Tamica Jean-Charles/Entertainment Director
During the day, he surveys Everglades Hall as its assistant resident life coordinator. At night, he plays guitar in the alternative band, Mid-Day Moon.
While Daniel “D.J.” Gonzalez III must balance his job, band and school, he said he makes it work.
“Balancing everything can be difficult at times but I manage to pull through and get my work accomplished,” said Gonzalez, an FIU graduate student studying higher education administration.
Gonzalez was inspired to become an ARLC by his RLC when he was a freshman. In his current position and his previous position as a resident assistant, Gonzalez enjoyed engaging with his students.
“As an RA, my favorite thing was building that relationship with my residents and while I don’t supervise a specific hall here, I still get to know the residents of the community but I sort of view my RAs and my [desk assistants] as my residents now,” said Gonzalez.
While Gonzalez spends most of his days working as an ARLC, he dedicates his Tuesday afternoons and weekends for band practice and gigs.
Gonzalez’s first band originally consisted of him and his brother, Di’Angelo “Dingo” Gonzalez, who’s still in high school; and the second contained all those who are now members of Mid-Day Moon.
“Those two bands didn’t really work out, so we sort of put those two bands together and then that’s how we formed Mid-Day Moon,” said Gonzalez.
The name Mid-Day Moon didn’t come to be until after the band had formed and began writing and practicing their own songs. Gonzalez said the name was what initially held them back from performing and posting on social media.
“Out of all the different names we came up with, that’s the one we liked the most,” said Gonzalez.
The band specializes in indie pop and alternative rock, according to Gonzalez. Their inspiration stems from bands such as Hippo Campus, Foo Fighters, Walk the Moon, Queen and more.
Mid-Day Moon has performed in both in local and national venues, ranging from Churchill’s Pub in Miami to a private event in Los Angeles, his hometown.
The tracks “Perfume” and “Letter to You” were originally released in January 2017, but were taken down and remastered inching towards the release of their most recent EP, “Third Floor.”
“We just wanted to pick some songs that flow together,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said his colleagues in Residential Life are incredibly supportive of his band and do their best to show it in anyway they can.
“I think for the most part everybody is pretty supportive in their own way,” said Gonzalez.
In the future, Mid-Day Moon hopes to release more music videos, merchandise and hopefully more music. Whatever his other responsibilities, Gonzalez said he is serious in his commitment to his band and musical career.
“Our dream is definitely to make it big,” said Gonzalez.
Featured photo courtesy of Daniel “D.J.” Gonzalez III.
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