Dillon Francis popped into On Air With Ryan Seacrest recently to just chat and check in with the famous radio DJ, and Seacrest came equipped with some interesting insight about Dillon’s college history. This also isn’t the first time Dillon has told this story.
“There were so many stupid things that I clung onto in life that were these little things about careers,” Dillon told Seacrest. “And my thing was like, ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, I know that European kids, they do a year abroad. How about I just go to Atlanta, work for my friend and see if anything happens from it?’”
“I was like I’m doing it, you can’t stop me,” he continued. “I had $500 to my name; I moved to Atlanta; I worked with my friend … and watched him for about three months and then I moved back to LA and told my parents, ‘Hey, I saw this guy A-Trak and he put 10,000 hours in; he stayed in his basement for a year just working on his craft. Let me do that at your house and if nothing happens, I’ll go back to community college.’
“They did this really cool thing actually — shoutout to my parents — they made me pay rent,” he added. “But the rent I was paying they gave back to me when I moved out so I could have that money.”
Of course, now, Dillon Francis is the massive superstar DJ that we know and love. But like so many others who have pursued this craft, he struggled for his knowledge and pushed his limits and eventually came through. His first major hit came in 2011 with “I.D.G.A.F.O.S.,” around five or so years after he dropped out. By that point though, he’d already collaborated with Diplo on his Westside! EP, and was already on his way to becoming a household name.
Watch back the full interview in the video below.
Photo via Rukes.com
