Music as a Force for Change: An Interview with DJ Synchro

Alberto Lugo, also known as DJ Synchro, is a 23-year-old Brooklyn-born creative who transformed his Bachelor’s degree in Recorded Music into both a career and a personal brand. A 2024 graduate of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, Lugo’s journey is one of resilience and self-made momentum. Now signed to Today is Vintage, he’s using his growing platform to build inclusive, safe spaces where people can connect through the power of music. 

Lugo spoke with Isabella Appell about the obstacles that shaped his path, the value of taking risks, and the deeper meaning music holds in his life. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Could you share a bit about your journey into music, and how you specifically got started with DJing?

Growing up, I had a strong passion for piano; my life plan was to become a pianist. I went to charter school my whole life but unfortunately, my school didn’t have the proper funding to support the arts, so I was pushed into a corner with no other choice but to find other routes. Luckily, with timing, there was this nonprofit that came into our school called Building Beats and they taught underserved youth how to produce music. I remember signing up for the program and meeting my current mentor Phi. He took me under his wing after seeing me so passionate and ambitious about djing–it was clear to him that I wanted to take this a whole ‘nother step. 

I went up to the dean and was like ‘I want to DJ the next party’ and they were like ‘what?!’. I said ‘trust me, I’ve been taking classes and I think I can do it’. The week leading up, I was going around the whole school, asking everybody ‘what’s your favorite song?’ and then I would go home and install all of the music on my ipad and $50 controller. 

I started working more closely with Building Beats and when I got to high school, I was given the opportunity to go to Carnegie Hall for a few years, so that’s how I learned how to DJ. 

Does your DJ name “DJ Synchro” have a deeper significance or inspiration?

I get this question a lot. When I was in the seventh or eighth grade, the program I was using at the time was called ‘audio tool’. Imagine if you could go to SoundCloud, make beats, and then also post it. I was sifting through a lot of names; the first obvious one was just Dj Lugo but it felt way too cliché. 

I knew I wanted it to be a universal feeling but I just couldn’t find it. I was always installing music into my iPad; I was a huge nerd and I had a really weird obsession with jailbreaking and hacking my phone. I remember installing music into my phone and the software I was using would say ‘synchronizing to your iTunes library’. At that moment, I took a very hard look at that word ‘synchronized’ and was like ‘man, that sounds cool’. I took that and used it as a username on the audio tool website but was noticing how other people on the platform had really straight to the point names. I went with DJ Synchro and it wasn’t until high school that I started to embrace it more as a producer and professional name. 

Choosing that name was an example of how there are moments where it just matches up and it makes sense. To synchronize, to be tuned into synchronicities that happen in your life is to have these crazy connections that don’t initially make sense but when you put them together they just do. That’s the way I’ve always viewed and operated in the world and I find that music, for me, is the easiest way to unlock that truth. 

Can you walk us through what led you to choose the Clive Davis Institute?

By senior year [of highschool], I had to make the major decision of what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to keep doing music but it took a lot of convincing and reassuring of my parents. I’m from a Dominican household so there’s a lot of clashing opinions and beliefs that are tied down to tradition and how they view success in the arts. I was lucky enough to have parents who supported my decision to go to NYU and Clive Davis. I started networking with everyone there and for those four years, it was really me balancing school and my career. There was so much going on but it really propelled me forward into an industry that I can now proudly say I’m a part of. 

How did your time at the institute influence your approach to music production, and what key opportunities arose from it?

My experience at Clive Davis was definitely a rollercoaster. There were really, really high highs and super low lows. There was a huge community vibe and I was always inspired by what someone was doing in another room. At the same time, it’s a very rigorous program; we were nailed down to the T when it came down to learning music history. The curriculum was difficult but knowing where sounds and tropes came from and what directly inspired me, it’s something I carry with me now. 

My freshman year, when everything was shut down [during covid], it was definitely a low moment. There was a lot of uncertainty but something told me to go through the program and see where it takes me. One day, I saw an email from one of my professors, Nick Cesano, who is the current chair now. He said there was a really dope opportunity at an online songwriting camp where they pair you up with these incredible artists. I went and managed to sign a publishing deal with the company hosting the workshop, ‘Today is Vintage’, that I’m still with now. I was blessed to have the music lawyer Lauren Davis, who is the daughter of Clive Davis, look over my contract. 

Since then, so many doors have been propped open for me. There was a point where I was questioning whether I was even supposed to be in some rooms. Opportunities-wise, I went to a songwriting camp in Tulum, Mexico with a group of producers and artists mid-semester. I was flown to Los Angeles to work with other producers as well as Toronto, where I got the insane opportunity to work with a well-known artist. Although awesome, it made me think maybe it was a sign to continue going down the individual route–not necessarily towards my label because they handle all of the paperwork, but I don’t want to feel like I’m being used to make hits for anybody. I’m more focusing on making music that actually feels good and right to me and working with artists that really speak to me. 

How has your experience changed since reaching a wider audience, and what challenges have come with that?

You can get boxed in as a creator; every time I approached the drawing board, I was already thinking about money, and you don’t realize how much that affects your creative process subconsciously, especially when you’re thinking about an outcome that you don’t necessarily have much control over. What you do have control over is the present and we have to be fully present when we create. We all go through our rougher moments of realization that this is an industry that tends to profit off exploiting artists, and we have to be extremely cautious about who we let within our direct circle. In my opinion, it’s one of the most vulnerable things you can do with anybody, just on a human level. The industry can have a way of manipulating the creative process behind a lot of our favorite music.

Through DJ Synchro, what image or identity have you hoped to create, and how does it represent who you are as a person?

Man, that’s a loaded question. Similar to the story about my DJ name, I think one of my core beliefs is in synchronicities and coincidences. Even outside of music, I do a great job synchronizing with people. I am able to catch up to someone’s vibe or personality and compliment them, whether it’s through humor or whatever. Music is a vessel through which I operate and can showcase how open I am with people. Whether I’m in a nightclub making everybody shake and lose their minds or am in the studio having a whole therapy session before I even touch a single note on the keyboard, at the root of it all is just a deep care and passion for quality over quantity. 

Now more than ever, people just need a third space to really escape from the disturbing realities of living in today’s age. People need a break from the stress and anxiety it’s causing all of us. It’s now more important than ever, as an artist and a creative person, to really put our foot down and hold the fort against the evils that are going rampant in our world today. It’s not only a passion but a responsibility for me to create these spaces for people to feel safe and comfortable in their bodies, to allow the music to reach them and connect to them on a level that can’t be reached otherwise. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

At the end of the day, I am always grateful for the way that my story has unraveled, as I’ve shared throughout this interview. Every time I have an opportunity to look back, it’s really hard for me not to see why everything had to happen the way that it did. I always try to encourage people to look through their own lives through that lens because this whole life, this entire existence, really does boil down to our purpose. I’m continuously searching for that purpose through this craft, and I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by people who share that vision.