The south-west's Josh Brown, Naomy Paddon and Ayouel Malek are creating names for themselves in the region's music scene and beyond thanks to mix of determination, patience and learning more about song structures.

Josh Brown goes by Good Intentions when he's up on stage.

He's been DJing across venues in Warrnambool, Geelong and Melbourne for the past 12 years and he's one of the three men behind Raglan Presents, a boutique events agency dedicated to producing high-quality festivals in the city.

He's also a father of two.

"I'm pretty busy," he laughed.

"I went out one night and I walked into a nightclub and it was like something I had never experienced before. I thought 'I want to do what they're doing'. So I went out and bought some decks and taught myself.

"The first place I ever played was Eden which is now Highline. Then I went to the Gallery (nightclub) for about four years and then everything moved back to Highline."

When Brown first bought his DJ mixers, the technology at the time used CDs for music, instead of USB and there were no synchronising buttons or tempo measures for the songs, it was mostly done by ear.

"The technology has made DJing more accessible now, it's a lot easier," he said. "I can plug in my USB with 10,000 tracks on it and search through them on the screen.

"Before, I'd have to plan out my set and burn music onto different CDs whereas now all I have to worry about is my USB not working."

Brown breaks down the mechanics of DJing into simple terminology; playing two songs over the top of each other and seamlessly transitioning from one to the other by lining up the beat and the tempo and sometimes using loops and effects.

Easy, right?

"I'll always be learning," he said. "It takes a while to get the basics down.

"You have to understand music and how songs are structured; the key they are in, how fast they are, the beat, it's a never-ending thing.

"I don't think you can ever really master DJing, I'm always learning new things but it probably took me a year to get the basics down pat."

Through Raglan Presents, new life has been breathed into electronic music in Warrnambool. The agency has brought some of Australia's most renowned DJs to the city including Client Liaison, KLP and Confidence Man and given aspiring DJs the chance to play in great company.

"We wanted to bring a top tier of music talent down here and put on a top tier production, two things that never really happened before," Brown said.

"It's cool to offer something that you yourself want to go to in the town that you live in.

"Previously, if I was going to go to something like our festivals I would have to travel to Melbourne and have to book accommodation.

Brown has had career highs playing in festival lineups and to packed venues but it's always been about his love of music.

"It's pretty cool to play at bigger scale events when you look out and lots of people are dancing along," he said.

"In venues in Geelong and Melbourne people are generally at a venue because they listen to the style of music that venue is known for whereas here you can have all these people with different music tastes in the same room.

"You have to be diverse to play all the time in Warrnambool. I like to play house and disco music and I steer away from bangers.

"I've never really cared about getting massive, I do it for fun. And I don't necessarily think it's the biggest gigs that are the most fun, some of the best times have been when you're close to the crowds and you can feel the energy."

The 32-year-old has seen Warrnambool's DJ scene grow and said there's still plenty of room for growth.

"I think people used to want to become a DJ but it didn't seem accessible," he said. "Whereas now more people are doing it so if you see your friends having a go, you're more likely to do it too.

"There were a few DJs in Warrnambool when I started, but it's good to see there's a lot more women DJing now. I still feel like they're underrepresented and that's something at Raglan we really try to promote, it's certainly changing but there is still a long way to go.

"It's great to have diversity on stage, it gives people something to aspire to. I saw a guy DJing at a club and decided that's what I wanted to do, women haven't had as much of that representation."

Naomy Paddon has experienced first-hand how difficult it can be to be a woman in the DJing world. And that's why she's determined to open doors for other budding female DJs in the region.

Through connecting with other like-minded businesses in Warrnambool, Paddon has begun mentoring other women who want to get into the industry.

"It's a very male-dominated industry, especially in the south-west," she said. "I have a set-up at home where women who are interested in learning can come out and have a go.

"The Dart and Marlin has always been really supportive of female DJs and we're setting up a bit of a studio there for some Port Fairy women to have a start.

"I also helped with the DJ line up of Goomfest this year and we had a lot of females debut.

"There used to be quite a few female DJs around but some have faded out for one reason or another, hopefully more start coming up."

Paddon first started DJing about 16 years ago and has lived in Warrnambool, Melbourne and countries like Turkey, Mexico, India, New York, London and Scotland, performing on-and-off.

"I grew up obsessed with music, it's my passion and I don't want it to ever feel like a job," she said. "To get paid to share music I love is phenomenal.

"I fell into DJing in a sort of accidental way. My dad's musical influence was really strong and when I'd come to Warrnambool we'd go out and buy vinyls.

"When I was 18 and living in Adelaide, my friend had a slot at a gig and put me in.

"I've met some really supportive people here and had opportunities to perform at Winter Weekends, Goomfest and Kennedy's Creek and I also had a show on 3WayFM.

"I used to play with vinyl and I also introduced USBs three years ago because if I didn't have records with me I couldn't play.

"My music tastes continues to change so I play anything from rhythm and blues to post-punk. I also play a lot of percussive music like African and Latin music and I love disco."

Paddon's love for vinyl has been a mainstay throughout her DJ career and she has evolved to being more selective about the gigs she performs at, having once performed multiple weekend sets for three-four hours.

"Vinyls are hard and you have more flexibility with USBs as you can see the exact beats per minute of a song whereas old school beats on vinyl can be wonky," she said. "But when you get it and finally understand how the music is constructed, it's amazing.

"I used to carry my vinyls with me on the train to Melbourne, which was labor intensive. But for me, DJing is about sharing and curating an experience. Sure, you can just press play and let the music go, but I prefer to read a room, construct the scene and share an experience with people.

"There's wildly memorable moments over the years but for me it's the people you're working with who make it memorable. There's been small places in Melbourne where I've gone and just play vinyls until 3am and all the windows are steamed up. Packed little places can be just as good as the festival."

The 34-year-old believes the south-west DJ scene is slowly moving in the right direction to a place of inclusion for all artists and hopes to encourage more people to try their hand at the decks.

"Having moved around quite a lot, the level of progression is different from place to place," she said. "Melbourne is quite inclusive whereas here, it's slowly moving in the right direction. Because of social commentary, I think women in music are being taken more seriously rather than just a novelty.

"I'm not a flawless DJ by any means but I'm obsessed with music and I can be an advocate for others."

On the other end of the spectrum, 20-year-old Ayouel Malek is just getting started. After only a year-and-a-half, he is quickly finding popularity under the stage name A-Well.

While he still lives in Warrnambool, Malek travels most weekends for gigs in Melbourne, Geelong and Mount Gambier.

"I'm not too sure how I really got into DJing," he said. "I just really love music and it's always been a passion. of mine.

"I was listening to a lot of hip hop and then I started going to clubs and listening to house music.

"My mate had some decks and we always jumped on, I enjoyed it so much that I bought my own."

For the most part, Malek is content with gigs around the state rather than actively pursuing work but he is eager to start releasing his own music through Bandcamp in the not-to-distant future.

"Day parties in Warrnambool are my favourite with good people and good vibes," he said. "At the moment I'm DJing part-time but if the gigs keep getting bigger and bigger I'll think about pursuing it as full-time work.

"I play minimal house music and no one in Warrnambool is really doing that so it's a bit different. In Melbourne though that scene is really growing so the people there really like my music.

"I'm definitely looking to release some music soon and then move onto some bigger projects."