Hemel DJ's viral video viewed by millions

A Hemel Hempstead DJ has seen his career receive an unexpected boost after a video of him performing with a music kit he built was viewed more than 25 million times.
AFISHAL performing with his TREMOR inventionAFISHAL performing with his TREMOR invention
AFISHAL performing with his TREMOR invention

AFISHAL, who has lived in Hemel for the last three years, was sunning himself on honeymoon in Thailand, unaware a video of him using a bespoke DJ drum kit he had created was going viral online.

The 29-year-old created the kit, known as the TREMOR, four years ago – and has seen a steady progression in live shows with his invention.

The kit lights up and triggers a pre-programmed sound and graphic when he strikes each pad, which allows the audience to both see and hear the music as it is created.

The video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral onlineThe video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral online
The video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral online

The piece of kit has already impressed the likes of Prince Harry, who filmed AFISHAL on his mobile phone as he performed at a birthday party for England rugby star James Haskell.

But now his invention has captured the imagination of social media users, who watched a video of AFISHAL using it 25 million times in just two days last week.

Speaking to the Gazette, he said: “Normally January is quite a quiet month for me, but I was on holiday in Thailand for my honeymoon.

“When I landed back home on Saturday I found I had hundreds of messages telling me that the video of me playing had been shared on UniLad and that it had gone viral.

The video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral onlineThe video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral online
The video of AFISHAL performing with TREMOR went viral online

“My Facebook and Instagram pages have gone mental. It took four years for me to get ten million views on YouTube, then we got 25 million video views in two days.”

The sudden attention is something of a surprise for AFISHAL given that he has been performing with TREMOR – which is known as a midi controller – for a while.

But he hopes the visual and energetic display can help change people’s attitudes towards DJs and gain new fans.

He said: “I sat down three or four years ago and wanted to do something that no-one else was doing – so we built this kit.

“I think a lot of people think a DJ just hits a play button, but if people can see that this music is being played live by me, and it changes perceptions, then that’s great.

“We wanted to do more festivals, and we’ve had some really exciting calls from festivals in Hollywood and as far away as Australia.

“So we’re heading in the right direction, and it will be great to visit these places.”

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