth tied too tightly to achievement. “I realized how much I based my value on results—making my parents proud, showing proof of my hard work,” he says.
But alongside therapy came something else: music. What started as a fascination with DJ transitions on social media grew into late-night practice sessions. “I was embarrassed at first,” Jack shares. “It didn’t feel ‘useful’ enough. But I kept going, and eventually, it became the thing that kept me grounded.”
Jack’s first gig was small—a friend’s birthday party, where he played music for a room of strangers. “It wasn’t fancy,” he laughs. “More like being on aux for the night. But I managed a few transitions, and the gratitude from people stuck with me. Being able to contribute to the energy of the night made me feel like I was part of something.”
Jack approaches every setlist as a story—a reflection of his life, his emotions, and the people he’s playing for. “I think about everything: Who’s going to be there? Where’s the set? Is it evening or daytime? Will my music be background noise or the main focus? I want to be genuine but also surprise people.”
His music pulls from every phase of his life: the R&B that soothed him during university, the hip-hop and trap that fueled his basketball days, and the songs he grew up hearing on the radio. “My setlists are a mosaic of my experiences,” he says. “They’re not just about what’s popular—they’re about what feels right in the moment. Sometimes it’s about matching beats and other times it’s about throwing in something unexpected, just to see how people react.”
But DJing is more than technique for Jack—it’s deeply emotional. It’s a way to reclaim himself, to connect with others, and to remind himself that art—no matter how small it seems—has value.
“When I’m behind the decks, I feel like I’m contributing to something bigger than myself,” Jack reflects. “It’s not about the money or the status; it’s about creating moments that people carry with them, even after the music stops.”
Jack’s journey isn’t polished or perfect—it’s raw, ongoing, and deeply human. He’s still finding his way, learning to balance dreams and expectations, passion and practicality. But through every mix and every beat, he’s carving out a space for himself—one where worth isn’t measured in milestones but in the rhythm of living fully.
@jack.suficiencia
