‘I Feel Like I’m Made for This’: DJ Cyn on Providing the Soundscape for Denver Summit FC’s Historic Inaugural Home Match | OneFootball

Controlling the vibes on a record-breaking day, DJ Cyn reflects on the full circle moment of working with Denver Summit FC.

Denver Summit FC’s inaugural home match last March shattered the NWSL attendance record. A crowd of 63,004 fans packed Empower Field at Mile High, the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, to cheer on the city’s newest team and show the immense appetite for women’s soccer.

DJ Cyn was providing the soundtrack for the big day, which was a full circle moment for her. Born Cynthia Mardones, she is a Denver native who has been in the music game for two decades. But before finding her lane on the turntables, she was playing a different game: soccer.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by DJ CYN (@dj_cyn)

“It’s very cool to just be involved in soccer because I literally have done it all,” DJ Cyn told Urban Pitch.

DJ Cyn is all about community and empowering others. She and her twin sister have a production company that provides sound for events across the city, which makes it easy for her to make an impact. Her parents are both from Chile and she has Palestinian heritage. Her background informs her love for soccer and gives her work as a DJ purpose.

She has performed across the country and even places as far away as Bangkok. Just as widespread is her range, as she’s supported sets for acts from Usher, Miguel, and Ashanti to Busta Rhymes, Twista, and Doja Cat and even David Foster, Major Lazer, and Reba McEntire.

“I try to be as versatile as possible,” she said.

She also has significant sports events on her resume, including the X Games and a role as the official DJ for the Colorado Spartans arena football team. But being a part of Denver Summit FC’s journey has been extra special. She provided sounds for the brand launch party last year, served as a consultant for matches to create the team’s sonic identity, and held it down on the ones and twos at the landmark home match.

“I feel like I’m made for this,” DJ Cyn said. “I feel like I was born to be doing this.”

Urban Pitch spoke with DJ Cyn about the emotional Denver Summit FC home opener, how she developed a love for the beautiful game, and why advocating for women is so important to her.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by DJ CYN (@dj_cyn)

Urban Pitch: How did you connect with Denver Summit FC?

DJ Cyn: I first DJed an event for them at their brand launch party, which was summer of last year. I played soccer for 22 years, so I was really stoked about it. My twin sister, she’s my manager as well, and we’re a woman-owned business. We do everything for professional sound services. Even the block party, we sounded that whole event.

I’ve been wanting to get this job ever since I heard about the team. So we kind of manifested it. We even put them in my schedule, in my calendar, just hoping. My whole career has been like that. When you put the energy in there and you manifest certain things, it just ends up happening, you know? It was just really cool because both my sister and I played soccer for 22 years. My sister played a little bit longer, but we were just really stoked about that.

How did they reach out to you?

I think I was recommended or they found me online for the brand launch party. They wanted women DJs. They were originally gonna book three women DJs and they asked me for recommendations of other DJs and I think they were only able to get two. So I really needed to bring it.

We were connecting with a lot of people. There’s a big staff for Summit FC and I was talking to Emily (Raimondi) and I just mentioned, “I would love, it’s my dream to be the official DJ” and all of that. And she was like, “Well, that’s awesome.” And I didn’t realize she’s the CMO!

It was cool how it happened because I was just talking to people, everybody around there. It was authentic and organic. She ended up reaching out and asking me if I wanted to DJ the game. But they also asked me for other events, too. I did the VIP party too. I like to call myself a one-stop-shop, because we can do it all.

I was really excited for the first home match. It was so cool to be a part of history. It was so emotional, not just myself, but also the whole crowd. And I did rehearsal, so I knew what was coming. I got that emotional part out of me, because literally tears were flowing just to see all the videos before during rehearsals. It’s such a beautiful thing, because women’s sports are really getting highlighted, and they’re getting the credit they deserve.

Photo by Dustin Bradford/NWSL via Getty Images

What did it feel like being at that historic home opener? It shattered the NWSL record. I was there and the energy was electric. But what was it like for you?

It was so electric. It was so amazing. It was so professionally done and everything was timed so perfectly. The experience happened so fast, it just was so cool. And like, for me to be able to keep that energy up between things, it was a full circle moment for me, actually. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a professional soccer player. It was just very emotional.

I’ve done many cool, very cool things. I’ve opened for a lot of mainstream artists, obviously. I’ve been DJing 20 years without any other job. But this just felt so good because it was more attached to me and what I grew up doing. And to be able to be a part of it? I don’t know if anything beats that. A lot of people ask me, “What’s your favorite event that you’ve ever done?” And it’s hard for me to answer them, because I’ve done so many things. But I feel like this is on the top of the list.

Both my parents enjoy soccer, but my dad is very into soccer. They both were born in Chile and they’re U.S. citizens now. They’ve been here for so many years, more than half of their life. And they’ve always been proud of me, but my dad called me after the Summit match to tell me how proud he was of me. That meant a lot.

I’m so happy because there’s ups and downs in this career. And it feels more secure to lock in something like this. DJs are constantly hustling. But for me, I think that’s why I’ve lasted so long. I enjoy the hustle. That’s something that keeps the fire lit and it’s part of what I enjoy. I get bored very easily, so I need constant change. I’m a Sagittarius, but we always need to be entertained in a way. I’m not one of those people that like to just have a residency at a bar and DJ every Friday. I’m not that type of person. But I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of DJing soccer games.

You said you played soccer. Did you play through college or what was your soccer journey?

I did play in college. My parents are fans of the sport, more my dad, but my mom also. They went to all our games growing up. There’s four of us siblings. I played in college only for two years. I played at Metro State, Division II, but I felt like I really went down a level. I’ve never really been bullied, but I didn’t really fit in there.

My sister and I were the only ones that walked on and made it. And for some reason, I don’t know, the girls were just weird with us. It was just strange. I’m not gonna stay somewhere that I’m not happy. And plus, being a student-athlete is a lot. But I wanted a job. I wanted to make money while I was in school, too. I think it was just time to just let it go. I still played for a while, like indoor soccer. But I had other goals and other things I wanted to do like music. From there, after I graduated college, I moved to Breckenridge. I lived there for 13 years. The first year I moved there, that’s when I started my DJ career.

We can’t plan life, right? We can only do so much, and it leads us where we need to be. People will be like, “What’s your five-year plan?” I’m like, “I don’t even know.”

That’s so funny that you say that because I was just talking about that. I get anxiety sometimes. People will be like, “What is your five year goal?” I just don’t know. Maybe it’s these bigger stages and doing more in the sports industry.

It’s crazy, because in Breckenridge, I really started my career in extreme sports, DJing X Games and Dew Tours and Burton Opens. I ended up doing Summer X Games. I always liked to be tied into something active as a DJ because there’s no way I could have been just DJing at bars and clubs. I’ve done it so much and I still do. I try to not do it as much, because I don’t want to just be DJing for people that are getting wasted.

I like DJing because music is for everything, for everybody. You can play at a baby shower. You can play at all kinds of events, especially sport events. It was so cool to DJ while people are coming down a mountain during the day.

Soccer is one of the sports that embraces music in general and those are two of your passions. How have you seen those intersect?

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. So I can play everything from Latin music to Afrobeats to EDM to regular dance music to old school. And the way the crowd reacts, they’re just all dancing. They’re all excited to be there. And it’s all different cultures. It’s so diverse. It’s just so beautiful. I love it.

And everybody’s so happy, you know? Especially because at the Summit home opener, it’s women. It was just so cool to see all that support. I think with soccer, because it’s played all over the world, that’s what maybe sets it apart from other sports. Just different cultures. And if you think, most people can say, “Oh, I played soccer when I was young, but then I just didn’t want to anymore.” And when I hear people are surprised at how many people would come to these NWSL games, I’m like, almost everybody has played soccer. Either they could cut it, or couldn’t, because it’s a very hard sport to play.

Did you have a favorite club or player growing up?

Of course Maradona and Pelé because I grew up with my dad cheering for them. Of course, the Chilean teams, like Colo-Colo. I would always root for Chile, but other South American teams, like Argentina I really liked as well. Of course, United States, I wanted them to do well, but, growing up, they weren’t always the best. Growing up, I was more into where my family comes from. Those are the teams that I would normally root for. I mean, Brazil too, but they were always on the top and I’m more one to go for the underdog.

I’ll never forget when Brandi Chastain took off her shirt, that’s just such a memorable, historic time, you know. It was really cool, because when I was at one of the Women’s Sports Foundation events, I got to meet a lot of those players from that time that were there. So they had women that used to play on the USWNT and women that still play. It was cool to see all these amazing women like Julie Foudy. She was there. I got to meet her and take pictures with her. It was just awesome to just be around such incredible women.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by DJ CYN (@dj_cyn)

I read that you don’t really make playlists when you DJ. But what is your process for preparing for match days or just sports events like that?

So I’ll make a playlist, an idea of what I could play. But I always adapt to the crowd. If I see that they’re feeling certain music, then I’m going to go in that direction. If I play some Afrobeats song and they like it or a Latin song, I just kind of go from there and see how people adapt.

It was wild, though, during the Summit game, there was so many people. I had the 14ers, the supporters’ group, right next to me, so their energy made the experience so easy when everybody’s liking every song. I was kind of going from hit to hit to hit.

I did plan a little bit for that. I put very high energy music in my list. Sometimes there’s my go-tos and songs I know that are going to get the crowd for every age. But I just kind of figure it out as I go. I’ve always been that way. People will say, “I loved that mix.” I’m like, “Which one?” I literally play off the energy, and then I come up with cool things because of the crowd feedback. It’s wild, it’s pretty cool. Every time it’s different. I call myself a freestyle DJ because I freestyle to the crowd.

It was nice because Summit FC actually wanted my feedback on situations like, “When we make a goal, what are we going to do?” For the intro music, they wanted my feedback. It was really cool to be a part of that and help them figure everything out for the team identity. To help create that was just such an honor. I just felt so lucky.