Stuck At Home, Sacramento DJ With Autoimmune Disorder Turns To Facebook, Instagram For Live Shows

When Dustin Worswick got fired from his job in 2011, it was a really scary time. Losing it forced him to take his deejay and music career seriously.

But now, for the second time in a decade, the funk, hip-hop and soul deejay is out of work. The shutting down of restaurants, bars and events in early March because of COVID-19 has left him with very little income.

“Myself and a lot of other deejays lost all our work within a matter of weeks,” said Worswick, who performs as DJ Epik. “Even future events right now are in limbo, because we never know when things are going to be back to normal.”

He felt in his gut the situation was going to escalate fast after the first person passed away from the virus in California. 

“This spooked me immediately,” Worswick recalled. “I couldn't imagine that the whole world would be shut down and that we'd be quarantined.” 

“But this has been on my radar from day one.”

That’s because Worswick has an autoimmune disorder called sarcoidosis, which causes lung inflammation. This makes him even more vulnerable if he catches COVID-19. 

“This pandemic definitely has me on heightened alert because I'm on meds that lower my immune function,” he said. 

But he hasn’t given up on music. As DJ Epik, he creates mixes occasionally for pay, and says if he didn’t have the medical condition he would apply for a job at a warehouse or grocery store. 

“I have to be here quarantined because it's just not worth risking my life,” Worswick explained.

But he hasn’t given up hope and has turned to live shows twice a week on Instagram and Facebook to keep his spirits up and to remain creative — and to make tips. 

“The people need their escape right now from this reality that we're all dealing with and I love bringing joy to people through music,” he said.

One of the things that makes him feel better about his situation is that the emotions he’s feeling are universal. 

“There's a million other Americans going through the same thing right now,” he said. “We'll all get through this if we just stay patient, stay quarantined, do our social distancing and do our part as citizens.”