From $200 Gigs to Global Tours: My DJ Success Story | Cedric Gervais DSH #1378

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Digital Social Hour

Episode: From $200 Gigs to Global Tours: My DJ Success Story | Cedric Gervais DSH #1378
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Cedric Gervais
Date: May 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the journey and mindset of Cedric Gervais—a world-renowned DJ, producer, entrepreneur, and Grammy winner. Host Sean Kelly and Cedric explore the evolution of the global music scene, challenges of touring, navigating fame, the impact of new tech like AI and TikTok, being shunned by his native French audience, and Cedric’s business ventures beyond music. Candid and unfiltered, Cedric shares personal stories from the club, behind the decks, and beyond the DJ booth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life on Tour: The Grind and Evolution of DJing

• Non-stop Travel & Burnout

  • Cedric describes a grueling schedule, often getting just 2 hours of sleep between gigs across continents:

    “When I work, it’s like I don’t get any sleep. Like on the weekend I’ll play until 2 and then I have a flight at 6am in the morning.” (01:18)

  • Despite the exhaustion, he keeps going out of love for performing, though admits travel is getting harder after 20 years in the business.

• Vegas Then & Now

  • Cedric reflects on the transformation of Las Vegas from a performer-driven scene (think Celine Dion) to a DJ epicenter:

    “The first show I ever done in Vegas...dance music was not big at the time...I show up and there’s like 10 people...Now, DJs everywhere, blowing up pool parties.” (03:39)

  • Omnia is his “favorite club in the world” (04:12)

• Experiencing the Different Energy of Miami & NYC

  • Miami used to be “dangerous to go across the bridge from Miami Beach” and he almost got robbed in what’s now the upmarket Design District (04:50).
  • Praises Miami’s growth and energy, the vibrant party and business scene, weather, and safety.

2. Creative Process & Major Breakthroughs

• Making “Summertime Sadness”

  • Created the Grammy-winning remix in just 2 hours using studio time in Harlem (07:53, 08:16).
  • “We did it with my friend Carlos...We did it in two hours. My manager got the vocals...I go to EDC Orlando, play it, and see the reaction of the crowd.” (09:19, 09:50)
  • Song’s ascent: DJ sets → Beatport #1 → dance radio → Top 40 radio → 8.1 million sales and streams.

• Success Formula: Magic in Spontaneity

  • “It’s always the songs that get done in two hours that become big...Songs you keep coming back and working and working never go anywhere.” (09:55, 10:11)
  • Tests new tracks on dancefloors and judges by real-time crowd reaction—something producers in other genres lack (10:49–11:41).

3. Technology: AI, Social Media, and the DJ World

• Embracing AI in Music Production

  • Uses AI to instantly separate stems and rework samples, vastly speeding up creativity:

    “Now AI can take the sample and separate all the instruments for you and give it to you on the fly.” (12:24)

  • David Guetta used Google’s AI to create a track with custom prompts; “the idea is there,” but human touch still needed. (12:52–13:50)

• The Unpredictable Power of TikTok

  • Cedric’s career untouched so far, but sees peers going viral accidentally, as with David Guetta’s “I’m Good”:

    “It was not planned...just some random fan recorded him at a festival...the song went number one. All started from TikTok. That’s insane.” (14:55)

  • No surefire strategy: “Even if you’re trying to spend money and pay those influencers...It’s not guaranteed.” (15:29, 15:50)

4. Cultural Identity & the DJ Market

• French Market Rejection

  • Despite his heritage, French audiences treat him as American:

    “The French crowd don’t see me as a French artist. They see me as an American artist... since my career blew up in America.” (16:25–16:40)

• Comparing US Cities: Miami, Vegas, LA, NYC, Aspen

  • LA’s scene is “struggling” with too much competition and venues lasting just a few years (17:33–18:15)
  • Miami and Vegas thriving; Cedric credits good governance over politics for Miami’s energy.

5. Beyond the Booth: Business & Acting

• Entrepreneurship

  • Scaling high-end restaurants in Florida and NYC (“the food is unbelievable”), avoiding saturated Miami for up-and-coming areas (Delray Beach, Naples) (20:12–20:54).
  • Detailed the business struggle in blue vs. red states:

    “It’s very, very difficult to do business in the blue states...I feel like there’s a lot more Karens in Colorado than there is in Florida.” (18:53–19:24)

• Acting & Film Soundtracks

  • Fell into acting through friendships (Michael Bay, Peter Berg).
  • Scored Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain”; cameo in “Deepwater Horizon” and “Mile 22.”
  • Composing for film is a “complete different universe”—challenging, orchestrally driven, and requires learning from scratch (22:36–23:37).

6. DJ Industry Changes and Staying Relevant

• Old School to New School Pathways

  • Cedric built his career in clubs as a resident DJ working up from $200 nights, creating his local following.
    • “I started playing at a club called Bash and I was getting paid like $200 a night. If I didn’t make people dance, I would get fired. So I had to create my own following.” (24:09)
  • Contrasts with today’s artists: “Now you gotta make a big song and then you gotta figure it out on the fly how to DJ.” (25:17)

• Social Media Double-Edged Sword

  • “It’s impossible” to make it now without social media, but influencers with millions of followers can’t just become DJs overnight:

    “There was this actress...She started DJing and she had no idea what she was doing...The crowd stopped booing her...” (26:40–27:19)

7. Handling Haters, Highs, and Memorable Gigs

• Some fans heckle or give him the finger from the crowd, even after buying a ticket:

  “They come to your show and sit there, don’t dance, look at you, give you the finger...Why are you even at my show?” (27:26)

• Most epic show: Coachella, sunset slot, when “Summertime Sadness” was blowing up—thought nobody would show up, then the audience stampeded in for his set:

  “People ran in, they knew the set time, and they came for my show. Legendary.” (28:48–29:58)

• Stays mostly sober (“sometimes a shot of tequila”), stresses that getting “fucked up” ruins careers. (30:52)

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Notable Quotes

• On Vegas’ transformation:
  “I’ve seen Vegas going from massive performer, like Celine Dion being the headliners, to now...everybody headlining the big hotels.” (03:40)

• On song success:
  “It’s always the songs that get done in two hours that become big.” (09:55)

• On technology & AI:
  “AI is never going to replace the soul of things...but it helps.” (11:45)

• On industry changes:
  “Now you gotta make a big song and then you gotta figure it out on the fly how to DJ.” (25:17)

• On handling haters:
  “You bought a ticket to come see me and you’re insulting me...” (27:26)

• On the biggest moment:
  “Legendary. I’m just standing in the middle and there’s a sea of people with a sunset at the end.” [Describing Coachella] (29:58)

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Important Timestamps by Segment

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 01:11–01:36 | Cedric’s tour routines and sleep deprivation | | 03:39–04:10 | The evolution of the Vegas DJ scene | | 04:50–05:23 | Miami’s transformation and near-robbery | | 07:53–09:50 | Writing “Summertime Sadness” and blowing up | | 10:49–11:41 | Testing DJ tracks on dancefloors | | 11:45–13:50 | Using AI in music production and the future | | 13:57–15:29 | TikTok’s influence on song popularity | | 16:25–16:40 | Cedric’s relationship with the French music scene | | 17:33–18:15 | LA’s declining nightlife scene | | 18:53–19:24 | Business differences: Blue vs. Red states | | 20:12–20:54 | Cedric’s restaurant and entrepreneurial projects | | 22:36–23:37 | Movie soundtracks vs. club music | | 24:09–25:17 | How Cedric built his name from $200 gigs | | 26:40–27:19 | Celebrity DJs failing at club gigs | | 27:26 | Handling haters at live shows | | 28:01–29:58 | Coachella story—biggest/memorable performance | | 30:52 | Performing sober and career longevity |

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Memorable Moments

• The Vegas club that started it all—with just 10 people and Chuck Liddell in the booth. (03:39)
• Almost getting robbed in Miami’s now-glitzy Design District for “wearing a Rolex.” (05:01)
• Finishing “Summertime Sadness” in a car on the way to EDC Orlando, with no idea it’d go number one. (09:19)
• Coachella panic: Setting up expensive visuals, fearing an empty crowd, but 10,000+ fans storm the stage when his set starts. (28:01–29:58)
• Calling out “influencer DJs” who bomb in front of huge crowds despite social media fame. (26:40–27:19)
• Honesty about stage nerves and industry changes: “You gotta adapt to stay at the top.” (23:47)

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Closing Thoughts

Cedric’s story is a masterclass in hustle, reinvention, and authenticity. He bridges old-school club roots and new digital realities, remaining relevant and candid about the sacrifices and doubts along the way. For aspiring DJs, entrepreneurs, and music fans, his journey offers both a reality check and inspiration—the grind never stops, but the best moments are still unpredictable and raw.

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Transcript

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[B]

Not boo the whole crowd, but you have those haters that come. I don't understand this thing. They come to your show and they just sit there, don't dance, look at you. Gives you the finger like, hey. Or push the phone. You suck. I'm like, why are you even on my show? You bought a ticket to come see me and you're insulting me. I mean, it's like it's, they're just hating.

[A]

No matter what, no matter what song you put on, they're going to be hating.

[B]

Well, yeah, whatever. Foreign.

[A]

Guys out here in Miami with Cedric, my man. How late were you out last night?

[B]

Not that late. 12 o'. Clock.

[A]

Oh, that's not bad at all.

[B]

Yeah, not bad.

[A]

I know you live a pretty crazy lifestyle.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Usually you're out much later, right?

[B]

Usually I go to bed. I mean, when I don't work, I go to bed like nine o' clock at night. Yeah. So I try to leave a very healthy lifestyle, but when I work, it's like I don't get any sleep. Like on the weekend I'll play until 2 and then I have a flight at 6am in the morning. I like two hours. Oh my gosh. To get to the next city.

[A]

Does that ever take a toll on you, like burnout?

[B]

A little bit. I mean, I've been doing this for like close to 20 years now. So it's like, you know, the traveling takes a lot out of me. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Have you slowed down at all? Do you think you'll keep doing another 20 more years?

[B]

I don't know. I, I, the thing is, I love doing what I do. You know what I mean? So it's like I haven't thought about slowing down. It's just, it's just traveling gets harder and harder on me. Yeah. That's the only thing that you do.

[A]

A lot of international traveling.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, international travel. But even in the United States, I mean, I compare. When I tour in the summer in Europe.

The countries are so close to each other. So it's an hour flight, two hour flight, three hour flight. When in America, when I'm in Miami, I gotta go to Vegas. Six hours. You know what I mean? You cross the country all the time. And sometimes I do Vegas and then I have to go to New York the next day. And it's, it's a. It's long flights.

[A]

Yeah. You know, Vegas to Miami flight is brutal because then you lose three hours to do.

[B]

And I do it twice a month. I have my residency, so it's like really nuts.

[A]

How's the Vegas market been lately?

[B]

It's great. I mean, it's been. It's been amazing. For me, it's been 15 years in Vegas.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, resident hotel group. And I'm playing this incredible venues, Tal Beach, Omnia, Akasan Marquee. So. And I mean I've seen, I've seen Vegas. To be honest, I. The first show I ever done in Vegas was at Umpire Ballroom. I don't know if you remember heard of them. It was a club off the Strip. And at the time there was no house music, There was no DJs playing in Vegas. It was selling young, performing, a bunch of promoters. So I remember I did the show on Pyre Ballroom. Gino, which is the owner of 11, now used to own Umpire Ballroom. So they flew me over there and I'm playing there, nobody else. Music, dance music was not big at the time. So I show up there and there was like 10 people in front of me. But the funny thing is Chuck Liddell was hanging out with me in the DJ booth with his girlfriend. He was high as behind me.

[A]

I love that.

[B]

And, and, and I was like, what am I doing here? This, this market sucks. It's like, what is this? And then you Fast forward later. DJs on billboard everywhere. I got my own billboard in Vegas. And then it's like DJs everywhere, blowing up pool parties. And it's like, it's crazy. So I really seen Vegas going from massive performer, like setting Dion being the headliners that now Steviochi, Fischer, you know, like Alesso, myself, like everybody headlining the big hotels. That's crazy.

[A]

Yeah. And you said earlier Omnia is like one of your favorite spots, right?

[B]

To me it's the one. Omnia is one of the best club in the world. I mean the design, the chandelier that they have, the sound system, the crowd, I mean, I love that club. It's one of the. Wow. Damn.

[A]

I didn't know Vegas was dead like that 15 years yeah.

[B]

Vegas is amazing.

[A]

Holy crap. How's Miami Market been?

[B]

Miami Market is amazing. I mean, you know, I'm from here 25 years. I've seen it grow as well. When I came here.

None of the building that you see in downtown, the skyline of Miami existed. It was, it was very dangerous to go across the bridge from Miami Beach. All the clubs were in Miami beach at the time that I got here. And they would tell you, if you cross the bridge and go downtown, you're gonna get shot.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

That's when I got to Miami. Yeah. So. So what you're seeing right now, Brickell, you know, midtown, Design district, nothing. I actually got robbed. Almost got robbed in Design District.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

There was one plumbing store that was in the Design District. And I, I went there and I parked my car and I start walking. Two guys with guns, like, start following me because I was wearing a Rolex at the time. Yeah. And I. And I caught it right away, ran back to my, my car. I left. And this is the Design District. Now that you have air, mass, Gucci and everybody's walking around. I almost got robbed over there like 15 years ago.

[A]

Holy crap.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, there's certain parts even today that are kind of dangerous out here, right?

[B]

Yeah. But I mean, it's safe. Miami is a safe city. I mean, if you play around, you know what I mean? And I don't think there's robbery everywhere, but it's pretty safe. I mean, Almayer is amazing. Francis Suarez is an amazing.

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Mayor and the.

[B]

The cops here are like keeping the city safe. Yeah. And I, I don't think there's any problem in the city. I mean there's problems everywhere, but it's, it's a great city.

[A]

Yeah. The energy out here is just amazing.

[B]

Yeah, it's amazing.

[A]

Everyone's in a good mood. Business out here is phenomenal.

[B]

Business is phenomenal. Everybody's in a good mood. I mean the weather, you can beat the weather, you know, all year long. I mean, the summer gets very hot and humid. Yeah. As everybody knows. But the weather, it's a very healthy city. I mean, as you can see, everybody's into the gym. Everybody is like, has a healthy lifestyle here. And it's, it's, it's. It's a party city. This thing going on all the time. And you know, Al Basel Miami Music Week now, F1 Miami. It's crazy.

[A]

Yeah. It's nuts. You, you still performing in New York too?

[B]

Yeah, I do. I perform in New York as well. Marquee. It's one of my residency in New York. I've been performing in New York. I love the city in New York. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Actually two of my biggest song, I made them in Harlem in, in a studio there in Harlem. I did. Yeah. Autumn. I swear to God. It was actually.

The studio Mustard, the guy that.

[A]

DJ Mustard.

[B]

Yeah. DJ Mustard. There was a studio. I didn't know I was working in the studio in Autumn and somebody told me, you know, this is like the DJ Mustard room. So I made Summertime Sadness and Molly in that studio.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah, that's nice.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The old vibe of Harlem was like, I love New York. I love the energy of New York.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That was your first Grammy, right? Summertime Sadness.

[B]

Summertime Sadness was my first Grammy, yeah.

[A]

That's nuts. That must have been the craziest year of your life.

[B]

That was crazy. Yeah. That was a crazy feeling. It was like. I explained to everybody when I did this song, it was like I was actually on the way finishing it. I was on the way from Miami to Orlando to play EDC Orlando and I just finished it, putting the final touch in the car. Was driving my tour manager to EDC Orlando and I played it that night and I was like, wow. Like the social media response of it was crazy. Right? But I never thought I was like, okay, Cool. So I'm going to get my friend, my DJ friends to play the record. That's. That was my goal. I want all the big DJs to play the record. So I start sending it out, everything. So DJ stop playing the record. Then gets released, goes on Beatboard, which is a DJ website, goes number one on Beatboard. I'm like, that's it. I made it. That's great. This is amazing. Right then radio stopped playing the record. I'm like, oh, cool. Dense radios. I'm like, this is great, man. This is. You know, I never expected that. And then Top 40 radio stop playing the record. I'm like, oh God. Now we got something big. And then fast forward. We sold 8.1 million single. I don't know how many streams now we at. And then again, Grammy nomination for it. But it's not like it's a record that was not planned. We did it with my friend Carlos Sid, which is the producer I produce it with. We did it in two hours. What? My manager got the vocals. Say, hey, I got the vocals. I'm friend with the manager of Atlanta. Here's the vocals. What do you think? I say, what? This is one of my favorite song. I'm like, I always wanted to do a bootleg of the song. Great. Two hours, song is done. I go to dc, Orlando, play it and see the reaction of the crowd.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

Was nuts.

[A]

But you hear stories like that all the time where like the artist makes a song in like an hour.

[B]

And it's always the songs that you make in an hour or two hours that become to me and the experience of all my other friends that in the business, it's always the song that gets done in two hours that become big.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Songs that you keep coming back and working and working and oh, no, we got to change it. Never go anywhere. I mean, for me.

[A]

Yeah. That's interesting. I wonder what the reason, like the second.

[B]

I don't know. I don't know. It's crazy. It's like maybe a magic that happened. I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, I guess because you're just truly coming on the fly. You're not overthinking. Maybe.

[B]

Yeah, I think that's what it is. And it's actually I. I did another one recently and I told my manager I did it in two hours and it's like, it sounds like a very big, big song. And I did in two hours. And he goes, maybe we should change. I said, listen, let's not overstate this. It's working. I tried it on the crowd. Let's run with it. You know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah. Is that how you test out stuff you played in the clip?

[B]

Yeah. So I, I, the, the, the luck that we have as DJs, right. It's like you produce something in the studio and then you're in front of a crowd, right. Different crowds every weekend. So you test out the record and you see the reaction of the people. You test out the record. So you play a record that knows that work. I'll give you an example. Like a John Summit record I play. Or David, get a record that works that you know is going to get the crowd. And then you play your record right after and you see the reaction on the ground. So you see. And then you see the way, you know, when you do a record, there's a structure of the record. There's the intro, the breakdown, the bill. Yeah. You know, the first drop, second drop, whatever. So you see. And you see, okay, the structure is wrong. We've got to change that. People were not dancing here. I lost the crowd there. Or it just sucks. It doesn't work. You know what I mean? So you see it, you know, as pop producers, big pop producers. They make songs and then they put it out there. And then, you know, and they see, okay, let's see what happened.

[A]

That makes sense. Are you worried about AI at all? Because there's a lot of talk about that.

[B]

No, actually embrace AI. I think it's great. I mean, there's a lot of things I don't think you never. AI is never going to, you know, replace the.

The, the soul of things. I don't think. You know what I mean? Like the human soul in. Into the music. But it helps. I mean, I use AI to, like, sometime, you know, sometime you, like, you want to try. You take a sample of a song and say, I want to redo this song. So back in the days, you got to replay the sample or you got to call the label and say, give me the parts. Separate parts. Now AI can take the sample and separate all the instruments for you and give it to you on the fly.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

So I want the guitar, I want the drums, I want the snare, I want the, the vocal. And real quick, in the studio, boom separates everything. You take the vocals, you do the demo after, obviously, for legal reason, you got to re. Sing the song, you got to replay the instrument. You can use the original production, but you can stop producing the song and see if it works. You know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah, that's Crazy.

[B]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[A]

I didn't know it was that. I mean.

[B]

I mean, I can make. You can. Actually.

I was with David get out at one point, and he was working with Google, I remember, on something that they working together. And he was showing me like this. There's. There's AI that you can say, hey, I would like a song that sounds like a vici, that talks about this and this and. And the thing will produce the song completely. But when he played me a track, I was like, no, you. You produced this track. He goes, no, man, it's AI. Wow. I say, no way. It's like you did this record. Like this is. This is like a. Like you're trying to like. He goes, no, I swear to God, it's like I said, I want a song like Avicii that talks about this. That. That sounds maybe a little bit like Coldplay and this and. And. And the AI thing produced the whole thing. It's insane.

[A]

That's nuts.

[B]

I mean, obviously you can hear that you have to fix some parts because it's very. It's a computer doing it. So you gotta re. You know, but the idea is there. This is what's crazy.

[A]

Yeah. So it just makes your life easier.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

How is social media and specifically, like, TikTok changed the game for you?

[B]

For me? Not yet, because I haven't connected with TikTok yet. But I mean, I see for artists. I'll give you an example. David Guetta, My Best Friend, the song they did. I'm good, right? So he does this song with BB Rexha, long time ago in the studio, right? And he tries it out in the. In the festival. And he's like, yeah, maybe one day we're gonna release the song. Somebody recorded a song with video. Yeah. He takes the recording, put it on TikTok and does a dance video with it. And then all the influencer catch on, start doing the same thing. The song blows up on TikTok, blows up, becomes the biggest song, but nobody. It doesn't say David Guerrero, doesn't say anything. It just. As the audio blows up, David Gerard goes, oh, my God, we have to put out this song. So they finished the song right away. They put it out, the song goes number one worldwide because of it.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

So it was not planned. It was not like, let's do a campaign. Let's pay those influencers. Let's do this. It's just some random fan recorded him in a festival, goes, oh, I like this song. He was testing it out. Like, I Was telling you we're testing out the records on the thing and blew up on TikTok and then the song went number one. I did a remix of that song that went number one on dance radio in America. Wow. And then is original when number one on Billboard chart in America. So it's crazy. And all started from TikTok. That's insane. I mean, it's changing the game for a lot of people.

[A]

You hear that with a lot of artists too. One song on TikTok gets a billion views and then.

[B]

Yeah, and you can. And that's the thing is you can. Even if you're trying to spend money and say, I'm going to pay those influencers to use the song, it. It's not guaranteed. Yeah. You know what I mean? It happens if it needs to happen. It's just like you can. There's no logic to it.

[A]

There's no strategy.

[B]

Yeah, there's no strategy. There's no. I mean, I'm sure it helps if you pay an influencer that has a lot of followers so they hear the song. But it's. It's got to Catch on Fire on his own.

[A]

It'll help like short term, but for.

[B]

Short term, Catch Fire is like, I just gave you an example that just started like organically, like, and then went crazy to the top.

[A]

Yeah, 100%. You still going to France a lot?

[B]

I go to France a lot in the summer. I.

I do a show, one show in the summer in a club called Amnesia. It's like the biggest club in the world in France. That's the only thing. The French market is very difficult.

[A]

Really.

[B]

They support only French artists that are from France. And it's crazy because the French crowd don't see me as a French artist. They see me as an American artist.

[A]

Really?

[B]

It' the craziest thing. And I'm French for Mar.

[A]

You grew up there, right?

[B]

Right, yeah, grew up there. Marse. But they don't. But since my career blew up in America, they don't see me as a Bob Sinclair, David Guer, Martin Soic. They don't see me at those guys or DJ Snake or like I'm the guy from Miami. Wow. Yeah.

[A]

That is interesting. They hold a grudge against you.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know if they do, but it's. It's weird.

[A]

Damn. Are you going to cans next week film festival?

[B]

No, no, I never. I don't have time because the film festival always lands on.

I think it lands the week before Memorial Day weekend. Right?

[A]

Yeah, it's May 18th or something.

[B]

Yeah, I'm always busy, I'm always. It's such a big thing in America, so I never have time to go to Ken festival.

[A]

Where do you do Memorial Day?

[B]

Usually Miami or Vegas, Memorial Day weekend, I'll be in La Zouque. Yeah. Normally I do Vegas or Miami. It's always like, you know.

[A]

Yeah. Now, how has LA been? Because I saw an article come out saying the market is struggling there. Is that true?

[B]

Yeah, struggling. The clubs in la, I mean, insomniac, they have, you know, with Exchange and Academy, which I recently played there and sold it out. It's one of my favorite club in la, but it's hard, it's hard. There's so many things going on in la and in la, every time you perform in la, there's always like a thousand party going on, you know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah. A lot of competition.

[B]

Yeah. So it's tough. LA is a tough market, especially for the VIP market, I think in la, I mean, you always hear like, clubs that open in L. A or restaurants and they last three, four years and then they disappear. I don't know why. It's always like it's hot for two years and then they go to something.

[A]

Yeah, Well, a lot of people from L A move to other cities too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Miami, Vegas.

[B]

Yeah, they moved.

[A]

Texas.

[B]

Yeah. Do you think it's something to do with blue states, red states?

[A]

I think that's part of it. I think the state tax is.

[B]

Yeah, the state tax is a big thing.

[A]

Yeah. I think the cost of living. Yeah, Crazy. Like to get a house out there, you're spending 5 million.

[B]

Yeah. You know, and I think has to do a lot with the way they run the cities.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah, 100%.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I can tell, I can tell you I live in Aspen as well. Yeah. And I live in Florida, so I live in the blue states and I live in red states. The difference between those two are it's crazy.

[A]

Night and day.

[B]

It's night and day.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

The way the cities are run, the way the. And I have a business, I have a restaurant and a club, very successful restaurant called Madamushi in Aspen and a club. And I can tell you that it's very, very difficult to do business in the blue states. And again, I'm not into politics.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm just. I'm just telling you that I live in two different states and I see the difference. People, the way the people. I. I feel like there's a lot more Karens.

In. In Colorado that there Is in. In Florida. Yeah. You know what I mean? So that's. That's what I'm gonna say.

[A]

Well, also, Aspen is a baller town, so people expect.

[B]

No, but it's. It's a baller. It' with a lot of billionaires, which you think will be conservative, right? They all are conservative, but the. The city is ran by liberals. And the way they. They do things, it's. It's really. There's no sense. It doesn't make any sense. The way they run stuff. Yeah. When. When you see the city, the way they run thing is common sense. You know what I mean? Doing stuff for people, it's just. It's very different.

[A]

That's why Miami's blowing up.

[B]

The blowing up.

[A]

You guys can do whatever you want out here, you know? You know, shout out to Francis Suarez and the governor. You guys are killing it. So you're doing a lot outside of music too, then.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You got the restaurant. What else you got going.

The restaurant?

[B]

I'm opening multiple restaurants. I'm opening Delray Beach, Naples next. I'm just growing this brand. I started this restaurant with the chef of Nobu, Miami, that was here for 15 years. Jake, Ethan, incredible chef. The food is unbelievable. So I'm scaling this restaurant right now in different market. I don't want to touch the Miami market because it's too saturated right now. So I'm going on market that booming like Delray Ray Beach, Naples, Tampa, like those kind of things in Florida. And then I have a opportunity in New York right now looking into New York, you know. So I'm growing that. And I'm doing also some acting stuff. Yeah, been doing.

[A]

Yeah, you've been in some big movies.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you want to go that route?

[B]

Yeah. No, no. Especially I like music. I just do it, to be honest. I'm friend with Michael Bay. I'm friend with Peter Berg. I've become very close friend with those guys. And they put me in movie. I started by doing music for movies. Yeah. The first thing that I've done was painting for Michael Bay. And I've done two songs in the movie.

And he put me in a movie as a cameo. I was cool. I was like, whatever. And then it became a joke. And then Peter Berg put me and my friend Dave Grutman in. In the first movie called. Which one was. It was.

The. I forgot the name of it. Oh, my God.

Deep Water Horizon.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

And it was the movie about the explosion of the. The BP explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Yeah.

[A]

I think I saw that one.

[B]

Yeah. It's a real story. Yeah. And. And it was Kurt Russell in the movie.

Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich. I mean, incredible movie. So that was our first thing that we did. It was fun. And then I did mile 22 and picture day with Peter Berg. I became very close to Peter Berg. He's a good friend of mine, and he just put me in movies. I just do those things. Like, I'm not an actor, you know, I have no pressure, so I just do those things. But my thing is, I want to do more music for movies. I love to do that.

[A]

Yeah. That's where the money is, too.

[B]

Yeah. And it's a different process to making, like, regular. Like I learned when I was doing music for Deepwater Horizon, one of the scene that we did, and it's a complete different, you know, universe.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

It's completely different than making music for clubs. It has nothing. It's very difficult.

[A]

What's the biggest changes, I guess, from the club music?

[B]

It's very. It's. You got to use a lot of real instruments.

Orchestrals, you know what I mean? Like. Like, you got to. You got to build it. You got to. It's. It's very. And then you have a music director that. That looks over you, that. That in charge of the whole movie. So you got to be. It's just by. By the by. Scene, by scene. You got to. It's very, very difficult.

[A]

I could see that. Because movies want to invoke a lot of emotion out of the viewers. Yeah. So you pro instruments.

[B]

Yeah, it's. It's. You got to use real instruments for everything. And it's like. It's. It's just like. There's no.

It's not telling us. It's. It's just difficult. I don't know how to explain it. It's very hard. I don't think I mastered it yet. You know what I mean? So I did it once, and I'm. I'm trying to get more into it and I'm trying to learn, and I don't think I'm there yet. Wow.

[A]

So you're still a student of the game, even at your level.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

That's crazy, right? Because you're like one of the top DJs, but you're still having to learn and. Yeah, well, that's what you have to do. You got to adapt to stay at the top.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can't just keep doing the same thing, right?

[B]

No.

[A]

It's a tough space to penetrate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's a lot of DJs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When you first moved here, how long did it take to really get things going when you first moved to Miami?

[B]

Well, I started in a different way than everybody else started. I mean, a lot of DJ can, you know.

Exactly. David get out ties to those kind of DJs. You know, in, in. They started like me. We started as ready local resident DJs, right. We had to make. When I. When I started here, I started playing at a club called Bash and I was getting paid like 200 a night. Right. But I had to make people dance and I had to basically, if I didn't make people dance, I would get fired. So I had to create my own following by the music I was playing. So people start liking me. Miami. Oh, I like this DJ is pretty good. And I went to the bigger club and the bigger club and then I ended up being the resident of club space Miami on the Terrace. So we started the Terrace in Miami. So I had to start creating my following and getting my name out there by deejaying my sets and playing along hours and everything. When now you have to make a song that blows up to become a successful dj. Right. It's a different thing. So I became.

Known as a dj and then I stopped producing music. And then the music helped me get to the next level.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

Now you gotta make a big song and then you gotta figure it out on the fly how to dj, you know what I mean? So there's a lot.

There'S a lot of DJ that can relate, like David Guetta, Chiesto, you know, some of the Swedish Sauce Mafia. They all started the way I started.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Playing in clubs. Now it's a different game. It's a complete different game. You got to make music and you got to go to DJs. I. John Summit is explaining one his podcast. I was listening, he was like, I was making 100 song. Now we'll go see my favorite artists and I would give them the music. Give them the music, give them. You know what I mean? Yeah, that one point. Some. Some of those DJ stop playing his music and be like, God damn, this guy, this kid is very good, great producer. And then he blew the fuck up.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's crazy. Yeah. These days you need social media, right? To make it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I feel like without that it's impossible.

[B]

It's impossible. Yeah. But it's also. I see a lot of influencers that trying to be DJ also that doesn't work well for them. Like they have massive amount of followers and they're like, okay, I'm going to be a DJ now. And there's a lot of them I'm sure you see on things. Same with podcasters and podcasters and stuff like that. You got to. You got to learn the business. You got to learn how to make music, you got to learn how to make people dance. And it's a tough business, man. It's just not because you have millions of followers, you know what I mean? There was this actress, I forgot who. She was like short hair.

She was a hype for a long time. I forgot her name. And she stopped being a dj and she had no idea what she was doing. And at one point she played. I remember she opened for the Swedish House Mafia. They put her there in Ibiza, and she. She end up a set with the Spice Girls original song in Ibisa. What you want, what you really, really want. And the crowd stopped booing her and be like, what? Like what? I never seen a DJ ever again. But this is what I'm saying is like, these people like, oh, I'm a massive movie star and I'm going to DJ to make money now. I'm gonna go out there. But this is not. You know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah. You got to feel the crowd out.

[B]

Correct. I forgot her name. I don't even know her name anymore.

[A]

Has that happened to got booed before?

[B]

No, but I got people giving me the fingers on the crowd. Yeah, yeah. Sometime, you know, like, you suck. You this, you're that. Yeah. Once in a while, not boo the whole crowd, but you have those haters that come. I. I don't understand this thing. They come to your show and they just sit there, don't dance, look at you. Gives you the finger or. Or puts the phone. You suck. I'm like, why are you even on my show? You bought a ticket to come see me and you're insulting me. I mean, it's like, it's.

[A]

They're just hating. No matter what, no matter what song you put on, they're going to be hating.

[B]

Well, yeah, whatever.

[A]

What's the most memorable spot you've dj? Like, the craziest, I guess. Party or experience?

[B]

I think. Coachella.

[A]

Coachella?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, Coachella. Sarah stage.

It was like the sunset set when the sun is setting, and you had the sun setting at the end of the stage like this. It was crazy because it was at the time that I had summertime sadness blowing up. And in Coachella, I never done festival where you have a change time, right? 15 minutes, set time, when nobody there's no music. They're just changing the. Your stage. And the DJ before me, I don't remember who it was, but there was, like, 200 people in front of him. And I show up on my manager. I'm like, oh, man, come on. I. I build up, you know, I prepare my set. I did this whole stage visual. You know, you spend a lot of money when you go to Coachella.

[A]

Yeah, you don't.

[B]

You don't make money at Coachella. You really spend it. Yeah. On the stage. If you see the artist, the stage they're putting cost a lot of money.

[A]

Oh, I thought the venue paid for that.

[B]

No, sir, you gotta pay for it. Yeah, yeah. They give you a fee and then put on your show. So that's what I did. And I came in 200 people, and I'm like, oh, my God, this sucks. And my manager is like, listen, trust me. You got a big song right now. If people want to see you, they have the set time. They know what time you're playing. They're going to show up. Change comes up, 200 people walks away. The stage is completely empty. I'm like, that's it. I'm gonna play for nobody. So I'm backstage, and I'm there. I'm stressing. I'm stressing. I'm stressing out. And then my manager is outside, and he sees people, like, start running into the stage. Running into the stage, running into the stage. He doesn't say anything. He was, you ready? I'm like, yeah, I'm ready. I'm gonna play for. Nobody ever come upstage. And the stage was slammed packed, and I was like, oh, my God, That's. This is nuts. So basically, if. If you're hot at the moment, I mean, if you play Coachella, it's like, you gotta be hot to play Coachella. That's it. And I was just stressing out because I thought it was gonna be nobody. But people ran in, they knew the set time, and they came for my show. And I have a. I have a legendary. I'm just standing in the middle, and there's a sea of people with a sunset at the end, and I'm just in the middle by myself like this.

[A]

I love that.

[B]

It's crazy.

[A]

Was that the biggest crowd you ever played for?

[B]

No, I played for big, larger crowd, but it's. I don't know what it is about. Coachella is, like, for artists. Coachella is such a, like, moment. Like, it's such a big festival, and it's so hard to get on it. Right. And it's like. I don't know why that was the biggest moment for me.

[A]

It's like a staple. I feel like. Yeah. All the pop artists, Coachella. Yeah. I didn't know it was hard to get on that. Is it like a.

[B]

It's. It's. It's. So you got a golden voice, which is the people that put the festival. It's like you have to be. I remember I had to do a show for them and I had to sell hot ticket in a venue in la, which I did, to prove myself that I could done the show. And I've done it. And they. They won't put you on it. Maybe they change now a little bit because I see some artists playing the show that. That I haven't seen, but before, it was very hard to get on this festival.

[A]

That makes sense.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you play all your sets sober? Because I know that's a. Yeah.

[B]

Sometime I have a shot of tequila just to like. You know what I mean? Yeah. To get me going. But, yeah, I'm always sober.

[A]

Respect. I went to one show. I won't call them out on the episode, but the guys were hammered. But. Yeah. And they performed like three songs and dipped.

[B]

Yeah. You can't. You can't. You can. You can't have a career if you get fucked up all the time. Yeah. There's no way.

[A]

Yeah. Well, dude, it's been awesome. Anything else you want to close off with before we wrap up?

[B]

No, I'm good. Everything's good.

[A]

We'll link all your. Your tour dates below and everything. And your clubs.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Perfect. Thanks for watching, guys. Check them out. See you next time.