Herbert Holler: Offline Parties, Fallon Moments, and Defining Success on the Virtual Sessions presented by The DJ Sessions 8/28/25

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ Sessions Presents The Virtual Sessions.
I'm your host, Darran, and right now I'm sitting in the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington.
Nice, bright, sunny day out here and coming in all the way from NYC, we have none other than Herbert Holler with us today.
Herbert, great having you back on the show again today.
Thanks, it's great to be here, Darran.

(00:26):
Thanks for having me again.
This is awesome.
Absolutely, man.
Well, you, last time we spoke about a year ago, we were doing a little pre-show catch-up, you know, had some stuff going on with me, cleared all that stuff out of the way.
We're back, we're ready to rock and roll, doing some awesome stuff.
But you, you, my friend, we got a most important question that I gotta ask.
I gotta ask this question for you is, how freaking wonderful are you?

(00:50):
Depends on who you ask, Darran.
No, I just love it in your show, don't you?
You wanna talk about how freaking wonderful you are.
So I'm wondering how freaking wonderful you are.
No, you have a lot of stuff going on out there on the East Coast.
A lot of projects going on and I was pulling up some stuff, doing some research today, and I was like, we're gonna dive into it and get into some of this, because you're a hardworking guy out there.

(01:13):
Yeah, yeah.
You have a lot of stuff, you know?
All these wrinkles, look at these wrinkles.
You got wrinkles?
You want like, you know, we use our service here.
You know, we don't have our hair and makeup AI generated hair and makeup bot on the team today.
I could use a lot.
It's a lot of work.
It could help me out.
I mean, I'm 51 and I mean, I gotta keep my eyes open like this the whole time.

(01:34):
Yep.
My auto smile face isn't working.
I gotta come down and prop it up.
You know, I got a person in green screen outfit that comes behind me.
I just need to shave a little of this away.
Just a little clucker away.
I hear you.
No, man, I hear you.
You know, sitting behind the desk is, you know, can definitely put those pounds on.
Since I hit the mic and got back on the screen, sitting down on this computer in the last few months, I put on 25 pounds.

(01:58):
Damn.
I know.
I was looking all hot and sexy.
I was like 165.
And I'm like, I'm feeling great.
My pants fit me again because I bought them so long ago.
I haven't updated my wardrobe.
And then all of a sudden, like in from May, June, July, I went from 165 to 192.

(02:19):
I'm like, what the hell?
I strongly advise for you and for every DJ out there that has to sit somewhere and do marketing all day and whatever, try to get that gym in.
Something to exercise by.
I do it first thing in the morning normally, and it just changes your whole day.
It's like popping a pill and you don't have to pop a pill.
You know, it's funny you say that because I've been saying, you know what?

(02:43):
After today's interview, I'm going and doing it.
I like VR and I'm not getting paid by this company, but they have this really cool VR app called Fit, and it's like a virtual workout gym.
I can do Beat Saber all day long, but I kind of get bored of the songs.
And it's just like, it's doing this.
I can get some cardio in and it works.
But this Fit one, you know, this Fit one's really cool because it has you like punching and jabbing and going up and down and turning around and doing cool shit.

(03:11):
I'm psyched for it, you know?
You should do the Donald Trump dance with the two.
What is it, like this?
I don't even want to, I don't even acknowledge that.
I'm like, fuck that shit, man.
Yeah, I mean, it's just trying to figure out a way to keep it up.
And I eat healthy, you know?
I don't eat a lot of junk food, but being back in the, I used to have a nine o'clock regime, where at 9 a.m. I'd hit the clock, hit the computer running.

(03:36):
Now that I've made some life-changing stuff, I'm waking up at 6.30, and basically I'm at the computer at 7 a.m., you know?
And then I'm at my desk.
It's really amazing to see how you can change your body.
You can change, you can build muscle, you can take away fat.
And even more amazing, you can do the same thing with your brain.

(03:57):
You can sort of manually, not manually, that's the wrong word, because you're not going up there, but you can rewire connections to make yourself feel better, to make sure that negative energy doesn't stick in a loop, and one neuron doesn't connect to the other negative neuron.
It's super interesting, the work we can do when we focus and try.

(04:17):
Absolutely.
You know, I'm a huge person of manifest destiny, personal positive mental influence, is our PMI is what I personally call it.
And keeping your mindset there, that's a big, that got me into a big kind of hole.
Last year when we talked, I came back from Germany.
That was my 50th birthday, and I kind of just was like, what do I do next?

(04:39):
What's one more interview gonna do?
What's this gonna do?
I was just at an event, Rave the Planet, and there was 350,000 people there, and I'm on one of the double-decker buses, torn around with one of the biggest studios in the world, live streaming, number one in the world.
And I'm like, what's after this?
Yeah, it's, and that's mindset.
That's total mindset, and physical activity, and mental exercise as well, doing writing, writing down negativity, and changing it around.

(05:07):
Yeah.
Practicing your gratitude every day, which is, I was doing that on threads, and it's, I'm gonna start doing it again, because it's such an ugly place, and I've fallen into this ugly hole.
But anyway.
You know, somebody once, years ago, funny enough, on that note about posting positively online, which are kind of like daily affirmations for me as well, I once had somebody come to me and say, there's nobody that can be as positive as you are all the time, like you are.

(05:35):
And I looked at that person in my head, I was like, what effing planet are you from, dude?
And just because I don't post my drama, or bullshit, or get negative online, doesn't mean I'm not trying to share positivity and inspiring messages, or this is, and it's my freaking Facebook!
I can post whatever I want!
And you're attacking me for being positive?

(05:58):
Yeah.
Like, really, what kind of negative, narcissistic POS even says that to somebody?
Well, it's, look, it's the technology behind X and threads is probably the least healthy and most dangerous technology, I think, in social media, the sounding board.

(06:18):
And you know, we don't have a lot of time, so I don't wanna get too deep, but there's somebody who quoted this once, and I've been saying this forever, it's my favorite quote, the dinosaurs had their meteor, and we have our algorithm.
And I don't have any positive, I'm not hopeful at all about where we're gonna end up in the next five years.

(06:40):
I think it's gonna be a worse place, more violent.
It was Neil Tyson Degrassi, I hope I said his name right, that said that AI will probably kill social media.
And even Gen Zers are now, there was an article that came out recently that the big debate, one of the big things going on is the cell phone on the dance floor, or the cell phone at the event, and filming it.

(07:00):
And they're saying, you know, somebody put an article out there, I don't know the statistics, I don't know if it was a scientific experiment, but Gen Zers are actually putting their cell phone down to now be in tune with the event, rather than doing this.
So I would, I play for all, you know, X, Y, and Z.
If that's, if it's Y, then what in the middle?

(07:21):
I don't know what the problem is.
I play for everybody, all different ages, all different kinds of groups, and I'm seeing that the Gen Zers, it's hard, for me, when my goal is to make sure you do not have a phone in your hand, and that's how I play, that you're just gonna move, and there's no, I don't put on a show, I'm not very technically gifted, there's no true turntablism, maybe I just spit on the screen, did you see that?

(07:51):
There's no true turntablism.
No, I didn't see, we don't got 3D vision over here.
There's no true turntablism with me, it's just, my only goal is to make you dance.
And so for me, I don't,
luckily, I don't see a lot of cell phones,
whether it's my old school party, where it's 35 to 55,
whether it's my 2000s party, where it's 25 to 35,

(08:12):
or when I'm doing, you know, mitzvahs, or sweet 16s,
or, you know, 18th birthdays, or 21st birthdays,
I'll see a little bit more towards the younger group,
so it's nice to hear you say that the trend
is moving away from that, but for me,
I'm just focused on having them get rid of that phone.

(08:33):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
It's not a problem for me, and I'm lucky, I'm lucky.
You're lucky, I mean, there's a lot of clubs, it's becoming a little bit in the news now, and I'm hearing echo with other people out there that, you know, nightclubs, I was in Germany last year, walked into a nightclub, first thing they did to the door, totally kind, totally polite, they had a roll of stickers by the door, they went, sticker, sticker.

(08:55):
And the clubs are, if they handle it politely, they, you know, you go in, we're gonna ask you to stop, they catch you doing it again, you're kicked out.
I'm all in favor of it.
Me too, me too.
In fact, I'm putting it out there right now, I'm gonna start a party called Offline.
Well, okay, so- Did anyone do that yet?
They called it No Signal.

(09:17):
That was done here in Seattle, but it never caught on as a movement.
And one of the things, here's, you wanna start a movement here, maybe you and I go and start a 501c3.
We call it, we call the 501c3 Offline, okay, nobody steal our idea here, but basically what we do is we go into cities, and we say, hey, we're a nationally recognized 501c3 nonprofit, and we get these businesses to sign on an affidavit or a manifesto saying, we will not allow cell phone use or videoing in the club.

(09:47):
There's a multitude of legal reasons of why they could do this and say, but they could just say, no, I think even just getting DJs to sign on and put it in their rider, performers, and say, hey, I don't want cell phone use.
If I see it, I will let you know.
If I see it continuing, I will hit the stop button till you clear the floor, and I will still get paid my money for it.

(10:10):
On that tip that you were saying before, I do weddings too, and I hustle.
I mean, it's ridiculous, but I do a lot of weddings, and the new trend that I'm getting at every wedding is especially during the ceremony, the bride and the groom turn around and specifically ask everyone to put your phones away, be here, and there's always someone in the front with a huge pad, what, me?

(10:32):
But that's okay, I don't blame that person, but so it's a nice trend, it's a nice trend.
I don't know if that's part of your proposal as a DJ, but you might be able to go in and sell them the service.
You get all the little magnet lock bags, and they put them in there, and they can't unlock it till the ceremony's over.
Great, I'm with it, let's do it.

(10:53):
When we're done with this, we're gonna do it.
But I mean, just the whole thing is, I mean, I can go down this topic for a little bit.
Man, I got something to say, though.
Go for it, go for it, it's your hour, man.
Okay.
So I did the Circle Line Cruise in New York, the cruise that goes around downtown Manhattan East.
They had a new event called Sip and Groove, where they were gonna be hiring DJs.

(11:15):
There was like three or four, and I was one of the resident DJs that they hired.
And last night, I felt a magic in Manhattan in a magic period that I haven't felt in a long time, and let me explain why.
So first of all, you're on a cruise, so everyone has their phone.
But the way I DJ, the phones weren't out when they were dancing.

(11:38):
Of course, when we went up to Statue of Liberty, everyone was like this for about five minutes, but then they put their phone in the thing, and they came back out.
Now, that wasn't why it was so magical, because that's, like I said, I'm not bullshitting.
That's what I'm used to.
Dancing is what I want.
If you're not dancing, I'm going home.
I'm quitting, okay?
But there were people from all over the world, right?
People coming up to make requests with all different kinds of accents, and I'm terrible with accents, and I'm just like, huh?

(12:01):
And I'm like, okay, okay, I'll try, I'll try, and hope they understood me.
And there were people from Harlem, and people from Hungary, and people from Istanbul, and people from Spain, and it was just about 200 people or so on this boat, and nobody really was communicating with one another.
But when I played those hits, even the line dances, they would come together, and they would watch others and learn and dance together, and it was the most beautiful feeling.

(12:28):
And towards the end of the night, it just got crazier and crazier.
As the BPMs went up, and that is where I'm from.
That was how I was bred.
And seeing how it is now, well, everything is a little subsect, there are little cultures, culture here, culture there, culture on scene here, scene here, scene here, on my piano, Afro beats, trap, whatever, EDM, deep house, Afro tech.

(12:50):
There's all these little scenes, and this was just one, and it was top 40 in pop, and a little bit of dance, and house music, but it was just everyone together, and they were just like, it was just a beautiful feeling, and yeah, I'm still on that high.
Well, I was just talking with a DJ earlier this week, Thalo from France, and he says, the thing is, is that these 15-year-olds going to clubs, they don't know what it's like, what it was like when we were clubbing.

(13:23):
There were no phones, there were no cameras, there was no social media.
You went there, you saw the DJ, you're like, ah, and you dance with other people, ah.
That was the beauty, that connection with other people.
He said, even when you went to the bathroom,
you'd have to tell your friends,
I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back,
and if you didn't come back,
it was almost a journey of your friends
trying to find you of where you went,
and you may not be able to get back out to the dance floor

(13:44):
where your friends are at,
so you're over the sidelines still watching,
and that kind of moment that,
oh my God, that club was so awesome, da-da-da, you know?
You completely immersed yourself.
Yeah.
In the sound, and in other people around you immersing themselves as well, and that is the, there's no feeling like that.
That's what got me into everything.
Yeah.
That was it.
And I don't see any reason, if a club experienced blowback in any way, if they're worried about that, then they should be like, well, who are our clients, and why can't our clients put their phones down?

(14:14):
We're providing entertainment, we're providing drinks to good times, and they want to come here and play influencer, where the video goes nowhere, it sounds like crap, looks like crap.
But to be fair to them, they're saying to themselves, well, if we take the phone away, then there's less footage going all around online about my venue.
But they can't- It's free marketing.

(14:36):
Yeah, it is free marketing, I get that, but they can still text, they can still talk, they can still Yelp review, they can do all that.
But if you look at it from the legal standpoint, they don't have a right to film on site, it's private property.
We have location releases, one.
Two, they don't have music rights to film and distribute, record and distribute that music.
Two, if they're streaming live, they can get around it, but the clubs can come and say, for legal reasons alone, you can't film it.

(15:04):
I'm not a lawyer, I won't speak on that.
No, I'm not, I'm not.
I mean, I'm just saying.
But there are things such as ephemeral rights.
If you are live streaming, there you go.
But if we say we don't want any filming to take place unless we authorize it, then only their authorized photographers can capture it, their authorized videographers can capture it because they have location releases to film on the premises.

(15:26):
Just like, it's not a public space.
Like if it was at a park, one thing.
You can't say anything, but if it's in an establishment, because then maybe they don't want somebody catching somebody slipping and falling and using it against a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
You know, it's like, hey, we didn't authorize that video to be shot.
Anyways, enough on that.
I want to get to talking to some of the awesome stuff that you just took part in earlier this year, because that blew me away pre-show when you told me about this.

(15:52):
I promised you we'd talk about it in the show.
And that was your Jimmy Fallon experience.
Tell our DJ Sessions fans, I'm sitting here just getting like goosebumps going, whoa.
And if what happened to me, like with goosebumps happened to you, I want our DJ Sessions fans to know about that.
So tell us all about that Jimmy Fallon experience that happened back in May.

(16:13):
So NBC called.
And when NBC calls, you pick up the phone.
And they said, look.
I want those calls.
You know, the Jimmy Fallon experience thing where he goes out into the street in different locations and does like a live impromptu performance with some great superstar band or whatever.
And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, we're going to do that for this Fordham graduation.

(16:38):
And he's going to be there and he's going to bring out the weekend and we want you to DJ.
So I'm like, okay, where do I sign?
So, you know, I got there super early in the morning.
I had all kinds of like safety nets set up that I normally don't have except one and I'll get to that.
And in retrospect, I'm like crapping my pants now thinking about that safety net not being there.

(17:01):
But I had all kinds of things.
My wife was involved back and forth to storage because storage only opened up at 1045 and I had to be there at 1030 and all kinds of stuff.
Like I don't have a 24 hour storage because a 24 hour storage place turned into a nightclub when I would go three in the morning, there'd be cars with sound systems and beers and people dancing inside and they would lock me out so I wouldn't come in, especially a guy that looks like me.
It's like, oh, the police are here.

(17:22):
I'm not police, just let me get my gear back, right?
So I left that place and got another place and I couldn't get to them in time.
So the wife was on, she was going up and down, up and down twice, twice.
So she's involved, everybody's involved.
Everybody knows I'm there.
I'm like, I'm a hometown hero right now and I can't mess this up.
So I go, they've got, it's busy body.
They've got green rooms.
They've got all kinds of sandwiches and stuff which is what I love.

(17:45):
And I brought my audio guy with me and we're set up.
So I'm gonna play this forum graduation.
I'm gonna DJ it.
And then we're gonna have this moment where Jimmy Fallon comes in, okay?
And he comes in and the idea was he was going to try to DJ on my setup and he didn't really know how to.
I'm like, he's looking at me, is this how I do it?
I'm like, well, kind of not really.

(18:07):
He's like, oh, whatever.
And he just, let me just push.
You just push play.
I said, yeah, you can push play on that.
He pushed his play and it's like, what was the, oh, it was, it was a, dun, dun, dun, dun.
I think it was something like that.
And then all of a sudden out of the doors, Weekend comes in.
You have all these, the Fordham graduates.
Blinding lights.
Yes, yes.
And you have all the Fordham graduates like, oh my God.

(18:28):
Cause they're already crazy when they saw Jimmy come in.
And he's just this amazing ball of energy.
And I was so nervous.
I was like, shit, you know, shit.
You can see in my face.
If you look at the video, you see me like, cause I'm like so nervous.
I'm like gonna lose it.
And he's like, he's just this incredible ball of positive energy.
Even if he's faking it, it doesn't matter.
It's so infectious.

(18:49):
He is, he is a, he is a, he is a positivity virus.
Like, like wherever he goes is like, he just turns everybody into like, oh my God, yeah.
And so he comes in and he does this whole thing.
And Weekend comes out and Weekend's so, this guy, I guess his real name is Abel.
He's so nice.
The nicest guy and the love and everyone was just going crazy and it was fantastic.

(19:09):
And it was over and it went off without a hitch.
I, maybe the BPM was off.
Maybe this channel wasn't turned on.
Maybe my laptop would have froze.
Maybe the little cable between my laptop and the mixer would have gotten weird because sometimes it gets loose and jiggles and stops.
And there was all these things because that was the one safety net I didn't do.
I should have just played CD.

(19:30):
I should have just put CDs in.
I should not have left it up to a cable between a laptop and a mixer.
That's already super sensitive.
You touch those cables.
I don't do the 3000s.
I still do the two.
You touch that cable.
You breathe.
You can look at it the wrong way.
Like don't, don't fuck up.
It's gonna be like, ah, and it screws up.
And so in retrospect, the one safety net should have been use either a stick and not even a stick.

(19:54):
Don't leave it up there.
Just put the damn CD into the damn thing.
And I didn't do that.
And so when it was all over, I was like, ah, I was completely washed.
I felt amazing.
It was an amazing time.
They wouldn't let me put my logo sticker on the laptop.
They had the cover.
I was like, damn, you know, cause that would have gotten, but it was just an amazing time.
And my wife watched it.

(20:15):
She looked at me.
She goes, oh, you're a great backup dancer.
Cause I was in the back going like this.
So it was pretty fantastic.
It was pretty fantastic.
You know, I have, I've had moments like that where you get one take, one shot.
And you know, this being in the wedding industry, you don't get a second chance.
That's why weddings are so stressful.
Stressful.
Yeah, I mean, one day, one time, one shot.

(20:37):
But you know, I've had those moments that we call it.
I used to call it the ITV curse when I was doing broadcast television.
I had celebrities come around.
I can do a hundred interviews.
Nothing wrong, nothing wrong, nothing wrong.
You get somebody big in the room and a light goes out.
The microphone wasn't plugged in the right way.
You know, something just tanked the whole interview.

(20:59):
I thank God.
It's like, oh, I know that feeling.
I mean, I've had a few, I've had more than enough happen to me.
I call it the celebrity curse, the DJ session celebrity curse when something just goes and it's like, now I do my checks and balances, make sure everything's there.
And I have backup upon backup.
And I have a whole suitcase of gear that people think I just set up with a microphone.
I'm doing this interview with people.

(21:19):
It's like, no, there's a whole nother case of studio gear here in case that cable breaks, in case this goes down, in case that battery runs out, in case- I know a DJ that brings a second laptop now to every gig.
He's just like, you know what?
I'm not even gonna deal with that.
Well, that's awesome, man.
Congratulations on that experience.
I want to go back and watch that, but I know that guy.
I know that guy.
I'm in there.
I mean, they got me.
They definitely got some good parts of me.

(21:40):
But there's one thing, like, you know, your friends are gonna bust your balls.
My friends took like a screenshot where it's like a closeup of Weekend.
And in the little back, there's like a white, big head.
And I'm like, and they took it and they circle it.
I'm like, yeah, big moment, Herbert.
And it's like, I'm like Weekend's earring.
It's like, I'm hanging right from his ear.
I'm like, you're a star now, buddy.

(22:01):
But that was just one.
I did get, they did get me.
They did get me on there.
They just didn't get me.
Well, you know, yeah.
I mean, that's, I've had people make memes of my stuff on the show as well.
It's pretty funny when people roast you like that.
You know, you weren't expecting it.
And you're like, you had to choose the one frame, the one frame of the one second that I was like, or you know.

(22:28):
But you know, speaking of doing parties and events, you're running one of the longest running hip hop dance parties.
On top of that, while I was doing some of my research, you have trademarked some of these parties that you do.
You got Herbert Holler's Jams, Herbert Holler's Freedom.
How many of these trademark party names do you have?

(22:49):
Because it sounds like the DJ sessions where I have like the DJ sessions, but I have the virtual sessions, the mobile sessions, the rooftop sessions, the disco sessions.
So I wanna be useful to your audience, right?
Yeah.
And I wanna put them up on game if they don't know the game already.
But when you create a business and you start to put your business in commerce, when you put it out there and publicize it and try to get people to support you, what you're doing is you're marking your business in trade.

(23:18):
So the DJ sessions, you're putting it out there in this universe trade.
And then so you can trademark it.
You put a little T next to a circle, next to the name and boom, it's trademarked.
That is entirely different from registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

(23:38):
Doing the former, just a little trademark.
If somebody were to take your trademark and use it, you have to take them to court and you have to spend probably $50,000 to get them to stop.
Yeah, 100,000, 150,000, 200,000.
It's a mighty thing to get someone to stop using your trademark.

(23:59):
If you have your trademark registered with the USPTO, I'm not a lawyer, just let you know, I'm just been down the road.
If you have your, as I understand it, if you have your trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, then you still have to take that person to court.
You still have to pay a lawyer.
You still have to do all that.
But instead of it costing as much as 200, it'll maybe cost you as much as 75,000 or less.

(24:25):
But either way, it's still gonna cost you a grip.
So technically, you don't have to register your trademark with the USPTO, but it's extra protection.
It leaves, you'll save a lot more money if somebody tries to take your name and it's suggested.
And there are, you know, and I've met some great trademark attorneys along the way and they're worth their weight in salt.

(24:47):
They're amazing.
That's why, is that the saying?
They're worth their weight in gold, should be what you're saying, because they're really awesome.
So again, you don't have to, but you really might.
I couldn't stress that more, especially with an incident that I had in 2018.
I won't go into the incident, but the incident prompted me to trademark the DJ Sessions.

(25:10):
To register the DJ Sessions with the USPTO.
Yeah, you can do it.
Or just, because when you register and you get your, they approve it, you have to apply and it takes like six months to a year and they approve it.
Then you can start using an R.
Yeah, exactly.
But if you don't do that, then you're welcome to do a TM in a circle.
So at the state level in Washington, I haven't registered as the state level.

(25:34):
I'm still applying for it for national registration.
And then I have to go for, even international registration would be even more.
Yeah, taking it that step, because we're, like I said, pre-show, we're looking to branch out further.
The trick is, the only trick I would say is, if it protects you moving forward, but let's say somebody else, I have the DJ Sessions and somebody else has the DJ Sessions.

(26:00):
Even though I register mine, because they were using it before and it goes forward, it doesn't go backwards.
I could go do a legal battle and go backwards and say cease and desist.
Again, I'm not a lawyer either.
Right.
Go backwards and do that and say cease and desist, da, da, da, da, da.
If they looked into it, the attorney will tell them you were using it before, his goes from this date forward, not backward.

(26:26):
Yeah, well, I don't know about that stuff.
Yeah, it's all crazy.
But no, I tell DJs this from moment one, when you choose your DJ name, when you get your domain name, when you set up your social media sites, go to your local trademark.
I have $50 for five years in the state of Washington.
You can get the TL, official TL.
Well, the, well, right.
Okay, I got you.

(26:46):
Official TL.
I didn't know about that.
I just know about TM and that stuff.
Yeah, even if you didn't trademark it, it still is protected.
And you can say, this is the first incident and I used it.
This person started using it after.
Here's the proof.
They'd have to prove they were using it before.
If they can't, you could sue them.
Right.
Saying you're using my intellectual property.
I came up with this.
Yeah.
And so anyways, $50 can save a headache when you send a cease and desist.

(27:11):
And the funny thing is, well, it's not that expensive.
You can get lawyers on unbundled services to write you a cease and desist.
Even though they're not your, okay, I'm not a legal advisor here, but you can get them to write you a cease and desist letter.
You can write one on your own, as per se, as your own attorney.
As you know, I'm going through some legal shit right now.
So I know how to do a lot of this stuff.
But that being said, coming on the letterhead from somebody is better.

(27:33):
But yeah, send it off and say, stop using my shit.
Stop using my name.
Stop using my brand.
And I think a lot of DJs should look in that as a professional endeavor to protect their brand.
Because that's what you're ultimately building here.
It's something that's gonna be marketable.
Something that's gonna have worth.
So when somebody says your name, they're gonna wanna come see you perform.
They're gonna buy your merchandise.

(27:53):
They're gonna buy your music.
They're gonna wanna, whatever it is, follow you online.
You don't want somebody else to come in and pirate that.
Yeah, true.
So, and I know you had some issues in the past as well, but it sounds like you've done a lot of research and worked through it and got over it.
It's not fun.
None of that stuff is fun.
No, it's not fun at all.

(28:14):
Not fun at all.
You know, getting out the door, what do you consider though, getting back to the music, what do you think the biggest break was that launched your DJ career?
That got you all up there?
I mean, you're playing with Jim Fallon, weekend, doing cool shit.
There wasn't one watershed moment.
It's just constant, persistent work.
There isn't like, oh, a button was pressed and all of a sudden I'm superstar.
Cause I'm not a superstar.

(28:35):
I'm well known and I'm successful, but I'm not like John Summit.
There really isn't a moment.
It's just, you can't stop.
It's every day.
It's every hour.
Every month, every week.
And you keep on, it's like a climb.
You keep climbing and climbing and sometimes you fall, but then you're already up here.

(28:56):
So it falls in his bed and you keep climbing.
There's this really amazing video of this performance artist who has this thing where he has the stairs and next to the stairs is a trampoline and it's online.
It's really amazing.
Cause it's totally what it's like.
It's like, he fights his way to the top and he falls off.
Boom, the trampoline, then he comes back here, fights his way and do it.
Then he finally gets to the top and he's up there, but then he slips and falls and can't get back up there again.

(29:18):
And it's like, it's depressing a little bit, but that's really what it is.
You just have to keep climbing.
There's not gonna be a watershed moment.
I mean, there's gonna be little things that help you.
I just don't believe in that.
I don't believe in like, oh my God, now it's happening.
Unless like, okay, I mean, if I get into a movie or something or if I'm on the Jimmy Fallon show and not just as weekend's earring or a background dancer, but I'm actually on and being interviewed, obviously that's a big, but even that is still just a step along the way.

(29:47):
You just have to keep stepping.
That's it.
Absolutely, I've always told people there is no A, B, C, D to this process.
It could be A and then you jump to W and then you jump back to R and then go to D and it's all the alphabet.
And then when you succeed in the alphabet, then you got numbers and that goes infinite learning lessons, you know?
Even if you step in the box and say, cookie cutter, do this step, do this step, do, do, do, do, do, do, it's, you never, things may not fall into place.

(30:14):
You might, something might happen.
And yeah, and there are definitely guys out there that see the formula and go by it and win, but I've always been my worst enemy and that is that I need things to feel right.
I'm not gonna do it if it doesn't feel true and genuine to who I am.
And that's sort of the half artist in me.

(30:36):
Like I'm always telling everyone I'm half artist and half businessman.
And those two things always fight all the time.
I'll tell you that's probably 50% more than business than most people out there.
You know, and I'm, as an artist, I'm emotional.
I'm, I, you know, I've got, I've got my issues.
I've got my baggage, but one of the things that I go by is that feeling, you know, and if it doesn't feel right, I'm not gonna do it.

(30:59):
Even if it's gonna, may end up like, streaming never felt right to me.
I have no problem with streamers.
I have no problem with podcasts, but streaming just never felt right.
Didn't feel good.
It's felt, I needed more.
I needed more.
I needed to see the people and be with them.
The place that I do the 2000s party, the GM there, Ruben, said, a shout out to La Poisson Rouge.

(31:24):
He said that we're gonna, we're starting to put the DJ booth on the dance floor now and have the backstage behind you as sort of like things, kind of like a boiler room kind of vibe.
But he didn't say boiler room.
I forget what he said, but to me it was like a boiler room thing where everyone's behind you.
And I'm not crazy about that depiction, that angle.
However, it was one of my favorite sets because I was right there and everyone was right here.

(31:49):
And they weren't just on the booth, like I see them at other events, like looking or with their phones.
They were all dancing and giving me this energy.
And I was like dancing with them.
And that was the polar opposite of streaming.
And that's where I wanna be.
I don't wanna be behind a camera.
Well, you know, I could talk about the antics of online live streaming and doing that 10 years before Pandy and having to explain to DJs.

(32:18):
Right.
I have to basically direct.
It wasn't just, we just popped up and got, I used to dance for four hours during the live streams.
I'm not a DJ, but I didn't want one dude standing there operating the camera and one dude standing there going like this.
So I would dance for four hours and people would tune in thinking they were tuning in to watch me do drugs and dance on camera for four hours.

(32:38):
Cause I'd just be bouncing the whole time.
They wouldn't see when I take the camera off and put it to a bleak angle or some angle.
And I'd be taking a break, take a sip of beer or something like, okay, next segment, get up and start dancing again.
You know, they didn't know that.
I'm gonna give you, that's a little secret to my success and why I rock is my dancing.
Cause I don't do like the whole, just I don't make a whole scene.

(32:59):
I saw some of these, some video feeds.
I just want to shoot myself.
These people, DJs in the booth, they're doing like this whole thing, this whole routine.
I'm like, dogs, focus on your next record.
Look for your next record.
Like, but I'll move.
Like I'll be moving with the music and moving with the people.
And I'm not, I'm never standing still ever.
If you see me standing still, I don't care if it's a cocktail hour for a corporate event.

(33:23):
I'm never standing still.
If I'm standing still, it's a wrap.
Get me out of there.
Or bring me a Diet Coke.
Give me that.
That's the thing I had to tell DJs is look a little bit animated, be live.
They're tuning in.
But people still didn't make the connection with watching DJs online and have a stage presence and understanding that.
One of the worst live stream footages or movements is when you tune in and the DJ's just doing the sway, the side to side, when the music's not on yet.

(33:52):
They're just, and I know that sway because I know that.
Oh, right, we're going to make this happen.
It's like a pendulum.
But it's like a, what's the thing?
The meter, the counting meter, the thing on the piano when you play.
No, it's not pendulum.
Dang it, you got me thinking pendulum now.
Whatever it is.
It's time.

(34:12):
Jesus, what is that?
Metronome.
Metronome.
Metronome, metronome.
And you see the metronome sway with the DJs.
One foot to the other, and one to the other.
I'm like, oh my, oh my.
One of the things that I like that you talked about too is how that club moved, the DJ moved off the stage, down to the floor.
Because back in the day, DJs weren't prominently displayed either.

(34:33):
And let me be very clear.
The La Poisson Rouge LPR and the place I DJ, it's not about me.
Everyone who knows me knows I can't stand people looking at me when I DJ.
It's not because I'm self-conscious.
I am a little bit, or a lot.
But it's really because there is nothing to see.
If you're not dancing, I failed.

(34:54):
So when you're sitting there- No, I gotta see Winnie turn that knob.
No, when you're sitting there staring at me, if you're watching what I'm doing and trying to learn, cool.
But if you're just looking at me with your phone, every time we do that, I feel like I'm failing you.
And I'm so sorry.
In fact, I was at Brooklyn Bowl once.
There was like a thousand people, it was a full house.
And these two couple were just up there like, and I stopped and I'm like, I didn't look at them, I didn't want them to feel, but look, if you're just looking at me right now, please stop.

(35:26):
I felt bad because I didn't call them out, but I want you to dance.
This is what I told people.
I said, no, I'm sorry.
I said, there's nothing to see.
And that's what I tell people, there is nothing to see.
So I'm on a stage at LPR, but it's like, I'm in the corner and really the lights are on the dance floor.
There's just one little blue light on me.
Yeah, I come from the same era where we're just in a corner somewhere.

(35:48):
And I don't, that's exactly what I love.
And I'm glad to hear that things are getting back to that.
Well, Dr. Fresh, back in 2023, when he did his US tour, one of the things he demanded was that he was gonna have his DJ booth in the middle of the floor.
Yeah, I love that.
And he's very, if you've ever seen Dr. Fresh on stage or perform, he's very animated, very, very, very.

(36:09):
I would love to be right in the middle there.
And maybe on a circular stage, maybe the stage even like turns while you're DJing.
That would be dope.
So you can see everybody.
Not because I wanna make a spectacle of myself, like me turning 360, ooh, like different duck faces at every angle.
But so I can see everyone and feel like, am I making the right decisions?

(36:32):
Because when you go to, when people are going to see like a John Summer something, it's like, they're just going to see him, right?
And they're going to feel this combined energy and this music they love.
And it's awesome, right?
But like for me, they're not coming to hear Herbert Holler music.
They're coming to hear Herbert Holler play other music in just the right way.

(36:53):
So I have to watch them and study and feel their energy.
And will this make sense?
Did this risk work?
Will this risk work?
So it's different than going to see like a David Guetta or like a, I don't know who the guys are now, but Mahwesh Khachani.
Don't worry, I can't name off.
We have a DJ ranking portion on our website.
I just put up, but I still don't know the top 20,000 DJs in the world either.

(37:13):
And then there are DJs that are turntablist, that they go up there and they do a whole routine.
And that's awesome too.
I have nothing against that, but I'm just a guy, I'm like David Mancuso, if David Mancuso blended his records.
I'm like, you know, Larry, I think Larry blended his records.
Yeah, I don't know.
I wasn't there.
I wasn't born yet, or I was born, but I wasn't there.

(37:34):
Anyway.
So speaking of records, speaking of DJ and turntablism culture, you know, do you remember the first record you ever bought?
And is it worth mentioning or is it embarrassing?
No, the Street Life, the Crusaders album.
Street Life.
I bought it from King George on Essex Street on the Lower East Side of New York.

(37:57):
Do you still have that?
I love that record.
Yes.
Nice.
Yeah.
I love that record, but I don't get to play it as much as I would like, but that's okay.
I mean, look, again, my joy comes through making other people move.
And again, last night I played Vivir Mi Vida.
I'm sorry, I'm a gringo.
I don't speak good Spanish, but Vivir Mi Vida.
Will you play Vivir Mi Vida?

(38:18):
So I played it last night, you know, and that's like the most popular Salsa song.
And I played the pop version of it, which is even less Puerto Rican than the Salsa.
And like, people just loved it.
And it's not my favorite.
He's great, Marc Anthony.
It's not my favorite, but seeing the way they loved it, I was just so happy for them and so happy that I could help them.

(38:44):
And that's my job.
You know, doing so much, and it isn't, I mean, it sounds like your focus isn't just in the nightclub event space.
You're also doing the outside weddings, bar mitzvahs, all that fun stuff as well.
How would you define success as a DJ that you have sort of a front-facing and a back-facing career?

(39:08):
I mean, it's all on your website, everything you do.
How would you define success as a DJ?
Obviously you're not producing, so maybe not a Beatport 10 hit, but a sold-out tour, shows.
I think, I think- Where's your gauge at of what you say?
I'm gonna, it's, I hope this is helpful for people.
Because it's certainly not about math or finance.

(39:32):
Success, success as a DJ is contentment.
If you are content with what you're doing as a DJ, I don't care if your mission is to scare people with a witch house or- Witch house?
Is that an actual genre?
That is an actual genre, yes.
I'm getting old.
Then there's, I think there's a death metal dance too.

(39:55):
I'm not sure.
I can understand death metal, but death metal dance?
If you're content, if you're at peace with your existence as a DJ, whether you're full-time or part-time or whatever, hobby, whatever, then I think that is success.
Putting your head down at night, knowing you've given it all you got and you're doing well is the best feeling in the world.

(40:17):
And there's nothing better than that.
And if that means you're still sharing the studio with someone in the East Village at 45, best do you.
Contentment for me is the most valuable, profitable and elusive thing out there.

(40:42):
And then I want a house at the shore with a little boat.
You know, that's a great piece of advice because one piece of advice that I kind of go by that I was told a long time ago is stop comparing yourself to others.
And just think if you do what you want to do and you're content with that, and that makes you happy.

(41:03):
You don't have to be making a billion dollars or have a black American Express card or be in Ibiza or be traveling and globe trotting.
Stop comparing yourself to others because you don't know what it took and what they're going through to make it that look and appeal and success.
And that's a whole machine in itself.
You're trying to battle against the machine.
That's like saying I'm gonna compare my life to a movie star that I see in a movie on TV.

(41:26):
That's a movie, it's not real.
Right, the trainers will tell you online if you follow any trainers.
I follow this guy, AthleanX, Jeff Cavaliere.
Like you can't look at those bodies and those muscular structures and say that should be me.
Because your body may not be built that way.
There's a version of that that might be for you, but you're gonna have to work out seven days a week.

(41:52):
You're gonna have to weigh and quarter, partition your meals.
You're gonna have to make sure you have eight bottles of water a day.
Your whole family and your whole lifestyle is hijacked.
Right, yes, you can.
You can drink so much water that you need to piss every five fucking minutes.
Yes, you can do that.
Yes, you can, yes, that happens.

(42:14):
Yes, you can pee in the middle of the night.
Yes, you can.
So I feel like if we're looking beyond the contentment, then you have your own goals to set.
Of course, there's, bringing back John Summitt again.
I'm giving him a lot of free press.
Yeah, that's all good.
He's uber successful monetarily.

(42:36):
Sure, then that's the definition of, I guess, ultimate excellence, maybe, in DJing, as far as money is concerned.
Calvin Harris, I don't know if he's still DJing or whatever.
Whomever the hottest DJ is, if that's how you want to define success, sure.
But if contentment is not a part of that, then you're gonna pull all your hair out.

(43:00):
Yeah, I concur with that, totally.
You know, outside of yourself, not trying to be narcissistic here.
But I'm wonderful.
But I know, who is your favorite DJ producer out there?
And can you tell us why?
I know it's a loaded kind of question.
I don't want to get you in any trouble, but.
No, it's okay.

(43:22):
At this point, I don't get in trouble, at this point.
I'm kind of getting that feeling about you and how I feel about things now as well.
I was like, I don't care, I'm not gonna get in trouble.
I get songs that I come across.
Like I did, so I DJed at Househead Sessions, not to be confused with the DJ sessions.
I was gonna ask you about that.
Househead Sessions is once a month.

(43:44):
I'm sorry, it's every Friday at PMT Dance Studio in Manhattan, downtown, on the second floor.
And it's just house dancers.
And it's such a raw.
I remember you telling me about this.
It's such a raw, one-to-one connection, and I'm learning.
Because house music is a whole other being that you need to go through the rigmarole with.

(44:09):
It's not just another genre that I can play in my open forum.
It is, I can.
But if you want to get deep and really get into it, you cannot treat it as if it's just a song.
It is a whole being, it's a baby.
And you gotta figure that out.
And the way I'm doing it is I'm connecting with the dancers on a real, minimal, and organic and rootsy level.

(44:32):
This is a dance studio with about 30 or so dancers.
They contribute five bucks.
They got baby powder on the floor.
They have their sweats.
They have their socks or their feet.
The place steams up and we just work it out.
And to connect to the song question, I love being able to find different house music sounds and work them in.

(44:59):
It's a real journey, right?
Like house music sounds and work them in.
And it's not necessarily one person.
If I had to choose soulful, I would say Merlin Bob is doing some incredible remixes of R&B.
He has a real storied career in music in general as a shot caller and someone who has made other people get to higher places, but also as a producer and he's a part of Shelter, works with Timmy Registered, I believe.

(45:29):
So I'm noticing him and I'm noticing, of course, Charisma.
The two of them, when it comes to soulful house or Afro house or whatever the heck you wanna call it, they're really knocking it out.
But then I'll come across people I've never heard before in my life.
And there's a song that's so dope.
And I really should go in my music right now and find it and give that person credit.
But I don't know, remember the name of the song, but when I play it and Lesar Jr., who along with Mariana Coitsin, they're two dancers and dance teachers who do the sessions.

(45:58):
When he turned around and looked at me, he was like, I'm like, that's kinda like, that's, and then we got into the soulful bit.
And then, you know, and it's just great.
It's so great.
Shout out to Conrad Rochester too.
So when you're asking me who's my favorite, I don't, I'm not a collector.
Like I used to, when I first started, I don't collect.

(46:20):
I just, I consume.
That's the best way to, I consume and I digest.
And I consume and I can, like Pac-Man.
Oh, this one, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
This one, this record, this record, does this one work?
That's really what I am, sorry.
No, it's all good.
I was gonna ask you, are those, those are every Friday night?
Every Friday night from nine o'clock to 1130 at PMT Dance Studio.

(46:43):
If you want the rawest and most pure New York City house music vibe, that is where you go.
And if you can't go there, of course, you can try anything that Soul Summit does.
Soul Summit recently had the, just the DJ who, on the soulful Afro tip, he just murdered it.
People were like, almost crying.

(47:04):
He just washed everyone.
Anyone can go?
Anyone can go to house head sessions and anyone can go to Soul Summit.
Soul Summit during the summer does outdoor stuff for free.
And during the fall and winter, they do, well, sometimes they still do stuff for free.
So Soul Summit, I would say, I would say house head sessions.
And I would say, I think Tiki Disco when they do stuff in the summer, that's on another spectrum of house.

(47:28):
I feel like that's a little more, little more techno-y house, but maybe not.
I'm just, you know, it's funny, I don't, I remember one time talking to Ellie Escobar, who's the Tiki Disco guy, and I was, and he shared some music that he was listening to.
I'm like, okay.
I was like, is this deep house?
Or is this tech house?
Or where do I, what playlist should I put this in?

(47:51):
And he responded, he's like, dude, I don't know.
What's wrong with you?
No, the reason why I'm asking is I'm gonna be coming out of hopefully, fingers crossed, to New York.
Yeah.
Oh, I got you.
I got you.
For, yeah, I would love to come by and do that and get hooked up with that.
And dude, do you think, I would love to come in and maybe capture the environment with the music that's the dancers, put some cameras up and like, I mean, I'll connect you to whomever and you can do some interviews.

(48:18):
That'd be awesome.
That sounds fun.
I'm a huge house head, so I love house music.
And I love dancing and dancers dancing to house music.
But we can talk about that off show and get that all set up.
You know, basically, big question here.
You're a busy guy.
How do you balance all this DJ career stuff with your other obligations in your life?
Do you have a structured regimen?

(48:40):
Is it up in the air?
Do you keep a notebook, a to-do list?
What are your secrets on how you balance it or any suggestions you give out there to people to balance it?
It's really fucking hard.
Am I allowed to curse?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're all good.
It's fucking hard.
I have three kids.

(49:01):
I'm married.
Like, I'm not this DJ who like, collects sneakers and like, plays video games and like, downloads music.
Most of them are.
And nothing wrong with that.
I'm not casting judgment on anyone, but that's, I can't.
It is so fucking hard.
And I have a regimen.
And most of the time, I stick to it.

(49:22):
And when I do stick to it, it all works out.
And when I don't stick to it, I'm a wreck.
Monday through Friday, you're marketing.
But every, I'll just tell you my routine.
I wake up in the morning, six in the a.m., you know, make breakfast for the kids, get one kid to one school, another kid to the other school, and then my wife takes the other kid to the other school.

(49:42):
I come back, it's like, you know, after that's like 8, 15, 8.30, I go to the gym for like an hour and a half.
I come back, sit on my computer, it's about 10.30. Phone calls, meetings, marketing, posting, emails, blah, blah, blah, leads, ideas, you know, pitches, sales, all that.
And by the time I'm done, it's about five o'clock.

(50:03):
And then five o'clock comes down.
And I'm like, okay, you're winding down now.
You know, the kids, you gotta pick them up, take them here, pick them up.
Dinner comes.
You know, there's probably some late things because I'm on listing sites, like Gig Salad, a great one.
And if that phone buzzes, I don't care what time it is, you gotta answer it because somebody else is gonna answer it before you.
And time kills deals, early bird gets the worm.
So technically, I'm done by like six, Monday through Thursday.

(50:26):
And that's my everyday Monday through Thursday.
Then Friday comes around and it starts the same way, but then I'm DJing.
And Saturday, it starts the same way again because I don't really have a day off and then I'm DJing.
And then Sunday, I'm usually DJing and it starts the same way.
Or if I get the Sundays off, I'm going food shopping.
I'm going, and that takes four hours because I go to Costco to make sure I'm saving money.

(50:49):
And then whenever I can't get at Costco, I go to the stop and shop.
And I come home and I undo it all.
And then it's time to fold clothes, the laundry.
So if you're a DJ, I'm gonna look in the camera.
If you're a DJ and you're thinking of getting married, having a family, you can't be a pussy.
You're gonna get your ass kicked.
And before somebody says, oh, that was sexist, pussy is extension of puss, which is short for pusillanimous, which means weak.

(51:17):
So I'm not doing that, okay?
You have to be- You have to get an education on our show.
I did not know that.
I think I said it right, pusillanimous or pusillanimous.
You can't be weak, okay?
Because this is not for the weak of heart.
This is, but it's worth it because I have love and there is no price for that.
I have a brood.

(51:39):
I have four people I live with who love me incredibly.
And to get to that point, to transition from the video game idiot that I was, DJ that I was, that would spend all day playing, I'm not a sneaker guy, I've never been, but I had other little stupid hobbies and all that.
To get from that to here, I had to go through therapy.

(52:03):
I had to go through cognitive behavioral therapy because I was not looking at the world in a healthy way.
And I was also, I'm also half an artist and that artist is just a real pain.
It's another child.
So I say I have three kids, but I really have four kids and the fourth kid is myself.
So it's a lot, but it's so worth it.
It's so worth it.
I mean, it's, yeah, I can't.

(52:26):
Yeah, it's hard.
It's full catastrophe.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness.
Yeah.
The full catastrophe of life, like Zorba the Greek said in that movie.
Totally understandable.
I think the last point that you got there, thank you for sharing that with us, is that that mindset is one of the first steps.
It's probably one of the hardest things to break old school habits, traditions, things, social structures.

(52:54):
Some guys are all right with it.
Yeah, I mean.
Some guys, I'm sorry to cut you off.
No, it's all good.
I know you have your own, I'm sure you have your own therapy that we could be each other's therapist.
But some, I won't say it's gonna be that difficult for you as a DJ or anyone out there necessarily.
True.
But it is, without question, it is a whole lot of responsibility, a whole lot of fear, a whole lot of expectation, a whole lot of work on top of the work you do as a DJ.

(53:23):
So you might slide right into that position, that role, and be cool.
Some dudes do, and I fucking hate them.
But some don't, you know?
And they slide right in.
And they're like, oh, this is great.
And you know there's something's up.
Like maybe at night they're like shooting up, who knows?
But, or not, maybe they're not.

(53:44):
Maybe they're just gliding through it.
I fucking hate them.
But, you know, it's, yeah, it's a lot.
It's a whole lot.
Yeah, you know, a lot of that goes on in the back scene that people don't really get.
And then, you know, other coping mechanisms, measures, it all is relative.
And like you said, it probably, if you wouldn't talk, if I went and interviewed the top, top 100, top 1000 DJs in the world, they have probably some type of built-in regimen they've known over time.

(54:14):
Like you said, it was probably the partying and the awesome, doing all that, playing the video games, bad habits.
You ain't partying no more.
And then you're not partying no more.
I gotta be awake.
And I got three hours before I make it to the next gig.
I gotta be on a plane for three hours.
Some DJs have come up, they've come up to me and said, oh, I wanna do this full-time too.
I'm like, are you sure?
You know what that means?
Like it's not so much for partying.

(54:35):
Now, thank God, even the young kids don't wanna party past 12 a.m. unless it's techno or house.
Like for the most part, nightlife and the scene and the clubs and the bars and the lounges, for the most part, even in New York, are closing no later than 2 a.m. Most of them earlier.
2 a.m., you can walk out of a club now in downtown New York and the streets are ghost.

(54:56):
When I was going out in the 90s, I didn't go out till 12 or 1 a.m. And we came back at seven.
And the city was popping.
7 a.m., you went to a diner for breakfast to absorb whatever was in your system.
And everybody was at the diner rocking and rolling.
Party was still going around the clock.
There was a diner name around the clock that we used to go to.

(55:18):
So now, the nightlife is pretty much, we're talking 2 a.m. Unless you're in a dance club in Brooklyn or something that goes to all hours or something.
But even those are slowly starting to dissipate.
And that's okay.
That's okay.
What's the problem with being healthy?
What's the problem with on Saturday night, okay, we're gonna go out.
This party starts at eight and it's done at like 12 or 1 or 6 to 12.

(55:38):
What's wrong with that?
That's dope.
And some of the best parties, maybe the best parties do that.
Tiki Disco, Soul Summit, they don't go to all hours.
They're done at a respectable time.
So you can go home.
And also, people are drinking less because now they're basically telling us that you know how everyone gets cancer?
Well, because of alcohol.

(56:01):
So now people are drinking less.
So now the clubs are being faced with, holy crap, what do we do?
Yep, yep.
That's a big one out there too.
And you see this even in our market.
I've seen the cost of a double be the cost of a fifth in the store.
And it's like, well, you are driving up your prices because you're not making bar sales, but your prices are making it not a fun night to go out.

(56:25):
Normally, I used to go out and drink four double Jamie's a night.
It'd be $100 tab.
I'd tip 20 bucks, 20%.
Hook up the bar to everybody, 25%.
Because I knew them, they knew me.
And they always served me first, take care of me, all that stuff.
Right.
Soon.
And so, now it's would be $130, $150 for four tip.

(56:47):
That's a big one too.
It's like, it's a whole lot of money too.
It's more than it ever was.
I mean, beers are now without a doubt, 12 bucks minimum.
I mean, gosh, you get one of the deli for a dollar.
Yeah.
One dollar.
Yeah, well, we're gonna wrap it up here really quickly.
Just a couple of quick little questions here before we get going.
I'm coming to NYC, planning to do it, planning to be there more.
I got you, look me up, I'll take care of you.

(57:09):
What's the best restaurant, your number one top restaurant to go to right now?
Without too much in it, boom.
Where do I need to go eat?
Where do I go and go again and go again and just keep going?
Gosh.
Oh man.
Oh man, this is a really tough question.
Like there's different kinds of food.
I mean, pizza, actually the best pizza is not in New York.

(57:31):
So forget that.
Well, you can always go get good pizza in New York, but my favorite is not in New York.
Korean was really big for me for a while.
Now it's just, it's getting to be monotonous because I'm doing it so much.
And it's like the same banchan and the same, you know, cuts of beef.
I've been to probably Keene's Chop House more than any other restaurant in the city.

(57:56):
It's a steakhouse.
Well, they're known for their mutton chop, which mutton is mature lamb, it's sheep.
They're known for their mutton chop.
It's a steakhouse.
It's pricey as heck.
It's not absolutely ludicrous, but it's kind of ludicrous.
They have incredible French fries.
They have an amazing mutton.
They have everything I love.
A raspberry coffee cantata as a dessert, but it's also the environment.

(58:19):
Like there's, it's just really old and there's like old clay pipes that like Teddy Roosevelt used when he came in there to smoke.
But it's just a lot of history.
And something I love about restaurants isn't just the food, but it's also the environment.
And I'm a huge, I love old school stuff.
I love stuff that is still going after so many years.

(58:40):
Like, and it's saying F you to all the trends and it's saying F you to all the constraints that, you know, modern day society puts on them.
And they're just still rocking.
So I would say King's Chop House is my favorite.
King's Chop House.
I want to get some mutton.
I'm coming to New York.
I'm getting some mutton from King's Chop House.
Awesome.
And one final last question before we get into our outro here.

(59:00):
If Hollywood were to make a movie about your life, who would you pick as the main actor?
Who's the heavyset Jewish guy, Jonah?
Oh, Jonah Hill?
Jonah Hill or Larry David.
Larry David, right on.
Yeah.
Nice.
Okay, anything else you want to let our DJ Sessions fans know about before we let you go?

(59:31):
Threads and X is a terrible, terrible, terrible technology.
It's, you can't trust anything that you see on there, anything that you hear.
And I failed this, but maybe you'll be better.
Try not to share things unless you know as close to firsthand if you can, or secondhand, that it's absolutely true.

(59:52):
Try not to let your emotions take over because we are going to implode as a society if we don't stop letting the algorithms on Threads and X determine what we say and feel.
We're done for.
So stick to your business, focus on the positive.
Don't do what I do.

(01:00:12):
Don't be a puss like me when it comes to Threads and good luck to you.
And email me if you ever want to hear any insight on anything.
I've always been helping DJs since day one.
Nice.
Where's the best place people can go to find out that information and get in contact with you?
HerbertHoller.com or send me an email.
Herbert at HerbertHoller.com.
Herbert at, and there's your HerbertHoller.com.

(01:00:35):
I'm here.
Yeah, just holler.
Awesome, Herbert.
Thank you so much for coming on the DJ sessions again.
Definitely looking forward to connecting with you if I make it out to endlessly.
Yes.
And thank you for wanting me on this show, man.
Experts only, you know how to do that.
It's always fun, you know, being back in the seat, talking to people from around the world, different genres, not staying just in our local sect, our neighborhood or cliche, you know, because there's insights from people all over the world.

(01:00:59):
There's knowledge that's there, collective knowledge that should be shared.
And you have a lot of that to give to the electronic music community and business owners as well.
Really appreciate you being on the show today.
Thank you.
I appreciate being here.
You're welcome.
On that note, don't forget to go to our website, thedjsessions.com.
Find us on all the socials there.

(01:01:20):
700 news stories a month, 2700 past episodes.
Our new music section is coming out with new artists.
We have our VR nightclub, mobile app, all that and more at thedjsessions.com.
I'm your host, Darran, coming to you from the Virtual Studios in Seattle, Washington.
That's Herbert Holler coming in from New York City.
And for The DJ Sessions, it's time to go.

(01:01:41):
But remember, on The DJ Sessions, the music never stops.
Never.

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