How Aaron Smet Became the Hottest DJ at the University of Oregon

It felt like one day Aaron Smet was just another student trying to survive midterms, and the next, he was the guy responsible for packing every party within a 3-mile radius. His rise wasn’t just fast — it was magnetic. Suddenly, if Aaron was on the lineup, the night meant something. And before long, “Who’s DJing?” turned into “Smet’s spinning tonight,” followed by a chorus of “We’re going.”

So how did this all happen?

According to Aaron, it started at a frat party — the kind where the drinks are warm, the lights are low, and the aux cord is in the hands of someone who thinks EDM remixes of country songs go hard. “There were gaps in the musical experience,” he told me. “That’s when I saw an opportunity.”

He noticed that the vibe of a party — how people interacted, danced, remembered the night — was almost entirely dependent on music. Good music could elevate a mediocre party. Great music? That could define a semester.

“Spotify playlists weren’t gonna cut it,” he said, shaking his head.

Aaron figured if he could control the music, he could shape the energy. And if he could shape the energy, well, maybe he could boost the reputation of his fraternity in the process. So he stepped in, took over, and never really gave the aux back.

By 21, he was essentially the fraternity’s resident DJ. “At this point, it’s pretty much a given,” he shrugged. Every weekend, he manned the decks, building his reputation one party at a time.

I got to witness the full Smet experience during his 23rd birthday in January 2019. Over 300 people were invited. We pulled up to the massive, multimillion-dollar frat house that he helped build (yeah, helped build), and the basement had been transformed into a makeshift nightclub — complete with lights, sound, the works.

Just after 10:00 p.m., Aaron was downstairs putting the final touches on his booth. The crowd was starting to swell. Girls in glitter and guys in graphic tees circled the dance floor, drinks in hand, waiting. Aaron glanced at his phone, looked up at me with a grin, and said, “You ready?” before hitting play on Nelly Furtado’s Promiscuous.

From there? Pure heat.

Track after track flowed seamlessly — no dead space, no awkward transitions. Just a wall of sound that pulled everyone in. “I perfected the mix,” he told me later. “I figured out which songs are universally loved and stitched them together.”

The man wasn’t wrong.

“A great DJ makes it damn near impossible for anyone to leave the dance floor,” he said.

Watching him command a crowd like that — barely looking at the controller, reading the room with uncanny accuracy — it was clear this wasn’t just luck. This was hours and hours of practice. DJing, for Aaron, is a performance and a sport.

“A good DJ knows what to play,” he explained, “but a great DJ knows when to play it.”

And when the clock hit 12:30 a.m., Smet knew it was time to hit the gas. Yeah by Usher, Get Low, Crazy In Love. The energy was peaking, and everyone felt it. The set had structure — rising action, climax, and a raunchy, reckless descent.

Eventually, the cops showed up.

“That’s how you know it was a good one,” he laughed.

But the night didn’t end there. We migrated to the Holiday Inn bar, where Aaron looked every bit the post-show rockstar — drink in hand, surrounded by friends, still glowing from the set. I asked how he managed to go from house parties to spinning at the biggest bars near campus.

Simple. He studied.

He’d hang at local bars, watching the crowd, taking mental notes. And when the night wound down, he’d approach the house DJ, start a conversation, build a rapport. “It’s about building a relationship with the person who can give you what you seek,” he told me. “Once you’re known as someone who gets it, you ask for the opportunity. That’s how I got my first shot at Taylor’s.”

It took four months. And now? He’s in the rotation.

Before we parted ways, I asked him what advice he’d give someone who wants to follow in his footsteps.

“Patience and execution,” he said. “You’ve gotta do your research. Watch the crowd. Transitions are nice, but song selection is king.”

And the weirdest song request he ever got?

“Not really any,” he said, laughing. “But one girl did come up and ask if I DJ every day.”

He grinned.

“I told her… often.”