David Sabat and DJ Lori Branch on the Vintage House Show

Introduction

0:00It's about to go down. It's about to go down. What's up everybody? Couldn't resist, sorry. Apologize. I wonder how many times you've said that. You know, I didn't coin it. Somebody else coined it. It's about to go down. Joey Swanson coined it. And he says it more than I do. Okay. But I love it. I think it's great. I don't know how I didn't think of it. That's like a tagline. You need to put that on a t-shirt. There's a mix. It's titled that. He said it's in somebody's tapes on there. Yeah. Alright, so here's the deal. We're listening to Capricorn. We're

0:37recording on StreamYard. We're recording on Facebook. And you have, you did a mix of this. I did a mix with 60 Hertz Project who made this. Okay. It's unreleased unfortunately. It's a long story. So many things. Yes, there's always things. But we did do a mix of this. We did an original track. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I've reached out to them. I don't know what this made me reach out to. Now I must hear it. You shall. Alright, so I'm going to type the music down. I don't

1:09think y'all can hear it, but we can. And it's time to do so so we can get on with the show. Sounds so good. I know. It's a beautiful track. These guys are musicians. Yeah, they do. And they were, when they made this, I mean, they were like kids from South Africa. Yeah. Laurie, Kevin says speak up a little bit. Alright, Kevin. Hey, Kevin. Hey, Kevin. What's up,

1:39everybody? We'll make sure we can hear us out in the radio land. I'm not sure we can. Let's see. Yeah, I think so. I will do my best to speak to everybody out there. Facebook, thanks for joining us. Me and David Sabat. It's about to go down. I don't know where I'm looking, so I'm going to look at you. We've got too many things going on. But thank you. For

David Sabat Introduction

2:04those who don't know David, David is a Chicagoan. Are you from Chicago? Born and raised? Where were you? I know you're a South Sider. High Park. All the time. Kenwood, Bronco. How'd you end up in High Park? I grew up in High Park. I never lived anywhere else. Your parents from Chicago? No. New York. Who are part of New York? Brooklyn and Queens. Brooklyn and Queens. Yeah. Who's from Brooklyn? My mother, Coney Island. Really? Out from Coney Island. I lived in New York for a couple years, so I'm always like, I feel like I have some rights to it.

2:35Right. My father immigrated to Queens, but my mother was born in Brooklyn, in Coney Island. Yeah, that's all right. And so what brought them to Chicago? Work for my father, school for my mother. Okay. And they met here. They met here in Chicago. Yeah. I want to make sure we're picking you up. Yes, I think so. All right. And they work at, so University of Chicago,

3:06I just assume people who live in High Park have something to do with University of Chicago. My father worked there, and my mother went to school there. Okay. I mean, like grad school, not like professors hitting on young students. It wasn't like that. Same age. Yes. So you went to Kenwood? I did. Wow. Explains a lot, right? You know, I get it. Kenwood is great. It usually settles all questions. Okay. Like, oh, interview over. Kenwood. Now, I know this is something that

High School Days

3:37we, that people don't like to talk about a lot, but we do like to understand when you went to high school. 88. Would you be mind, you don't mind sharing that? I don't mind. 88. So you graduated in 88? Sure. Okay, good. Uh-huh. Yeah, no, I, Kenwood, we talk about Kenwood a lot because that was a school that was known for our community. Absolutely. It was kind of like when we did our marketing for our parties, this was in the early 80s. Kenwood was one of the first places we went. Lil Lewis handed me flyers as I walked to school. I am not kidding. Hey man, come to my party. Like, I'm not kidding. He lived a

4:10block from me. That's amazing. That was, there was a few places that we would do marketing to. Hey, Scott, to make sure the right people were there. So Kenwood, Whitney Young, Lynn Bloom, a lot of the Catholic schools, High Park certainly. There were a few, you know, High Park, we weren't as proactive with High Park. We sort of, by virtue of proximity, we would hit High Park. Right. But there were places where we were very, I don't know why, we were kind of bougie and snooty, I guess. I'm not

4:42sure. It's kind of funny when you're trying to make money as a teenager and you're bougie about where you pass off flyers. We had a lot of audacity, I think. Marketing. Yeah, it was, it was targeted marketing for sure. But anyway, so Kenwood, you came out in 88. Who'd you come out with? Anybody we know? I'm thinking, like specifically, I can't think. Any famous people in your class? In my class that I can think of? No, but I mean, within a couple of years, plenty. Yeah. Oh yeah? I mean. Other than you. Other than, I mean, there are plenty of people

5:18that would, I mean, obviously, I mean, I don't want to name draw and stuff. But as you know, many of our community went to Kenwood from the early 80s up. Yeah. So through the, probably the early 90s. Absolutely. As well as some very famous people. Uh-huh. Who I was in school with too. That's so right. When I, I've told this story before, but I'll tell you. Oh, I know who came out with me. Who came out with me? Kim English. Kim English? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. How about that? She was a good friend. That's great. I love her music. I was in,

5:52and I went to Lindblom, which is nowhere near Kenwood. I mean, it's across town. It's not too far. Right. I know where it is. It's on Walcott, over west, you know, by Damon. You guys were over east. But my girlfriend, like one of my girls that I hung out with, she had a car and her boyfriend was at Kenwood and she was like, I need to hook you up with one of these Kenwood boys. And that was like our whole like pursuit in life. You know, it's like there was something about Kenwood boys. I don't know what it was. It's probably just because it was different. Lindblom had lots of cute boys too, but we both got boyfriends

6:23from Kenwood and we just felt like, you know, we just. Oh, it was a success. We, we, we did it all. All right. We had our Kenwood boyfriends and we were good. Yeah, that's right. We cut classes and go hang out with them. And I discovered Hyde Park and I was just like, this is like Disney World. I just love this place. Hyde Park is amazing. Yeah. It really is. I'm so fortunate. We'd hang out at the McDonald's. I'm so fortunate. Yeah. We'd hang out at 53rd Street at the beach. They were swimmers.

Pre-House Music

6:48Anyway, so you grew up in, in, you went to Kenwood and 88 was good because by then house music was really rocking, but you were doing some stuff before house music. Yes, you were. Pop music. You were, you said that when you were DJing. Oh, not quite. So. What were you doing? So. Before house music. I mean, there was nothing before house music. Okay. So, but, but when I went to college after that, I DJed in college and I played everything. You played everything. I was an open format DJing. And where did you go to college? Purdue. And where is that? Indiana. Purdue in Indiana, of course. Yes. West Lafayette. So you were doing, uh. I was doing all. I mean, back then to get, so first of all, I didn't think I was very good at this. Okay. I mean, I was playing in my bedroom. Yes. You know what I should do? I have this picture of me at like 16 DJing in my bedroom. Yes. It's pretty funny to look at. I mean.

7:48It's on the wall right there, you know, so it definitely, no pun intended, but the sign of the times are right all over it. Yeah. Uh, but I started DJing, you know, in my bedroom, a friend of mine. Yes. You know, comes over and he goes, Hey, I see you've got a turntable and your father has a turntable. Uh-huh. I got this realistic mixer and my mother has some disco records. Yeah. And that's how that started. I mean, and we're just goofing around. And then when I went to, I mean, and I was going out to the Bismarck all the time. Yes. Yes. That was when I was happening. La Mirage and all that. Because I was just in that world. Yeah. So we got, I got to do that. And, uh, then when I went to school, I mean, I didn't think I was good enough to do anything. Yeah. And then when I got to school and I heard them DJ, I was like, Oh. That's what's up. I can compete with that. Yes. And the reason why is because I was comparing myself to legends.

8:41Who was I listening to? Okay. You know, Frankie, Lil Louis. Yes. Yes. Hot Mix 5. Of course. Ron Hardy. Like this is who I'm comparing myself to. So when I get to college and I hear people. And they've been doing it for 10, 15, 20 years before you even started. Well, I don't know about that long, but they were. 88. By 88, they've been doing it at least 10, 15 years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like you think Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles started in the early 70s, really. Really, right. Oh, yeah. So, so, um, yeah. So then I said, I'm going home to get my stuff. Good. And, uh, no, I didn't have like the highest quality. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, but you know, in that world, you know, hip hop was also booming. That's right. And, and back then you played slow songs at parties. Right. So we were doing everything. That's great. You know, but.

9:28I think that's important though. Yeah. And the reason I was saying pre house is that there are a lot of DJs who started doing something other than house. Like, uh, DJ Alicia talks about, she was like a steppers DJ. There's a lot of, there's hip hop DJs who then went to house music. There's people who, you know, were just kind of like roller skating rink DJs who turned to house music. Cause it wasn't like, you know, we didn't think of house until we really started thinking of like the mid eighties. There was a lot of music happening in dense, uh, clubs and other places where our community got their start.

10:01But before we get into it too much, I did want to say mega is out there in, on one of our streams. So we can say, Hey, to Kevin McFall. If we can bring him on, we can say, Hey, to him. What's up, mega? Hey, good people. My, my, babe. How are you both?

Photography Book Idea

10:23Lee would love to know if David would publish a coffee book of photos depicting house music scene. Thanks. Good question. That's a great question. Um, I love that question. So there is a guy and I can't remember his name. Um, he's, I think he's in France or London, somewhere around there. And he put together, he shot every major DJ in studio, famous photos, photos you've seen before. Um, and he put together a whole book that, uh, I've somebody, I've seen it.

10:55Somebody here has it and was literally on tour getting all the DJs to sign their pictures, which I thought was pretty cool too. Um, but, uh, so something like that has been done, but I think there are other angles. There are other ways to do it. Um, you know, cause you know, I definitely get the opportunity to see a lot of really cool stuff. Right. But it's not something I've actually thought about in that way. I've thought about it in other ways, more of a, I'd really like to do more of a gallery.

11:27A gallery. Yeah. So like an exhibit. An exhibit. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I think you should. Maybe, you know, we're putting together, uh, other iterations of the house music exhibit that we did at Navy Pier. Right. You know, we're thinking of trying to get this museum off the ground and there would be a great opportunity to do it there. There. I think we just figured it out. I think we just figured something out. Okay. There we go. And then, you know, there's a gift shop. All right. There you go. Exit through the gift shop. Come on with it. For real. And there's your book. Yes. There's the book.

11:58So thank you for that. Of course. Of course. So I was looking up, uh, in, on your page and, you know, some really cool things. Uh-huh. Um, so you were doing, you, you know, in 2003 is really where you, where I saw a stake in the ground for house music, where you kind of put yourself out there. Okay. Was that happening before then or early 2000s? So, good question. So in, so in the 80s and 90s, I was doing college.

College and Hip Hop

12:24Yeah. And, uh, and a funny thing that I'll add, the hip hop came about in a really unusual way. I wasn't, I didn't own hip hop records. I only owned house records. I mean, I was teen, I was a teenager going to imports with my lunch money and spending it on records, coming back on the bus with my big brown paper bag. Yes. The, a lot of Chicago DJs completely have been there. Right. And that was my record collection. But I had hip hop on cassette tapes. I had this big case with two sided with all my hip hop cassettes, you know, my Eric B and Rakim. I love it.

12:56All that stuff. And someone broke in my car and stole it. And I replaced all of that on vinyl. No. And I had a hook up at a record store and this guy would, I just put, he'd put the cash in his pocket and give me whatever. So it's, it's not a known, it was a very local store. And so I re, I converted all my hip hop into vinyl because of a theft. Yes. And that's how I ended up playing hip hop, which was awesome. And then I ended up getting a residency at, at, in college.

13:28Yeah. Um, I had to audition for it because back then that's how you got gigs. Of course. Now it's very different. Right. But back then you had to audition. I go with my stack of records. Yeah. And, uh, I started playing at this nightclub that parlayed into fraternities. I did all the, I did all the fraternities, including all the black and, uh, fraternities and sororities. Wow. So let's go back to that first residency. Yeah. What were you playing? Uh, everything. You know. What stands out for you is like, uh, part of your, part of your set for that night.

14:02You, you know, what's, what's funny is, uh, one of the reasons why I won that audition was because I played the original French kiss and they had only known the epic records version with the vocal. So house heads know what we're talking about. Right. So, so I had the original press. Think of French kiss with a vocal. Right. But like, what are they saying? Like, gotta tell me if you're doing it. I don't think I've ever played that in my entire life. I don't think I've ever sang that before, but yeah. Okay. Very good. You know who sings that? That's Sean Christopher.

14:33Oh, that's right. Wait, is that it? Yeah, that is Sean. Yeah. So, um, but I don't know if she's credited, but, uh, but anyway, they only knew the epic records one. Right. So when the, the, the DJ who's the resident, he comes to me, where'd you get that? And I'm like, Oh, you only know the epic record. And when did that epic record version of French kiss come out? Because it must've come out in like, I don't know, round 88 or 87.

15:03Yeah. Somewhere in there. Okay. You know, so, uh, so I think he was so impressed that I knew my music or I had stuff he didn't have. And that guy was actually really good. Yeah. And, uh, and, uh, anyway, I got to look that up. Because French kiss was, uh, was definitely part of the road, uh, rotation. Sure. When I was doing parties in the early nineties. Mm-hmm. And so I'm thinking of like this club I worked at, CK's, and they had to hear that song every single week. Like if I didn't play it, I would be crucified.

15:33So that was, I got that, so that was 89 when I got that residency. Wow. And, um, and it was awesome. So I played hip hop, pop music, but I shoved house down people's throats. And in Indiana, that is not an easy task. Yeah. How about Indiana? Well, you know, what's funny is at the time they had a way that you hook cable up to the radio. So, and I, it's like a little splitter on the, on the coaxial and you stick it on there and they got BMX. But you know what else happened in 1988?

16:05BMX became V103. That's right. And we're right in the middle of, like, I just got to, I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe I had BMX it in college. This is awesome. And they changed. And then, big announcement, V103 hits and dusting. And they stopped playing, uh, house music. All right, let's try to get Kevin back on. Kevin, do we, do we have a way to do that or no? We can get him, but the audio is going to feed back. Okay, I'm sorry, Kevin, we can't get the audio worked out. Yeah, you okay? Let me see if I can see your face.

16:36He's giving, sorry about that. Check the comments, comments. This you can. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

16:50Check, check for my thoughts in the comments, y'all.

16:59I too had that cable.

17:06We are talking about all things house, um, and David's illustrious history. So, you were asking about a gap in, in the, in the timeline. Yeah, I, I, uh, came back from school. Here's a really funny thing that I don't think I put in my bio, but this is funny.

First Job as VJ

17:26Okay.

First Job as VJ

17:26One of my first jobs out of college, I got this, I saw an ad for a DJ, a VJ. Yeah, video DJ. Video jockey, video DJ. Okay, uh-huh. And I'm like, what's this? And it was through Purdue's, like, alumni newsletter. Yeah. So, I applied for it, and I got this job. And you got it. And they, they threw me in a van with, I kid you not, about $100,000 worth of equipment. Wow. They flew me to Connecticut, threw me in the van, and sent me home, driving from Connecticut

17:57by myself with all this equipment. Okay. And I would go out and do these big shows at colleges and high schools or whatever. Where I was playing music videos off VHS tapes, and I had cases, these massive, heavy cases full of VHSs. Wait, who was the company? It was called BW. But they were hired to do video parties. They had sales reps. Got it. I had, like, a booking agent, and they would book me all over the place.

18:30I did, they even, I even did a party for a pharmaceutical company. Wow. And, with downtown Julie Brown. Oh, my God. Y'all remember video? It was in Miami. They flew me to Miami, did this whole thing. So, I was doing these crazy things in the early 90s with music videos. That's crazy. But I would have to fast forward on a full tape looking for the right song, and everything was all to the number. Yes. You know, the little, how it had the counter on it. Uh-huh. I mean, it was hell, but, because, you know, songs are, like, three minutes.

19:01Yes. And so, you're trying to find it. And you're, you're, yeah. I got burned out in less than a year, but it was really cool. Well, you stuck with it a while, if you did it for almost a year. About ten months, eight months, something like that. Yeah, still, that's a lot. And they paid you. Yeah, I mean, it was on salary. It was a whole, it was insane. Yes. And then, you know, then I got into, I got married, and, you know, did that thing for a while. You did that thing for a while? And then, then I, then I went back to my first love. Which was? House music.

19:32Okay. So you love marriage, you love house music more than you love to marriage. Well, that's not fair. But, but, but. Is your ex-wife watching? No, I doubt it. So, so once we, once that parted ways, I went straight to house music. Really? Mm-hmm. So tell me, say, say more about that. So was the relationship, and I don't want to get into business too much, but that's what we do here. Oh. What, was your, did it get in the way of your music? No, no. It was, it just didn't work out.

20:04Right? Right. And so I just rediscovered house music. Yes, you had time. I had time again. Well, you know, and I, I missed it and found it. Yeah. In fact, I'll give the credit. I mean, the first thing I found when I was kind of separated from house music through, you know, the, a good chunk of the 90s, which is a really tough time to have not been in house music. Yeah. Right? But I found a three degrees party. Okay. On Wednesday nights. Yeah. Back then, around 2000.

20:34That's great. Or maybe 99. Yeah. And just plugged myself back in that world. That's what's up. Mm-hmm. You know, I think it's okay. And most of the people that I know who are house music DJs, they have these ebbs and flows, you know, that, that life takes you through that. You know, you grow up, you start at young, like we did at 16, 17. Mm-hmm. You know, something happens. You've got to go to school, or you're going to the military, or you have a baby, or something happens where it's like, you know, it's not going to be paying you a salary like you

21:07would make at a job. But 99% of the people who were doing that were not getting paid that well, so you had to figure out life, right? Right. Right. And then, then you figure out how to integrate it into your life. And when I came back, I didn't expect to play. Mm-hmm. I came back just as a fan. Yeah. You know, I kind of assumed that whole thing was over. I mean, it was just more finding the music again. Okay. And when I would come home from college, I would go link up to hang out with my good friend,

21:38Diz. Okay. Okay. And we were like 20, 21. I mean, I knew Diz out, I didn't know, I mean, we both DJed, but I had no idea what he was doing. You know, I just know I would come back home, and I was going to hook up with some friends, and Diz was gigging at Shelter, or Kaboom, and we would go, we'd link up and go to those things. That's wild. And then when I got married, I lost touch with a lot of people when I came back. Of all our crew, Diz is the only one still in it. And so I saw him, and then got into some other things before I decided to DJ again.

22:15That took a while. Yeah, so listen, were you ever part of a scene in Wicker Park?

Wicker Park Scene

22:19I mean, whenever I see you, I kind of want to put you in, like, Red Dog, in, like, that era. Were you a part of... Not in the 90s, but later. Later? Yeah. I mean, I had residencies at what would be annex later. Yeah, okay. And I mean, that's much later, but, you know, Crocodile and all those little spots. Sure, a little bit later. That wasn't too much later. Yeah, but not initially. Yeah. But I mean, like when I was, like I said, in the, like, early 90s, when I was coming back,

22:49I was, I mean, I remember at Diz's place, we would do parties, loft parties and stuff. Yeah, so, I remember Diz's. But I was coming in from college, so I was in a regular phase. Because I was only there when I didn't have a gig in college. Uh-huh. And I had gigs constantly. Busy, busy. That's interesting. Yeah, all vinyl back then. Did you graduate from Purdue? Mm-hmm. That's great. And what did you graduate with? In, what, degree? Yeah. Like, bachelor's communication. Yeah? What were you thinking you were going to do? I thought I was going to be in radio.

23:22That's why I'm looking at this board, and I'm like, hmm, I've seen this. Yeah. Yeah. But it just, I'm glad I didn't go that route. It wasn't for me in the end. Yeah. So. You have a lot of different interests. And we'll talk about your photography. But, you know, I mean, just sort of knowing you and reading through, you know, some of your information, not only were you DJing, but, you know, you got into production. We talked a little bit about that. You know, your VJing career.

23:53My short-lived. Yeah. Radio. And I think it's coming because you're an artist, you know, so there's different ways. I mean, do you consider yourself an artist? I do, but I don't think about it like that. I mean, it's not at the forefront of my mind. I mean, I just, here's what people who know me would say, right? When I'm into something, I go all in. Yeah. I mean, and so I'm going to learn everything about it if I'm really into it.

24:24And if I'm not that into it, it'll get treated that way. I hear you. But when I'm in, get out of my way. I hear you. Yeah. I love that. He's all in. Mm-hmm. I want to break that down a little bit. But I know Kevin has a couple of comments. Can you tell us what he said, Mateo? Mateo's in the studio. I can get him back on here now, I think. Okay. I'm trying to unmute him. That's all good. Oh, he's muting himself. Kevin, unmute yourself. Yeah. We just want to hear what you had to say, man. Can you hear us?

24:56So, yeah. There's a bit of an echo, but I was asking, well, comment, of course, about Tom Christopher being absolutely independent artist on DJ and I know there's a great fallout in May David about her being a vocalist on French Kiss. He knows stuff. I also commented about having the ability to plug in cable to my stereo receiver at UMI

25:32as well. Right? And fun fact, MTV launched that fall semester in the freshman year and we had cable in the film. It was amazing. But there's one question that you have a unique name and there's a club record by someone called Sabbat. Do you all remember that?

26:04By who? Sabbat. I remember Sabbat, the club record. Yes. No relation. What's it called? What's it called, Kevin? It was a song. It wasn't, um, I said, shut up. Was that, or is that a different one? Oh, I'm glad you said it. It's like, it's like, I can see it. Yeah. That's not you. It's not me. It's not you. I've never even heard of it. It's not you. But I've had random people named David Sabbat reach out to me and ask if we were related. No, we were not related.

26:34So I want to get into, oh my gosh, you know, time flies. It does. So I do want to get into, um, Kevin and David.

Other Interests

26:41I want to get into your other areas of interest. Sure. First of all, um, David shows up. I see you. It's funny. I talked to Dajay today. Oh, you did? Because I want to interview her for something else. All right. Kevin's like, well, you know, David, I was like, that's right. He's like, he represents people and he does photography and he's a busy guy. I can't get her in the photo studio for nothing. Oh, man. I love her. She's such a sweetheart. Yes. But so, so you have a lot of tentacles, different, different things you'd like to do in the house

27:14music. So what, what's behind all of that? All right. So in, I don't know what year, maybe 2000 or maybe it's 2003. I don't remember, but I started this. Uh, so I wasn't expecting to DJ again. I never had that at the forefront. I honestly, like, I didn't think I was good enough to do it in college. I didn't think I was doing good enough to come in the house scene in Chicago. What was that doubt about? I don't know. I just, I mean, people are really good. So I don't know what it was, but I mean, at the time.

27:45I like that you said that because I mean, I appreciate that humility because so many people are like, they, they, they get, uh, some equipment and they're like, I need to be at the chosen few festival opening up. And it's just like, dude, you've been spending for like six hours. Like, you're like, don't get me wrong. I could do it without thinking about it today. But you're, I bet you were a really great DJ and you're just. I was probably better than I gave myself credit for. But, um, but I had, and then CDs were starting to come out.

28:15I had never played on CDs. I was kind of like, how do you do that? You know, and now I can't even remember how to play on records. You know, it's kind of backwards, but, um, but the point is that, uh, I started, uh, some friends of mine who were in the DJ world were asking me, Hey, how did you get gigs back then? Yeah. And they were asking me to help them to write bios, to help them figure, write contracts, help them figure out how to market themselves.

28:46So that's where the booking thing kind of came in. So, and Dajay ended up being part of that later. So, um, it was called Chicago Sound Source. And so we, I ended up becoming a promoter. I threw, God, there were times I was throwing three, four parties a week. Um, I wasn't even playing yet, mind you. Okay. Yeah. I wasn't even on those parties. I mean, but I was doing, uh, bookings and, um, you know, I was, I can't say that, you know, if I couldn't get them gigs, I created the gig.

29:18Yeah. How about it? I mean, that's kind of how it has to happen. Right. But I had good people who were on this crew and it was, uh, you know, I did all kinds of things and tons of events and learning that scene. And at some point and real talk, I got frustrated with some of the people I was working with, not in a negative way, but just like, I couldn't get them to give me mixes. I couldn't get them to do, to do the things I needed to help them.

29:49Yes. You know, help me help you. I was just about to give you that Jerry Maguire. That's right. Help me, help you. Right. And so I just said, I could do this myself. And, um, I had been tinkering with, uh, with some CDs and the CDJs. And then I just, once you get your, your, you know, your footing on that, it's, you know, it's easier, right? It's like, wow, this is actually something I could do. So, and, um, I started playing little gigs here and there, but because I had a lot of

30:22experience, it wasn't like I was new. I hadn't done it in a while, but I had, I had already done a ton. I mean, I was playing in college. I was playing three or four nights a week. Yeah. So, um, I was able to jump in pretty quick. Yeah. And, uh, I also had built a, a, a, a mailing list, a following through the promotion I was doing. Uh-huh. So, it was, um, it was, uh, the next logical transition. And, um, you know, I just started getting more comfortable.

30:54And you enjoyed it. Oh, my God. Of course. Yeah. And then before you know it, I mean, I've never been more honored than to play next to the people I was going to see when I was in high school. That's awesome. I remember, I mean, I still feel that way. Really? Me too. But there are moments that I've had where I'm like, God, I can't believe I'm just feeling like this person. Oh, that's so cool. You know. That's so cool. Yeah. You've got a, you've got a great sense about you. Mm-hmm. So, you know, I was, uh, I saw that you did the Mikasa, you know, Julius, uh, the Mad Thinkers. For a long time. Yeah.

31:25He's such a cool guy. And we actually did Burning Man together. Oh, you went? Yeah. That was the year we were all there. Like, it was crazy. It was a crazy year. Burning Man for me is like jumping out of an airplane. Have you been there? No. Oh. But here's what I mean. It's like the thing that you always wanted to do. And then you're, and maybe not for you. But for me, there's a point where it's like, yeah, I'm good not doing that anymore. Same thing with jumping out of an airplane. I always wanted to, but I'm perfectly fine today not doing it. But, listen, I'm not going to try to sell you on Burning Man.

31:57Oh, I'm sure it's amazing. Mateo, do you have any interest in going to Burning Man? Maybe? I don't know. I think you'd get into it. Yeah. If it was easy, I would go. Right. But it seems like a lot of effort to get all the way out there, you know. And survive. In the desert. Yeah. It isn't that I survive. I think we're talking to Mateo. I'll just show you. What's up? Hey, everybody.

32:19We're talking, Burning Man, would you guys be interested in going to Burning Man? Let me tell you, I went with Darlene, Lady D, and Hannah Vidi, and Julius Amatheker was there. He was, we were all sort of in the same little camp. Oh, okay. Tribe. Yeah, it was like, you know, it's an experience. Yeah. I will say this. Do it once, you know, just to have the experience. Because it's pretty cool. Oh, I'm sure. You're literally in the middle of no freaking where. It's the desert. It used to be like a lake.

32:50And so, it's actually like where a lake was maybe millions of years ago. So, it has this, maybe not millions, I don't know. Didn't everyone get stranded there like two years ago? That's because it was different. It was, you know. Yeah. It was unusual circumstances. Right. But we were there, I think it was 2022. 2023. Okay. One of those years.

33:15Yeah, they got stranded last year. So, we were there in 2023. As long as you have a tribe and who knows what they're doing. And you can clamp it. You know, we literally, my wife, she got a, we bought a trailer and dragged that thing. And so, we had a shower and food. Yeah. And, you know, electricity. I would rent all of that stuff if I'm going. You know, and it was a lot of fun. Hey, Darlene. So, you heard us talking about it. Darlene said, ha ha, don't do it.

33:46She knows me. No, I mean, listen. Don't you agree that, like, at least one time, like, people could experience it? Because I know you want to go back really bad, Darlene. She doesn't want to go back. No, it's cool. But I like this for... She's glad she did it, I'm sure. I want to do it at least one more time, because it's the kind of thing where you can have the experience you want. So, if you just want to go and listen to music, there's music, like, around the clock. Oh, yeah. There's, if you want to go and get high, there's people getting high around the clock. Right. If you want to, like, get into the sex thing, there's that going on.

34:18If you just wanted to have, like, spa days all day, there's people there who are doing spas all day. I'll give you my Burning Man experience. I DJ'd in New York a few years ago, and we're in Manhattan, and I was with Adam Gibbons, who's a Burning Man, you know, regular. Okay. And I was doing a party with him, his, oh, I can't think of the name. Oh, God, he killed me for not remembering. That's okay. But, you know, anyway, we're doing this event, and then afterwards, I need to get to Brooklyn,

34:52and we're in Manhattan. And I kid you not, a giant pink school bus is outside of this venue in Manhattan, and basically, this was their Burning Man bus. Yeah. And Adam's like, yeah, I've DJ'd on top of that bus. Yeah, and that's cool. And that bus took me to Brooklyn, and I felt like I was at Burning Man while in that bus. It was... Did it still have sand? It was the dirty bus. Well, that sand... But it was memorable. It's like clay and sand mixture.

35:25It kind of gets stuck in everything. I have a bike at home. I'm still trying to scrub that off here years later. But back to Mikasa. Okay. So I know that Julius and his sister, you know, they constructed that, and you've been a part of that, and that's basically playing in these really cool spots. Oh, yeah. Like, talk a little bit about that experience. I mean, that's not Burning Man. No. That's like luxury living. No. Julius invited me the first year, but I had a gig somewhere else at the time.

35:56I couldn't do it. And the second year, I couldn't have a conflict. And finally, the third year, I called him, and I said, I'm clearing everything. Yes. I'm coming with you. And I went just about every year or six. That's correct. And I helped, like, I became part of that crew because I was bringing people from Chicago, tapping into those old promoter skills, and bringing a lot of people out there, which was wonderful because they kept coming, and we were going as a group, and it was, you know, very much a, it felt like family.

36:27And more importantly, I made friends all across this country. That's great. People I had heard of or maybe met in Miami once but never, like, really connected with. And you become friends with them. When you're in that kind of situation, it's not just you play with somebody or you're in their proximity. You get to know people. Absolutely. And we were just all-inclusive, and I know Darlene knows, but I was, like, we would get up early, and they had a pool, and I would throw these little mini pool parties.

36:58They were, like, you know, unsanctioned, a little impromptu things. And so, but that's where we all got to really hang out together. And as a result, I mean, I got to play. I was invited to play all over the country through the connections I made. And I give Mikasa a lot of credit for some of those things. Sure. I've been threatening Julius that I want to go, and, like, I got all the information last. It's, like, been a conflict for the last two years. But it's going through some changes. If he does it again, I want to do it.

37:30I'm like, I want to do it. I want to do it. So, listen, we only have a little bit of time left.

Photography and Inspiration

37:34But we haven't talked about photography. So, you know, you're great with photography. You specialize in portraits of artists, DJs, singers, breathtaking landscapes. I looked at your website. I was like, I need to buy that picture. He's like, you can. Did your research. And, of course, you know, you capture some of the festivals, the Chosen Few Festival. I think everybody probably saved that picture of the aerial shot that you had with the drone.

38:07Right. And I think that's something that we have. We can actually share with our StreamYard audience. And what I can do is describe it for you. You guys probably remember that aerial shot. Could you bring it up here so I can share it with folks here, too? But you guys may remember that shot. And it's just really just beautiful. I know that when we saw it, like, afterwards, it's just like, what an amazing capturing of, like, that moment.

38:39Talk about, like, what that was like for you. Actually, it's funny because I literally got this practically the same shot the year prior. But it didn't get as noticed as this one did. I don't know why, but whatever. So it was, I mean, I already knew what I wanted. Yeah. And so, you know, a few years back I got into drone photography, went all in, got, like, set for the, like, license and everything. Yes. Like, I became a licensed drone pilot.

39:09Because I'm so blind. You have to have a license for that? To do it commercially. Okay, got it. To get paid for it. So I had this shot in my mind because, you know, I wanted the city in the shot. I wanted the museum in the shot, you know. And the skyline. And, yeah, the skyline, everything. So, I mean, this was definitely what was in my head. Yeah. Sometimes you just see what you see and you land it. But this one was very much premeditated. I knew what I wanted.

39:40But because it's such a magical festival in that, you know, there's so many people out there. And there's, you know, people doing their own thing and, you know, with their tents and whatnot. You want to capture all of that. And also it shows kind of our world at its peak in our city. Right? Like, that's what I see. I do. I love it. You know that. And it just, it just, it screams Chicago is house as it's ever been.

40:13Can you see Obama's library in there? Yeah. It's right there. Yeah. So there's, we can see Obama's library. It's on the left. It's being built. It's on the left-hand side. So much I love about this picture. I love this picture. And I'm going to show you guys one more time. Maybe next year it'll be done. I love, what I love about this picture, so you can see Obama's library. You can also see the park surrounding it is Jackson Park. And Jackson Park. And that's the point. And that's the point. Where I grew up. I learned how to swim right there.

40:44Yeah. I think many of us did. Yeah. Of course the people there. And this is also the site of the 1893 World's Fair. You know, I was going. If you want to add that. I was going there. Okay. Because, you know, this World's Fair was a pretty big deal. It is. I'm kind of obsessed with it. I loved that whole. I worked at the Museum of Science and Industry. Oh, you did? So I had to know all about it because it was part of our big tour. Oh, wow. That was the only building that was left. The structure was left from the World's Fair. Right. It was the Arts Building. And then a great philanthropist whose name I'm forgetting right now came in and redid it

41:21and made it a museum. But, you know, this was Frederick Olmstead, the Olmstead brothers who actually did Central Park, actually created this whole entire landscape around the World's Fair era. I learned some of this from Devil in a White City. I love that book. Which is an important. Read this book, people. Hey, Alan King. What's going on? Thanks for tuning in. We're just talking about your amazing Josephview Festival and the beautiful portrait that David

41:51took with the, I hope you just, did you see that? You probably saw it. He's seen it. You've seen it. He had to have. And all of, all, all the things that it encompasses. It's just like. The aerial shot. It's, it's one of my favorite pictures from the entire event because it captures so, it is so Chicago. And just, you know. I think I can see you right there. Yeah, you can see who I am. One of 40,000 people. So, yeah. But this was great. Yeah. It's, I mean, I should totally print this.

42:23You should print it and sell it. Well, we can't talk about selling things because we are on WNUR 89.3 FM and HD1 Evans to Chicago. I didn't do that at the top of the hour. Yes. It is a great shot. Thanks, Alan. Thank you, Alan. Yes. Now, you shoot other things. I saw a great picture. Some, some of your portraits of artists. I saw, who did I see earlier? Shot Alan. Shot Alan. Recently. Well, not, I mean, fairly recently.

42:55Looks. Yes. He looks fantastic. Yes. And why do you like shooting artists? So, I mean, I got into photography because when I was traveling, I liked to take pictures of landscape. I hate it. I would, I would hate it when people were in my picture. It was, get out of my picture. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, nowadays you could just kind of click a person and they disappear, but then you could, it was a little harder to get people out of your picture. And I just like doing landscape. And then, believe it or not, my first paid photography gig, someone hired me to shoot

43:30a burlesque show at Untitled. Wow. The Unbridled Show. Okay. Which is, if you've never been there, it's an awesome show. Okay. And that was my first time shooting people. I had to borrow a flash from someone, which I didn't know how to use. And the pictures came out so good. And the, I mean, there you have it. You have these incredible performers in these incredible outfits. And I was hooked on just shooting people in general. Yeah. I started going to some meetup groups, shooting models, learning.

44:03And they're amateur models, amateur photographers. And that's fun. You connect. It was great. You learn from each other. They're not hard to look at. Most time, no. Most time. Most time. But, you know, shooting women, shooting men. And there was a guy who was kind of coordinating this. He'd come up with these crazy ideas, things I could have never thought of, never put together. Yeah. Never financed. And here he was putting these things together. And he charges a few bucks, but nothing ridiculous.

44:36I mean, they were all in the suburbs. So I never had an I-pass before. Sorry. Because I never had to leave the city for much. Got an I-pass. I'm going back and forth constantly because I was hooked. Yeah. Learning flash, all of that. And I actually was dead set against shooting people in the house scene. Interesting. Dead set against it. What changed your mind? Well, you might want to know first why I was dead set against it. Yes, why were you dead set against shooting people in the house scene? Because I did not want to be confused as the guy with the camera at the party rather than the guy who was DJing the party.

45:15Okay. And that, I was like, these are two things I'm not trying to confuse. Yeah. And I need them to be separate. I don't, you know. And sooner or later, I obviously got over that. Yeah. And yes, I do get confused. I had to accept that that was going to be a part of it. It is. There are people, like, there are people in this industry that only know me as a photographer. And I'm like, you know what? I'll do this other thing too. You know, Alan talks about that. Some of his people knew him only as an attorney.

45:49They're like, you're a DJ? And DJ's like, you're it. Right. I think many of us have these double lines. I think it's cool. A triple sometimes. You're a DJ? I think it's pretty cool that Alan and other folks out here are doing that. So many people. Yeah. I mean, I talk about my friend Craig Loftus. I call him a jack of all trades. He is. Because he's going to, like, do the, he's going to set up your acoustics and your sound. And then he's going to create. You're talented people. He's going to create all the furniture. And then he's going to make the outfits for everybody. And then he's going to make the meal that everybody's going to eat.

46:20Oh, wow. And then he's going to DJ. That's how he wrote. Lots of talented people. I'm not kidding. Like, he was, he does those kind of things all for the same party. Well, when I got over it. Yes. I, it really was the right thing. That's good. Doing both. Yes. First of all, I know what they need. Yeah. I'm on that side of the fence. So I like to think of it like that I know what we're trying to do. I know what the vision is.

46:51I know what the, I know the job. You know the goal. I know the assignment, right? I did the homework. Yeah. That was one of my questions. I was going to ask, how does your work as a DJ factor into your photography? Absolutely everything. I mean, I'm thinking about the, I'm thinking about how they're going to use it. Yes. I mean, even some of the photos I'm taking, I'm positioning someone on one side, anticipating that there's going to be written words on the other side, right? So smart. So things like that. Yeah. But also just capturing something that has a unique look for each person.

47:24Yeah. I mean, there are techniques will apply to every shoot. Yeah. But the idea is that each person has their own look. Yeah. It's not to mimic another shoot, right? Yeah. And hopefully pull their personality out and express it in a way, you know, through this photography. Yeah. That's great. And, you know, all that time I spent with all those models and, I mean, that was the training. Yeah. See, everything prepares you for the next thing if you're open to it, right?

47:55Yeah. That's what it's about. And do people confuse me? Yes, absolutely. But, you know, I deal with it, you know. I mean, yeah. I mean, I think, listen. If you know, you know. I'm not. If you know, you know. And we all have our many things that we do. I mean, I think that's sort of our generative spirit, you know, that we need to create. We need to create in different ways. That's what keeps us alive. That's what keeps us healthy and happy. And sometimes, you know, music, DJing is one very specific thing that you can do.

48:27But, I mean, here I am, you know, doing a radio show. You know, you do those things. And, like, this feeds me just as much as standing behind the decks. You know, maybe not just as much. But it comes really, really close. Right. So, anyway, we are already out of time. I mean, there's usually another person knocking at the door, but they're not here. But I'm going to still wrap up. And I'm going to ask you to answer this. Especially in a time that we've just experienced.

48:58So much going on. So many forces that are, like, anti what we're trying to do. What keeps you going? What's inspiring you? And what advice do you have for people who don't, maybe don't think they're good enough and need to, like, as you described yourself. But what's inspiring you right now? So, I always find ways to get inspired. I mean, there are times where things get a little regular, you know, normed. But, honestly, the music inspires me to keep playing.

49:32The music inspires me to keep shooting. Yes. Like, I'm meeting DJs I never met before. Younger DJs. People I really want to work with, you know. And so, I mean, I would love to play with them, too. I would also like to shoot them. And some of them only know me as a photographer, which blows my mind. But they've never seen me play at all. But they, oh, yeah, you're the photographer. Yeah, I agree. But, yeah, we can do that. But it's so funny.

50:03I get it. I get it. I can laugh at it. But, no, the music itself pushes me in both of these creative genres, right? Like, so, obviously, the music. Music is at the root of it. At the root of everything. Yeah. So, you know, I never lose sight. Because people say, oh, do you still DJ? Or are you doing this now? People are always going to say. I mean, you know what? Listen, if you miss a month or two, they're like, did you retire? I'm like, Jesus, I took a break. I was out of town. Like, give me a break, you know. Right.

50:33It was winter. Out of retirement. I was like, it was a month, you know. Yeah. So, yeah, the music always pulls me back in, you know. That's great. It always pulls me back in. And also on the photography side. I meet people all the time. I meet DJs all the time. Yeah. You know, even this weekend, I was talking to some DJs who are from out of town or people I only recently met. Or they'll send me a message. I get so many messages that people want to shoot. It's always timing.

51:03Always. Yeah. I'm one of those. Yes. Oh, that's right. And I wasn't trying to say anything. No. I'm ready. Listen, I need to do it.