Canberra DJ and music producer Jono Fernandez couldn't say no when the chance of a lifetime came up - a couple of months in Los Angeles filming a new reality TV competition show with international star DJ Tiesto.
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From May to July, Fernandez worked on the Your Shot USA competition, which offers 30 aspiring DJs the chance of music stardom - the prize is an opening set at Las Vegas nightclub Hakkasan, where Tiesto is the resident DJ.
In the show, which is available through online streaming channel Vevo, he mentors contestants, trains them in music production ("we've got a lot to learn," he tells the 30 contestants, some of whom don't have any music knowledge or equipment). Along the way, he offers a crash course in deejaying for the contestants and the viewers at home.
Fernandez got the job after working on the Your Shot competition in Australia. "It was really great to see the competition run in a different country with a different culture behind it," he says.
"The US contestants might have been a little bit hungrier to actually make it into the final six and make it into the competition. Not that the Australian contestants aren't hungry but... the US contestants, they were going all out, they were really giving it their all," he says.
"Even for the try out day, the sign up day, they had people that came from all over the country, people who had driven for hours and hours and hours just for a shot at getting into the competition."
There also isn't any table flipping or wig pulling on the episodes - it's a straight up competition.
"The creators didn't want this to be a show about conflict, they wanted it to be a show about the people involved. It's a very positive message, rather than it being about contestants slagging each other off," Fernandez says.
Tiesto will judge the final and pick a winner at the end of the competition.
Fernandez says another big difference between the American and Australian contestants was money - while Australians could afford even basic equipment, some of the Americans couldn't, and some resorted to ducking into a nearby music store to practice on the equipment there for free.
Fernandez got to work alongside Tiesto, who lives in a lavish home attached to the MGM Hotel when he's in Las Vegas, and spent time working on his own album, which is set for release in early 2016.
And he and partner Amy Tran were able to enjoy living like LA locals, checking out restaurants, bars and the beach. What's next? He's working on the new album and teaching music production in Sydney and around Australia. There's also a chance that Your Shot USA might be picked up on a TV network.
Stay tuned.
See episodes of the Your Shot USA competition on yourshotusa.com
