By Tim Paradis
Publication Date: 2026-04-29 09:35:00
He liked working in software, though over time he grew interested in pursuing a career in music.
Young, now 26, attended an electronic music festival and thought, “This is what I want to do.”
Mackenzie Young, 26, lives in White Lake Township, Michigan, and quit his job as a software engineer at Google in May 2025 to pursue a career in music. Business Insider has verified his identity. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Coming out of college, I was really gung-ho about what I was doing in software and was excited to learn more. Then I got involved in the electronic music scene and fell in love with it and the people.
Growing up, I played piano, violin, guitar, and other string instruments. I had this preconceived notion about how music works. Electronic music completely flipped that upside down.
Electronic music is you making sounds with your computer. You’re beep-booping. I went to an electronic music show in Tacoma, Washington, called the Thunderdome by Excision,…
