The Truth About Marrying a DJ (w/ LUCRE)

Everyone knows Claudia… but this is her husband.

Before music, LUCRE (Daniel Stevens) built a business. Now he’s building something entirely different.

We talk about the transition from business to music, what it means to create your own path, and how that impacts a relationship and marriage behind the scenes.

This isn’t just about being a DJ/producer and entrepreneur, it’s about what it takes to build a successful life and marriage on your own terms.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_04 0:00

Welcome to Coffee and Cleavage. Welcome. I'm Linny. And I'm Claudia. And hello, Gary.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hey ladies. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 0:09

Gary's in the studio. It's welcome here. Yes. And we have a special guest today.

SPEAKER_05 0:14

We do. Are we going? Uh are we going by Lucre? Are we going by Daniel Stevens in this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Your husband.

SPEAKER_05 0:22

My husband. How would you like to be introduced?

SPEAKER_00 0:24

I don't know. I just know this is the episode everybody's been watching.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

This is honestly, this might be the season finale because what else can we do after this one? This is it. And I know Gary is such a big fan too. So maybe Gary will have to be.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

The other side of the Velcro.

SPEAKER_05 0:42

Other side of the Velcro. So you obviously know my husband, aka Lucre, very well. But I want to introduce him to the coffee and cleavage audience because if you don't know who my husband is, Lucer is a techno producer. He's a DJ. He is my husband, my my other half, the other half of the velcro of relationship here. But he's also a very well-traveled, well-spoken man. And he's sold, built countless businesses, um, created empires. And I just feel like you have a lot that you could teach your audience just about life in general, life, business, music. So we wanted to have you on a guest on as a guest because I just think you have a lot you could share about your life. Absolutely. Go on. Thank you. Fluff that ego even more. And most importantly, you're married to me. So you're doing something like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

And that is, I'm sure everyone's first question. It's my first question. What is it like being married to this beautiful, gorgeous fire goddess?

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Um, it that's an interesting question. Because I think everyone would fantasize about being married to, you know, girls like you, right? And I think for me growing up in a relatively small town, like the fantasy of girls like you, we didn't I didn't understand. And when I first met Claudia, it definitely took uh some getting used to. I mean, just whether it's attention or you know, the social media having large followings or whatever. But um I I adjusted quickly and and now it's you know all I know. But um there's definitely an adjustment phase for sure, and I don't think people really under would understand or realize that.

SPEAKER_05 2:29

Interesting. Oh an adjustment phase. We're gonna fight about this but it but an adjustment in a good way.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Like let's if you you know, especially me growing up in a small town. I mean, my middle school class had 16 kids in it, and now I'm with the woman that has how many millions of people that know who she is. Like that there's a certain amount of like, whoa, and not in necessarily a bad way, but um it it it's ultimately great. I mean, I I have no complaints in the world, but you know, there is certainly uh it's it's it's a different different world for sure.

SPEAKER_05 3:01

And so you said 16 people. I didn't even know there were 16 people in your class.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Uh not in my high school, my middle school, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:07

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

They I think they graduated with like 14.

SPEAKER_05 3:10

Oh wow, wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Yeah, small.

SPEAKER_05 3:12

Do you feel like because I mean I lived in Rockford with you, do you think there is definitely such a thing as small town mentality?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

I hope the Rockford people are watching. Um yeah, yeah. I think when you're in a small town, you're it's almost like a black hole. Like you're trapped in a certain belief system, it's all you know. Um, I mean, we you know, we used to always joke that in Rockford, the driving a half hour to Madison, Wisconsin was their big trip for the for the year, right? I mean, it you when you get into a big city and you get big city life, you get big city problems, you develop a different mentality. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 3:51

And I think, you know, because I lived in LA before we started dating. And, you know, when we came out to even Vegas, because I went back to uh Illinois to, you know, live live with him and because you know he had his business. And then when we wanted to venture out to Vegas, I'm like, this is gonna be a total change for you because you're coming from a small town, and then now you're in this big city. And I think Vegas is becoming more and more of a big city, but now I think you're seeing for real what a small town versus what something like well, I mean, I did do a year, you know, my first year of college was in Miami.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Yeah, but I was young, you know, and I was I was 18. So now as an adult, I definitely see the the difference of big city, good and bad, but a lot of good. I mean, uh different surroundings, you meet different types of people. I mean, you could be at dinner and you don't know who you're who you're gonna connect with. And you don't get that in small towns. I mean, my career path and my trajectory, I think has a lot to do with my my physical location and just you know being in a bigger city.

SPEAKER_05 4:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

And yours too. Yeah, and yours too.

SPEAKER_05 4:56

Yeah, especially for us. Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely. I don't know if we could do what we do in a small town.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

So I'm sure you'll get to it, but how did you guys meet? How long is the podcast? So you were from what?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

So I grew up I'm from Chicago, but I grew up in a town called Rockford. Um, and at that time, I think I was about 20 years old. Yeah, yeah. And I was big into the car show community. I had an Audi S4 show car. It was a traveling um show car with hot import nights. So we went to some different cities around the country, and on one of the posters was three models, one of which was Claudia. And I was like, wow, like she's she's stunning. Like, I gotta find her at the show, right? So the next day at the show, I searched far and wide for this girl, but in the poster, she was a brunette. But at that point, she was a blonde. So I'm looking for a brunette, and you know, there's 5,000 people there. Like, how am I gonna find this girl? So I found her MySpace after the show. I sent her a message and I said, Hey, like, I'm president of this car club, I'd like to do a photo shoot with you, blah blah blah. I'm just really trying to hit her up.

SPEAKER_05 6:03

Smash.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Uh yeah, and you know, she's like, Oh yeah, that'd be cool, blah, blah, blah. You know, I'm a boyfriend, and I'm like, ah, she's got a boyfriend. So I, you know, I kind of left left it there, but we connected on Facebook and often on touched base from 2006 to 2014.

SPEAKER_05 6:27

So seven years we never met, but we stayed in touch.

SPEAKER_04 6:31

I didn't know that. I know when you guys first met, I know that story, which I love, and you guys could share that again. Cause I think it's such a good, it's fucking such a good it's a good story. But I didn't know that part of it. Seven years, yeah. Yeah, seven years.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

So then at that point I had my business, I had my gym, and I wanted to do like just a really provocative, risque photo shoot just to like get people talking. So it was gonna be me and another girl naked, but covered, like with hands and dumbbells and whatever was strategic. And I'm like, well, who's gonna do this? Like, I live in Rockford, Illinois, like uh this is already kind of out there, but I knew her, so I'm like, hey, I wonder if if I knew she was from Chicago, she was living in LA at the time, but I'm sure she came back and she actually was coming to Chicago the following week. So I'm like, hey, you want to do this shoot? And she's like, Yeah, yeah, I do want to do this.

SPEAKER_05 7:21

And he told me that it was gonna be a naked shoot, and I I always thought he was so hot. Like, I saw like all this competing photos of bodybuilding and all. I'm like, damn, I get to see a bodybuilder naked. Hell yeah. I love it. So he did the shoe, and she charged me. I of course I charged them. And you know how much did you charge him? $1,500. It should have been a couple more zeros.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

So I only gave her like $14, $14.

SPEAKER_05 7:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

So I shorted her.

SPEAKER_05 7:47

He shorted me some money. But you know what's you know what's really cute about that story? He shorted me the money. I think it was like $75 or something. On the day of our wedding, he gave me the $75 in an envelope. Oh my god, I love that. Yeah, that's so cute. So, yeah, so we met and we fell in love and now we're here. Wow, that's incredible. You guys like the ultimate power couple? We try, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Yeah, we try. We try. We we have we we have something very unique and and we we do know about.

SPEAKER_05 8:14

I want to talk about because I I know all these things about you, but I think what's cool, your your story. You started a very successful gym brand in Illinois, in Rockford, and you grew it from member one all the way up to many, many hundred members. You've trained a lot of people, you've changed a lot of lives, you've um, you've helped people compete. You've really you you you changed a lot of lives ultimately is what I'm getting at. And then one day we decided to sell the gym, right? When when things were hot and heavy for me online and creating content, and you helped me with that. And then one day you just wanted to get into music. Tell us how the hell do you go from sound so random? How how do you go from I think it's fucking awesome? Owning a gym.

SPEAKER_04 9:03

This goes from one extreme to the other.

SPEAKER_05 9:05

To being a well-recognized techno producer now. Like, how does that happen?

SPEAKER_00 9:10

A lot of determination. I mean, I I always had this um interest in music, you know. I truthfully, I always kind of wanted to be in a band, but I don't play an instrument. And that if you're gonna be in a band, you generally have to know how to play an instrument, and I can't sing. So I'm like, well, I can't do that. And as I was developing this interest with music, you know, DJs started kind of becoming, you know, rock stars in in their world. So I fell in love with electronic music young. And you know, I came up with like the prodigy, and then I found technomusic, and I always wanted to have a path in it, but in Rockford, Illinois, there there is no DJ career. There is no music producer career.

SPEAKER_05 9:47

So once I sold the business, but would you have time for that doing what you were doing anyway?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

No, I mean we we were working 80 hours a week, legitimately 80 hours a week. So the idea was there, and I and I had interest in, I mean, the gym we had, you know, we played house music, we had dim lighting, we had skulls and chandeliers. I like I had this element of like this music underground feel within a gym. Um, and it was unique. So once we sold the gym, I mean, essentially I was retired, which sounds cool, but when you're 33 years old and now you can wake up tomorrow at noon and it doesn't matter, it's kind of a weird feeling. So I went through this phase of like, I kind of lost my identity for a while. Um you had a hard time. I did. And and we had a friend at the time who actually told you privately, what did he say? Has Dan felt it yet? And you're like, What do you mean?

SPEAKER_05 10:41

I'm like, what are you talking about? And he's like, selling my business was the best worst day of my life because one day I just woke up and there were no texts, nobody needed me, nobody was hitting me up for you know what they needed. Uh I I didn't have to go anywhere. There were meetings were normally scheduled around me, and one day just stops all of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Oh, yeah, and it's that dramatic. Like you go from all day, every day, something, something, something to nothing. It's just done.

SPEAKER_05 11:11

And meanwhile, this was during our heyday for OnlyFans. So he's doing absolutely nothing all of a sudden. And I'm like custom video, custom video, custom, this, this, this, creating content. Da da da da like it was so chaotic. Like you remember, like during COVID days, it was like now we have like a groove. Yeah, but you know, so I I'm I'm in the heat of it, you know, I'm not even paying attention. And he's he's developing like depression because it was weird.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

And I'm and I'm not a depressed person, I'm not really that anxious of a person, but I I was getting there because I'm like, what do I do now? So you yeah, I you know, you can only do that for so like you do it for a couple months, and then it's like you get to like six months or a year, and you're like, okay, I gotta find something. Um, and I'm not the type of guy who's gonna like you know, start a construction company. Like, I wasn't gonna do something like it was gonna have to be a very personal interest.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

Something you're passionate about. Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

And so she you asked me, she's like, What do you want to do? I'm like, I and I I'm in Vegas, like I kind of want to DJ. And I didn't know shit from shit. Like, I I I I didn't even know what DJs did. Were they up there creating the music? I I had no concept. But Valentine's Day that's coming up.

SPEAKER_05 12:22

That's what six years?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Is that six years ago?

SPEAKER_05 12:24

Six or five years ago, no.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

You you came out you you said you had to go somewhere. So you went and you came back. You told me to come outside and I opened the trunk of the car, and there was a mixer.

SPEAKER_04 12:33

Oh, wow. That's a one hell of a and I looked at him.

SPEAKER_05 12:36

I got him a mixer, and and I went to the whatever the DJ store was, and I'm like, just give me the best of whatever you have. I got him a mixer and I got him two big speakers, and I opened the trunk and I looked at him, and what did I say to you?

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Well, correct, uh it was a controller. I don't want my uh DJ mixture. What do you mean? It was it was a controller, it was all one unit, but it was appropriate for me at that stage to start on. Um, and you looked at me and said, figure it the fuck out. Verbatim, figure it the fuck out.

SPEAKER_05 13:07

And I and I gave him the keys to the carp, like park it, bring the shit inside, figure it the fuck out. Like I'm like, I looked at him, I'm like, you are not that person. You are not depressed, you are not gonna walk around the house moping and not finding purpose because he he lived that gym life with so much purpose, and then he went to like zero purpose. I'm like, you're not this man. I didn't marry this man.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

And remember too, at that point I was also done competing.

SPEAKER_05 13:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

So it's like that was a big part of my life. That was done. You know, I closed that chapter. So it's like, okay.

SPEAKER_05 13:35

And you left the town you grew up in.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:38

It's not life changing. Yeah. So everything changed in like a blink of an eye. And all of a sudden, like his wife is blowing up online, like everything in life changed literally overnight.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

And I feel like you need that though, sometimes just be like, just a little glove. And and the crazy part is, so I started, you know, practicing DJing, and you know, I'm like, okay, like I can get the hang of this. And I think three months into it, you're like, I got you a paid gig. I'm like, you got me what? She's like, I got you a paid gig. And it paid like $300, which I mean, you know, that's that's real money. And I'm like, I I don't know if I can play a paid gig. And you're like, well, you're gonna do it. Like, figure out and they and I did, and it went great, and they had me back. So I'm like, okay, I know I'm okay at this if I can at least get invited back. Um, and then just you know, that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_05 14:31

I love that. And tell us the you because you very early on made the switch from DJ to producer. What number one, tell our viewers what is the difference between a DJ and producer and what made that that change for you, that acceleration so quickly.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

I don't I think most people don't realize that DJs and music producers don't always necessarily they're not the same thing. Um DJs generally play other people's music live, where music producers make they might make music for other people, but they also make music for themselves. And you know, the way the path of real career earning in this industry is DJing live, but being a known entity globally through your music that you can get booked. There's very few just DJs on their own, solo DJs, who have a global career path. So, but the ones that are getting booked, and if you look at the billboards in Las Vegas or Abiza or Mikanos, there you know them from their music, you know them from their Spotifies, you know them from their Apple music.

SPEAKER_05 15:35

They're not just playing other people's music, they're not just playing other people's music.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

They might also do that, but um, for me, and I remember when this happened, we were at a pool party, and this is when I was, you know, starting the DJing, coming up with DJing, coming up through DJing. And I looked at the the billboard of the hotel, and it's oh Steve Aoki, Martin Garrick, Tiesto, and it just like occurred to me, and I was like, they're producers. And I was and I never really had a lot of guidance coming up, but uh the people who were guiding me were really more local Vegas DJs, and that's not as a bad thing, that was just their path. And I'm like, I didn't really know any producers. So then I'm like, okay, well, what do I do? I'm gonna start producing. Well, how do I produce? Okay, well, okay, research what they use, find the software. I bought the software, I bought Ableton, and then you just start playing. Like you learn how your DJ, you learn how to produce. I mean, I knew I knew I liked the music, I know the general structure of the music, even though I don't really have any formal music training. Um, and then just one thing leads to another, and you can't do it. You need an ear for it. You do.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

I I can't make a song to save my fucking life. Like, I'll watch him sometimes in the studio. I'm like, I I like I don't know what the hell you're doing.

SPEAKER_04 16:49

You have a natural talent for it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I think so. I mean, I think I but you know, I was I was a technohead. I I don't say I was necessarily a raver because I grew up in a small town. We didn't have raves, but if I could have been a raver, I would have been a raver. So I grew up watching and learning and listening and you know, becoming obsessed with this style of music. So when I was ready to create it, I had all these ideas in my head. Well, this is how I'm gonna make the music, and it just needed to come out.

SPEAKER_05 17:14

Interesting. Who has been like your biggest musical influence, do you think?

unknown 17:20

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

You know, I I I I found music through rock. Um Nine Inch Nails, Rommstein. You know, the uh I I like I like hard rock. I've always been attracted to the more underground sounds, pop music I appreciate, but it's it's not my preferred genre. Um I've always thought the underground was more interesting. So when I found electronic music and I found techno, it was the harder, more raw stuff. You know, I got really interested in like the European techno scene, Berlin, Amsterdam. Like that's where my interest grew. Um I never really found I don't want to use the word mainstream because you know, but I never really found the mainstream electronic music as interesting. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. Yeah, but to me, the underground stuff is is proper, proper music.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

Yeah, absolutely. You're a big fan of that. You like rock, I mean, you know. I do.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

You know, but the when you say you like rock and you say you like um, you know, a nine-inch nails, that's a whole different style than saying you like guns and roses, right? You might appreciate both, but it's a different type of music. And it is, yeah. You're gonna go with what you naturally gravitate towards.

SPEAKER_04 18:34

Absolutely. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

So, as of right now, I mean, where do you play? Where do you DJ at? So I'm in this interesting, I play a lot locally. Um, I have a really good relationship with some art galleries. We do some cool events. Um, we're now around the country, but I'm in this path of like I'm this European adjacent techno artist who happens to live in the United States. So I'm fighting this. How do you get me over the pond to play? Because that's where my audience is becoming. Um, and you know, I'm so I'm working with some labels in Europe and releasing more. I'm still in my building phase. And I recognize just like building a business, and this is what makes me different from most artists. Everything has a season and a reason. Like right now, I'm building to get to a point where I am constantly bookable in other countries, because that is my audience. I will never be bookable solely in the United States, and nor do I want to be.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

You know, I want to travel, I want to go and experience different countries with my music. So, you know, that's kind of where my path is right now, finding a journey into Europe.

SPEAKER_05 19:40

Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. Is there anything you're working on right now?

SPEAKER_00 19:44

I'm always working on something, baby.

SPEAKER_05 19:46

I know you are.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

I got some big releases coming. Um, I just had a release on um the Yellowhead label, which they're they're they're a huge techno act. Um, I have a couple other labels coming up that are really big stepping stones into Europe. Um, and we're just gonna keep grinding. And I got the help of my beautiful wife here, who just keeps motivating me and pushing me to the cloud. I love that. And she'll do and she'll keep, she'll probably, hey, I got you, EDC. It's like, okay. But I mean, you know, that's who she is. She she's she's my number one fan, she's always been. Um, and whether it was bodybuilding, which I really wasn't that good at. But and she wouldn't BS me, but she would encourage me if this is something I want to do. She'll make sure I'm, you know, I got everything ready to go.

SPEAKER_05 20:31

And there are songs sometimes where he's like, he's like, come into the studio, listen to this. I'm like, this is shit.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

She did it the other night, actually.

SPEAKER_05 20:37

And he got really upset. I'm like, I'm not gonna lie to you.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

I had like four great songs. Yeah, sugarcoat it. Yeah, you gotta have that. I think she's like, she's I played her these new songs. She's like, honestly, they all sound the same. And I'm like, Are you are you fucking serious? This is great music. She's like, they sound the same. So we had dinner, and I was pissed. You was not at her, but I was like, I felt like I had some really cool, I had a good vibe going. So I went back upstairs and I dropped in some some vocals we were working on, did a couple things, and I told her, get upstairs. Now tell me this, tell me what the sounds like.

SPEAKER_05 21:11

And are they not better?

SPEAKER_00 21:12

She's like, This is yeah, this is you now. She's like, Whatever that was, I don't know what that was. But you know, you need that. Yeah. And you know, when I started making music, I I know my mom was gonna say it's cool. Oh, great, that's awesome. My son makes music. But you know, when I started playing it for my peers and they're like, No. And you start sending it to the record labels, and they're they don't even respond. And now you're like, okay, maybe I have some growth to do. So I'm glad I have someone in my immediate corner who's not afraid to say no. Well, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

She supports you, like not just saying, This is great. I love all this, because that kind of hurts you. So you want her to be like, you know, this could be better because it's not great.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

And the thing about the music industry, which no one I think realizes until they get in it. There's a lot of gatekeeping and there's a lot of no's and no's and just empty emails and and and you just bang your head again. If I didn't have a business background where I understand how to dedicate myself to something, I think I would have quit years ago.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

And a lot of people do.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

And you know, so to have her say, no one's gonna sign this song. This is shit. You need to do something else to it. You know, she's probably right. You know.

SPEAKER_05 22:27

Do you guys hear that? Did you guys hear that? We're gonna clip just that part.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Your wife is generally right.

SPEAKER_05 22:34

Jordan and Gary, we want that part clipped for social media.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

She is generally right. Just listen to her. But isn't that true with anything? I mean, usually women are usually right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

So final question, because I I ask all our guests this. If you had to tell your younger self something, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

I'd probably tell younger self a lot of things, but I would say don't fucking stop. Because my the my my whole path of anything I've ever done has been a lot of your gym can't compete with the big gym in town. You're never gonna be a good bodybuilder, you can't coach people, you're never gonna make in music. And I've never listened. And I've and it got to the point, especially now, being what am I gonna be 39? I I I genuinely don't care if you don't like what I'm doing. I'm gonna do it. So just don't fucking stop. Yep, just keep grinding.

SPEAKER_04 23:29

Hell yeah. Cheers to that. Cheers to that. Yeah, cheers to that. And your wife's always right. I would make sure 17 year old me knew that.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yes, well, thank you for having me, ladies.

SPEAKER_04 23:40

Thank you so much, Dan. Appreciate you coming. Of course.

SPEAKER_05 23:43

We'll uh we'll pay you back with a nice dinner tonight. Nice on coffee and cleavage. That's right. We'll see you guys next episode. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Thank you.