Episode 150 MASSFUNK (Dj and Producer)

DJ Mass Funk reveals the dark reality of nightlife success and his transformative journey to sobriety after 15 years of substance abuse in the Hawaii club scene. What begins as a casual conversation between friends quickly delves into the remarkable story of a talented DJ who opened for major artists like Alesso, Chainsmokers, and Cascade while simultaneously battling addiction behind the decks.

"There was no real moment when I thought I was actually good," Mass Funk confesses about his career, despite his impressive resume. His candid reflections expose how substance dependence masked his natural introversion and ultimately stunted his potential. "I imagine and reflect now—if I didn't do that and I was actually serious, man, where I would be right now would be totally different." This powerful realization forms the emotional core of the episode.

The conversation takes an inspiring turn as Mass Funk shares the systems that transformed his life: non-negotiable 5am workouts, marathon running, and complete sobriety. His newfound clarity has reignited his passion for music production—something he hasn't pursued seriously since 2015. "I'm super focused, I'm super motivated, and now I'm actually like, if I want to take it to the next level, I can." Beyond music, he's expanding his horizons through learning Japanese, coding, and creating digital art, demonstrating how recovery opens pathways to creativity rather than limiting it.

Whether you're struggling with your own demons or simply fascinated by the unseen challenges of entertainment industry success, this conversation offers rare honesty about addiction, recovery, and rediscovering purpose. Listen as two friends explore what it truly means to break free from destructive patterns and build a life of authentic fulfillment—proving that sometimes, the most meaningful drops in life happen off the dance floor.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Aloha, welcome to another edition of the Above the
Bridge podcast.
I'm your host, thaddeus Park,and if this is your first time
checking out the podcast, youcan find us wherever you get
your podcasts.
We're on all the majorplatforms.
Check us out on our youtubechannel, above the bridge
podcast.
Uh, like subscribe?
Leave a comment, it matters, um, you can also find us on

(00:32):
atbpodcom, and yeah, thank youfor tuning in.
First thing I want to do isshout out our sponsors.
First, we have defend hawaiiand they always got me fresh,
looking cool on the podcast.
But you can check them out atwindward mall.
They have a store called no oneelse.
Go on their website, defendhawaiicom.

(00:53):
They got some new drops.
Go check them out.
Use promo code atb pot uponcheckout and you'll get 15 off
your first purchase.
So go check, check them out,defendhawaiicom.
Next, we have IREP DetailSupply and they're your one-stop
shop superstore for everythingyou need to detail your vehicle,
car, truck, van, motorcycle,whatever.

(01:15):
Go check them out.
They have a store in TempleValley Shopping Center.
They also have a store in LasVegas for all you Vegas people
that left the islands.
Go check them out on theirwebsite at irepdetailsupplycom.
If you use promo codeATBPODUPONCHECKOUT, you'll get
15% off your purchase order.

(01:35):
So go check them out.
Last but not least, we have ourmedical mushroom company and
it's Medicinal Mushroom Hawaii.
They're a locally based medicalmushroom company and it's
medicinal mushroom hawaii.
They're a locally based medicalmushroom company here in hawaii
and right now they have fourtinctures of extracted mushrooms
.
They have lion's mane, chaga,turkey tail, red reishi.

(01:56):
I take all three of these.
I put it under my tongue or putin my coffee in the morning,
and then the red reishi I takeat night so I can sleep good.
Each one of these have amedicinal properties.
So go check out their websiteat med mushroom high dot com and
check out what each one ofthese tinctures can do for you.

(02:17):
Like I said, they have a bunchof different medical properties
per mushroom, so go check out.
I take the lion's mane,especially before I record these
podcasts, because it helps mewith focus and so I get locked
in.
But go check them out,medmushroomhighcom.
Promo code ATBPODUPON Check outall capital letters and you'll

(02:39):
get 45% off your first tinctureof extracted mushrooms.
Go check them out.
Aloha, okay, this week my guestis somebody who DJed for our
company or for our event atDistrict, and I got to know him
very well.
He's also one of my mosh pitbuddies for Emo Nights and he's

(03:02):
one of the coolest DJs I've metin a while in this industry DJ
Mass Funk.
What's up, dude?

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Hey, how's it going, brother?
Thank you for having me.
It's Otter, and I know it'sbeen a long time coming, so I'm
glad that we finally get to dothis Yo.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Bro, I got a whole bunch of stuff.
I got to ask you.
First off, I always wanted toknow this and I I don't think I
ever asked you.
This is how the hell you cameup with mass funk.
It's kind of a cool dj name, tobe honest uh, honestly, it's uh
.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
There's no real, uh, real reason or big story behind
it.
Uh, before uh, I became massfung, I was going by just my
regular name, bryce, but at thetime I spelt it like b-r-y, like
uh, I think, like like theheart, and then the um, I think

(03:57):
greater or lesser size, so itlooked like that.
Oh, okay, so at the end of myname.
So that was like so corny.
So I was like I needed, I needto like think of a good name to
rebrand myself.
Um, so you know, I just in onenight just started, uh, laying
in bed staring at the ceilingcoming up with names.

(04:19):
So I was like, oh, just put twowords together and I landed on
mass.
That sounded pretty catchy, soI mean I shot it to, like my
family, my cousins, see whatthey thought.
They thought it was cool.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
So I just ran with that and I'm so happy I did and
it's just stuck with me for likelongest time to this day too
yeah, because I didn't even knowyour real name until we started
going emo nights and sonia toldme like oh, bryce is coming
with us and I'm like who thefuck is that?

Speaker 1 (04:56):
like mass fuck, I'm like oh okay that's hilarious,
that that's what uh, a lot ofpeople actually uh, know me by.
They don't even know my realname.
For some of my friends I, youknow people I know, of course,
in the industry, they only knowme by mass font and then when
people say, like my actual name,bryce, they'll be like who's

(05:19):
that?
Or later on they'll come up tome and be like, oh, I didn't
know what your real name wasuntil so-and-so said it was kind
of funny and I mean the brandstuck, for I did a pretty good
job with the brand, right, itjust stuck that became my name.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, it's cool that matches your name.
You match that name too.
I think Mass Funk is a cool djname and it looks fucking cool
on the led screen behind you andyou're djing, you know.
I mean like mass.
It just works.
How did you even get into djing, like when you all about it
when you were young, or like youkind of knew you wanted to go

(06:00):
that direction, or oh man, no,not at all.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I had like no knowledge, no experience, not
even in music.
I mean, I think the most uh Ihad, I went to like summer
school play the trumpet for likejust that that time, uh, that's
probably probably the onlymusical aspect that I had in my
life.
But, um, basically how I gotinto DJing was, uh, right after

(06:29):
I got out of high school, uhright after, you know,
graduating, and all that thatsummer, I I honestly didn't know
what to do uh with my summer,but at the other than work,
because at the end of highschool, during my senior year, I
started working at GameStop.
Yeah, that was my very firstjob, which was pretty cool, wait

(06:54):
, which GameStop.
Waikele.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Oh, okay, okay.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
I got a.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
GameStop story for you after Okay, okay, gamestop
story for you after.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Okay, but after one shift my coworker, you know,
asked me hey, you want to go outafter?
And me, throughout all of my,like middle school and high
school years, I was never theperson to go out.
I was never, you know.
I was more like to stay indoorsplay video games kind of person
.
So I was like, sure, why not,let's go out.

(07:29):
So he took me out to Pipelinefor my very first rave 00 spot
event Lucky Charms.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Oh, nice yeah, G spot .

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, g spot, and that's you know.
And of course you know I rodefor the first time that night.
And of course that made theexperience a lot more fun, you
know.
And then after that I kind oflike got hooked on going out and
I just love the rave scenebecause it's like they accept

(08:03):
you, no matter who you are, aslong as you're very respectful,
you know, very like caring,basically a good person, you
know.
Yeah, so I love that.
So I went out.
I continued to go to Rays rightafter I graduated and then, you
know, at the events at the timethey were handing out flyers.

(08:25):
So on one of the flyers Ireceived, it had a DJ school run
by James Cole, so I went to theDJ school.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Was it United DJs?
Yes, united DJs.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
It was United DJs.
Where you know, everybody camefrom Tech, benny, yeah, all
those guys.
And then, yeah, that's how Igot into DJing and then from
there I just, you know, alsolearned on my own.
I also met a friend of mine,nick Park.
He went by DJ Sin, learned fromhim and then he actually helped

(09:11):
get me my first gig with AlexCam Guys, their 18 plus party at
the Loft in Chinatown.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Oh, okay.
Oh yeah, how long ago, was that?
Oh okay, oh yeah, that was big.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
How long ago was that ?
2009, 2010.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
So that was your first gig ever, or just your
first gig with Alex, then Justmy first gig with Alex.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Then, of course, you know, when I was under James
Coles, I would like help him.
Do you know the mobile stuff?
Learn from him doing the mobilestuff, which sucked you know,
it was free, uh free, talentfree labor.
Yeah, pretty much, but it was.
It was pretty cool, uh, prettyinteresting experience to get to

(09:58):
.
You know, learn the ropes, uh,from these different aspects of
the industry, the weddings, thegrad parties, and all that, also
learning how to read a crowdtoo I think with you personally.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
I know the fact that you're a very diverse dj because
you can play any genre of music.
I know your passion is edm, butyou you also love Emo Nights,
which is alternative music, andyou've DJed Emo Nights and
killed.
And you DJed for our event andprimarily it was Hip Hop Night

(10:36):
and you killed that too.
So you're a DJ.
That's diverse, which makes youmarketable.
Anybody can use you forwhatever, but when did you get
into the love of music for othergenres other than edm?

Speaker 1 (10:51):
I don't.
I, you know.
I think you know, growing upwe're all exposed to diverse
genres.
Like our parents played stuffon the radio that's from their
times, and then, of course,throughout high school, I was
like listening to what was onthe radio and popular, doing the

(11:14):
the years I was in high school,because, you know, everybody
wants to be hip, everybody wantsto be in and all that um and
then so I just stuck with it.
Whatever was on the radio wasthe easiest, I don't.
I think it wasn't until Iactually started djing, to where
I really started digging, youknow, because when you started
djing you kind of need music andlike the ammunition to play out

(11:37):
and you don't want to beplaying the same shit that
everybody else plays yeah andyou know, what was really an
inspiration for me was, uh, djam, oh yeah, yeah, when I
started learning dj, I found,you know dj am and he killed it
like mixing it, the any type ofgenre, and it works and he read

(12:00):
the crowd very well and that'skind of what, like kind of, I
studied from him that's how Iyeah, so like it's it's.
Yeah, I loved it and, like now,I like I love k-pop.
I played a couple k-pop eventsmyself.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
It was uh pretty awesome the one at dmv you like.
Oh god, I can't stand that shit.
Actually, the girls one ispretty cool and their
choreography is pretty cool, butthose dudes look like girls.
I cannot.
Hey, that's like the new boyband, I know.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
But they look like girls, so what the hell man, it
is that Blackpink group.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
I've seen a couple of videos and they are fierce man.
They come out and it'simpressive.
But they do not miss, bro, theyare on.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
Not at all.
Even as individual artists,they're killing it right now.
Yeah, I mean, I watchedCoachella recently.
Lisa killed it, jenny killed it.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yes, two of them have their own right, like the, uh,
like their own solo careers,right yeah, they do, they're.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
And, of course, yeah, yeah, rosé is like with bruno
did the song with bruno mars.
And then the fourth one is likean actress now in k dramas and
all that yeah, I'm, I'm prettyupset because I'm korean and
it's the worst race forentertainment.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like, if you think about it, japan japanese, they
have the cool samurai movies,chinese, they have kung fu
movies, the cool shit.
You know, I mean korea we getdrama and then we get boys that
look like girls dancing andprancing on the stage like it.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
I feel like we got ripped off as a korean but
honestly though that skincareroutine, so I mean keeps them
looking young, right?
Yeah?
I mean fuck, I wish I.
I kind of need that too as weget older, right I definitely
agree.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
My dad them are in my dad and sister in career right
now.
Like literally they left oh, wowyeah, um, funny, you brought up
dj am.
I got to see him play at thepalms live with uh toma.
Toma was one of our residentdjs back in the day and then he
moved to vegas and was playingat playboy club or moon, it was

(14:24):
on top of the palms and heopened for dj am and toma
brought us back there.
I got to meet him and like,rest in peace.
I remember when he passed away,they um the, the lettering for
the palms on top of the building.
They blacked out everythingexcept the am as a respect oh

(14:44):
that's sick.
Yeah, it was, it was.
It was kind of deep and he wason the plane with the drummer
from blink right when whentravis parker yeah, yep, it was.
Um, yeah, he was super cool andyeah, toma hooked it up and I
got to meet him and see him playlike in the booth and stuff it

(15:05):
was.
It was pretty cool, so I could.
I could definitely see howpeople could gravitate and kind
of try to mimic how he does itand he could read a crowd like
he had the biggest club in vegasjumping like it was no tomorrow
and and it was cool yeah andstill to this day, nobody can do
it like him honestly, well,that's cool.

(15:27):
How long did it take for you torealize like, okay, fuck, I'm
kind of good at this, because Imean it takes a lot of
confidence to be a DJ.
I would like I've been aroundDJs my whole adulthood because
of my profession.
But I always thought, like, bro, it's hard, like you, you guys

(15:50):
gotta deal with so much crapthat a lot of people don't know.
But we'll get into that in alittle bit.
But how did you like when didyou first start realizing like,
oh, I'm kind of good at this andI can, I can take this to a
career and, and, like you know,when you're good at something,
it got to climax at some point,right, right.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Let's see.
I mean I don't know when,specifically when I thought I
was good Because, honestly, mymindset is I always want to be
better.
I always wanted to try to pushmyself.
So there was no real moment towhere I thought I was actually

(16:34):
good.
Even still to this day, I meanI'm okay, but I still want to be
better you know, but throughoutyou, you know my years as a dj
I have accomplished a lot and Iopened up for some of the
biggest names that's ever comedown, like alenia multiple times

(16:57):
, uh, chain smokers multipletimes, played the tso show out
here, cascade multiple times, alot of the shows at the Republic
, and I think once I starteddoing direct support for, like
those bigger artists, that'swhen I kind of knew, oh shit,
I'm kind of like blessed, butalso I must be doing something

(17:20):
right, since I keep gettingbooked for, you know, being
direct support for these bigartists.
But the thing is I never reallythought of it as a career.
I mean, of course I wanted itto be a career but I never, like
was actually driven to push itas far as I can career wise.

(17:43):
Because I I think once Irealized all of that, like I
kind of got lost, you know, inthe partying like, like I got
consumed by it.
It was easy to get addicted to,you know, drugs, drinking a lot
I was, and I was playing likeevery weekend too, sometimes

(18:03):
like the Wednesday throughSaturday schedule, and I would
be using and drinking all thetimes I would be playing.
So I was like kind of relianton it because before, uh, when I
was young, I was superintroverted.
I only started coming out of myshell like when I started like
DJing, you, you know, and goingout to the raves, so I got super

(18:26):
hooked, in the worst ways, onthe like substances and all that
and I it was a very bigdistraction so, yeah, so that's
why I think I kind of fuckedmyself over doing that, because
I imagine and reflect now, if Ididn't do that and I was

(18:47):
actually serious man, where Iwould be right now would be
totally different.
But you know what?
It was a learning experienceand only and only now, like I'm
super focused, I'm supermotivated and now I'm actually
like, if I want to take it tothe next level, I can, because
now I am more driven and I kindof understand uh myself more and

(19:12):
I know I'm trying to build likesystems right now to where, uh,
everything, I make everythingwork for me that's super cool.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
We'll get into that in a little bit, because I I
that's something I know that youare struggling with and I
always kind of talk to you aboutit a little bit.
Um, throughout the years.
In my opinion, you are one ofthe most humblest people I met
in the industry.
Uh, you don't brag, you don'tneed to tell me your resume.

(19:43):
You you come out, your workspoke for itself every single
time and to me, that was one ofmy favorite lineups.
Was you Hoppa Devin?
I knew that was a killer lineup.
Even to this day, I think thatwould be a killer lineup for any
club.
I think with you, once you gotthat confidence and you got to

(20:05):
play some pretty cool stuff andI and I always watched, you know
, I mean and say, oh, I'm not,um, mass ain't playing tonight.
He's opening up for whoever I'mlike what like our dj is doing
that.
Like you ever got nervous manlike for some of those freaking
shows are like huge, like chokepeople oh, all the time, man, I,

(20:29):
I still get nervous to this day.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
It's it's a natural thing because it's such a
different like experience andhigh and like it's a good
feeling that you kind of likeenjoy.
But I would honestly I wouldn'tsay I was like all that humble.
But I was humble most of thetimes.
But there are some times though, you know, when you know the

(20:52):
alcohol like comes out.
There's been a few times whereI got super egotistical, got on
the bike and said some stupidshit, what'd you?
say like oh, I'm the best dj inhawaii.
Blah, blah, blah.
Like yeah, it's totally out ofcharacter, but it's happened.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
I've never seen that, but I I hardly go to raves.
If it happened during the rave,I definitely didn't see that it
happened at the club.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Oh, it's happened at like ginza oh ginza district
once damn, I missed that.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, that's hilarious.
The um one thing I do know isthat the uh support system you
have at district.
A lot of people respect you andyou got in with the right
people over there, especiallyelement group, and once you got
a kind of a um a gig with themthat they they're very strict

(21:54):
with their djs and I know theyare I battled with them the
whole time like and because yourwork kind of shows like you
you're so true, like you canhold the crowd.
And once you got in with them,then you kind of did it the
right way in that aspect,because they they're always

(22:16):
gonna have work for you, youknow, I mean right.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
I think, uh, I think, like you know, it really helped
get like playing, playing forAlex, like back in for the
18-plus parties, especially whenI was younger too.
I think that really helped andlike built my relationship with
them, the understanding with allthe promoters too, to this day,
knowing what they want on thebusiness side too, because I

(22:41):
learned, of course, playing atthose clubs.
Of course I never played likein a 4 am club before, so doing
that was a very um learningexperience throughout the years
too.
So, you know, and then you know, as I think, of playing for
them for a very long time, uh,you know, I was just comfortable

(23:05):
asking, hey, uh, is this okay?
Is like what format should wedo?
Or how do you want me to play?
Like taking like constructivecriticism, I think is a very uh
big thing you know you gotta bewilling to adapt and play ball
because that's the business,right.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, I know some djs that don't do.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
They play by their own rules, but they can play all
the all the songs they want,like their like personal
recommendations.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
But if it clears the floor that's bad for business
yeah, and for me I alwaysthought that that's the hardest
job to do.
I mean, the whole night.
Everything depends on you guys,the bartenders, the staff, the
clubs, the promoter, everybodyin that whole place that's

(24:00):
making money.
Everything is dependent on thedjs because, like you said, if
you wipe the floor out,everybody leaves.
Then everybody's screwed, and Inever wanted that pressure,
like I can get people to theclub but I don't know you guys,
the one that keep them there,and that's the hard part.
And music, like I always say, isa universal um.

(24:21):
Art, like music, can transcendall generations, all um races if
it's good and because of yourguys talent, it makes the night
work and and, yeah, that's oneof the responsibilities I never
had to have.
So props to you and all the djs, especially DJs, because I'm

(24:44):
pretty strict, but I reallynever had problems towards the
ending of my promoting becauseyou guys are all good and
professional.
Plus, alex guys recommended youand wanted you to open some
nights and we had you on and Iwas like, oh fuck, he can play
whenever he wants.
It's a hard job to do and, likewe had you on and I was like,

(25:05):
oh fuck, you can play wheneveryou want.
It's like, it's um, it's a hardjob to do and you guys take a
lot of shit and I will alwaysask this to my dj friends like
what are the craziest shits thathappen for you while djing and
I know all the ds hate this Likegetting song requests.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Requests.
Yeah, hopper got into fightsover that shit.
Or if a local artist or someout-of-state artist comes up to
you it's like, hey, yo dude, canyou play my shit?
They hand me their phone.
It's like what do you want meto do?
Hit, play and put the mic yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's like what the fuck dude to do?
Put like, hit, play and put themic.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, yeah, it's like what the fuck dude is?
Like no, I can't do that shit.
It's like I don't even know youtoo.
It's like what, yeah, but beingin the night industry.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
You come across like myself included.
You come across like myselfincluded you come across a whole
bunch of crazy, and you guysare the focal point of the whole
room.
So what are some of the crazystuff that happened to you while
DJing?

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Oh, man, If something .

Speaker 2 (26:17):
I mean.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
I don't know, I can't really recall.
My memory is so bad man.
It's like just I'm pretty sureif something crazy happened, I
was fucked up at the time you'rejust as crazy.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, I was just as crazy too.
So, like the energy matches, theroom right yeah, well being
that you brought it up and I doknow the trials and tribulations
of being in the nightlifeindustry.
Fortunately I never subdued tolike hard drug.
I smoke weed and stuff.

(26:49):
But uh, I've never done crazydrugs.
I did e maybe once or twice and, wow, it's the first time I
admitted it on air.
But other than that I've neverdone anything else and I mean
I'm allergic to aspirin andTylenol so that probably kind of
deterred me from dabbling in it.

(27:10):
But I've seen it and I've seenmy friends involved in it and
I've seen a lot of people gettaken out by it and ruin their
lives.
And because I've been in thenight industry for a long time
and that's probably the biggestdownfall of anybody that's in it

(27:31):
, because it, like you said,it's so accepted, everybody does
it, it's there all nights,every night, and it is fun for
the people doing it.
And right, um, I kind of wasstoked to hear that you're sober
and stuff and I would bring itup to you and I would ask you

(27:54):
here and there and you'd tell melike, oh, yeah, I backslid or
oh, I'm good.
I haven't done it for a whileand it's like for one, the first
thing which is the hardestthing, is recognizing oh, I got
an issue, I got a problem.
How did you realize like, ohshoot, I gotta stop doing this

(28:16):
stuff.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
I mean, you know, I've had a few moments of those
where I realized that, oh, Igotta stop doing it.
You, you know, but I would, youknow, go through the period of,
oh, I stopped for a little bit,but then I ended up falling
back.
I think it wasn't until likelast year, maybe.
So I've been like going hard,abusing myself for, like this,

(28:43):
15, 16 years I've been DJing.
Yeah, so, but it was until lastyear till I realized, man, is
this really what?
What I want to keep doing islike there's got to be more to
life that I want, and not onlythat.
It fucks with your, yourmentality, your mind, uh, the

(29:04):
way you think too, andthroughout the longest time, I
would always like compare myselfto my peers and other DJs, and
that's the quickest way to, youknow, being unhappy.
So I would get depressed.
I would, uh, you know, be likeso depressed, unhappy, having so

(29:25):
many thoughts running throughmy mind and it was just
exhausting.
My anxiety was always throughthe roof.
The only way to subdue it wouldbe to go out, drink, do coke
and all that to feel good, andit was just a pattern where,
shit, it was not worth itanymore.

(29:46):
So I started to.
That's when I started to, youknow, try to find like a
positive outlet.
That's how I found like runningand working out.
So now I, for the past fewyears I've been like running the
marathons, running all like theraces of 10ks.
Uh, great aloha runs thehonolulu marathon, hapalua, and

(30:09):
I kind of want to go run one ofthe marathons out of state, out
of country.
Yeah, it's just, it's been awild ride.
But after realizing that, Istarted finding what can I do
now to uh make a positive changefor myself and like building
like the systems.
Like I said, I started buildingsystems that work for me.

(30:32):
So like now I wake up at like 5am to go work out before work,
uh, monday through friday, thisis not non-negotiable for me
because, yeah, because, becauseit helps me so much with my
anxiety, my overthinking, mythoughts, I've moved with
purpose now, ever since I gotclean and with all that too,

(31:00):
building those systems formyself, I can still go out and
still play at the club if I wantto.
I found that that healthybalance to where I can still do
what I love but also be in likethe greatest, like happiness,
you know, being happy.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
That's freaking awesome, brad.
I've waited for you to say thisfor a while and, um, I know you
struggled and I know I'vetalked to you about it and to
hear this makes me super stoked.
Like I said earlier, this isprobably the best thing I heard
all week.
Um, your system, the way youyou think non-negotiable.

(31:40):
I have certain things like thatin my own psyche and it's like
I don't care, I gonna do thisbecause it's right, you said
non-negotiable.
And if you make a promise toyourself and you hold yourself
accountable and you stick withit like you can never, you can

(32:03):
never let yourself down.
Yeah, it's like that.
That is a smart way, and I meanwaking up early in a workout.
I, it was the same for me.
I last year.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
My goal for the year was to do the um, the spartan
race and, oh shit, I actuallywant to try to do that one one
year.
Yeah, you definitely got atrade.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
I don't know, bro, I that that was.
It was no joke.
I yeah, it was brutal, but Itold myself I'm gonna do it and
like same thing, non-negoti.
I'm getting up early everysingle day and I'm running doing
burpees and for me it was amotivating thing because my

(32:49):
daughter was seeing me do it,because I told her I'm going to
do this, this is my goal, I'mgoing to walk across that finish
line and I'm going to do thewhole thing.
And I promised myself I'd do itand like for me't.
It wasn't easy and I I wasseriously sore for a while when

(33:10):
that thing was done, but when Icrossed that line I've never
felt that.
Since I used to compete inmartial arts, I never felt felt
that gratification.
And I work out every week.
I just came from the gym andI'm the same.
It's non-negotiable.
I gotta go this many times aweek.
There's no excuse.

(33:30):
Even when I'm on vacation I'lldo something.
Because if you don't holdyourself accountable or you
start giving yourself loopholes,then I mean, if you can lie to
yourself, then then pretty muchyou can lie to everything.
So it's like the yeah, it allstarts with you and for you to
tell me that trips me out,because I know how you were and

(33:54):
I know that you're.
You always had something aboutyou that wasn't like just some
dude in the industry.
You always had that it factorand I think you're you're gonna
tap into it in the near future.
I think you're right on thepath and this probably what you
needed to tap into that, because, for one, you're a great dj.

(34:18):
But I think now you can maybetranscend it more than just, oh,
I'm gonna play at district thisweekend, or I'm gonna play, I'm
gonna be an opener for so andso it's like, bro, what do you
really want to do?
Like have how, some peopleopening up for you at one of
these festivals?
You know, I mean, that's thegoal goal.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
Yeah, as an artist, that is the goal right now.
I'm actually like getting backinto producing music, because
I've honestly been producingmusic for like a long time.
It's just that I was neverconsistent and never like worked
on it as hard as I am right now, because there was always so

(35:02):
many distractions when you knowI would play very often or still
like all I wanted to do was gethigh, drink and party with my
friends.
I never really thought aboutthe future as much as I should,
but now that, like everything'sworking out, I'm more motivated,
more focused, more drivendriven, of course, on what I

(35:25):
want in life an artist, as anartist.
Yes, that is the goal as apersonal goals to have a family
one day, but, you know, beingable to support them too that's
super cool.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
That was going to be one of my questions too.
If you're making your own musicbecause that's where it all
starts, right If you can makeyour own music and people can
connect to it, then that's whenyour career is going to take it
to the next level.
It's cool to always play otherpeople's music and know how to
do it.
And the next level and it'scool to always play other

(36:02):
people's music and know how todo it and know how to hold the
crowd.
But when you're playing yourown stuff and people are jumping
around to it, that must befreaking crazy.
That must be the real feeling.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
You know I mean, yeah , that a that's, that's what
we're all chasing for, right?
Yeah and um, I actually am partof like a group of hawaii
producers down here, like in theedm scene, uh, and they're that
, they've all.
They're good too, and we're allon the come up.
You know, we're all trying topush ourselves to be better and
I feel like being part of thatgroup is also very motivating

(36:38):
and inspiring too.
And these are some young guystoo like coming up, like a few
of my friends, like this exhiroki chow.
They're all like making dopeshit.
So I, of course, it makes mewant to like get on like a
bigger, higher level for myselfand make music that just bangs

(37:00):
in for people to connect to.
You know.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
That's super cool.
I knew Graves before hedisappeared but he was one of
the few Hawaii EDM DJs that I'veknown from his early beginnings
until he blew up, and Iremember playing Madden and his
song came on in the beginning of.

Speaker 1 (37:21):
Yeah, I remember that .
I took a picture and everythingof it playing madden and his
song came on in the beginning ofyeah, and I'm just like I was.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
I took a picture and everything of it because it
shows who's I'm like brah and Ilike this is insane, like you're
on madden, like, and it justtakes the talent and the drive
and the balls to fucking do it.
And I mean you have all thoseskills.
You just gotta pull triggersand do it.

(37:45):
And what I liked about yourstuff is I like when you drop
mixes, because your art for themix is I didn't know that you
could do that like you doartwork, artwork, and I don't
know how you do it digitally orwhat.

(38:06):
But if people were to know yourmixes, the artwork for each
drop is pretty freaking dope ofits own.
Like that's another talentalready.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
Thank you, thank you.
I mean I wanted to, you know,make the vision my own.
So that's why I wanted starteddoing artwork.
I started to learn Blender andyou know Photoshop, because if I
, you know, ask somebody else tomake artwork for me, they might

(38:39):
not get the same vision that Ihave in my mind, for you know
the mix, so only I know what myvision is.
So, in order for me to like,get that out there and match
what I want to the music, uh,it's very, it's like the whole
package that I wanted to do, sothat's why I started to get into

(38:59):
it how.
How easy was that.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, because some of your stuff is like whoa, how
did he?
Like, when did this happen?

Speaker 1 (39:10):
Like, when did he start doing art?
It was that easy Probably.
I started two three years ago,two three years ago.
It was that easy, just like abunch of YouTube tutorial videos
.
And I also found this website Ithink it was CG Fast Track or

(39:31):
something.
That was a dope course that Itook, that just went through.
That really helped youunderstand what to do and the
functions in the blender programand you know to make the most
out of it.
Because you know youtube videos.
They only tell you the smallstuff and like yeah, so not all

(39:54):
everything, but um, so that'swhy, like any aspects in my life
right now, like I try to lookfor like a master class or a
mentor for with a course that Ican learn from, because like
that's what I'm doing now.
Like japanese, like I want tolearn japanese.
I actually recently bought ajapanese course, oh wow, from

(40:18):
like yeah, and it is hardlearning a new language but, you
know, it's good to have, like amentor and, you know, a support
group of people who are alsolearning too.
You know, because you also havelike a discord server that you
can like join when you're aspart of the masterclass and

(40:38):
course, so you can, you know,brush up on your skills with
other people that's super cooland it seems like you're
leveling up yourself.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
And something my mom always said, and it's on her
gravestone, that is um, she wasan educator and it said.
It says on her gravestone younever stop learning until you go
to heaven.
And I mean people can comecomplacent and or get
comfortable, and then that'swhen you're not challenging
yourself, and to learn differentthings is always the key and

(41:13):
that's the key to growth and Ithink that's what's gonna make
your music better, your artbetter.
I always am jealous of peoplelike you and always like say
this to hoppa, because we'll beout and he'll.
He'll hear a song somewhere andhe just stops what he's doing,
locks in and he's like trying toanalyze it.

(41:34):
I'm thinking like, fuck, I wishI could hear music how you guys
hear music, because it'sprobably totally different.
Or I would want to see art likehow you see art and get that
mindset.
And I mean, everybody hasnatural talents or natural gifts
.
Mine could be something else,but for that aspect I don't have

(41:55):
.
I hear music.
I just hear music.
It makes me feel good, I likeit.
You guys can break it down orget something out of it that I
didn't even know exists and Iwish I could have like listen
through music through your guysears once in a while.
It's a, it's a gift, you know,I mean yeah, thank you, I
appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Um, sometimes it's a gift and a curse, because you
you hear something and you justbe like it just gets stuck in
your head.
It's like like, fuck, what isthat?
It's like I got to know.
I got to know, I got to know.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
In your opinion, how do you think the future of music
is?
And I'm older, so I've seenmultiple generations of music
and for me, I'm disappointed.
I'm disappointed with rap.
I'm disappointed with rock me,I'm disappointed.
I'm disappointed with rap.
I'm disappointed with rock.
I'm disappointed.
I I'm not a big edm fan.
I'm disappointed with a lot ofgenres of music, with the

(42:54):
direction that is going, and itcould be because I'm older, but
I trip out.
My daughter listens to shit thatI've listened to in high school
and and Sasha listened to inhigh school and I'm like how do
you know this?
You weren't even even close tobeing born when this song came
out late.
And then, sorry, go ahead.

(43:15):
The younger generation adheresto more of the older music than
I would have thought and, likeshe's singing Dre Mariah Carey,
to more of the older music thanI would have thought, she's
singing Dre Mariah Carey, allthis stuff that I grew up on,
she knows it, it's trippy.
The new stuff to me seems notas soulful.
There's no depth to it in myopinion.

(43:37):
I don't know why, it's likethat.
What is your opinion?

Speaker 1 (43:45):
I mean you see all the artists sampling all the
throwback songs, right, uh, andyou know what's funny is like.
I think, uh, it's like moredanceable too, like with hip-hop
.
I mean, the songs back in ourdays was just like bangers, you
could dance to it.
Nowadays it's just like thatmumble rap stuff.

(44:05):
It's like, yes, it's like justthe kind of music you just chill
to smoke weed, to kind yeah,it's not like something you
could just go to the uh club anddance to.
And you know what's funny?
I was talking to one of myfriends who does like uh
weddings and grad parties too.
Uh, I asked him like yo, how'sit, how's it going, how's that

(44:25):
scene doing?
He's like yeah, dude, it's likeall they want to hear is
throwbacks.
I play any of the new shit,they don't really dance.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Wow yeah, that's kind of cool, all the young kids,
they they know their stuff nowthey yeah they fuck with the
throwbacks yeah, and I like itbecause I can connect with my
daughter with music that Ilistened to back in the day and
it's it's pretty cool and Ithink it just good stuff.

(44:54):
Last um, last through, to testthe time, and I guess that's
true with music.
And I'm wondering, like if someof the music that's coming out
now or people are gonna be likewhen they're older like oh, this
was it, I'm gonna be like Idon't know, I don't think they
have it like we had.
Tupac and like all these poetsas yeah, as artists, and then

(45:17):
the some of the guys that, likethey have tattoos all over their
face and they're like singingabout stuff that don't even
matter.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
I don't know, maybe I'm just old oh, I mean, I'm,
I'm with you right there,because, honestly, it doesn't
seem like there's only anytimeless bangers coming out in
this new generation.
It's not something that peoplewill, you know, listen to for
years and years.
It will be forgotten.
It's like I feel like theoriginality and creativity that

(45:45):
people have nowadays isn't there.
Um, because, honestly, I feellike there's a lot of
oversaturated content in thisworld.
Yeah, and as an artist, you notonly you gotta focus on music
too, you gotta be a contentcreator too.
So it's like different fieldsof you gotta worry about.
So it's like your brain justgets lost, like brain rot.

(46:09):
You know you can scroll throughinstagram.
Throw tiktok is like never.
It's like so muchoversaturation of content just
feeding people into that stateof mind of like just making them
, making them blah.
Yeah, so that's why, like so,for me it's actually funny

(46:34):
because I got rid of all of mystreaming subscriptions because
it does.
It does not serve me anypurpose having them around,
because there it's just adistraction, you know, and all
that money that I'm wasting onit, I couldn't be using it for
investing in to my future, youknow yeah so.

(46:57):
so the only thing I really haveis like YouTube premium, because
, okay, you could basicallylearn anything off of YouTube
Plus.
Uh, what I find forentertainment is like I actually
follow a lot of like streamers,twitch streamers and YouTubers,
now to see like what kind ofcontent they putting out that

(47:17):
will like attract, you know, acrowd.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
Hmm, that will like attract, you know, a crowd.
How, how important is it to youthat you are doing the social
media and having a social mediapresence?
Because, like you said, itworks hand in hand and it's
basically marketing your DJbrand.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
I mean, I think it's pretty important, but honestly,
my social media game is trash.
I'm still I I'm still trying tofigure it out myself, you know,
uh, trying to find what worksfor me.
But I've lately, though, aslike I used to cycle like hiking
a lot.
That seems to be like a prettycool niche of mine that like

(47:58):
people kind of like enjoy,because you know, the views here
in Hawaii are amazing whenyou're at the top of the summit
and ridges and stuff, and acouple of my friends who like
always hit me I was like, hey,uh, are you going to go hiking
this weekend?
I was like kind of joining.
It was like, yeah, for sure,anyone is honestly more than

(48:19):
welcome to join me if they wantto.
Uh, just that.
Well, my default hike that Ialways like to do is coco head
every week, which not a lot ofpeople are stoked about I did it
one time, but it is motivatingsome of my friends in uh to be
more active.

(48:39):
You know, yeah, like thetransformation that I went
through, becoming sober, startriding all these marathons,
hiking a lot it and I'm.
It makes me very happy that Ican be a positive influence on
people's lives and I thinkthat's what I liked about djing
the most, because I can make,you know people have a good time

(49:00):
at the club.
I can make people have a goodtime at the club.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
I can make them have a great night, make them feel
good.
Yeah, and I think that's a keyto your success is you're not
playing for yourself and a lotof DJs play for themselves, and
I think, with social media, youshowing a diverse side of
yourself and showing aconnection of who you are not as

(49:25):
a dj kind of.
Probably people want to seethat because they see you djing
or you could have a millionpictures of you standing in
front of crowd jumping around,but what are?
What are you really about?
What's really inside you?
What is what is who?
Are you really outside of thedj world?

(49:45):
Because when the lights and andthe freaking music's off, like
you still gotta be doing yourthing and who's that person it's
?
It's becomes like I was tellinghansen we were promoters, right
, but we're it's not who we are,it's what we do, and it's the
same for you is you're a dj butlike you still are your own

(50:08):
person and I think peopleresonate with who you are.
Who bryce is versus dj, massfunk sometimes too, you know.
I mean they want to know bothsides, both sides of the coin oh
yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Definitely gotta be like authentic, personable too
with your social media content.
You can't just do stuff justbecause it's you know, the it
thing or the fact yeah likepeople can tell bullshit yeah,
that is true.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
And you, you can definitely tell bullshit on
social media because I've seenit all the time.
I'm like, bro, that's not real,that's not how you are in real
life.
Or these girls is the worst,bro, with their freaking filters
and stuff.
They are a different personaltogether.

(50:57):
Looks wise.
I'm like wait, you're thatperson on Instagram.
There's no fucking way.
That's you like what?
And you probably see it in theclub plenty, because I did and
they're like they're so and soon instagram.
And then they introduce me andI'm like wait a second, there's
no way.
Like this is the same persontechnology is a tricky thing,

(51:21):
man it's like you never younever know if people can trick
you super easy that in age Idon't know, like a lot of like
oh, I'm freaking 21 or 20something, and then you find out
they're like 18 and it's likewhat?
Like how did you even get inthere?
But yeah, I mean, club life ispretty nuts, do you?

(51:45):
I don't want to ask you haveyou ever got starstruck with
because you're in the industry?
I know I have a few times wherelike oh shit, the kind of.
But have you ever gotstarstruck in the club or at a
gig or an event or a concertyou're doing?

Speaker 1 (52:02):
um, I wouldn't say like starstruck, I would be like
, oh shit, that's cool.
It was like I get to meet thatperson.
Okay, because, honestly, theway I see it, they're a human
being just like all of us, butthey are successful in the field
that they're in and for methat's kind of motivating to get

(52:24):
to.
You know, if I ever do meet anartist or hang out with them is
motivating for me because I getto pick their brain and all that
and it also makes me motivatedto get to their level.
So I, you know, cause, once,you, once, I feel like I get to
a certain level.
You know, being around thosekind of hard-working people is,

(52:47):
you know, what I want tosurround myself with, surround
myself with good, hard-working,motivated, just self-driven
people.
So it's like I wouldn't saystarstruck, but it is, um, I, I
would think it's more like, oh,that's cool, I don't know,
that's just how I am.
That's super cool, but neverlike oh my God, like fangirling

(53:10):
kind of stuff.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:12):
I don't think I fangirled, but we were about to
meet Chester Bennington becausehe was going to sing for Stone
Temple Pilots and they werebooked at Republic.
And I called Rob from Republicand I said, bro, I hardly ever

(53:33):
ask for favors, this one I'mgoing to play the friend card.
I want green room.
I want to meet ChesterBennington.
And then I was thinking how amI going to be if I meet him?
Bro, I'm like I'm gonna dorkout or like be cool.
But I was like, but it neverhappened, they didn't end up
coming, but I didn't.

(53:53):
Yeah, I've met a lot ofcelebrities and athletes and
stuff that I was.
I was the same like, oh, that'sfucking cool.
And sometimes I getdisappointed.
I met kobe bryant and that wasa disappointment.
And he came to our event and hewas just very standoffish, he
was very rude, but I, Iunderstand why and it just like,

(54:15):
oh, I wish I never met him, youknow, I mean because I don't
that.
that image is always in my head.
And then I met some cool oneswhere they're just like to the
moon and just want to talk,story and be cool and I'm just
like, wow, I'm really talking to.
So-and-so is fucking, it's abig deal to me and it's like,
wow, that's, that's super cool.

(54:35):
Who are some of the artists yougot to meet?
That kind of was like oh, thatwas fucking dope, uh man, uh man
, the chain smoker boys.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
They were cool, uh, yeah, I mean, there's so much I
can't remember all of themspecifically.
I gotta go back in my uhinstagram because that's, yeah,
that's where, like, I, uh, youknow, remember a lot of the
stuff because I posted a lot.
Oh, I met Corey Taylor fromSlipknot.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
He was cool as fuck.
Yeah what?

Speaker 1 (55:11):
I'm a big Slipknot guy, wow.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Stone sour right, yeah, oh my God, that would have
been super dope.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
He did an acoustic set at the Republic here.
Oh really, yeah, by himself,was like I had to go see him and
I was, fortunate enough that,you know, at the end of the
concert he was like takingpictures with everybody.
So I was like, oh man, I I gotto see him.
It was like so cool, so cool.
He was like super cool toothat's super cool.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Wow, that's a cool story.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, I mean, I know you likethat kind of music and I do miss
going to emo nights with youguys.
You're one of the only peoplethat would jump in a mosh pit
with me and like it was in aheartbeat man yeah, it's, it's
always fun and and I love thatkind of music and those are my

(56:04):
favorite nights.
It's like as soon as Matt.
When is Mass Funk Fringes set?
And then it's like yeah, therewas emo nights to the closing
with Sonya and them, and yeah,we definitely got to do that,
and I think Hoy needs more ofthat kind of music too, and you
get to play for some of thoseevents too.

(56:25):
Huh.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
Not really Like the emo nights that they do at like
Republic.
I did like a few for likefriends companies.
There was one, I think, at NOLBrian's.
We did one at Gatsby withJeremy.
It's all really random sidegigs, like how I play the K-pop

(56:52):
stuff.
Those are always fun but thoseare always super random.
But you can say I'm more of afree agent.
I'm never part of like that onepromotion group that does that
one party I know.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
We went to watch you play and they had the guy from
um dashboard confessionals djingand uh oh yeah, next door I
forgot the american pie guyplayed guitar singing.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Stifler's mom got it going on yeah oh yeah those
dudes are cool too, yeah it wasa cool meeting them yeah I got
to meet him because of you,because you got us on stage and
stuff.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
Yeah, that was.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
That was kind of cool , oh yeah, dude, see, see, my
memory is like so bad.
It's like, unless you bring itup where I see it in like one of
my like oh memories frominstagram or facebook, then I
would be like, oh yeah thathappened I remember that time,
but it's not like I can pull upa memory like out of the blue.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
You know that's one of my blessings.
My god's gifts to me is I havea great memory.
Like I can remember details.
You can play music and listento music.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
I can remember.
I envy that.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Future-wise.
What would be your ultimategoals for the future, long-term
and short?

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Honestly, right now I'm just taking things day by
day and I can't really say Iknow what I want for myself and
all I can do is work day by dayon myself to achieve those
things.
Like I said, right now I'mgetting back into producing

(58:43):
music, um, so, as an artist,that I'm going to continue.
That that will help me, youknow, move forward, you know,
finally put out music again,because it's been.
Last time I released music wasback in 2015 oh wow, I was on I
was like I was like on theircompilation cd.

(59:04):
That was the last time I put outmusic.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
It's time to get it going, yeah years, holy fuck
yeah I was like yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
So like kind of get gotta get that going now.
Um, uh, personal side, like um,I feel like I'm learning like
tech stuff, like coding, becauseI feel like that is, that is a
field that you know uh is highin demand and also is like
longevity too, because I mean,we live in a digital age.

(59:33):
So it's like this got it, youknow yeah and of course, you
know for myself learningjapanese right now and uh, just
also just want to make.
I want to like be faster,stronger.
I used to be an athlete when Iwas a kid uh, I always play
soccer, football, baseball, judoall the time, but I stopped for

(59:56):
a long period of time.
Uh, once I got to high school,for some reason I just fell out
of it, fell out of love with it.
But now that, like, I'm back ona good, like steady routine of
working out and running, I havethat athletic mindset to where I
just want to become better,become the best at what I can be

(01:00:21):
at.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
That's awesome, the best version of yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Yeah, yeah, just be the best version of myself that
I can be every day that'sfucking amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
I'm super proud of you, man, and I always talk to
you about it and I think, um,you, you took the turn and I
think the direction your life isgoing in is where I kind of
wanted to see it happen.
You know what I mean, and I'veseen ups and downs in the clubs.
I've seen people go up and taketheir careers skyrocketing or

(01:00:56):
their life skyrocketing, or theyfall down into that slump and
get caught in the wave ofbullshit, and I think you're too
smart to let that happen, andit was going to be a matter of
time where you shook it off, andI think you did.
And I think you're in thatpositive path to changing

(01:01:23):
everything, and I like the factthat you have a lot of
short-term goals and you startchecking them off and knocking
them out and then you look backand just realize how far you
come.
And, um, hearing this reallymakes me proud of you, brah,
because I know you, man, Iappreciate it and I know the
person you are and I think, um,it's gonna be kind of cool to

(01:01:48):
see what happens in the future,man, because if you're like
touring the world with yourmusic, you better come back on
my show and talk about it oh, nofor sure, dude, I would love to
come back like anytime thiswill be like a bench, like.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
Was it say like a benchmark, yeah, like that was
to reflect on and be like hey islike this.
Was it say like a benchmark?
Yeah, and like that was toreflect on and be like, hey,
it's like this was you like ayear or a few years ago and like
reflecting on it now is like Ican say like, because what I
want to do is I want to getbetter.
At least, even if it's like alittle bit.
Every single year, I want toget better or be in a better

(01:02:28):
place than I was the previousyear.
So, of course, the next time,if I do come on, if you do have
me, I can have stories of whatI've been through that whole
journey.
I would not be comfortable orcomplacent.
I will always want to moveforward.

Speaker 2 (01:02:50):
That's what I want for myself that's awesome, brah,
and and now's the time, brah,now's the time to do it.
You had your fun and, like Ialways say to everybody, to be
older and wiser, you have to beyoung and crazy, and all of us
were young and crazy, and nowit's time to fucking put that
part behind and work, becauseyour career could be phenomenal,

(01:03:13):
like you have that.
You have that it factor, youcan play, you can keep a crowd,
you can make your own music,like you.
Just gotta put a trigger andconnect the dots and pray and
just get to where you gotta go,because sky's the limit.
And you go to all those big,freaking uh festivals and stuff.

(01:03:36):
That one you went to.
What was it?
Wonderland or not wonderlandtomorrow, tomorrow, I was
looking at the video.
I'm like what the fuck was that?
I didn't even, I didn't evenseen that before.
That thing looked, lookedpretty cool.

Speaker 1 (01:03:48):
Yeah, it's in Belgium .
It's like one of the biggestEDM festivals other than you
know, EDC yeah.
It's huge man.
It was such an eye-openingexperience and such an amazing
experience too, because it'severybody around the world and
the Europe people and all thepeople that go there are

(01:04:11):
honestly older than okay theamerican crowd.
So they go hard.
Oh so they're very like,responsible and respectful too
yeah, that's pretty cool, man.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
It looked like a insane event.
I like just the theatrics andthe, the props and stuff.
I was like what was this?
I thought it looked like amovement part this.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
They put a lot into it, like the whole vibe of it.
It's like you're transported toanother world.
It's like because they havelike their own like shops they
got like a tattoo shop attomorrowland.
I kind of want to go and get atattoo when you're at
tomorrowland, that would be fun.
And like they have their ownlike restaurants over there,

(01:04:58):
like actual like top toprestaurants, because we all know
how shitty festival festivalfood is right, yeah, but the
food there is like hella good oh, that's super cool, dude, when.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
When did you go last?
Was it this year or last year?

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
uh, last year, uh in july, yeah, oh, okay, yeah so it
was like it wasn't too hot andit wasn't, you know, too cold,
so but it was, it's good.
I went with my group of friendsand we also made it a whole
Europe trip out of it, so wewent to like Amsterdam, paris,
milan.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
Oh, that must've been super cool.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
Yeah, honestly, it was my very first time in Europe
too last year, so I was pretty,it was pretty fun, I was stoked
for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
I think that's where we're gonna go on our honeymoon
eventually, because that's whereI've never been either.
And where are you goingprobably?
Well, we didn't even figure outyet.
We're just trying to getthrough this wedding.
But, uh, europe, I want tocheck out, like all that.
So I want to see the coliseum, Iwant to see like I want to see
all that stuff and it's likethat, that's the um, like the

(01:06:14):
direction I would want.
I think Sasha's down for it.
I did Japan and all that stuffand it's cool and I'll
definitely go back, but I'venever done Europe and I wanted
to do.
I want to see the Eiffel Tower,I want to see like the.
Coliseum, like um, that stuff isinteresting to me and I always
liked history, so I thinkthere's a lot of european

(01:06:35):
history that I'd want to checkout.
And yeah, that sounds cool.
Man, like what?
What was the biggest event thatyou got to play for?

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
biggest event?
I that's kind of hard, I can'treally pick one specifically.
I mean they all have like avery big significance in my life
, honestly.
Yeah, because I played a lot ofthe outdoor venue shows here.

(01:07:12):
You know the tso one that wasin waimanalo at the polo fields.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
Oh, I remember that I played yeah that's all man.
Everybody got stuck yeah yeah,it was muddy.

Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
Yeah, that field was destroyed at the end of the
night for sure I also playedSteve Aoki's Dib Moc Label Night
down here, it was at Kaka'akoWaterfront, that was cool.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Of course Republic had all the.
Did you go to that?

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
Oh the one at Turtle Bay yeah the Palm Tree Fest.
Yeah, I went with my friends.
That was cool.

Speaker 2 (01:07:56):
That's Kygo's festival, oh, I've been to the
one at.
They had pretty good DJs.
They had Chainsmokers right andAlesso.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
Or whatever his name is Alesso, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
Wow that, whatever his name, is Alessio, yeah.
Yeah, wow, that's kind of cool.
Yeah, was it crazy?
As, like how they normally are,like Turtle Bay is a far drive
huh yeah, I mean I feel likethey all did good sets.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
The one I really wanted to see that I think was a
surprise a lot of people wasnora impure.
She's like a melodic, moremelodic house, progressive house
dj.
Uh she, she just has good vibeswhenever she plays and her
music is so super like uh, feelgood, kind so um because at the

(01:08:53):
because at the end of thefestival, a lot of my friends
didn't know who she was, butthey did like her in the end oh,
you're like see I told you shewas the shit yeah we got it.
We got to catch her set.
It's we got to be sure we goearly oh nice.

Speaker 2 (01:09:10):
Did you stay out that side or you had to drive back?

Speaker 1 (01:09:14):
Oh no, we, we stayed out there.
We got like an Airbnb.
There was no way we weredriving back.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
Honestly, it's such a hard drive, yeah, oh well, man,
I we've been going for over anhour.
I'm very stoked to hear howyour life is right now and the
direction is going in.
And, yeah, man, just stayfocused and keep your eye on the

(01:09:41):
prize and I think, probably Ithink you're just about to
fucking hit, hit that uh upslope and take your life the way
you want it, and especiallyyour dj career, because if you
are 100 locked in and focus onelevating it, brah, it's gonna
work because you're good, you're, you're that good.

(01:10:04):
So thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:10:06):
I appreciate that, definitely locking in this year,
you know this is a year to getshit done yeah, and then just
level up you.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
You know, like you said, yeah, to be honest, I'm
gonna tell you what I told hoppayou guys need to get the fuck
off this island, bro, if you'regonna be a dj big time, because
I mean, you guys are gettingpaid hundreds when you guys
should be getting paid grandsfor your set.
So every time you guys played aset for us, we were ripping you

(01:10:37):
off about 600 bucks, becausesame set you guys could play in
vegas, you guys would make agrand, you know?
I mean it's like yeah it's justhawaii prices ain't worth it.
You know I mean, and your guy'stalent is on a level where you
can take it out there.
You know I mean, and especiallyvegas we eat.

(01:10:58):
How big edm is out there likeonce you get a strong name, you
just go there and get aresidency and just kill.

Speaker 1 (01:11:05):
It's definitely cut through the business for sure,
and I feel like it's definitelycutthroat the business for sure,
and I feel like it's definitelya lot more saturated than it
was before, and that's why,honestly, now I'm focused on
producing and I feel like thatis going to help set me apart
because of my production and themusic that I make that's yours,

(01:11:25):
yeah yeah, that's mine.

Speaker 2 (01:11:29):
Well, good luck with that man, and keep doing your
art, because it connects thevisual with the music.
So that's super cool man.

Speaker 1 (01:11:39):
Thank you, I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:11:41):
I appreciate you for coming on.
Where can people find you onyour social media?

Speaker 1 (01:11:46):
You can find me on Instagram.
My username is MassFunk.
Uh, soundcloud is, uh, justmass funk.
I believe um other than that.
Just stay tuned, because I gotmore in store for you.
And thank you, man, for havingme on your podcast.
Uh, I had a lot of fun.
I can't wait to do it again.

Speaker 2 (01:12:07):
You know, have more stories of leveling up and
achievements in the future Idefinitely want to hear those
stories and I definitely want tosee you fucking do it, bro,
like you're a cool dude and Ialways enjoyed hanging out with
you and I still do and honestly,I never got a conversation with

(01:12:28):
you one-on-one without anyinterruption.
So this was a cool hour and Idefinitely am stoked that you
agreed to come on because you'rea good person and I always
thought that and I think in ourindustry it's hit or miss, but
you meet some fucking dirt bags,but you also can meet some good
people and I think it's a crazyindustry that we're in and,

(01:12:55):
yeah, it's, it's.
It's cool to see that you'recoming out on top and, yeah, I
appreciate you, man.
Um, we'll definitely do thisagain and when you're opening in
coachella or some crazy shitlike that that would be super
cool to see.
Man and, yeah, just take, takerisk and bet on yourself.

(01:13:15):
That's why I tell Hoppa, andhe's gonna, he's gonna do some
crazy shit in the next year,brah, it's gonna be cool to see.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
And, yep, keep doing your thing, brah you guys yeah
you guys keep the beat, so gomake some music thank you, man,
thank you for believing in me,thank you for supporting me and
thank you for being my A goodhomie that I've met through the
industry Cause you know.
You meet a lot of people youdon't.
You don't know if they're liketheir friendship is true or If

(01:13:45):
they're authentic themselves.
But you, I'm really glad tohave met you and worked with you
, so and to the next emo night,next emo nights, bro.

Speaker 2 (01:13:55):
We definitely got to do that.
Well, like you said in what isit?
June, the?

Speaker 1 (01:14:00):
ending, yeah, at the end of june.
Yeah, those are my favoritefridays, bro, right after your
ego metallica yeah, that's be,insane.

Speaker 2 (01:14:10):
I can't wait for that .
All right, man, we'll shock usfor the cameras we're out.
Shout out to the Artist GroupNetwork Aloha, thank you.