Episode 151 CJ PARK ( Hawaii Dj )

What does it take for a young DJ to carve out a meaningful career in Hawaii's competitive nightlife scene? CJ Park, son of industry veteran Jay Park, reveals the surprising truth behind his rise from playing $20 house parties to commanding major venue residencies and opening for artists like Little Wayne and T-Pain.

The journey begins with humble origins – Park recalls being the kid who always brought speakers to high school parties, gradually honing his skills and musical intuition. But rather than riding his father's coattails, we learn how Park built his career through genuine connections, starting with a fortuitous gig DJing a yoga instructor's boat party that opened his eyes to the financial possibilities of his passion.

What's striking about Park's story is his refreshing humility. Despite now holding coveted residencies at District, Ki Club, and other premier Honolulu venues, he speaks candidly about his early struggles with professional equipment and the pressure of knowing "if the DJ clears the house, nobody gets paid." His respect for veteran DJs and willingness to learn from them mirrors the mentorship dynamic host Thaddeus Park shares about nurturing DJ Hapa's  career through intentional challenges rather than easy opportunities.

Perhaps most powerful is Park's brave disclosure about recently achieving two months of sobriety after recognizing some  issues were threatening both his career and well-being. In an industry saturated with temptation, his commitment to growth both personally and professionally offers an inspiring blueprint for sustainability in nightlife careers.

Whether you're an aspiring DJ, nightlife enthusiast, or simply appreciate stories of authentic career development, this conversation offers valuable insights into the delicate balance of technical skill, business awareness, and personal integrity required to thrive in the entertainment world. Tune in to discover how CJ Park continues to "take them on a journey" while still evolving his own.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:08):
welcome to another edition of the bud the bridge
podcast.
I'm your host, thaddeus park.
If this is your first timetuning in, you can find us on
all the major podcast platforms,our youtube channel and
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On the YouTube, leave a comment, it matters.
Subscribe.
I appreciate it and thank youfor the support.

(00:30):
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(02:47):
I love it.
Aloha.
Okay, welcome to anotheredition of the Above the Bridge
podcast.
This week my guest is a localDJ that's been blowing up one of
the younger generations.
He does have the best last nameas a dj in hawaii.

(03:08):
Welcome to the show cj park.
What's up, man what's?

Speaker 1 (03:13):
going on, brother.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
What's going on?

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I'm doing good, bro.
I'm always happy to see yourname up in lights because it's
technically my name as well, sopark is a good last name we are
brothers.
You haven't told anybody that,but we are brothers brah, this
uh summer might be getting kindof crazy.
So how's uh your your likelineups looking up for this

(03:40):
summer, anything nuts coming in?

Speaker 1 (03:41):
um, well, shoot, I mean to be honest with you, not
much right now.
I mean, like I think, mostlyworking the club circuit, that's
that's what's been going kindof crazy right now.
It's just getting um, gettingto work with key club and
district and um and surefirekiki's.

(04:02):
So I'm I'm pretty stacked as ofright now in terms of the night
time, but usually ray will giveme a call and says when you're
ready to go, it's somebody big'scoming and I usually say hey,
yeah, let's do it yeah, ray hasbeen doing amazing things.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I've got a super blessed opportunity to work with
him when he was first startingout with major region and aloha
laulea and and we did a lot ofstuff together and, um yeah, we
created a great bunch ofmemories and ray is very he.
His business mind is second tonone and if you uh knew his dad,

(04:40):
it's, it was the same.
His dad was very personable andand ray has the same charisma.
So it's cool to see what he'sdoing.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
But, fuck, he put been putting you on all kind of
big stages uh yeah, I mean I Idid something right, I guess,
and then he kept having me andand I'm super blessed I, you
know, I, I and I never wouldhave thought that.
You thought that I would havegotten to do things like Little
Wayne or Tyga or T-Pain oranything like that.

(05:12):
So that's the shit that I stillthink about sometimes and I'm
like I can't believe I did that.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, one thing I do know about Ray is if you don't
show out, he ain't gonna put youback on.
So, whatever you had thatopportunity, you must have
showed out, because he's puttingyou back on and I do know he
don't give a shit like he won'tbook you again.
He won't yeah yeah, so you mustbe doing something right, so
that's always cool, yep, um, Ialways ask this question when I

(05:45):
have djs on, because for mepersonally, I'm a fan of djs.
My whole business was builtbecause of the djs I pick
because of how they handle thenight.
They're the talent we can geteverybody to the club, but if
the djs can't hold them thereand show them a good time, then
our brand is trash.

(06:05):
So I always have a lot ofrespect for djs.
It's something I can't do.
But how did you get starteddjing?

Speaker 1 (06:13):
because it's a weird kind of avenue to kind of get
into yeah, um, well, so I, I'vealways been around djs my whole
life.
So my dad, he used to be a djand um, I don't know if you, if
you, you know my dad, uh, jay,but he used to be dj back in the

(06:35):
day and then, so I've alwaysaround, was always around music
and then, um, I remember being akid and then going to the radio
station with him and at thistime they had records.
So I remember I was put on byhip hop, really put on to Eminem
.
We had his LP, we had theEminem record anyways.
But I was the first like kindof leak I got into like hip hop,

(06:57):
and then I would have all theserecords.
So I would know a bunch ofthese, like a bunch of these
hits, just sitting in the cornerof our tiny house and I would
just recognize like oh, that'sUsher, and then he sings, yeah,
and I would be jamming to hismusic in the car.

(07:18):
But then fast forward, I wasmaybe in high school.
Yeah, I was in high school.
Towards the end of my highschool career I would get
invited to parties and I wouldalways be that kid to bring the
speaker and, um, even inlunchtime.
It was super annoying to.
You know, my other classmatesprobably, but I would, you know,
be that kid with the speakerand, um, I would be taking

(07:42):
requests.
Hey, does anybody want tolisten to this in the lunchroom?
And nobody wants to listen toanything, you just want to eat
their lunch.
But yeah, I would go to partiesand I would just bring music
and then, um, my friend had abirthday party and I started
djing at his birthday party andI just haven't stopped.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
I guess you know how'd you learn how to beat
match yourself in?
I'm assuming that was likestraight mixing or you had
serato back then so serato,serot, yeah, I got my start on
serato.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
So I I mean anything from wax, I, I could, I couldn't
figure it out.
I mean we had phase, that's theclosest thing to wax that I
could use, but um, but it'sstill part of serato.
Um shoot, yeah, so I got.
I got my start learning serato.
But then beat matching wasreally my my dad.
He taught me how to really beatmatch so okay how to, how to do

(08:39):
my four like four counts.
He just that's all.
He taught me pretty much.
And then the rest I he said hesaid, learn your four counts and
take them on a journey.
And then the rest I had to gofigure out for myself.
And then a lot of trial anderror.
Um yeah, and then and then nowI'm in the clubs and I'm

(09:00):
learning from you know, debinand ace and a bunch of the other
DJs that play at the club.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
That's super cool.
If people don't know your dad,your dad's Jay Park.
I met him.
I think he was a rep for eitherthe radio or TV.
The time I met him we werepromoting at the W.
This was like I don't evenremember.
I don't even remember it.
I don't even remember it was along time ago and my uh at the

(09:31):
time, ronnie was, was runningartist group network and I was a
promoter under them and I metyour dad and your dad was always
fun to talk story with and verypersonable.
your dad's a cool dude you justyeah, very sweet man yeah, he's
very genuine and he's definitelysomebody I've looked up to in

(09:52):
the business and always fun tobe around and real, like he's
one of the real people in thisindustry.
Everything he says is real,like there's no fakeness about
him.
And yeah, uh, since I've beenseeing him recently, all we do
is talk about you and that'scool he's very proud of you and

(10:15):
I always say that the first timeI got to meet and talk story
with you was at one of thedistrict's christmas party and
we got to sit down and talkstory and I got to get to know
you a little bit more than justbehind the turntables and I was
telling your dad, like you got alot to be proud of, your son
has his a good head on hisshoulders and he seems to be

(10:37):
able to navigate this industrythe right way and I think, maybe
because of who your dad is, youmay have got your foot in the
door, but I feel like you kickthat fucking door open and earn
everything that you're gettingand you have the old school
respect and mentality, which iskind of refreshing coming from

(11:01):
the old school.
Like you have that samementality.
And what made me think of thatwas, I think one night we had
off on a friday or something,and we were, uh, me hoppa and I
think hansen was just cruisingon wikes and we ended up
watching you uh play at tiki'sor one of the

(11:23):
bars in waikiki and you probablydon't even remember but, yeah,
kiki's yeah yeah, the second wegot in there you made sure you
showed us love, you brought uson the stage, we had a drink and
I'm like brad, it's that kindof stuff is how the industry was
always built and grew and grewand um.

(11:45):
For someone so young tounderstand that and like, just
take care of us made us feelgood and made us feel important
and it was cool to see thatsomeone in the younger
generation still had that samerespect and and love especially
for for like hop, who's a DJalso All the way.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
It was cool to see man.
You guys have always beenreally nice to me.
Of course, in our industry it'sall about giving back.
You got to be.
The thing is, a lot of peoplehave a I think the word is
condensation or they have like,uh, they're very jaded on being,

(12:29):
on being a certain way topeople, just to get something
out of them yeah what I'velearned is that if you're just
genuine to people, they're goingto want to be around you, and I
think that's the key to successin everything is just just be a
genuine person, be real, andthat's helped me a lot through
my DJ career, even even when Ibe real, even when it's ugly, um

(12:52):
, but but be genuine to you.
Know the other people in theindustry, because we all work
hard, bro, like, yeah, like youguys work late nights, just like
me, and so like a common ground, and so that's one thing we
could already.
We could already see eye to eyeand, and so that's really cool,
and so like a common ground,and so that's one thing we could
already.
We could already see eye to eyeand, and so that's really cool,
and so it's all it's alwayslove every time I see you guys,
yeah same here.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, what I, what I did like about what you just
said earlier, was how you'relearning from debin and learning
from ace and and the djs beforeyou, and I've seen djs come up,
come and go and a lot of themthink they're the shit and think
they don't need to learnanything.
Like for someone young andsomeone with, like your resume,

(13:38):
you don't have to be like, oh,I'm trying to learn from these
people.
I already done all that, butyou're still absorbing and
learning from older djs,especially devin.
That guy is probably one of thetop on the island like.
That guy is fucking phenomenalhe's at another level, bro.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I I cannot believe.
There's some shit that I hearfrom him sometimes in the night
that I like god damn, that guy'sreally good yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
But so you're starting off early in your life
like how did you first manage toget like a bigger gig, like
what was like your first gig,and how did how did that feel
when everybody all eyes on youand you're in a spot where no
one knows who the fuck you are?

Speaker 1 (14:20):
um, okay, so, okay.
So it's actually a really funnystory.
The first time, so the firsttime I ever got paid like real
money, like I would do thesehouse parties for like 20 bucks
a night, yeah.
And then, uh, I I went on adate with a girl who was a yoga
instructor and she, she was onthese, she used to have these

(14:45):
boat parties, right.
And so I don't know, are youfamiliar with oahu boat cruises?
Yes, yes, yeah, so we would.
This is not the first time I'mmeeting the owners of oahu boat
cruises, but I play her yogaparty for all her friends on
this boat, and it's my first andI wasn't even expected to get
paid.
I was just, you know, I washanging out with this girl, you

(15:05):
know, and and, um, she was like,oh, you want to, you want to
come and play at this boat party, and I I played.
And then, um, it was a bunch ofpeople on this boat.
It's a bunch of, like youngcollege kids like drinking,
having fun, and I've done thatbefore, similar to you know,
house parties.
But then, at this point, it waslike a lot of industry people

(15:29):
there and, like you know, somepeople that you know own local
brands, and I'm not going to saywho, because I don't know who
wants.
Who's supposed to know thatthey're at the party.
But it was popping, it wasreally cool and so I guess I did
well.
And then the owner was thereand he was like hey, you want to
come, you want to keep going?
And at the time I was stillworking at this Thai restaurant

(15:52):
called Miley's Thai.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
Okay, I know, miley, you even match at Miley's.
He's got the handsome youngboys working there.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
Hand-picked by Miley guarantee, I know.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Miley good the hopper boys yup guarantee Right.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
And so I was working at the time and that was my job
for a while, because I neverwent to college.
I didn't really know what I was.
I was a pretty lost kid.
I didn't know what I wanted todo yet and everybody had gone to
college and figured out whatthey wanted to do.
But back to this boat partything.
I was still.
I was still working there and Ilanded, you know, every Friday

(16:38):
and Wednesday gig on these boats.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
OK.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
They were like oh, you're pretty fucking good,
let's throw you on.
And I was like, how long haveyou been djing for?
I'm like, well, really likeprofessionally, not like this is
my first like time like playingprofessionally.
And they're like, okay, cool,well, you know, do you want a
job?
And so, um, my buddy, dj lewis,uh, he was one of their

(17:01):
resident djs at the time.
He threw me on and he just paidme, uh, every single time I did
a boat, it was pretty cool.
So I went from making twentydollars to eighty dollars that
time uh per boat or per, youknow, per gig, and so, um, and I
was like, wow, this is cool, Ican make money from doing this.
It's pretty fun and I'm not bad, I'm okay, I can, I can, I can

(17:28):
make sure that you know, thegirls and the guys are having a
good time and that they keepdrinking yeah and so and that
was the important part I learnedthat real quick and um, and
then from there towards the end.
tale of me working at that Thairestaurant, this girl named Robi

(17:48):
Kodama, Okay, I know her, shehooked me up with Alex, and I
guess this was like right afterCOVID finished, right?
Okay, so we're wrapping up andI think District is reopening.
And then I landed my gig atdistrict, thanks to Roby Kodama.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Oh, shout out to Roby .
So she was the link between youand Alex.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
She was the link between me and Alex.
She really, she really reallystuck her neck out for me.
So I got, I got to give thatgirl her flowers, bro.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
How did she?
How did you know her?

Speaker 1 (18:22):
She was working at the restaurant with me actually.
Oh, that's right.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
She was working at Thai.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
That's right.
I would literally go, I woulddo these boats and then show up
to work at Miley's Thai and thenI'm like all wet from the boats
.
I have to like put my CDJs onthe side of the, the restaurant
somewhere, hide them so nocustomers can see them.
And then, um, one of these days, um, robie, she was like hey,

(18:52):
you know district's looking for,for djs.
And I was like, oh, no way.
And I didn't think that I was,you know like I wasn't ready to
do a venue, like club venue gigsyet, and so, um, I was a little
nervous but I was like you knowwhat, shoot, I'll give it a.

(19:12):
You know, I'll, I'll, I'll try,I'll give it a try.
And she connected with me.
She connected me with Alex andit worked out.
Yeah, yeah, it worked out, yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Okay, that being said , I know personally from working
with alex for about nine yearshow strict he is with who he has
as a dj representing theirbrand, and for you to impress
him, to put put you on, musthave been.
That's a pretty good compliment, because I know how he is.

(19:44):
He ain't easy to easilyimpressed and he's very, very
strict with djs and he's veryyes, selective and you kind of
only have one shot and not evena full set.
If you're fucking up duringthat one set, he'll.
He'll pull you and I've seen ithappen oh, oh I.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
But I mean, even in the beginning, what at me being
at district was very brutal,like I'd like.
I'm sure you've heard, likeprobably from other people, that
I was shitty in the beginningbecause I was like I did with it
was.
So my, I'm used to theequipment that is smaller and
you can buy from like a walmartand it's like the new mark shit.

(20:30):
Oh my god, I couldn't.
I, I fucking girl lost tooclose to the sun and I now I'm
there with you know, oh, and I'mlike big ass cdj's in the mixer
and I'm like I'm not used toany of this equipment.
So my first like my, my, myfirst, I would say, year over

(20:50):
there I was.
I was like really fucking upsometimes but alex had his, had
his, he had, he had a bunch offaith in me and I got a respect
and recall a bunch for that, andhe kept.
He's like, hey, I'm giving you achance.
You got to fucking pick it up.
You got to learn.
And thank God for Ace and Devin, because they really stuck

(21:14):
their neck out for me as welland they kind of guided me in
like don't do this, handle themixer this way.
And Chris Todd too, sound, um,sound and lighting engineer over
there, he, he really uh, helpedme out big time too.
So, um, yeah, but it was roughin the beginning.
I barely knew what I was doingI can't imagine.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
So did you play in the big room or you played in
the lounge?
The first I played in the bigroom.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
I opened the.
I opened the room, yeah and um,and then I would switch over to
the lounge at the at a latertime of the night how was that?

Speaker 2 (21:53):
how was your first night at dishing?
That's what I want to know.
That's pretty.
That's pretty intense crazy.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
I, I, because I went from doing like, basically like
small boat parties or you knowthese boat parties, and to
seeing a big crowd of of justdelinquents, like going off the
whole time is crazy yeah but itwas not.
I couldn't I couldn't believeit.

(22:19):
I was, I was.
I was looking at a sea of ofkids my age and then, all of a
sudden, they're looking at meand I'm playing to them, and I
couldn't believe it.
Yeah, being able to controleverybody with music is crazy,
yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Were you nervous.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
I was very nervous the first three months there.
I was like, oh man, I can'tbelieve I'm here.
I was really nervous and somenights I would be too scared to
go on because, like um, I wasgetting used to seeing like
certain celebrities in the room.
Now it's like you see celebrityany nightclub and it's kind of

(22:57):
like, okay, they're here, butyeah you don't care, but you
don't mind them as much.
But at that time I think we hadI don't know who it was, I don't
know which celebrity it was,but it was one of these bigger
names came into the club andthen they were sitting right

(23:19):
behind me while I was playingand then I was like I don't know
if I'm made up for the, if I'mcut out for this.
But then I got the crowd goingand I was quickly figured that I
was cut out for it.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
That's super cool and , bro, like that, that's a huge
responsibility, like being a DJat a nightclub is, honestly I
don't mean to stress you out,because you're probably not
stressed out now, but the wholefucking business is revolving
around you, the bartenders, thebarbacks, the promoters, the air

(23:53):
, the security, because if youclear the house, nobody gets
paid and nobody makes money, yep, yep, and I'm learning that now
.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Uh, not learning that , not learning this.
Now I'm learning.
I'm learning now that I fuckedup in the very beginning by
clearing the whole room and then, when I got really good, I got
cocky.
And when I started to get cocky, I brought everybody to the
dance floor, not keeping them atthe bar.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
So learning how to work, so cycle them out.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Cycling them out.
I got in big trouble from a lotof different clubs for that For
keeping them there, their notcircling them around hey, you're
learning, that's kind of coolbecause you kind of got.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
You went from like starting out djing to getting
thrown in the biggest nightclubin hawaii like this year's the
biggest nightclub in hawaii andyeah, that's, that's kind of
cool.
And I always thought like yourdad had a hand in getting you
your first start.
But now from your story is,it's all you like, you're it?
Was just your dad got you tostart playing.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Yeah, yeah he, he, he definitely inspired me, like
the inspiration is a lot fromhim and he literally and
literally, only two phrases takehim on a journey and learn your
four counts.
That's it.
That's literally it.
And um, of course, maybe the uh, the relationship with him and
ray, yeah, yeah, a little easierfor ray to communicate to me

(25:30):
through him in that regard, butI can confidently say I really
did it myself.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
And that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
I'll always be proud of myself for that.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
So yeah, I think with I don't know if you know
Hopper's journey, but he was myvideo guy from the start and he
was only 16.
He was 17 when he started.
We had to get.
He turned 18.
We had to get him like a presspass and he would do our videos
and before the night would starthe would jump on like DJ Betty

(26:03):
would just kind of fuck with himand learn how to mix or
whatever, and he said he wantedto DJ.
And me personally I knew that Icouldn't just put him on
because everybody would give himshit.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
So were you running the club.
Were you going to promotions atthe time.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Yep, so I was running artist group.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
What is that?
I was wondering how Hoppa gothis start.
I never got to ask him that.
I mean, I've hung out with hima bunch of times Because he's a
short bar, but I never asked himhow he would get his start.
I'll tell you this story, yeah,so he was.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
he was our camera guy .
And the reason why he was ourcamera guy?
Cause BJ Penn just started hiswebsite and he wanted us to
promote his website.
So he sponsored us and said hewants us to put out these videos
of people in our nightclubsaying go to log on to BJ
Pennpenncom yeah, yeah, yeah atthe time I worked with, uh, his

(27:01):
dad and we were running I don'tcare clothing and the dad said
his son really liked I don'tcare clothing so he would put us
on tiny tv if we would hook hisson up.
So taylor would come in he wasa 16 year old kid at calla hill
come into our store, I gave hima couple shirts and tiny would
put us on tiny tv asadvertisement.

(27:22):
Oh nice, one day taylor calledme and said hey, I'm doing this
project for high school it's,I'm a video editor.
I want to put somethingtogether, uh, for my senior
project if I could use Ainokea.
So I mean, yeah, come, dowhatever you want.
So he did that and he edited andhe made this little video and I

(27:44):
thought it was cool.
So when BJ Penn asked us forour club stuff, I had no way of
knowing how to edit videos, butI knew Hapa knew and he said
yeah, was, he was 18, he justgraduated and we were like we
were like, hey, uh, I need youto edit these videos and make a

(28:07):
video for us so we can send.
Put it on at the time myspacefor bj pen, right?

Speaker 1 (28:13):
so, oh my god yeah, so we had you know those flip
cams, those weird yeah so we hadyeah, and we would have

Speaker 2 (28:22):
a flashlight and I would have our one of my workers
go around and just video peopleand then we take the flip cam,
give it to taylor the next dayand he would make the videos.
And then he got kind of notannoyed but he got.
He said like, oh, I, I want totake these videos because I want
to get the shots that I want.
So I had to make it a thing andget it approved by the club and

(28:46):
and all that to let thisunderage kid in.
And he made this press pass.
It was this big saying uh,artist group network press and
he would just shoot videos allday.
Oh, he did it himself.
Yeah, like this, it waslaminated.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
It looked legit like that.
Minor things like that is thereason why he's where he's at
today oh yeah, he's a goodinitiative but anyways, keep
starting to interrupt.
But and then?

Speaker 2 (29:10):
he, well, he would come early, right, and while
they would set up and it wasempty DJ Betty was our resident
DJ at the time she would hewould just go behind the
turntables and kind of mess withit a little bit and whatever.
And then he started to like it.
He always had a passion formusic and then he went to

(29:32):
Cutmaster Spaz's school, like itwas a two week course how to
beat match or whatever and helearned how he bought like this
whole big technics tables and hehad serato, he, he invested in
it and he was like, okay, I wantto dj.
And and I was like, bruh,there's no way, I'm just gonna
put you on.

(29:52):
Artist group network events andhave everybody on the island
hating on you and and not givingyou any respect they're gonna
say because you're my boy,that's why he's getting all
these gigs, so I made it thehardest thing for him like it DJ
ever had.
Like he, we had a store in inWaikele it was called ecosystems

(30:24):
and he would go out there onFridays in the daytime, hot sun
with his turntables and just DJout there.
And we had a black Friday.
I don't know if you ever beento Waikele on Black Friday, oh
never.
They closed the whole placedown and then they opened it at
midnight and it's like a blockparty, it's just packed.

(30:47):
Everybody's shopping there onBlack Friday.
So Taylor was DJing and we hadthis kiosk.
It was a closed kiosk wherepeople could come in and we're
selling.
It was called ecosystem.
We're selling street clothes,like, like defend hawaii and a
bunch of stuff, right, and wesold everything out so we had to

(31:08):
restock it.
So we closed our um kiosk whilewe're stocking it and taylor
was outside djing and I rememberthis is the first time I knew
he he had that it factor.
I opened the kiosk door and hehad the hugest crowd in front of
our store and he but he wasn'teven 21 yet, like he's young

(31:33):
he's on 18, 19?
.
Yup, and he had B-Boys dancingand I was like Chris Mejula was
my business partner.
I opened, I was like Brian, yougot to look at this dude.
He's doing this on wax and he'sdoing this on wax, the Serato,
with the control.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Yup.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
Okay okay, okay, okay , right on and I was like, oh
shit, he got it.
Okay, right on.
I was like, oh shit, he he's,he got it.
And um, I would put him on likea 30 minute set at the
beginning of our club whennobody's there.
Or if he um like, say, bettywas running late, he would jump

(32:13):
on Like I would never put him on.
And one time, um, betty wassick or something, so he had a
chance and he, he did what?
And we spirit um periodicallyput him on, gave him a chance,
had him clothes or they gave himthe shittiest spots and he
would kill it every single time,kill it.

(32:35):
And I remember this clearly.
And he called me up one day andhe's like, hey, there's this
Mai Tai battle, a DJ battle, Iremember hearing about this one.
Yeah, he said there's this MaiTai DJ battle and I want to try
it out.
And I was like, no, you ain'ttrying that out.

(32:57):
When you call me and you tellme there's this my type dj
battle and you want to gofucking win this thing, then
you're gonna go, then you'regonna play.
So he said okay, I said you'renot gonna.
If you're telling me you wantto try it and then that's not
the mindset, like you call andtell me you want to win this
thing, then let's do it.
So he waited a year and he keptdoing what he's doing.

(33:20):
And then he went and then hefucking won and he smashed.
He smashed two years in a row.
Then he entered the red bulland he, he won that.
And now he built his name towhere I could put him on and no
one could say anything and thenI would put him on.

(33:40):
And then he started socialmedia presence and then he just
fucking shot to the moon.
But his skill and his workethic was the same and he had it
hard, bro.
I put him through the ringerbecause I knew everybody would
say that we gave him anopportunity or a break, or he

(34:03):
probably would.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yeah, and he probably would have said that anybody
would have said that anyway evenif, even if you put him through
the ringer like this yeah toget to where he's at now.
People are gonna say thatanyway, but people are gonna say
what the fuck?
They're gonna say yeah, but thething is like, bro, that guy,
that guy's probably probably oneof the best djs on the island.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
I gotta say that yeah , and I can say that too.
And he earned like I knowpersonally every single penny,
cent, dime that he got is wellearned and he put in the work
and and any opportunity he getsis 100 earned because nothing

(34:45):
was given to him and I made sureof that because I didn't want
anybody to say otherwise.
Him winning those dj contestsmade it easier to put him on,
because now he has a clout, hebeat all these djs, you know.
I mean, he beat these guys.
So now he has some kind of hehas, he built his resume and
then, once we started, oh youcan open this night, or okay,

(35:07):
now we need you to play in themiddle, and then he would just
fucking crush.
And he would bro, like though,back in the day, like when he
knew he was gonna play in themiddle, the whole week he'd be
practicing and just fucking likehe would come in like he's
about to go fight an MMA fight,just that locked in, and he
would just crush.

(35:28):
And I would just be so proud ofhim because he's like my little
brother, he's the best man in mywedding, that's like my blood,
that's my boy.
So watching him accomplisheverything he does is a trip,
bro and um, like, when I see himplaying these big fucking
arenas and the shell and shitright, I get choked up, bro,

(35:49):
watching him do his thing,knowing what he did to get there
.
Not because he's good likethere's good djs but what he did
to get there not because he'sgood, like there's good DJs, but
what he did to get there isfucking like.
He'll have that work ethicwhatever he does, whatever he
chooses, for his whole life andhe always was like that.
He's built that way and thatcomes from his dad and I can see

(36:12):
that's how it is with you.
And yeah, I didn't mean to gooff on that tangent.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
I always like to brag oh, no, no, no, my little
brother, I never knew.
I never knew.
His story is that it's alwaysvery interesting to hear other
djs and how they came off them,especially in hawaii.
There's not.
I mean, there's a lot of djs,right, but yeah, and
respectfully, there's not manydjs here that are doing what

(36:40):
we're doing.
Yeah, I would, and I think Ijust made it to that point where
I'm now one of one of thelegends out here.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
I guess they do what they would say well that, that
being said, is like you're inthat younger generation, right,
and like there's not manyyounger djs out there,
especially that I know of youknow I mean that can handle like
those things.
And of course everybody hastheir, their residents, their

(37:11):
go-tos like, and a lot of theold school djs are still
relevant and still damn fuckinggood, like jimmy taco and dj
technique and like amazing, likethe ogs and and taylor learn
quickly, like to show respect tothem and learn from them and

(37:33):
that's why they're all closelike taylor came way after jimmy
taco and in fact actually so.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Jimmy taco was was around when I was in diapers too
.
He would come over the house allthe time, but then I knew I
knew how good he was because mydad would bring me along to go,
you know, check.
I think I think there was a.
I think there maybe the radiostation put on like a event at
like some car show or somethinglike that.

(38:01):
And I remember being a kid andseeing Jimmy Taco just fucking
ripping it up.
But me being a little kid andseeing that it was like you know
, he's one of my idols out here.
He does definitely deserve it.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
Who is the DJs that inspired you on the island Like?

Speaker 1 (38:20):
when you were starting on island.
Um, I gotta be 100 honest.
When I first started I didn'treally look, I wasn't really
going up in the clubs so Ireally didn't know.
I really didn't know, um, whowas great out here, but my
personal greats would have hadto been DJ AM.

(38:42):
Oh yeah, hello, who else we got?
I would have to revert it backto DJ AM, jay Espinosa, I would
listen to Jay Espinosa.
He's another good one, yeah,but DJ AM a good, he's another
good one, uh, yeah, and so, butdj am, I remember getting his,
uh, his cd with, uh travisbarker, oh yeah, you remember

(39:04):
that did the fix your face, yeah, and I, I was like 12, 13 years
old, jamming that shit in thecar with my dad and hearing him
scratch over travis's, uh,banging like it was.
He was like, he was like, itwas, like it was insane.
Hearing, hearing dj, thehearing scratching and drumming
at the same time.

(39:24):
That was that was the mostinspiring thing and so that was
yeah, yeah I got.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
I talked um about this when mass was on my show
and I got to watch dj am playlive at the palms, because I saw
that yeah hawaii dj dj uh.
Toma opened for him and he gotus up there in the dj booth and
I got to watch him play live and, yeah, he, he's next level um

(39:53):
you had to meet him, you got tomeet him.
Oh yeah, I got to meet him.
Yeah, this was years ago and itwas either Club Moon or Playboy
, I can't remember which one,but it was St Patrick's Day and
it was at the Palms and, oh yeah, they were just raging.
It was the biggest club inVegas at the time and yeah,

(40:17):
Unfortunately, when he passedaway, I said this on the show
they only lit up the AM of Palmsas a respect to him, and yeah,
I saw that.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
I saw the episode with you and Massimo.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
Great episode, by the way.
Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yeah, that's cool.
I saw that.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, that's cool that you respect the old school
djs, and I mean the way djing isnow and I've seen it through
generations.
I seen it through because I'molder and was in the industry
for so long and I'm sure yourdad can attest to it is that

(40:55):
back in the day DJs had to carrymilk crates full of fucking wax
and vinyls and it evolved toCDJs to now it was Serato.
Now you just fucking bring athumb drive and you're good to
go.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
You know what I mean, I mean even sometimes I would
be complaining like, oh, I gottabring my controller upstairs,
and then some of the OGs wouldbe like fuck bro, we had to
bring box up these fuckingstairs.
What do you mean Controllers?
It would just be funny.
But I mean I got to respect itLike the hustle, that awful

(41:31):
technique.
My dad fucking All those guys.
They had, they were busting assthe whole time, and then they
would bring like uh, like youknow, like a second guy with
them to help bring the crates,yeah, and so I would imagine my
life like that.
I'd be like damn, I couldn't, Iwould fucking give.
Honestly, I, I you know whatthe djing is not for me.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
But imagine that putting the vinyl on and then
finding the song and then, likeyou, having to mix it like it's,
it's mind-blowing and and withlike technology is supposed to
make things easier and stufflike that.
But no matter what, I don'tcare what people say.
Like ds, yes, they have iteasier than fucking vinyl, but

(42:16):
DJs still have to pick and mixand to keep the crowd.
Like anybody can play music,but not anybody can play music
and mix and keep a crowd thereand know what song to pick.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
I was just talking to Ace about this I think it was
either Ace or Tech, but I wastalking to people's attention
spans are so short these days,oh yeah, and so like I feel like
it was a little easier backthen in terms of picking a song

(42:51):
really quickly.
Was, really was, was a loteasier back then.
Maybe mixing not so much, but Imean, if you were really
fucking good yeah, then youcould probably do it, you know,
in your sleep.
But then picking songs now is alittle harder because you got
to go the songs.
If you play for more than 30seconds in the club nowadays

(43:14):
people just are going to be,they're going to leave, they're
going to walk away, away.
You gotta keep quick mixing.
so that's something I learnedreally well was quick mix, right
quick.
I would just burn through everysingle song, but make sure to
not burn out the club yeah so Iwould throw in a lesser known
song every four songs but I wastalking to bar but yeah, I was

(43:38):
talking to uh I think it was aceuh about this and she was
saying you know, people'sattention spans are so much more
shorter these days so you can't, really you can't.
It's a lot harder to keeppeople on the dance floor and,
like just the other night, wehad a group of uh, these
bridesmaids that were theydidn't want to get up and dance
because, but the songs were hot,they were great songs and I'm

(44:01):
pretty sure anybody else woulddance to them.
But it's just the attentionspans are so short.
And then you know what I meanit's like you lose them.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
You lose them after a minute of playing it so it's
like a you gotta hit, throwing abanger and hit the course and
then off, off to the next one.
Right, it's exactly itpersonally, what is your uh
genre of music that you like,like, love the most?
Like what?
What kind of music do youlisten to and what?

Speaker 1 (44:31):
gets you going.
Yeah, personally, um, I like, Ilike metal.
Oh, I'm a metal guy there we go.
That's me, that's, that's 100%me, metallica metallica bro, I
was, so I just got a.
I just got a bike and like it'slike an e-bike, but it's, it

(44:51):
looks like a little chopper,it's pretty cool okay, my
speaker on I was, I think ridethe lightning oh yeah, no, I'm
playing ride the lightning.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
It was, it was, but maybe I don't know if anybody
else really really likes metalall that much I do bro, I'm like
not to change subject, but I'mgoing in two weeks, or I'm going
to end of june, to levi stadium.
Two sets, two nights, twodifferent sets at 49er stadium
in june.

(45:21):
I'm going, I'll be there.
Yeah, metallica pantera isopening up for them the first
night and limp biscuits openingup for them the second night.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Oh, that's crazy yeah , a good one.
Yeah, oh shit, oh I I so goingback to like what I like to hear
.
Yeah, sometimes I maybe not adistrict or a key club.
I can't get away.
I have to play, like you know,like hip-hop and yeah, or edm,

(45:54):
like some things that peopleknow, but then at some of these
like rural places, like I usedto play in germany, I don't know
if you know, I I went to ohshit, yeah, so I didn't know
that so quick, a little shortlyafter district I started doing
open format.
But then in Germany I was, youknow, I was playing a bunch of

(46:21):
open format songs Because outthere people really love Limp
Bizkit out there.
So what is that one?
I came into this world as aregion.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Oh yeah, look into my eyes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
And I wrote and somebody asked for that.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
Did it all for the nookie, yeah I played nookie in.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
It was.
It was in regensburg, germany,regensburg, germany, and I said
it was college town in germanyand fucking the amount of
younger kids.
I wouldn't think that theywould know that song in germany.
Bro, they're going fuckinginsane.
They're like jumping all overthe bar for the nookie oh shit,

(47:01):
what's going on?
Yeah, but that's insane.
So in germany, that's that.
That's when I really startedlistening to more limp biscuit.
Yeah, but I really like metalEDM is always fun but just

(47:24):
whatever.
Honestly, I listen to morepodcasts nowadays.
Oh, yeah, I'm the same, notwanting to listen to more music
at the end of the night, youknow it's your job.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
You don't want to come home and listen to your job
.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
Yeah, what do you like to play?

Speaker 2 (47:39):
the most, though, uh like when you're, I guess you
gotta play to the crowd, butwhat, what?

Speaker 1 (47:46):
gets you okay me personally.
I I like playing hip-hop, butI'm really getting into playing
dubstep now, like like hardcoredubstep or house music.
I really like house music justbecause it gets people going,
whatever gets people going.
Honestly, I like to play.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
So you got to play some.
Like you said earlier, you gotto play some huge concerts like
T-Pain Tyga.
Also, thank you for hooking mygirlfriend up with Tickets.
She had a blast like she is sostoked bro, like she was really,
really appreciative.
So thank you for that it's sofunny.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Uh, sasha uh was telling me, um, who Mike Jones
was, and I never knew who Mikewas.
So she, one night we wereworking, she was like, she was
like, can you play Mike Jones?
Somebody asked for a requestand I was like, oh, I'm sorry, I
don't know who Mike Jones is.
I'm opening up for the guy intwo months.
I don't know who he is.

(48:47):
And Mike Jones, if you'relistening, I'm so sorry, but I
never knew who he was.
And so Sasha was like bro, youdon't know who Mike Jones is.
I was like I was like no, andshe's like Mike Jones, you don't
know.
Yeah, yeah and so.
But that was funny and it wasanother moment, but yeah so

(49:08):
playing for those huge crowds.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Like how was that?
I know you played like a littlestadium parking lot and yeah,
I've seen videos.
Those crowds are enormous.
Like how, how hyped were youfor that?

Speaker 1 (49:21):
or were you like, oh fuck, this is gonna be nuts to
be honest, I it's easier playingfor those clouds, those crowds,
rather than a small room.
I get more nervous for a smallroom.
Oh, okay, playing for biggercrowds because you can.
It's a lot easier as a dj to toto please most people rather

(49:44):
than a small group of people sothat's how I was looking at it.
I was really excited and it was.
It was a blast.
I had the most fun, um, but I,I would say I wasn't as nervous,
I was ready for it.
I think by the time I got tostart, you know, um djing, for

(50:05):
those big, big names, I, I was.
You know, it's just another day, we can do it, oh yeah yeah,
and you go on the mic in everyday not so much.
I try not to because nobodywants to hear my voice, like you
know what I mean.
They want to hear the the act.
So I leave that for michaelbanks.

(50:25):
I leave that for whoever, youknow what it says yeah, but um,
they just want to hear me play,so I stay.
I start to stay away from themic.
If I need to do it, then I'lldo it, but you know, yeah, well
one thing too, I'll give my hey,hey, cj park.
What's happening everybody?

Speaker 2 (50:43):
all right, let's get this fucking party started bam
okay, that's good, that's smart,yo, and that's good too.
Like you know, they ain't goinganywhere if you're opening for
the opening act, they, theycan't, yeah, they're, they're
not gonna leave, you know I meanexactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
So I can't I, I just, I just stay away from the
fucking mic and just leave yeah,that's super cool, bro, those
opportunities.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
You never know what it could lead to and I've seen
things happen because the djsget, get an opportunity like
that and brad it.
It's cool that your name isgetting out there, like, oh,
people are going to actually goto a club because you're djing
there and that that's whereyou're starting to get around my

(51:29):
head, around that.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
Yeah, I still can't wrap my, but that's because
you're humble like your dad well, bro, I mean I think well for
me, I mean because hawaii is sosmall, you know everybody, but I
try to look at it.
Oh, my friends are coming tocome see me tonight, come see me
play, hang out with my friendsyeah, and that's how.
That's kind of how I like tosee it, rather than people are

(51:52):
coming to see me because, theyadd pressure and then you start
thinking, oh, you're the shit.
You cannot think like that,because I just think, hey, my
friends are coming, everybody'sgoing to come, we're all going
to have a party together.
That's how I like to think ofit.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah, oh, that's super cool.
And, bro, you seem busy.
How many gigs a week do you sayyou average out?

Speaker 1 (52:19):
About five about five nights, yeah, and then
sometimes the day two, uh, I'llplay it like he was or I'll do
the boat parties.
Okay, still, pick the boatparties.
So I, I, I love it.
I, I love djing.
Um, I'm tired, yeah, but and,and there's a lot of politics
that I don't want to deal withwhen I'm not djing.
Um, I'm tired, yeah, but, and,and there's a lot of politics
that I don't want to deal withwhen I'm not djing I have to

(52:42):
deal with, and all, all kinds ofother bullshit, but it all
makes up for it.
When you know, at the end ofthe day, when I get to play,
when I'm on stage, it's, it'sall makes up for it.
I wouldn't, I wouldn't be doinganything else.
Honestly, no, I'm gonna liveand die yeah, and I I'm.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
That's the same with hopper.
Like I always tell him that'swhen, when you're free is when
you're doing you behind thetables and you're that
connecting with the crowd.
That's that I know, that's hismoment and and that's when he's
doing his passion and and for methat's always cool to see.
You know what I mean.
And it's a crazy industry.

(53:20):
I always ask this also Likebeing in the nightlife industry,
there's always a lot ofsubstance going around and
alcohol and bullshit and shitthat goes down.
How do you navigate that whilebeing in the nightlife industry?

Speaker 1 (53:39):
yeah, I recently got sober.
I'm about a month and threeweeks I'm about to make my two
month mark and I was, you know,I was struggling with a you know
bunch of substance abuse I'mpretty sure you might have known
and but I got sober.
I got sober because I wanted tostay alive.

(54:00):
I think I was going a littletoo hard, okay, and so I think
what helped me big time was wasthe non-alcoholic beers, but
also to, um, keeping in mindthat, like, I'm only going to be

(54:22):
at the club for a short amountof time, so don't drink, I would
you know be doing it all thetime, until it got to the point
where I would be doing it ondays that I weren't working,
wasn't't working, and that'swhat scared me.
So I decided, you know, andit's hard, it's hard, it's
harder for others, but, um, yeah, I just decided to to just drop

(54:44):
it, just quit it, you know, andI I'm I'm really happy now that
I am non-alcoholic beers.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
In fact, I'm drinking one right now oh nice oh like
you're full sober, like nothingthen yeah, no, nothing, nothing
at all okay yeah, um, but yeah,I mean, they should sponsor me,
or you know yeah, for sure

Speaker 1 (55:06):
I could be drinking a lot of these, but this is hero.
Uh, I don't know if you knowwho tom holland is, but he made
this company called bureau andit helped me a lot.
So so I would, um, I would, um,you know, have these every once
in a while when I feel like Iwant a little taste, cause I
still love a cold beer.
Yeah for sure I don't want todrink any alcohol and also to

(55:27):
shout out Alex, because hehelped me big time.
Um, I reached out to him.
I thought I said hey, you know,I'm I'm deciding to stop'm
getting help.
Um, is it okay if I bring somenon-alcoholic beers to the club,
just for me to put on the side?
Oh, and he was like you knowwhat, we're actually bringing in
non-alcoholic drinks and youknow like, feel free to have

(55:51):
those.
So I was like fuck, shoot then.
So I feel like, right after Idon't know if, I don't know if
that just so happened by youknow like subsequently, but he
was gonna have it in the clublike a week later, so that that
was nice yeah, yeah divineintervention divine intervention
man.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
Yeah, that's awesome man, and since you've been um
sober, how has that kind ofaffected like the trajectory of
what your career is is kind ofplaying out to be, right.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
I mean just because I mean it's been.
It's only been, you know, twomonths.
Basically, yeah, I it's.
It might be a little early totell, but I feel like I'm better
at my job.
My interactions with people inthe industry are, you know
they're, they're more or my, orpeople in general, they're more

(56:46):
genuine.
I'm not.
I'm not hung over and I can'tlike.
There's when I was drinking alot, I'd be so hung over to the
point I couldn't even have aconversation with people without
needing to go get a drink withthem.
you know what I mean, so I wouldask my friends all the time
like hey, you want to go get adrink, and they they tell me oh,

(57:07):
you know, bro, you got to relax, I got, I got to work the next
more, the next morning ratherthan me, you know, they would
say the next morning rather thanme, I.
I work at night, you know, andso like I can go the whole night
and not need, uh, not need tonot go without a drink, so okay,
it started getting really bad.
But I feel like now I canconfidently, I can confidently

(57:34):
be around people and I'm morecomfortable and I'm ready to
build relationships that don'thave to do anything, that don't
have anything to do with, youknow, doing drugs or drinking,
and, yeah, I'm really happy tochange.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
I think with our industry it's it's huge, like
that is a huge, and I've seen alot of people tank their life
and careers and families andbecome so affected by the
substance that's in our industrythat it's cool to hear when

(58:12):
people that have so much futureget away from it.
So it's like you're young andbro not.
When you said you started djingright after the pandemic, that
was like what three, four yearsago.
So you're you're kind of juststarting to to scratch the
surface of what your potentialcould be in this industry and,

(58:37):
that being said, like what areyour future plans to take what
you're doing and and what areyou gonna do?
What's it?
What do you think your futureholds in this uh djing lifestyle
and industry?

Speaker 1 (58:52):
um, well, they say vegas, but I don't really know,
I don't.
I think I'm taking it one stepat a time, but most people are
telling me, hey, you need vegas,like, um, and I think that time
will come eventually.
Yeah, but I, I, I want to.

(59:13):
I want to be able to travel theworld and work, and so for me,
right now, I think that's goingto be DJing, but hopefully,
maybe one day this might not beit for me.
I mean, maybe I might gosomething else, like make
furniture, like fucking makepizzas or open up a restaurant.

(59:37):
I don't know, it might it mightchange, like I don't.
I don't think I don'tnecessarily think I want to be
able to have to stay up tillfour in the morning for the rest
of my life, and so I don't know, maybe I think, withing thing,
I'm going to continue doing it,and maybe it's going to be Vegas

(59:59):
.
I think that's what's going tohappen, yeah, eventually.

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
Well, that makes sense and, honestly, being in
this industry, it opens a lot ofdoors for other avenues.
I've experienced it my own self, as well as friends and stuff,
and because the industry is sobuilt around fun, things can

(01:00:24):
happen any night at any giventime, because everybody's having
fun and there's alcohol orwhatever, and an opportunity
might be given to you and youwouldn't even understand the
ramifications it's gonna takeyour life into.
So every night could be anopportunity for something else,

(01:00:45):
and right right now your passionis playing music and it could
change, but it could also staythe same.
You ever thought aboutproducing or or making your own
stuff?

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
yeah, I actually I have something in I and I don't
want to.
I don't want to say too muchright now, but I have something
I'm working on, right.
Yeah, something cooking,something, something's happening
, but all right, I don't want tospeak too much about it, just
yet.
If it doesn't happen, but Ihave something I'm whipping up

(01:01:19):
in my pocket.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
Okay, Well, we'll look forward to that and I think
, with your work ethic, justlike your dad's, I think
whatever you're doing is goingto be successful.
If you lock in and right nowit's DJing, so that's why you're
successful.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
Going to be successful if you lock in and
right now it's djing, so that'swhy you're successful, I'm blown
away I want to tell you thesame thing, bro, because you,
you, you, started this podcastwhen 2020, yeah, pandemic, yep,
bro, and you haven't stoppedsince I know it's been pretty
consistent.

(01:01:57):
The same goes for you, and youknow, and you deserve every
flower that you could possiblybrah.
This is, this is great.
I'm really appreciative thatyou even have me here, bro.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
That's, it's pretty cool I'm stoked too brah and
like, like I said, meetingyounger, like people in the
younger generation.
I always not judge, but I kindof gauge, like their mindset,
and I've met a lot of dummieswho very entitled, very all

(01:02:29):
about themselves too much ontheir phones.
And meeting you is veryrefreshing because you're kind
of an older soul.
Like you have that same workethic.
You're very appreciative.
You have the.
The way you think is you'revery work-minded, so it's like

(01:02:50):
everything that you're doingreminds me of a younger us or
younger.
I've seen it before in ayounger generation and I think
that has a lot to do with howyour dad brought you up, but
it's also the aloha you have andthat is is what's valuable.
That's that's what the youngergeneration needs more of, and

(01:03:12):
not just all about me.
It's all about us and all abouthow I treat other people.

Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
Like you said, yeah, I think I've had my moments,
though I I mean I'm not perfect,we're all not perfect.
But I mean, in the verybeginning of when I first
started doing like these biggershows, I would be told by
friends like, oh, you gottafucking start, you gotta stop
being so fucking humble.
And I would.

(01:03:38):
I would try to be like kind ofannoyingly maybe, like like you
know too nice, or like notacknowledge things, like
acknowledge that I've donepretty cool stuff so.
I get the wrong idea and thenI'd act like an asshole.
So the thing is, I don't likethat about myself, so I was like
you know, I try not.
I try not to be like that, butI, what I will say is is um,

(01:04:03):
what's helped me a lot to staygrounded would have to be not
believing my own bullshit.
Don't believe.
Don't believe what people thinkof you know, like even the good
things, don't like.
Yeah, don't, don't.
Don't take the good, don't takethe bad, just fucking.
Just just be yourself your oldman.

(01:04:25):
You know what I mean and sothat's, that's, that's all it is
really.
You know, and we're all heredoing the same thing.
We're all human beings, we'reall you know.
Yeah and um, dj, no matter whatdj, no, dj, fucking.
We're all human beings.
Even in the club brad and I seeso many djs that are like that-

(01:04:46):
yeah that are.
You know that are a little umthey're.
You know they can be kind ofassholes to people in the club,
like when I hear about songrequests sometimes, like djs
will complain about songrequests and that is annoying.
I mean, don't get me wrong,that is annoying.
But the thing is we need toremember to that we are so

(01:05:08):
blessed, like there isespecially the resident djs.
We need to remember that we areso blessed because we get to
work.
These dream, these dream.
These are dream jobs, noteverybody gets to do this, yeah,
and when I saw a dj like swipea swipe this girl's phone out of
her hand, you know she justwanted a song and I'm thinking

(01:05:29):
about it.
You gotta think of it this waylike these people come from
working a long ass shift, theywant to be able to hear certain
songs.
So don't be that guy.
That's super entitled.
You know, don't be thatentitled dj, and that's what I'm
.
I want to convey that you know.
Yeah, you know that's supercool, don't think.

(01:05:49):
Don't think I'm gonna play allyour fucking song quest though
bad bunny.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
I swear.
I seen that every time I'm inthe dj booth.
Some fucker holding up but playbad bunny.
It's like bro the um.
Yeah, what you said uhresonated with me big time is
you get to play for all?
These people, you don't have to.
It's not like, oh, I gotta play.

(01:06:15):
It's like you, you're blessedand you get to play and yeah I'm
sure there's many djs with likewishing for that opportunity
that you you earned already.
Um yep, I think with thatmindset you always get ahead in
life because you'll not becomplacent and you'll always

(01:06:35):
appreciate yeah, where you areand it's, it's not at any given
day it can get taken away likethe pandemic.
You didn't have to experience it, that during your uh dj run,
but as promoters yeah, aspromoters and as, uh, djs like
and club owners and anybody inthe industry.

(01:06:57):
Everything just got taken awaywhen we were open.
The next year we were closed.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
How did you maneuver that?
So that's a question I wantedto ask you too, as a running
member of the club and apromoter and having to feed
monsters.
You have a kid, too, right?
You have a daughter, yeah Well.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
I'm a daughter.
Yeah, well, I'm a med tech.
I I'm.
I'm a med tech for cancerresearch oh, okay so you're,
you're a central worker to thecommunity.
Yes, so my real job was stillintact.
I was still testing blood.
I still was working at the.
I worked for the UniversityCancer Research Center.

(01:07:35):
I didn't know that.
And then I was also blessedwith my friend.
He's one of the RNs at Kaiser.
There was a TV show in Hawaiicalled Doogie Kamealoha.
It was a spinoff from DoogieHowser and they were shooting in

(01:07:56):
Hawaii at the cancer center.
But he had the contract somehowI don't even know how and one
of my best friends.
He had a contract to COVID testevery single employee every day
on the set and he needed help.
And because we were so lax atthe cancer center I could do

(01:08:22):
both.
So I was half of my days.
I was COVID testing actors,grips, stage manager, everybody
working in the industry.
I met some celebrities and allkind of shit.
I stuck things up their noseand services.
Yeah, yes, all the craftservices and it was with my best

(01:08:42):
friend, so like we were justhaving a blast like so for me,
kobe was fun and we would godrink.
The nightlife industry, uh, wasat at a hold and it, for me, it.
It changed my outlook because Iwas getting a lot older in my

(01:09:09):
career as a promoter.
So I own artist groove network.
That was our promotion companyand we've been around for shoot
almost 25 years and I've been init for about 20 years and I
became worried as I got older.

(01:09:30):
If I stop, then I'm losingmyself.
This is who I am, this is mylife and I'm not going to.
This is who I am, this is mylife and I'm not going to be
that guy anymore.
I'm not going to have thatclout.
I'm not going to be the personeverybody needs to.
Like the fun dude, like allthat.
And then when COVID yeah, myidentity exactly.

(01:09:51):
And when COVID happened, it wastaken away from me.
And then I realized for one.
I realized who my real friendsare.
As a dj you probablyexperienced that too you're the
most popular guy.
Every friday night and saturdaymorning nobody gives a shit or
nobody calls to say thank you.

(01:10:12):
Everybody calls can you hook meup in the club?
And and which is to be expected, or whatever.
But I realized, like who myreal friends are, the people
that call and see hey, how areyou doing?
Like what's going on, can wehang out or whatever?
Two, I realized me.
Thaddeus, as a promoter, isn'twho I am, it's what I do, and

(01:10:35):
that separation helped me somuch to where I am now, where I
don't need to promote anymoreand, um, I don't need to be in
the nightclub every singleweekend and that's so solid.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
Yeah, that's so solid , bro.
Awesome.
Then the realization too it'slike I'm, I'm me, like, yes,
like I'm I'm the fucker, youknow, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
So that's awesome, bruh it was weird too, because I
had that same crossroads,because I used to compete, I
used to fight, I used to dotaekwondo and martial arts and
stuff and kickboxing, and when Iwas stopping that I was like
who the fuck am I if I'm notthat person?
If I'm not that person, thenwho am I?

(01:11:16):
And then I realized like no, no, no, that's what I did and it
was the same thing, except forso many years later.
And I just feel happy now thatit was sad when, like when we
stopped Eve is kind of like ourlast weekly uh club event that

(01:11:38):
I've done and I've been doing it, like I said, for over 20 years
and when we stopped eve it wasI was kind of bummed out,
thinking like okay, this is it.
And then I realized like I don'tneed to be sad that it's over.
I should be happy that ithappened because, like you said,
this lifestyle is amazing, likewe've experienced stuff that

(01:12:01):
99.9 people on earth neverexperienced and we had the most
fun and had the most crazynights and the most amazing
experiences and and stuff andmet the most craziest people.
But at the end of the day ithappened and I got to live this

(01:12:23):
life and experience all theseexperiences.
We're not normal, you're not anormal guy, I'm not normal.
To live this life is not normal, isn't?

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
it crazy, though, that, like what you just said,
there's so many things that 99like that so many people don't
experience like being inindustry yeah, again, and people
go to clubs all the time, butyeah, seeing the back end and
especially you, seeing the backend of how things really work in
a nightclub blows your fuckingmind, because you I mean, like

(01:12:57):
how you said earlier, about if,if the dj is not playing well,
then nobody gets fucking paidyep, everything's on you, bro,
and that was a lot of pressurecoming into the game.
You know that was a lot ofpressure in this industry, and
when I first you know my firstyear was fucking God that
realized if I play like ass,none of you guys fucking get

(01:13:21):
paid.
And that's not healthy too.
It's really not healthy.
And it's not healthy for thepromoters too.
If they don't promote, nobodycomes in, nobody gets paid,
exactly so it's like we're goingthrough the same fucking thing.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
Yeah.
And it's a deer in theheadlight moment, like fuck
you're.
Like I've promoted events whereit didn't work out and it died,
and like everybody's looking atme like what the fuck that?
like I was, like I don't knowbut um I was blessed to been
very successful in this industryand and and, with a lot of work

(01:13:56):
.
We did a lot of work andbecause of social media, it got
easier.
When we first started, we wererunning around putting flyers on
cars, stepping in puke puddles,watching people oof in cars and
like just hitting all the clubswith flyers and like actual
flyers and shit.

Speaker 1 (01:14:14):
It just we did the legwork literally.
Yeah, it's called.
We did the legwork literally.
Yeah, it's called gorilla.

Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
marketing rise Like but, I, wouldn't trade any of
those experiences for anything,because it made me who I am and
I've met so many cool people.
I met some douchebags, but Imet so many cool people like you
.
I would never have met you inthis If it wasn't for this
industry, and I'm gettingmarried because it is industry.

(01:14:37):
I've married a bartender fromthe club that I promoted, you
know what I mean, yeah, and um,yeah, I have a daughter because
I met her.

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
What is that?

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
oh, thank you, I appreciate that I lucked out and
with sasha as um she's superawesome yeah and she's very
strong-minded and because of herbeing in the industry, it
worked, because I had girls,girlfriends that couldn't handle
me promoting, and it's like Iwatch her get hit on in front of

(01:15:11):
me all the time and it's funfor me.
Like it's like, oh, these guys,hey, sasha, that guy wants your
number.
Like it's funny for me andshe'll see me get hit on and
we're both strong enough to knowat the end of the day, like
this is just bullshit and we'regoing home to each other and and
yours are kind of like mr andmrs smith in that regard yeah,

(01:15:34):
the same circuit, but fuckingyou guys know what's real and um
she, her being such a strongperson definitely made it easy
and yeah, but that being said,like this industry is cool
experiences and it is crazy, Imean I'm sure you're gonna get
it.
Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, go aheadyeah blowing off camera because

(01:15:58):
I know, no, all good, but um, Ithink the direction that it's
going is is different now.
And um, honestly, as promotioncompanies at least here in
hawaii it's it's kind of a dyingbreed.
A lot of these clubs are hiringin-house promoters.

(01:16:19):
I think the strategy started inVegas with that, because you
don't want the promoter to getup and leave.
You know what I mean.
Say, you're a nightclub ownerand this promotion company comes
in and they rage it out At anygiven moment they can leave, and
then your club is back tonothing.

Speaker 1 (01:16:42):
Fortunately with the district, we were there for nine
years, hey you guys wererunning it hard, yeah, and you
guys were going.
I remember my because you guyswere Fridays, right, yep, yeah,
fridays.
Remember my because you guyswere fridays, right, yep, yeah.
And then, um, I, I rememberseeing you guys and you and
hansen, I mean fuck kudos to youguys because you guys were

(01:17:06):
going and the thing and you,that place packed I was like and
and, and I was super impressedby what you guys were doing and
I wish I got to you know, uh,run into you guys a little.
uh, you know more, but I mean,things just didn't pan out that
way.
And, um, I and we both had, youknow, the privilege of you know

(01:17:29):
my time at Eve, what you know,it served its purpose.
I was the first resident andthen know I, then I wasn't and,
and, um, but I'm super gratefulto you know, no, hey, a whole
suck and bull, oh yeah, fordoing what they do and giving
giving us the opportunity to toeven step into that place and
work yeah it's all work at theend of the day and I think

(01:17:50):
people forget that, and that'sprobably the thing sometimes to
forget that, hey, this is workand that's you know it is it,
yeah, it's a blessing and andwith, like with any job, you
anybody's replaceable, like it'sjust, it is what it is.

Speaker 2 (01:18:08):
But I think, um, future wise, bro, I think you
have a a bright future and justkeep grinding, put on your work,
put your grinding hat on andjust keep doing what you're
doing.
Um, where are your gigs at?
Again, like, where can peoplelike go watch you play now?

Speaker 1 (01:18:31):
So currently I am playing district key club, key
Keys, shorefire, white Key Walls, I think that's it at the
moment.
Yeah, I have quite a fewresidencies.

(01:18:53):
What nights?
Oh, so Fridays would be keyclub and velvet.
So, uh, district on saturdays,surefire every other thursdays,
and I transition between key uhkiki's and then uh, waikiki
walls.
I'll do that during the daysometimes, like see if you want

(01:19:13):
to, ever, if anybody wants toget coffee, oh yeah, yeah, the
day stuff is is, you know, inhawaii needs to need, there
needs to be a uh, a resurgencein that, I think.
I think, yeah, having lessalcohol around, well, and people
can just dance and yeah makefriends.
That'd be really cool.

(01:19:34):
I've always really wanted to.
I I think eventually too,that'll be.
Another thing that I want to dois transition into like the day
parties more.
Just because I can come home alittle earlier, that might get
me out of retirement because Ialways wanted.

Speaker 2 (01:19:49):
We almost did alohilani like we were one day
away from releasing the date andeverything and then it got
yanked from us yeah, we canmaybe we can maybe work
something out.

Speaker 1 (01:19:59):
Let's talk.
Yeah, I'm, I'm done.
I mean, shoot if it gets youout of retirement man gotta be
something cool, though.

Speaker 2 (01:20:08):
Yeah and um, the hawaii has the best weather for
day parties, which and I want,like I had ideas to do beach
parties.
We tried a whole bunch ofdifferent.
We even did a boat party.
We, me and Hoppa.
We did the glass bottom boatfor a while Like it was it got

(01:20:30):
pretty crazy yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:20:32):
That was insane.
Yeah, boat parties.
For some reason, it's just,it's ratchet.
Yeah, maybe it's the fucking.
What is that thing thateverybody takes before they go
on to?
Oh dramamine yeah, yeah andalcohol are not a good mix.
Like it gets people going.
Man, yeah, oh man.

(01:20:55):
Those those boat parties arealways so fun.
But yeah, it really takes a lotof you out, because I would do
the boat parties and then Iwould go to the club yeah,
that's nuts and I'd be fucking,I'd be tired, that's shit.

Speaker 2 (01:21:07):
Oh yeah, just for being in the sun all day, yeah
yeah the pool parties are cooltoo.
We did a bunch of those.
Pool parties are pretty too.
We did a bunch of those.

Speaker 1 (01:21:15):
Pool parties are pretty nuts.
Yeah, I'm surprised there's notthat many out here at the
moment.
I mean, maybe, maybe, I think,a year from now.
I think people are going tocatch on where you, more
promoters are going to catch onthat Like, oh, there's a niche
here, there's a need for it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:30):
It's just hard to find a venue, like for any hotel
, to be down for that kind ofruckus, and especially if
they're corporate based, thenit's hard.
And then, yeah, beaches is hard.
You got to find a venue that'son a beach that's down for it,
you know, I mean, and yeah, Iknow white sand had put on a.

Speaker 1 (01:21:49):
I mean I played a few white sand, uh, pool parties,
yeah, really fun.

Speaker 2 (01:21:56):
Yeah, uh, we did princess cap or queen cap, queen
cap, and we did a taiku onethat was simultaneously done in
two other countries and it wasit was stupid and we all took a
taiku shot uh at simultaneouslywhat?

Speaker 1 (01:22:15):
is that tycoon?

Speaker 2 (01:22:17):
it was a, uh, it was a, um japanese vodka I think it
was okay.

Speaker 1 (01:22:24):
Vodka yeah, it was a japanese vodka I think it was
tycoon yeah okay, they wereputting on their own parties yep
, and they.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
They hired us to do theirs one, and that thing was
just out of control yeah, well,I mean shoot, hey.
So you're retired now you'reout, you're, you're well I'm I'm
retired from the weekly clubnights okay I'm not saying like
hansen's done, like he's he'sdone, he found god and is doing

(01:22:55):
other things.
But for me I'm not saying I'mdone doing events and if
something catches my eye, I'llrun it, but I'm definitely done
doing Friday night nightclubsand shit yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
You know what.
Good for you, bro.
That's awesome that you decided.

Speaker 2 (01:23:15):
And you know what good for you, brah.

Speaker 1 (01:23:16):
That's yeah, that's awesome, yeah, and you know what
having a family, too, is yeah,yeah the most important thing
going forward for you.
Yeah, and, as I said again,congratulations and that new
party.
You know that big part of youknow getting married and and um,
being home on on weekends isprobably, yeah, we going to a

(01:23:38):
nightclub and definitely atleast now before it was like, oh
shit, like it's gonna be funtonight and all like gonna have
chicks where you have fun, youknow.

Speaker 2 (01:23:48):
I mean it's that whole thing.
And now it's like I'm walkingaround the club thinking, holy
shit, shit, if my daughter worethat I would fuck her up.

Speaker 1 (01:23:59):
And how old is she now?
14.
Yeah, so there's still sometime.
Yeah, and what's?
So funny is when I was firststarting to go to these
nightclubs, I was underage andI'm not going to say which
nightclubs it was and I'm notgoing to say who got me in, but

(01:24:20):
then I, my dad, uh and my momand my dad they would definitely
get those text messages here.

Speaker 2 (01:24:24):
Oh, yeah, yeah, my daughter's screwed.
She's like 86 from every clubon the island already, like she
can't even go to the mallwithout me getting Texas.

Speaker 1 (01:24:34):
Oh, I see your daughter over here.
She has a bunch of uncles onher.
Oh yeah, she has some crazyuncles, but shoot.

Speaker 2 (01:24:47):
We've been going for almost freaking hour and a half.
Okay, social media wise, wherecan people find you?

Speaker 1 (01:24:54):
So you can find me.
It's CJ Park, i-tj park.
It's cj park, um, and that's myinstagram and, uh, at the
moment I don't really haveanything else.

Speaker 2 (01:25:04):
So, all right, and they can get your linkedin from
your instagram and check out allyour gigs and yeah, and you can
see my resume and all the coolstuff that I've done.

Speaker 1 (01:25:13):
Yeah, yeah.
All right on and for us yeahit's been.
It's been cool.

Speaker 2 (01:25:19):
Yeah, and for us, you can find us at above the bridge
podcast on Instagram, ourYouTube channel, our website is
atvpodcom and my personalInstagram is daddy daddy.
Hi, I appreciate you for comingon.
I know we tried to figure thisout, uh, before and it wasn't

(01:25:40):
the right time.
I felt like what you told meearlier, this is the right time.
This is this.
This would be a good one and Idefinitely think that you're
somebody I would want to have inthe future and while your
career progresses because you'reyoung and you can get to a spot
where having anotherconversation with you, it will

(01:26:00):
be like so cool to see theprogress.

Speaker 1 (01:26:03):
You know what I mean, yeah, maybe, maybe the next
time you'll talk to me we'll,I'll be at a, maybe DJ on Mars
or something, I don't know.
Yeah, it'd be super cool, or atleast in Vegas, at least in
Vegas.

Speaker 2 (01:26:17):
Yeah, but thanks again for coming on, shaka's for
the cameras.
There we go, we're out.
Shout out to the Artist GroupNetwork Aloha, thank you.