This 14-year-old pro DJ just booked for a festival of 30,000 people

By Fiona Jackson via SWNS

Meet the UK's youngest professional club DJ - a 14-year-old girl who is booked to play festival slots alongside some of Europe's top musicians.

Tayha Rodric started playing around with decks when she was only four, and now makes regular club appearances - with an entourage of security guards.

She topped the sales charts on the number one online music downloads store for bounce music, and is fully booked for festivals and gigs later this year where she'll play alongside big names like Basshunter and Cascada.

Her proud family believes she's the highest-paid DJ of her age - earning hundreds of dollars per gig and up to £1,000 (approx $1,300) a year in online sales.

It's thought she's the youngest DJ to be booked in her own right - rather than tagging along with disc jockey parents - and youngest to do paid club slots.

'DJ Tayha' - who of course isn't old enough to go clubbing herself - posts her mixes online.

She produces them with her dad Dean Rodric, 46, at their home in Blacon, England.

The success of her bounce and future house tracks saw her perform at under-18s events, where she was spotted by a promoter who booked her first adult club night for over 400 party-goers.

And there she was spotted and asked to play upcoming festivals this summer.

The teen DJ said: "It makes you feel happy.

"I am at my happiest when I do it. I like to see people happy when they are watching me too."

Dad Dean added: "She's got thousands of fans and followers and views.

"The smile on her face when she reads the online comments is priceless.

"We reply to every single one if we can.

"She’s always loved music. I have videos of her singing and she was always been mesmerized by me when I DJed."

Tayha started messing around on her father's decks when she was just a tot.

The proud dad invested in the best decks he could and helped her produce her first set which they posted on YouTube.

Amateur music producer Dean said: "I've DJed since I was 15 and I passed that down to Tayha and she's got it in her blood.

"When she turned ten that's when she took it seriously she started picking up the moves.

"She tells us what to do, she has some input, and we put that into action.

"She can pick certain sounds out and put them together, the way we do in production which I find crazy at her age.

"The first stage she got on was at my wedding anniversary.

"Tayha got straight on stage and wasn't even scared - she was only ten. She’s never ever got stage fright.

"At one event the speakers went wrong and she stood there and waited. Any other twelve-year-old would come off stage crying."

In August 2019 she booked her first club gig for under 18s in Wrexham, England where she played an hour-long set.

A promoter noticed her talents and she landed her first spot at an adult club that December for over 400 attendees, and she was given her own security.

Dad-of-four Dean said: "When she goes live I'm a bag of nerves.

"I stand behind the stage with her but I leave her completely to it, she does it all herself.
Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves.

"If I was to walk into the club and see a 14-year-old I would be like 'wow, that's amazing.'

"My wife nearly cries every time she DJs. Her confidence is unreal.

"We come from a council estate [government assisted housing], for someone to be getting where she is now at her age it makes the community proud."

After the pandemic put a stop to live events, Tayha began uploading her mixes to a streaming platform for EDM artists.

Her first mix went straight to number one in the sales chart on the site last September and has since scored two further chart-toppers and four top ten hits.

Dean said: "We used to buy her records from there every week for her to DJ with. It was amazing when we hit the number one spot above all our peers."

She's since made tracks with renowned musicians like Supafly, General Levy and Quindon Tarver, who sang in the film 'Romeo + Juliet' with Leonardo Di Caprio.

She also has a personalized number plate on her dad's car - DJ 53 TAY.

Any earnings she makes she shares with her siblings Kingsley, 19, Erin, 13, and Jamelia, 11.

But her meteoric rise within the industry has led to jealous bullying from classmates.

Dean said: "There've been times when there’s been some animosity with other kids, but when she comes home I tell her these are the same children who will be at the back of the club one day saying ‘I was in school with her.'

"When she started getting the recognition and when she sees the joy it brings she loves it."

Tayha has booked a spot at Rock The Park festival in Wrexham for August which attracts over 30,000 attendees each year and seats her alongside her DJ idols.

Shes set to earn £1,000 (approx $1,300) from the performance.

Dean said: "We’re all really proud of her.

"We've sold £6,000 in tickets just from her supporters - that's how much support she's got."

But the teen's dream is to play the world's largest EDM festival Tomorrowland - and take her dad and mom, Claire Rodric, 38, on holiday with her earnings.

Tayha said: “Family comes first.

"I want to let people know what it's like to be a DJ. I would like to teach other people how to do what I do."