PSYWENTZ: From Spinning CDs to Streaming on Twitch

“Push more boundaries, and if you are thinking of doing something, don’t wait, just do it as soon as possible,” is the advice Wentzel a.k.a. PSYWENTZ, would give to his childhood self.

London-based DJ, PSYWENTZ, recalls a time as a teenager when DJing consisted of loading a CD player. His formative years were spent in South Africa, where he grew up in Bloemfontein, the City of Roses, and later moved to Mossel Bay, a coastal town in the heart of the Garden Route. 

“I remember the CD player loading the CD for about 30 seconds if we were lucky,” he says.

One of his earlier gigs took place at a local nightclub called Camelot, which hosted a battle of the DJs. Despite challenges like non-existent sync buttons and his limited experience with beat matching, the gig was a total success. 

“I crash mixed my way through with confidence and came 3rd overall,” he adds. “My prize was some really crappy bling headphones, but that was enough to release the beast (BEATS!).”

Sometimes it’s tough to fathom how far mixing has come since then, especially for new DJs. And now, with streaming in the picture, becoming a Twitch DJ is one of the most exciting turns this art has taken. PSYWENTZ has been lucky enough to witness the entire progression of what being a DJ looks like–from CDs all the way to Twitch.

If it wasn’t already obvious enough by his moniker, PSYWENTZ’s go-to genre is psychedelic trance, or psytrance. His favorite artists include Infected Mushroom, Astrix, Bliss, GMS, 1200 Micrograms, Tristan, Avalon, 4i20, Interactive noise, Rising Dust, and Shpongle.

He notes that psytrance truly does take the listener on a journey. However, this sub-genre of trance is far from mainstream, which posed a challenge for PSYWENTZ when he first got into streaming on Mixcloud.  

PSYWENTZ pivoted to Twitch streaming in April 2021 and never looked back. He found himself making friends (some of whom he’s met up with IRL), streaming for charity, and even spinning fire poi. 

“I really enjoyed my last fire poi show I did on live stream,” he says. “That was a really fun night, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I also didn’t burn anything down and avoided a visit from the fire brigade.”

Recently signed to StreamTribe Records, PSYWENTZ has big plans to further his career as a DJ. “I think we are all very like-minded at StreamTribe with a passion for music whilst growing personally and professionally.”

He would like to start producing and playing larger festivals, the latter of which isn’t too far off, as he’s perhaps more seasoned playing live shows than streaming. He recalls his most memorable live performances at Club Aquarium, Egg London, and Pacha London.

PSYWENTZ hopes to pass down his love for Twitch streaming with his seven-year-old son, who already talks about becoming a gamer. His other son is only four, but between the both of them, he plans to also pass on the values and life knowledge his own parents taught him. 

Another passion of PSYWENTZ’s is cooking. Although he’s always busy streaming or spending time with his wife and kids, he’s also sure to make time for the kitchen. “I love cooking up a storm on Sundays with a big glass of red wine in my hand whilst listening to some chilled-out tunes,” he says. 

Aside from the occasional pop-up stream, PSYWENTZ is live on Tuesdays at 19:00 GMT and Thursdays at 19:30 GMT. He also participates in a 24-hour psychedelic event over one weekend each month. View PSYWENTZ’s most up-to-date schedule on his Twitch channel.