5-year-old may be youngest to ever DJ a music festival

SOUTH JORDAN — As Monte Vista Elementary students walked into the gym Thursday for an assembly to celebrate reading for Utah's statewide Read-A-Thon, it quickly became clear this wasn't going to be an ordinary school assembly.

Because before anyone opened a book, someone dropped a beat.

The DJ getting the whole school dancing was one of their own: 5-year-old kindergartner Hadley Lovell.

While most 5-year-olds are still working on their ABCs, Hadley is already working on her BPMs (beats per minute).

Why does she like being a DJ?

"Because you get to dance to the music," said Hadley.

Hadley's introduction to DJing began when her dad wanted a new hobby.

"We bought a used DJ deck for a couple hundred bucks," said Andrew Lovell, her father, who is also the Monte Vista assistant principal. "I just wanted to pick up a hobby, but very quickly, within a day, both kids wanted to learn and do it with me."

Hadley and her older brother, Carter, began learning alongside their dad, watching YouTube videos and practicing together.

"It became our summer hobby as a family," said Lovell. "We just sat down and we learned, and it was so cool. It just became this family activity that we did every day."

Then the videos started getting attention online.

Hadley and Carter now have more than 175,000 followers on their Instagram page.

"She has no idea. She doesn't understand," Lovell said with a smile. "I think that's one of the beautiful things of this ... they're just doing it because they like it."

Hadley recently took her DJ skills beyond home and school, performing in front of a crowd at an electronic dance music festival.

Her family has submitted the performance to Guinness World Records in hopes Hadley will be certified as the youngest female DJ to perform at a music festival. The family said it could take a couple of months before they learn whether the attempt meets Guinness' requirements.

For her dad, however, the possibility of a world record isn't what he remembers most about the performance. It was what happened when Hadley made a mistake.

"She messed up halfway through and she was crying, and we wanted to pull her off stage and just hold her, but she's like, 'No, I want to stick it out,'" her dad said.

She did just that, and finished her set to the whole crowd cheering for her.

"It was so cool to see people that we didn't know come out and support her and dance, and when she made a mistake, they cheered harder," Lovell said. "That for me was one of the proudest moments in my life, that she kind of learned a lesson that she can do hard things."

Thursday's audience was a little more familiar.

Hadley's dad was there helping set up the assembly as the school's assistant principal. Her brother, Carter, was there helping her DJ. And her mom even dressed as Monte Vista's Mustang mascot and joined students on the dance floor.

Principal Natalie Gleave said Hadley and her family have become a special part of the school community.

"It's been amazing," Gleave said. "We're trying to find ways to add them into assemblies."

Gleave said watching a kindergartner perform in front of the school can send a message to other students.

"I mean, when they see a 5-year-old up there being a DJ, I think it gives them a lot of courage," she said.

Gleave has even tried DJing herself, with some help from Carter.

"Carter actually taught me how to do a song the other day, and we mixed 'Phantom of the Opera' with another song, and it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be," she said with a laugh.

For Hadley's parents, the attention surrounding their daughter has been unexpected.

Lovell said the family tries not to focus too much on follower counts or internet attention and instead wants Hadley and Carter to do something they love.

"Our goal: we're just letting our kids do something they love and support them, and we're trying to do it in ways that are safe, but also in ways that allow them to explore something they love," he said.

Whether Hadley's name eventually lands in Guinness World Records remains to be seen.

She doesn't seem particularly worried about it.

"I think it's fun," she said.

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