Latest / Headroom / The true definition of a dj (Feat. Seth Garten)

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The true definition of a dj (Feat. Seth Garten) · Headroom

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome listeners to episode two of the Head Doom Podcast, the podcast where we talk all things music.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have a great guest here from the IE, Seth Garden.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: How's it going, y'all?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's Seth Garden.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've been DJing for a minute, like in the IE.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically, we like Till Your Ears bleeds, so yeah, everything's pretty cool.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: So he said he's been DJing for Till Your Ears Blade for it's a new organization starting up here, and that pretty much play shows all the round from Corona to Macular and kind of going around and busting out of that riverside area.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get the ball rolling here.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Main question, just out the door.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: What got you into DJing?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, shit, it's it's out there by now.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but for sure my dad, you know, he started DJing around my age, or like I'm 19 now, but around like 16.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: And back in the 90s, like techno was like a lot, there's a lot of punk shows now, like rap shows, but back then it was like a lot of EDMs.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: So um I've just always grew up around the turntables, and then like around quarantine, I really started like you know, picking it up.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then yeah, just been grinding ever since.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have um was your dad there to help you out and pick up the the ropes on DJing when you first started out?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, he's more used to like the vinyl turntables.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: By then it was like the the controller, so he knew how to like get me in, but it was really up to me to learn all the like the you know niches of record box and you know the the newer like yeah.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So how long have you been DJing now?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um so like six years, I'd say six years.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Around like 2023 is when I really wanted to start like you know, getting out there, playing shows, getting my face out there and stuff.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So you already have quite a few years underneath your belt for anyone trying to get into DJing and just break that barrier of always thinking about it and taking that step into buying a controller.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any tips and advice that you would give someone?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: I would say just try to um specifically in the IE, there's not a lot of DJs, but if you're in a more like you know, populated area, definitely try to find like people like you who also enjoy DJing because you know you can spin off their uh controller.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's what my dad used to do, you know.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: He was broke back in the day, couldn't afford no controllers.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, there's like cheaper options, you know what I mean?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like the FLX4, that's a good uh like way to get in.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Has it always been techno, hard tech that you've DJ'd in, or can it kind of sprouted from somewhere else?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um growing up, I listened to like I'm sure a lot of kids can agree um that around my age, like a lot of dubstep, no copyrighted sounds, you know, like the Roblox tycoon music, skirlics, um, nightcore, all that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but when I started DJing, a lot of trance eventually got into techno.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think techno is where it's at right now, but there's so many genres, you know, there's jungle, break chord, drum and bass, all that.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, there's a lot to explore.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see yourself sticking with the hard tech?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, right now I'm I'm getting into a lot of like trance again, like a lot of sex trance.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's this guy called Sienna Sleep, if y'all don't know about him.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, Sienna Sleep.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: He's from LA, met him, he's a cool dude.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, a lot of like hard trance, trying to experiment a lot, you know what I mean?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we're talking about it before, but the scene is like very like focused on hard tech, no hard style.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: You go to all the actors in LA, it's all they're playing, and it's cool, but like, you know what I mean?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's so much more you could be exploring.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, of course, um, just play a little a little devil's advocate here, even though it is very much oversaturated here where we are, a lot of hard tech, and it's mainly a lot of it.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is still a great thing that it's kind of coming back into the culture in the media now.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Fortunately, it is very just a one-spectrum kind of thing.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm sure eventually people would want to spread out and get tired of it and then go to new things now that they have experience going to hard tech, you know, so it's kind of more of like a stepping stone.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we are we already see that with um artists like you know, Noctu, ISOXO, like they're doing a lot more um, I would say like trap and like a little bit of dubstep, you know, Nina Jirachi, she's another good one.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I think people are definitely starting to like dip their toes in the water a lot more.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, that's that's what Tail Your Ears Lee is for, you know, show like the different parts of EDM that maybe the mainstream media isn't you know showing too much.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Have you I missed the first rave that Taylor Ears bled or bleed, which was I believe back around April.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Were you with them back then when they first started?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Their very first one, I wasn't there.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was like maybe a hundred people, it wasn't Temecula, just all of like Aiden's close friends.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um I saw a video that they posted on TikTok and it had like a couple thousand likes, and I was like, damn, this isn't the IE.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: There's not much in the IE, there's like inland groove, but um, so I saw that and I hit him up and I was like, I'm a DJ from the IE.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's told me to send him a set, he liked it, and I pulled up to the next one.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, Shuid, how was that experience coming up to the second event?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you want me to be honest, I there was like a lot of problems.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: That my record box was like low-key outdated because I just been sitting in my room for the past years, like on the you know, I had no reason to update it.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it was definitely a lot of trial and error, but once I got on, it was lit.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I I still think it was like, I don't know what about it it was, but that was the highest energy like rave we had.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was like in a forest on um some trail in Semecula.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, the uh the abandoned house place.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the abandoned house one, that was the first one.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was like a lot of cement slabs.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: The second one was the one with the um the forest.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that one was really nice.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh okay.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right, all right.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I did go to the first one.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's yeah, I remember that one.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: That one was a great one.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Minus like the aftermath.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know me and a couple of other people were like spitting out black mucus from our nose.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what uh that's what what's his name?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um Aiden was telling me.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's horrible.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad I wasn't there.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's oh good.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: But then you guys eventually started from an abandoned like dirt plot over to now having a venue at a barn.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: How how do you feel about going from such a small venue or even just a landmark over to a full venue?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a dream.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: I know a lot of these um like smaller renegades, they have to like, especially like in LA, they have to find all these like abandoned places and they get kicked out, the cops get called, but you know, we're on private property, there's nothing anyone can do, so it's like secured.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: We're all we're locked in with the property owner, you know, we're um we're making moves, so it'll be it'll be our uh property for a bit until we get too big and we have to move somewhere else, you know what I mean?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, for now it works, it's good.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: So are you on board with Toy Earl's beach like like full time, like dedicated DJ?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say the the main four is um me, Tierra, DJ Silene, obviously, um Aiden, and then Chico.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have like our media, our sound system, Red Oregon Productions, right?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: But main four would be uh people I just listed, so yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty sick.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you kind of want to bring to the table that is kind of new for Tweear Earsblade?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like any ideas or any thoughts that you kind of put out there?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely like to be involved with like the media side and like whenever we we want to make clothing eventually.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: We dropped our first uh shirt last show, but we definitely want to get more into like creating clothes, just anything, you know.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean all types of media.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but music-wise, we all have I would say our own sound, you know.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm definitely more trance, Chico's more like um like tech house, Silean and Aiden play play a lot of like ghetto tech, similar, but yeah.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Is there any genres that you would like to see come on board with your Aries played?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I honestly I like where we're at right now.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: I um a lot of people there were asking for drum and bass, which not a lot of people are playing right now.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um so if I could get some of that in, some jungle, it's just it's very hard to mix for me personally.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, that would be a cool genre to mix in.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I I was in I was in the loop of putting in a set in for that.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: But something happened on my end.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: I had to leave town for a bit to miss the date.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when I came back, I was like, that can't happen again.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Start a podcast, just uh be involved into the scene, and then pick up where I left off once I got my feet on the ground.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean uh we're having another one in October.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: You should definitely send a set through.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to see you play, especially if you want to play like you said drum and bass or what genre?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh drum and bass, wide variety drum and bass.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Also, with this podcast, connections as well is also a really big thing on that I want to do right here because I see that you guys are starting up that scene now.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: I believe you guys are the first in Temecula Marietta area that's kind of bringing it up.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, DJ's are gonna go to that, and it's the connections between and what's the word I'm looking for?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not so much networking, networking for through people, you know, this would be a great way to just kind of grow the scene out here.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I I feel like the only other like uh collective I can think of other than us is Inland Groove, which I mentioned before, but um they don't have the best reputation.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, we're I think a lot of people that are looking for something like that out here definitely they want something like that come to us because um we're doing it different for sure.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's for sure.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've been to some some some pretty crazy IE raids.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, some aren't the greatest, but some trying, we're trying out there.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Great to see.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: But this is cemented for sure.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely see this staying and just getting bigger from here on out.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I was talking to Aiden.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we eventually want to like as our numbers grow, push out to like, you know, the bay, you know, more parts of NorCal, SoCal, eventually different states, you know what I mean?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's no uh there's no bar.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, no bar.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: The wider you go, is the more people that you attract.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now another thing that I wanted to bring here, uh shifting gears a little bit over to back to you.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anyone like anyone, any genre that you would want to like dream back to back with?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's a hard question.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is this there's this uh two DJs are uh called Minanokimochi, and they're from Japan.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I've just been obsessed with their set, their boiler room set.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've like downloaded all their music, including in my set, some of the transitions.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're very they're great.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And all the DJs in Japan, they're doing like shit completely differently.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's this other guy who I he's like more of a mutual friend.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: His name's Necker.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's N-E-Q-R.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: He's really good, plays a lot of hard techno.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, Minonokimochi, that's like my dream set for sure.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, how'd you get into them?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: How'd you discover them?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um well Necker, I I know him through uh, like I said, a couple of mutual friends all go down to Japan here and there.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I mean the underground scene out there is like really big.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't know why like EDM's really big out there right now.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but me and an Okimochi, they had a set in 2023, I think, released on Boiler Room.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that definitely opened um like people's eyes to them and all the other DJs on that list.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say uh Boiler Room?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So they are a pretty well-known big name out there, and a little shooting towards the opposite of that.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anyone that you think is out there that has hidden talent that needs to be seen and deserves more recognition for what they do?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mentioned before Sienna Sleep.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's um he's definitely like uh well known in the LA like underground scene, but I think he should definitely be bigger.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: He has a lot of um sets online.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if you're familiar with XQC, but um, yeah, he he played some of his like um sets online, and I think that's how he got a lot of his uh following, but I feel like he should definitely be bigger.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: He's he I feel like he started that whole like sex trans scene, um, or at least paved the way, so he should definitely be getting credit for that.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, opportunities like that, like the exposure from XQT and all that, that's that's such a window that comes in so rarely.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So have you had a window like that in your six years of experience?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like I said, in 2023 is it's it's been like a couple, like I would even say 2024.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's only been a year or two since I really started trying to like get out there.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the opportunity hasn't came yet.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean till you're usually that's like like going with them and just seeing seeing how how much they've grown definitely gave me like a perspective I never had that like you really can do it, you know what I mean?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like everyone says it, all the biggest names say it's in your reach, but you really have to have someone around you um, you know, have that exposure to really like cement that you can do it too, you know what I mean?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: That makes sense with that.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, beginners out there.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we spoke about the like the breakout of that, putting their step their foot through the first door to get into it.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say are some pros and cons that are in the industry of what you're doing at DJing?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I was adjusting my mic.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Could you repeat that one more time?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no worries.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we spoke about how beginners they're putting their foot through the door and all that.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: What are some pros and cons that they should be aware of when getting into DJing?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: I would say um a lot of people like uh everyone knows it.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone wants to be a DJ nowadays, right?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people they'll just like um they want to play their favorite artist music, right?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: They don't really put the time in, but definitely like you're gonna you're gonna have to deal with just sitting there like a lot of nights and just like figuring record box out and just like figuring out how to set cue points.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's a lot of people don't realize how much goes into like making a set.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can always like, you know what I mean, just back to back kind of just like um on the spot, you know what I mean, mix, but definitely like learning how to create your sets like nice and having those nice transitions with the cue points and everything.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's definitely something that's a big learning curve for a lot of my friends that are getting into DJing.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: I can only show them and tell them so much, you know what I mean?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's very something that you like hands-on learn yourself.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: When let's say they get through those pros and cons and they get their foot through the door, would you say that a lot of the DJing is 50-50 with song selection and transitions, or would one outweigh the other?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say it depends what type of DJ you are.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's this guy named Um Oh, what's his name?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm blinking right now, but he he very he very much focuses on like crazy transitions and looping, spin backs, all that, and that's really cool.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of DJs too, like Minano Kimochi, where they're very focused on song selection, those smooth transitions.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I think they're equally as important.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can't choose one.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think maybe song selection might might just, you know what I mean, take the upper hand a little bit.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think if you're playing what people like, especially in the underground scene, they don't care too much about the fuck-ups or the transitions.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever gotten like I guess like not the jitters, but like I guess like nervous being up on stage and wondering if there's like DJs out there in the crowd that are critiquing your work up there?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I have thought about that, especially like um in the underground scene because a lot of DJs like will come there with their USB, like maybe they weren't invited, but sometimes you know we'll have like free time and let DJs get on.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: So you never know who could be watching.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think it's best to just not think that way and um just you know do your shit.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I think I haven't really gotten the jitters just because before I got into the like EDM scene, there's like a very big punk scene out here in the IE.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So believe it or not, I was DJing like those punk like punk shows, and they're all very you know inclusive and open-minded, so everyone like was fucking with it.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: But so by by the time I started DJing for two years, we I already had experience, you know what I mean?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: DJing for yeah, yeah, that made that makes sense.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: That makes sense right there for that.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, been talking all day.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no reason.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, with your controllers, have you gone and upgrade on your controller that you've been using?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so my dad is actually the one who uh got had the FLX uh or not the FLX, it's a DDJ 800.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like uh it's like mid-tier, I would say.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely want to upgrade at some point to like an X DJ.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's what we're using for Til Your Us Lead.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Our homie Chico is providing it.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um so no, ever since I started, I've just been using the same one, DJ 800.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of speculation out there that it's a more expensive gear, like the better the skill.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Where do you sit with that?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think um my dad and my uh his his friend who grew up DJing with, um, they always said like a good DJ doesn't need headphones, you know what I mean?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: You should just be able to read the waveform, hear the music.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: So with that knowledge, you should be able to really DJ on anything and create a good set, um, even like a FLX4.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I will say, like, obviously, like a C DJ, there's a lot more you can do with it.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot easier to maneuver.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to have a laptop, right?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: You just play it off of the um, you know, the C DJ itself.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely helps to have.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're someone who's getting into like DJing, you you shouldn't, you know, you should just start out with the FLX4, something more beginner, because you know you don't need all that yet.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a good point on that.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good point on that scale over gear.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's yeah.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna now transition over into more of a somewhat of a controversial area here, involving um advertising advertising, promo, and marketing.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, now time changes, and promoting your stuff, promoting your work isn't this as it used to be back then.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So now it's mainly just like doing your thing in front of a camera or like dancing and all that.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel that now social media is just kind of like a giant billboard where every scroll is just someone trying to break break the barrier out there?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think definitely social media being able to promote yourself, like being independent, is a great thing.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we've heard Kala stories about like record labels, like fucking people over.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's just like anything, you know, just like AI, right?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like it can be good, but there's pros and cons to it.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I but what you're talking about with like the kind of oversaturation with like all of that, uh it sucks, but I think everything kind of um you know, everything comes in and comes out.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: So eventually EDM will will maybe fall a little bit, just like other genres have.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the people who are really here to DJ and enjoy it, you know, they'll they'll be the ones that that really get pushed to the top, you know what I mean?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those uh I feel like um there's like a couple genres.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel like rap, you know what I mean?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I don't I don't see there's the the underground scene is big right now, but like mainstream rap, it's kind of falling.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think EDM is rising, you know, punk music, alternative music, definitely up there.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think it is that's making EDM and techno make a comeback?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, I feel like people don't realize specifically EDM, maybe not techno.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: EDM is like always been around, like all those like 2010s, like Rihanna hits, like Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris, like people don't really deem that as true EDM, but it is, you know what I mean.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like EDM is never truly I think it'll s be a genre that's that'll always be up there, you know what I mean?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's there's so much you could do with it.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: But techno specifically, I think people just want something that's different, and when you hear like all this like up tempo hard style, like this is a lot of people's first time hearing that, you know what I mean?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: So just like with a lot of alternative music, they're just they're they're sick of like the mainstream Drake, rap, all of that, you know what I mean?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a good point.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's a good point on that.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's gonna be a genre that you have trouble mixing and just kind of have a weakness in.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say that genre is for you?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned it earlier.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I would definitely say um like jungle drum and bass, just because like um techno is very like four by four, like boom, boom, boom.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean jungle is very like a lot all over the place, you know, it'll it'll rise, especially the older tracks, it'll rise like BPM and then lower BPM throughout the song.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean there's not much you can do about that.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, that it's a lot of gabber too.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Gabber is very like a lot of the older tracks, you have to like you'll load them into record box and they'll be not analyzed correctly, you know what I mean?
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you gotta.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Go back and fix everything.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a disaster, but you know what I mean?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's worth it.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love Gabber.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Gabber is a good is a good genre out there.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Can you like uh two-step or anything like that?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I can two-step.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: I went to a lot of how I mentioned DJing a lot of punk shows.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I got a good two-step, got a good spinning kick, a little bit of jump style.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty sick.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Any um like footwork shuffling?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was never into shuffling.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my sister used to dance so when I was younger, so I took a couple of dancing classes, but you know, other other sports, soccer, kickboxing, that all you know, took the took the front seat for the show.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some tornado kicks out in the crowd.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's funny because when I started kickboxing, a lot of people were like, obviously, I'm a beginner coming in, they're like, How do you know how to spinning kick?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, the punk shows, bro.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew how to spinning kick before I started taking kickboxing classes just because of the shows.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's pretty sick.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say your strengths and weaknesses are when on the decks?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say even though I do have a bit of experience now DJing live, a lot of the times, especially at like underground shows.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just last rave, like there was a lot of issues with like you know, people pushing you back and forth and like getting super sweaty.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: I tried doing like a spin back and my finger just slid off the the disc and like some of my like shit got unplugged because I didn't have it like taped down correctly.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a lot of like nuanced things like that that you wouldn't really think about unless you're up there DJing.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, it's it's so hot right now, just a lot of sweat, people pushing you around.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: But but I love it.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love that people are on top of me while I'm DJing.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because a lot of these like I would say like fever, like code red, they have like people caged off.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand why, like safety hazards, but I feel like especially in the underground scene, like I just I love the energy, you know what I mean.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: I would rather someone push me and me fuck up my set than no one be there.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean no one be around me.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it has more of a like a raw, raw feel to it, you know?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like that could also absolutely influence, like push the DJ to be more in a flow state.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's just kind of like in that like headliner mindset, it's like I'm here right now, it's just working a lot better.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: People just around me pushing, everyone's having a good time.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: For sure, it's it's a lot of adrenaline.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think when you have that adrenaline, like, damn, I gotta finish this transition.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds about like, you know, punch my shit in, like, it helps you lock in, you know.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're not as in your head, you're a lot more loose.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I've seen I didn't go to this last to your ears big rave, but I did see clips, and you pulled up with some sick liberty spikes.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was dope.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: First question about that.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: How long does that take to like to get done?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: I've only done Liberty Spikes a couple times because I've always had shorter hair.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I I don't know.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've just been growing my shit out recently, and it took about like the girl I was doing it with, she's very uh like hands-on, she knows how to do hair, she's a hairstylist, so it only took her like an hour, but I low-key did it like right before the show.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm a I'm a last-minute procrastinator, so she had to rush it, but everything came out well, so you know it was sick.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it did it did come out sick, unfortunately.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I had stuff to do, so I couldn't I couldn't make that out.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the second question with that, you coming from a punk shows and more of like a a rock aggressive background, what got you into that kind of scene?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like um if you're anyone who's open-minded in the IE, you've definitely like dabbled in in punk shows just because so at least where I live, like Merino Valley, Paris around there, like that that's all there is.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: There's no like underground rap shows, none of that.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: So you just kind of like find your way into it.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of my high school friends were in bands, so after you know, after school, just just pull up, you know what I mean?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: You and you off of the decks, do you have any experience on any instruments or anything physical with music?
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um no, not really.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I I've dabbled in like guitar, but nothing too crazy.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've always wanted to like there's so many instruments I wanted to play, like piano, drums, violin, but I just never got around to it.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: The the controller's always been here, so that was the easiest, you know, pickup.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of it kind of runs in the family.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say that that is literally the case here?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you feel that where you are now and how good you are is kind of like supernaturally in your blood?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I wouldn't go this far to say that I think my my dad he definitely had his time, but everything is so much more advanced now that he would, like I said, he was able to get me into it, but for me to get as good as I am now, I definitely had to work hard myself just because he's used to you know like turntables.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: There wasn't any of these like looping ability, all these effects, you know what I mean?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, um beat sync for sure.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: So he he definitely helped me get into it, but um, yeah.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um some oh for for sure you take pride in work, you're passionate for it, and you have the drive for it.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: You you're getting all these gigs, and you have all this experience under your belt.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, a lot of people are also you're battling a lot of that competition.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: For anyone out there, even like for yourself, what is it that you're bringing to the table that you think is your unique sound compared to everyone else?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people are scared to play what they truly, you know, enjoy listening to, um, especially like at these bigger events like Code of Red, where since a lot of people are maybe not as into like EDM, they're just going there um, you know, maybe after hard summer or fever, you know, they they feel that they're gonna get judged.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I I I think I take pride in just really playing what I enjoy, um, no matter what.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to give credit to Aiden and everyone else because when I first started DJing for them, I was like, Oh, I gotta play this, they're they're gonna enjoy this, you know, Rheon a techno remix, you know what I mean?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, no, dude, just play what you want, and they're they're here to listen to you, they're here to listen to us, so they're gonna enjoy it either way.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's a good take on that.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was pretty much play because honestly, you saying that makes a lot of sense because everyone loves music, but not everyone knows like exactly all the songs that you do.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not only playing the mass set, but what's making it unique from everyone else is like your playlist, what you have in there and the genres and all that.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a good way to look at it that to put it in, to put it in like that.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because a lot of these people's um like first experience are these like two year ears bleed or or a lot of these afters, so they're not gonna know about you know this music that I'm listening to or playing until I decide to play it, you know, take that first step, and then from there they can explore it themselves.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we definitely have to like take ourselves and put ourselves in that position and give people like uh you know a door to open up and find all these genres.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: So of course this is really great for you.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: This great opportunity that you have.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you want to work on within yourself in your musical journey that's gonna put you towards the next step of where you want to be?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think just getting better day by day, like actually DJing is definitely the the next move.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm very like I'm very hard-headed, so I just love using my controller, you know what I mean?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's what works for me.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: But I gotta figure out like the nuances of like the the CDJ, XDJ, XDJs.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're all very similar, but they definitely have their differences.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, other than that, I definitely need to start marketing my myself, you know, a bit more.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, right now I've been really been trying to help Aiden out with till your ears bleed, but you know, he he's releasing his his own mixtape.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we each gotta, you know, in a way put ourselves first because no one else will.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's that's good.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Out there first.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's really sick, dude.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want to touch up on the different genres that are coming on, and of course, everyone is has a favorite, and not so much on another one.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a genre that you find kind of that is like let's say like like you love Tapco, but the other stuff is kind of like not really your cup of tea?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: I would say um a lot of sorry, a lot of rhythm.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can't I can't mess with rhythm, yeah.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think like people there's a very fine line between dubstep, rhythm, and bro step, which bro step is like what dub uh Skrillex was making back in the day, like um scary monsters, nice sprites, all that.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: I love bro step, but rhythm, man, that that shit is trash.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I think um trap trap is cool.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: I I definitely see the hype, but if I'm going to a rave, that's not the first thing, it's not my first choice.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, my question completely slipped my mind.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier you mentioned that how you're getting help with producing your own stuff with Aiden.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Aiden helping you back you up.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you're intimidated by or scared for when dipping your toes in a whole different scene?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um honestly, not really.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I've been wanting to learn how to produce for a while.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I wouldn't say Aiden's like hands-on teaching me how to create a snare kick, all of that, but definitely seeing him create music and pushing me to do it, just getting me to download like um Ableton and everything, that's definitely helped.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I there's not much I'm nervous for because I've always wanted to make music, whether it's EDM or you know any genre.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I plan to just, you know, go crazy with that, make whatever type of music that uh you know comes into my mind.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think it was that didn't really cement that thought into your head to take those first steps into actually getting to the point of downloading Ableton?
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think um it's definitely hard for me to commit to getting into things, especially like um making music, because there's so much like it's very overwhelming.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much you can do with it, so many packs you can download and everything.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I definitely had a lot of other things that were taking the front seat, like sports and school back when I was in high school.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I just never really took that step.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I think I'm ready now, I'm ready to put the work in.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hell yeah, dude.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta put that step in, put that work in.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel that, at least of what I realized, people who listen to a lot of music, they have great sound selection.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And with DJ, the equivalent of sound selection is like the music selection, being able to read the room, being able to know when a song starts, a verse, and all of that.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: I feel that'll really improve on your music and absolutely may help you able to make something that's mixable on decks.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, for sure.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think being able to um like produce your own music will like times 10 your career and like your ability to do.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: There's always so there's only so much you can do with DJing, you know what I mean?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like being able to actually create your own music, like, oh, I'm gonna add this snare because it'll sound good mixing into this song, you know what I mean?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's definitely a lot of people don't who aren't into EDM don't really realize what a DJ actually does.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: They think they're making their own music.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say every EDM artist is a DJ, but not every DJ is an EDM artist, you know what I mean?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: And just being a producer is already putting you way ahead of everyone else that's that's a DJ up on there.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of like a line skip of the lines on there.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Have you been to any big festivals or any raves like that?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: The first rave I went to was like, you know, like a commercial, like bigger rave was um, I want to say beyond.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um after that, I went to hard, I've been a hard summer the past two years.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: I went to escape.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not really I usually go when my friends, you know, want to go just just uh you know get out for the weekend or whatever, but I'm not too big on them as of now because I I don't know, there's something about it um where like I feel like if I'm here on this particular weekend listening to these DJs, it's taking away from you know my craft.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I could I could be at home working on myself, so I could, you know, be the one up there eventually.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um but you know you can never take away like you know going out with your friends having fun.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: So um I try to get in there every now and then.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: So would you say that you kind of have the mindset of if you're ever doing something that's not DJing, you then feel like you have to DJ?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um I wouldn't take it that far, just specifically, like I'll always support like Aiden, you know, my friends, smaller artists get go there, like Sienna Sleep, all of that.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: But specifically when I'm at like bigger raves, you know, I there I like two Hollis, 9x9, you know, all these like well, two Hollis doesn't DJ, but you know, these bigger like artists at festivals, but it really like it makes me feel like you know I should be the one up there.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: So why am I watching this guy when I should be at home, you know, marketing myself?
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think that that can be a bad thing, but it can also be a good thing to have that like um that pressure on yourself to to to be better and and get bigger, you know what I mean?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people stay complacent.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think you are the first uh strictly DJ that I have on the podcast.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I a bit of a strange question.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: I DJ myself, and I always find myself doing this as well.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: Do you maintain when you practice, do you are you mainly sitting down or standing up?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think when I started, I was sitting down a lot.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was like during quarantine.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was like a lazy little chud, bro, just playing video games.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: My dad was like, no, you gotta stand up.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, I I think you should get definitely get into the habit of like standing up while you're DJing and visualizing when you're there in the moment, you know, what you'll be doing, how you'll be.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's just as much as it's DJing, it's it's hyping up the crowd, you know, your energy, you know, you gotta like stay balancing, you can't just stand there like stiff as a board, you know what I mean?
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, but I wouldn't say it's that serious.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Once you know what you're doing, you know, you could sit down.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: I used to lay on my bed and DJ, you know what I mean?
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you mentioning that is also reminds me that a lot of people out there, like people who don't DJ, and with what you said as well, how people think that DJs are just up there pushing buttons and just making music on the spot.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: But in reality, they're reading the room and making adjustments to their set depending on the reaction of the room, while also trying to figure out how to blend what they're currently playing into that while stacked on top of that, keeping the energy up.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very physical, physical thing.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's exactly correct.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I think it depends on where you're playing to, because if you're playing at like a club or a bar, right?
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's very much important to read the room, um, just as with any rave or whatever.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're on that stage, like a lot of these DJs at Hard Summer, their sets are, believe it or not, pre-recorded, you know what I mean?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: So there's not much they can do in that aspect of like changing the music midway because a lot of those people are going to hear their music, so they don't gotta do much, you know what I mean?
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: But definitely a lot of these like smaller raves, you you gotta get in the habit of reading the room and making like like on-the-fly changes to your set.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: So now I'd like to dig into more of your workflow.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, um, I've spoken to producers and transferring the question that I asked them over to DJing, what would you say your process is when making a set?
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Usually, so as of now, we've been doing a um rave like every month.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: So whenever it gets announced, I'll obviously start my set and just work on it here and there.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: And once it's complete and the rave's complete, I'll usually take a break um from like DJing just so I don't I don't uh get burnt out and I'll just listen to a lot of music.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um I already I already listen to EDM anyway, so it's not hard to do.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: So as I'm listening to songs like day by day in the car, I'm like, okay, this song sounds good and add it to the playlist, keep adding, and then show gets announced, I'll download the music and just start, you know, um messing around.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely listen to or like watch a lot of DJ sets too, um, just to see what they're playing, what like what they're doing on the board, you know what I mean, what I could be doing better.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's this thing called power mixing, which a lot of uh Yusuke Yuki Matsu, he'll do it, um, Minanokimochi, where you keep both the bases up.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: Usually rule number one is always have one base down, always have one up, right?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: But with certain genres, you can definitely have both bases up.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something I picked up uh recently.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, definitely watching a lot of sets, picking up what I can.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say is more of a harder skill that there is to learn?
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: That because there for sure is levels to DJing.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would say trying to another thing my dad would say a lot is that you should be able to mix any two songs together, obviously within reason.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's some songs that are just you know what I mean.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so definitely finding like I think a good skill you can learn is finding two songs that you think don't go together at all or just sound completely different, and trying to just try your hardest to just make make it smooth transition.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a difficult thing to do.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: And even like pros are still having trouble mastering things as well.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's very easy to like um you know do a strictly techno mix because all of them are structured the same, they all sound similar, they all have the same kick for the most part.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: But Yusuke Yukimatsu, he DJs, like he'll start out with like an old like the Eagle song from like the 70s, like some like some alternative song, and then at by the end of the night he's playing like strons or like trance.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean that's crazy to me.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't think there's any DJs that are playing the variety of music that he's playing right now.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's his uniqueness right there.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's what distinct him, of course, along with his other great talents that he has.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: And coming on back to your set and set production and the flow of that is, of course, I'm pretty sure that there are times where you get stuck, kind of like a writer's block on figuring out what to do.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you do to kind of clear your head and reset?
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, very often I I I just call my dad in there and I'm like, what do you think about this?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Does this sound right?
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: What should I do instead?
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, like I said, he's not as crafty with the decks as he used to be, but he he knows what sounds right.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: So even though he can't, you know, make the set for me, he he'll tell me like, oh, this doesn't sound right.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe just try a different song, you know what I mean?
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just like last set, there was like this one like maybe like 35 minutes into the set where the songs just like didn't go together at all, and I was like, man, what do I do?
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because I called my dad in and and he he he definitely got me right.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, writer's block, you know, maybe if you don't have a dad like mine, just talk to your friends who don't know music that well, and they can give you a broader perspective, right?
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because they're not as fixated on these little things that no one's gonna hear as you.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's definitely I'm definitely a perfectionist, so I find myself fixating on like, you know, maybe the highs are too too low, you know, and and no one there, especially with the sound system we have, it's great, but it's not picking up all these like you know, high quality sounds that I hear on my speakers.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say um you get let's say you're out there doing big shows and bigger venues.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that you would carry on the same habits that you have even up there?
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of like a old habits die hard kind of thing.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm not sure.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I think I think it could be a good idea because part of the reason you're obviously gonna grow as a DJ is because people like your sound.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you should try to just do what people I think a lot of artists, like Drake, for example, right?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_01: He he had a lot of those like hits in like the 2010s and all that around like I think it was 2023, he dropped that um like house, like deep house type uh album.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I personally liked it because I'm obviously an EDM fan, but a lot of people were like, Man, we fell in love with you for this.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: Why are you changing your sound?
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: And on the other hand, I don't think any artist should have to like abide by what their fans wanna listen to.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think you should play, like make whatever you want, but I think definitely sticking to your roots is uh you know what what makes you winner in a lot of people's hearts.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it kind of I I do also feel like that is something that a lot of like beginner DJs and even like pro season DJs, or even at any level, again just compressing themselves in.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: sense.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a lot of people I I can see a lot of people like DJs getting bigger and they just like they feel stuck.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I have to play hard tech unless it's big right now, or I have to play what you know, you know what I mean?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it should be that way at all.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: What what's your opinion on beat sync?
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: I have the same opinion on beat sync as um I do with AI.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: I I brought it up earlier.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like AI is a good tool right B Sync is a good tool.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: All of the all of the the like aspects of like the newer DDJs and everything the way the um like electronics are just growing and all of that I think it's it's cool.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: But within reason I don't I don't want to get to a point where no one's DJing where like it's literally doing everything for you.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think if I had like a general rule of thumb I think you should learn how to mix without beat sync and once you can play a full set without that then you can use beat sync.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: Alright that's we could kind of like earn it.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I don't think if I see a DJ using beat sync I'm not gonna be like oh he's not a real DJ you know what I mean because if you if you want to talk about a real DJ then you should go take out your you know your vinyls turn tables I want to see you playing with no waveform no you know what I mean as raw as it can get um so it's either you have it one way or the other you know I mean your dad being an old an older seasoned vinyl DJ does he kind of like like jokingly get on you about being like a digital DJ my dad in in all aspects of life not just with DJing he's very progressive so he he likes all of the you know he's a graphic designer so they they use uh like some AI in a lot of their work and obviously it can it can take away from their their craft and take a lot of jobs but he has the same opinion as me like too too much of anything is bad you know what I mean so with beat sync and all that he doesn't mind me using it as long as even like the headset he doesn't care if I use a headset because he knows I can DJ without one so you say that the headset kind of applies it to like the beat sync whereas like once you get to a point where like you can do it without it I think it's not as a popular like as an opinion as like beat sync.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: No one's saying like oh you can't use a headset if you use a headset you're a fake DJ but I think definitely knowing how to play without a headset will it's like I don't know if you watched um Naruto but Rockly with his weights right like you take the weights off and when you take the headset off you should be able to um you know be even crazier of a DJ um I think being able to read the way the waveforms on the board and just hear the music as it's coming in that should definitely be like most important.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm that's that's good right there shoot I didn't I I didn't ever really think about that myself just the headphones I always have the bad habit of just oh we I almost broke these because I would always have on my on my neck and just check I just just back and forth which I which I feel kind of like like a bad habit.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a bad habit in in what you do that you find yourself doing um well just to go back to the headset thing I think um when you're doing like kind of on the fly like DJing you don't have a pre-recorded or like a set um or like you're learning new music I don't think it's wrong to use the headset but for me like I already have my set figured out I have my cue points I've I've de practiced this so much that I really don't need the headset.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you're if you're not to the point comfortable with your set that you can play without a headset then you should work on it more um not you personally but just anyone out there you know what I mean um but uh you were you you asked about other bad habits yeah any that any that you have um I would say so that there you obviously have your highs mids and lows in the middle of the board I would say I don't adjust them as much as I should I I try to adjust the overall trim or the the lows it's the most important part but I think making the transition as smooth as you can you definitely gotta be like touching those like mids and highs at all times.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything that you think that you can practice on to kind of get comfortable with that I think um just really listening to the songs one by one um and hearing like like on some good quality speakers and just taking a mental note like oh these highs are like they're they're too crispy you know what I mean when I mix it into another song you're gonna that's the first thing you're gonna hear so maybe turn it down a little bit.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I think definitely try to immerse yourself in like the songs as much as possible and figure out like because you know no one's perfect at mastering their music or whatever so there's definitely going to be certain songs that are you know maybe uh a bit different.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so we're approaching almost approaching that time here probably put if in like two more questions one of them being have you ever thought of a stage name um my stage name right now is Seth Garden um a lot of people ask like what does that even mean obviously my name's Seth but what is garden um that was that's just been my name since it was my Instagram name in high school so I don't know why but everyone just started calling me Seth Garden.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_01: So when I started like obviously getting out there I was like it's already my handle um originally it was supposed to be DJ Garden but Seth Garden works.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like it's garden in German so I don't know why but they replaced the the D with the T.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's still said the same though.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah I I think I'll eventually change it.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've been thinking about that pretty recently did you have any like spitball ideas honestly not really I I've been I've been um I I have ideas but I don't want to disclose them here once in once and once the name's out you'll know all right I'm I'm pretty sure we absolutely will we'll see it up on flyers see it up on flyers uh final question to wrap things up here your dream plays that you want to play hmm I don't have a specific venue because I'm not that um I obviously only play at my venue so I'm not that tapped in but like country wise I would love to play in Japan um would love to play in like Madrid there's this uh event called Outworld which is uh hosted by Klang Cluencer I can't say you say his name that like you gotta go look it up the production they use it looks like an alien spaceship oh um other countries I mean I've always wanted to travel to Thailand I'm not sure how I'm not sure how big the like EDM scene out there is but that would be cool definitely a lot of like northern European countries that's where EDM's like specifically techno and Gabriel that's the biggest um like Norway that that's I'm I'm part Norwegian so you can go go back to my hometown and remember um but yeah I think those are some great places this is definitely you know a new answer going out to multiple countries rather than just kind of sticking to one venue that's out here in like the beyond or Halloween escape like that yeah but yes definitely a good take on that is there a quote or saying that you carry with you that you kind of felt helps you out on your journey hmm not very good with quotes that's that's a hard question.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think um I think going back to what I I had answers before definitely just trying to stay true to what I like and what I play just play what I want to play.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a quote for it but that's what I try to live by just play what I want to play you know what I mean that's good especially that applies to the music you know yeah um make what you want to hear as that goes that'll help you out don't overthink it.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any advice that you want to say to the listeners before we go ahead and close up I would say if if you're someone like me who's just getting into either DJing or making music and you feel like you know you have to go to LA and meet these people it's always good to you know make make uh good connections but you don't you don't need that you know I mean you have it in your hand you have your phone um you have your fingertips so I I didn't believe that it was all this is possible until I I started um you know messing with Tilia's bleed but it it's definitely put it in perspective that like it it definitely is in your fingertips you know I mean yeah that's it man that that's it uh thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be on here I appreciate it and super thankful for it.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_01: Of course thank you for having me.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_00: Of course man listeners thank you for tuning in on this episode I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you guys enjoyed as well the previous episode that I had out with Banshee and as well I hope you guys stick in to tune in for the third episode coming on getting close to that special guest.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys for tuning in I'll catch you guys on the next one