Ep. 18: A Fly Guy | The Danger Den Podcast w/ Danger Foley @MMW

The Danger Den Podcast at Miami Music Week, host Danger Foley connects with A Fly Guy — the international DJ, curator, and creator of Master the Mix. Together, they dive into the spiritual side of sound, the healing power of rhythm, and what it really means to stay grounded while moving crowds around the world.

From global stages to personal recovery after a life-altering injury, A Fly Guy’s journey is proof that purpose and music are inseparable.

In this episode:

• How Master the Mix changed DJ culture
• Overcoming challenges through music and mindset
• Authenticity and focus in an evolving industry
• Music as connection, medicine, and expression

Follow A Fly Guy: @aflyguy

Connect with The Danger Den:
Website: https://www.thedangerden.com
Instagram: @dangerdenco
YouTube: @TheDangerDenCO

Transcript

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Totally. I am Danger Foley, and we are live in Miami for Miami Music Week at the Danger Den. I am here with Fly Guy, a DJ who is playing later today actually. Yeah, right after this. In Fort Lauderdale. Yeah. But I am so happy to have you here. Thank you I apprecaite it. At the Danger Den. Thank you for having me. So tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Oh, how much time do we have? Yeah, right. Start at the very beginning. Well, I was born in Guyana in South America, and the way I describe it is like it's the only Caribbean country that's not an island. Dang. So we're in South America, so South American geographically, but we are Caribbean by culture. Wow. And how long did you live there? I left Guyana I was five when I left. And then went to Brooklyn and then came here. Then I went back to Brooklyn, then came back here. And here is Miami. Miami, yeah. Got it. So you're local now? Yeah, oh yeah, been. So Miami is like, really like home. But I kind of I have a tattoo of my own that has the area codes of all three places: Guyana, Brooklyn and Miami. Because I'm a combination of all three. Yeah. Yeah. So, everywhere is home for me? That's amazing. And I came back here in 2008 and have been here since, and that's when I started DJing. Okay, so 2008 is when it really happened for you. Yeah, so 17 years and counting. Which just sounds crazy to say, but yeah. For real, I feel that. So, that was vinyl when you started? Actually, no, I didn't start with vinyl. I started with Serato and then stumbled back into vinyl last year, just looking at all the vinyl bars that were opening and then just being a vinyl collector. And I'm like, you know what? Let me, let me go back to this original art form of craft and just completely fell back in love with it, but now doing it professionally, I never did it professionally. Okay. So when I started professionally it was Serato. Got it. But it was on turntables in Serato, so this is pre controllers. I didn't like CDs. So like in my tech writers and stuff they had to have technique 1200s and you know needles and slip mats and Serato vinyl, so. Got it. Yeah. And that's So now, when your evolution has taken place over what you were playing with versus what you're playing with now. What has been your sweet spot in terms of finding the perfect? I think for me, it's the rain 12s. Like the rain 12s, mark twos and an S11 mixer. Like, I never really been a fan of pioneer. Like the DJing mixers. Like they're cool, but for, you know, scratching and cutting and stuff, it's always like, the S9, the S11. The, wait, if you want to go back to the TT, m s whatever that was. Yeah. Like in 2010. But yeah, those, those battle mixers, best hacks, you know, those kind of things. Over now, like the rain 12s are like, sweet spot. Do you do a lot of battles? Not anymore. Not anymore. You used to? I did four. Second place, the most recent one was, at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino down here, and I took second place. mean, I did master the mix. I don't know if you ever heard of Master the Mix. So Master the Mix was like the American idol of DJs. So three seasons, season one and two was on B.E.T. season three, they switched it to VH one. Oh, dang. It will be on Monday nights, and it was for a quarter million dollars. And it was 12, 12 DJs from around the country and I was one of them. it had the cast was very diverse in terms of skill level, in terms of approach to DJing, in terms of, you know, where you come from. And it was it was like a beautifully casted show. And I was really lucky to be a part of it. I did have an emotional breakdown on the episode that I got eliminated on. Did you? On, on air? Oh, yeah. Really? Like to the point where like, so when you when you either when you win a challenge or you lose a challenge or you get voted off, you have to do like, an off camera you a backstage quick little interview and, and the, the episode that I lost on, I ended up crying in the backstage interview and I was in my head. I'm like, oh yeah, that definitely airing this. For sure. And it was, you know, it kind of affected you mentally a little bit, you know, having to just deal with now. Oh, you lost on the show. You think you're going to get booked now, like that whole type of thing. So it was a little bit of a struggle, maybe for about a year after the show. What year was this? This was 2013. 2013. So 2013, the show premiered ran for ten weeks. I left in week seven. So I want to say, for maybe like the next 8 or 9 months or so was really tough. Pretty gnarly. Yeah. Yeah. And I was and at that point, I was only five years in the business and still not doing anything that's like high profile yet. Like it would be like a year before I got to DJing at LIV. So it was still like doing underground spots, hole in the wall spots, not making much money, but still trying to find my path and dealing with everything that came with that. And before we get to the LIV milestone, because that sounds really awesome. But during those nine months or so and with the social media and with all of that, what got you to keep going? I just always been that person. You know, I'm the youngest of three brothers, right? So I notice, like, my brothers, are very accomplished, in like, in their field. They both DJ and they're both very entrenched in hip hop. So my eldest brother was editor in chief of The Source magazine in the 90s, when the Source with, like, the Bible of hip hop. He put out two books. The middle brother signed a record deal when he was 17. So I've seen all of these accomplishments that they've done, and I've always tried to, like, emulate my older brothers. So that alone is what kept me motivated and like, well, I don't care about anybody else. I want to impress them like these two guys who helped raise me. So that's kind of like the the fuel in the fire that pushed me along. So it was more you wanted to impress them and have them be proud of you as opposed to compete with them. Oh yeah, no, absolutely. I wanted them to look and say, you know, our little brother is dope at what he does, he's so cool, he's doing this. And I've gotten to that point now where they're like, ah you’re alright. You cool. Made it. Yes. And so, I’m like yeah, yeah. Cool. So that's but that's been like the, the fuel that's pushed me along on this whole journey. So family is really important. Absolutely. Yeah. It’s the foundation of everything I do. Yeah. Like I'm blessed to have a really strong, loving family. Yeah. Because if I didn't, a lot of this business would have eaten me alive already. For sure. And so you guys all moved as a family when you were five. You had your two older brothers. Yeah. Both parents? Yeah. My father passed away when I was 15. So at that point. So my brothers are five years older and nine years older. So at that point, they were already out of the house, like in college in the army and everything. So, you know, my 11/12 grade year in high school was very, lonely. Cause they were already gone. And they were back in New York. They left Florida and went, went back to New York. So but, but we’re still very close to this day. And so you lost your dad when you were 15, so you were in high school. Yeah. And your brothers were gone. And the year later, my mother got breast cancer. Fuckin a. So I spent 12th grade thinking I was going to graduate with no parents. Is your mom. But she beat it. She did. She actually ended up getting cancer again two years ago. Beat it again. Oh, what a badass. She's the strongest human being I know. By far. Wow. Her and, I have a three year old daughter named Scarlett, and, she's. They say she gets her strength from her grandmother absolutely. So grandma is still around. Does she get to see Scarlett all the time? Yeah. That's great. Down here in Miami. Yep, down here. That's beautiful. And what do you what part of your music do you attribute to your roots? Do you, does that impact your style and your choice of music? I think being well, number one, being West Indian, being Caribbean, you already have a lot of influences and culture and it kind of like innate in you already. And coming from Brooklyn, where it's such a very multicultural place, and then being in Miami, which is even more multicultural, you want to be able to adapt and play music for everyone. And I think that I was fortunate enough to live in both of these places, DJing these places, as opposed to like growing up in, I don't know, Des Moines, Iowa. Yeah. Where it is maybe not as cultural. And you're kind of like stuck into one lane as a DJ. Being here, especially in Miami, like, it makes you have to be more worldly. And it influences your, your catalog I'll say. More diverse palette. Yeah. Yeah cause even in, in clubs here, I mean on South Beach, you know, you can have people from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, India, Africa all in one room. Now, how do you make, you can't make everybody happy number one. But how do you make a majority happy and how do you get them to vibe with you? Totally. And why is this so important to you? Why music in general? I don't know, I think I think to me music is so, you know how to say like there's five love languages. Yeah. I think there's only one, and it's music. Music is a love language because it's the only thing that I've seen where you don't have to speak the language in order to feel it and appreciate it. And if you look at old like Michael Jackson concert footage and he's in Europe or somewhere in Germany or something, they don't speak English, but they know the lyrics. But you feel me, like I always tell people, if you cut me, I'm going to bleed music and I'm probably going to bleed R&B. So, you know, it's just something about music that I think it it if you're passionate about it, it kind of exudes out of your pores and it's like you can't I don't think you can fake it like you can't fake passion and the way that I DJ, and I think what attracts people to my, my style of DJing, is because they know I really love what I do like, I love this shit. And you’re gonna feel that. And then that energy transfers around the room. Yes, it sure does. It just makes whole overall experience better. Absolutely. Are you raising your daughter on music. Yeah, yeah, as I have an older daughter too, who’s 16, so that's the main thing it like. So she's in the advanced course? Yeah. She is also at the point where she is bleeding R&B as well? More pop. Okay. You know. Still music. Yeah. Still music. But I'm letting her find what she likes while still I kind of. Right, coaching her along. Check this out. Totally. And Scarlet. When when before she was born at the baby shower, we got a little baby turntable. Like a little Fisher-Price turntable. That's amazing. Yeah, I love it. So, we'll see how that goes. We'll see. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Fly, Fly Daughter. Yeah, yeah yeah. The Fly Girl. The Fly Girl. The fly girl, I love it. How is DJing with a family? Like, what is that? How, how have you navigated that? It hasn't been easy. I'm divorced, you know. Because of the life? No, no. Actually, it's funny because I've never had an issue in any of my relationships based on my career. I've been very fortunate. There's never been any insecurity issues, any cheating issues, like nothing's happened that's caused. And I've been in three major relationships throughout my DJ career. So that's a blessing. It’s other issues. But, you know, it's tough. I travel a lot, you know, like I'm in New York two, three times a month. I'm on the road. I'm on tour, like, so it's definitely not as easy as, you know, if I worked at a bank. Yeah. If I was home at 5 p.m. every day. It's it's definitely takes adjustment, time management, and and just patience from the people around you, the people closest to you. Do you have a team or is. I do have a team. It's a small team, but it’s still a team. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think sometimes less is more. You know, when you have too many people around it could. Things get complicated. It gets complicated. And people don't know which lane to stay in. Exactly, exactly. Too many shifts. Too many. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. As this has become more of a career that has gone upwards significantly, what have you learned along the way? Like what would you say to yourself if you could go back to 2008 you? Ooh. A couple of things. One, I would say no one understand your value and your worth and don't back down from that. So you can get what you deserve, because that's still, in some instances, a struggle today, is getting what I'm worth. My value getting under, but dealing with being underpaid, dealing with not being paid on time. You know, as an entrepreneur yourself and, you know, a self-employed person, you know, that's a big stress. You know, it's not like every two weeks and your direct deposit hits, it's just like, no, you got to. Chase it down. Sometimes chase. Yeah. And that's like, who wants to be doing that shit in the 30s and 40s? Like chasing money? Like, it shouldn't have to be that way. But thankfully, when I'm out of town, it's a better situation. But I would tell my younger rookie self, like, know your value, know your worth and stand firm on it and don't let anybody move and be willing to say no. If you value isn’t met and figure it out later. Yeah, yeah, a lot of pivots. Yeah. A lot of pivots. It’s actually, it's crazy. I did a so I did a film during quarantine. I like I wrote, produced and directed a documentary. Amazing. On my journey, and it's called Pivot. Is it? And I just, did a screening at Florida International University yesterday. Congratulations. To the Master's program and some P.H.D. students, and talked about being self-employed and an entrepreneur. This was just yesterday, 24 hours ago. Pivot. Yeah, my 2020 story. That is amazing. Congratulations, first of all. Thank you. Can you tell me a little bit more about it? Yeah. It's basically it takes you so it takes you from basically birth to my life up until quarantine hit and my career. And then it's like, okay, what am I going to do now? Because I really, I personally didn't think we would ever get back to party life. Like I literally had those thoughts like just from the way like the media was showing how, how coronavirus was affecting the world. I was like, there's no way we're going to get back to 500 people, a thousand people in a room, a festival with 100,000 people like, you know, obviously we're we're there now. I mean, this is Miami Music Week. Ultra's here and everything. So, you know, we thank God we’ve gotten back to a sense of normalcy. It feel slightly different, though, right? It's not it's not it's not what it was. It's not what it was. And, maybe that's because of Covid, maybe not. But it's definitely like. If you were around and knew what it was prior to that, then you know, like it's a little different now. It’s a little different. It's a little different. Yeah. It feels like a slightly different material, like same same shirt, just different fabric. Yeah, it just doesn’t fit as well. Yeah. It’s just kinda shrunk a little bit. Yeah. You know. It's still, it's still the same shirt. It’s still the same shirt, but. Right. Yeah. Exactly. It's it's it's a, it shows you how, like, I went to well, I basically went out and started taking photos of quarantine life in Miami and then like, the George Floyd protests that were going on. And then I self-published a book of photography and ended up having a photo exhibit in December 2020. Jeez. So then my seventh exhibition just launched on Thursday. Here on South Beach. Big week man. It’s a big week. Cheers. Cheers to that! Yeah. That's huge. Yeah. Seriously. So the first. My first four exhibitions were about Covid life, and the last three have been all about DJs. And it’s called BPM, beats, picks, and masters. The beats we play, the picks that I take, we are masters of our craft, and it focuses on the mental, physical, financial and emotional strain that we take on while we try to entertain them. And that's what that's what the exhibition is about, bringing a bringing awareness to that. So what does that feel like to you when you talk about all of those elements of what it takes to put on a performance for an audience? I see that it makes like when we have a panel discussion or something, people are surprised, like they say, oh, I would never think a DJ would go through this or feel this way. Like they really think it's all, you know, glitz and glamor and and. Don Julio on the stage and girls and thongs. They think it’s, and I'm like actually no it's actually, it can get really dark. Like if you are not careful or if you don't have a good team around you or, you know, it's just the industry itself is a dangerous thing. Like it's a great thing. But depending on how stable you are mentally, you can fall down a rabbit hole and it would be very hard to get back out of, so. It's a mental stability, but also just educated in terms of how to handle your own finances, how to run your own stuff. There is such, a need for certain teammates around you who can be specialized in certain things, but early on you don't have access to that. I know DJs who don't even know how to create an invoice. For real? To invoice them, you know? Yeah. Or you know, do a W2, a W9 and you know how to set up their, LLC and all of that stuff, things that thankfully for me, I've known at an early age. But yeah, that's that's part of it too. So this this this whole journey has been enlightening people to a side of the DJ culture that they never really thought about. So, like the photos, they're not about the craft. It's not like photos of DJs actually spinning. It's portrait shots, it's head shots and just their eyes. And I wanted people to look in the DJs eyes and imagine what their story is or what they've been through, so that right now, in the gallery. You made me cry. On Washington Avenue, there’s 33 DJs on the wall. One side of the gallery is all Miami DJs. The other side is DJs from everywhere else. Cape Capri, Ninth Wonder, Scram Jones, House Shoes, I mean, they're all over. DJ Irie, EFN from Drink Champs. There's, there’s a lot of different people up there. What are you trying to accomplish with this exhibit? Like what? What do you want the people to actually feel when they look at your exhibit? I want them to understand that we are human beings. We're not fucking iPods. We're not, just something to be taken for granted. Like we put time, effort, energy, literal blood, sweat, tears into this craft to make you feel good for an hour or two hours, whatever it is. To me. Sometimes I feel like DJing is the most it's it's the most thankless profession in a sense. Like, if you go to Broadway and you go to a play, or if you're in the audience and you like to play, what do you do? You clap. Standing ovation at the end. Curtain call. They bow. Great. If you at a concert, you're an artist. Same thing. But like you're a DJ and you've been making people have the best night of their life for 2 or 3 hours and then the lights come on, they leave the club, and now you got tonight. It's on your way home, and now you get home, and now you’re empty because you've, you know, depleted all your energy and poured your soul into a set. How do you get replenished, if you don't, if you're not fortunate enough to, like, have a family, and love at home. Like I'm a single father, so I don't live with anyone I don't have, you know. So it's very like it's a very empty feeling sometimes. And there isn't really that replenishment that comes. But then, next night you got to do it again. Do it again. Then you gotta get on a plane. Go do it again. And you start to like, dig deeper and deeper and deeper. And now you’re like, grasping for replenishment. And sometimes it doesn't always come and that can lead to other things like addiction or alcohol or drugs or whatever it is, whatever your particular vice is, if you have that. Your security blanket, you know, just the thing that. What’s your coping mechanism, and how you deal with it. yeah. What do you do to replenish yourself? I don't know, I don't, you know, my issue I think people talk about, you know, like self-care is a big thing. And I think I struggle with that because especially living in Miami, being able to have access to the ocean and the water, and I don't utilize those things the way I should myself. And my self-care game is not what is should be. Weak at the moment. It’s very week. Yeah. But think it's always been week, you know, I think it's always been something that I didn't even realize I needed to do. Because the the BPM process only happened, three years ago as I’m coming out of the Covid, exhibition and realizing like, wait, I mean, I don't know how transparent I can be on this. Like, I can give you a real. Please, whatever you feel comfortable with. So 2020, March 2021. So this is four years ago this month. I put a gun to my head on Instagram Live. Yeah, and this is right after DJing. So it was a venue that I was doing and we had closed during Covid be reopened, but not to the, same capacity. And we were doing one last, one last day before it closed for good. All the DJs who played it. So maybe like 12 DJs all like from afternoon till night would take their turns doing a set. And it was a beautiful day. And then I was the one that was going to close out the night. And when I was doing my set, the police came and shut it down. Twice. So I never got to really feel out my set, but I ended up giving a speech to the crowd, crying on the microphone. The owner is like over my shoulder, like he's hugging me. And at that point I felt like I didn't have anything. Nothing. And and you mix that with obviously there was a lot of drinking that day. You mix that with alcohol and then you go home by yourself. So I did that was very, very fucking stupid. Did that. Somebody who was watching knew where I lived, called the police. I ended up putting the gun on the table, going to sleep. I woke up with four cops around my bed. So they broke the door down, came and they didn't arrest me. But they baker acted me. They took me to, the hospital over here at the Mount Sinai, yeah the Mount Sinai. I was baker active for three days. And I'm like, y'all don't understand. This, cause what can lead to something this serious. If you don't understand what it takes to do this profession. Like, it's not as easy or simple or as, you know, a cakewalk. Like, you think it is. There's real shit going on in our minds and our hearts and our lives. And I don't think people understand that. So that's what the exhibition is about, is bringing awareness to that type of why would that should happen to the Avicii. At 23, whatever age you, you know, AM this has to be something in this that pushes us to a breaking point. Thankfully some of us are able to come back, but not everyone, obviously. But it shouldn't even get to that point. That shit is supposed to be fun, it’s fucking music. Yeah, no shit, right. It’s music, like it’s supposed to be entertaining people, playing music, making people happy, creating these moments, these memories, and then being not only compensated because it's not about money, but being appreciated for what you do. Valued. Yeah. Value. And that shit doesn’t happen. And this is something that I’ve dealt with from the very beginning. And it's weird how like the, the, the rooms that you play in or the parties or the events you do where you don't get as much, where you don't get a lot of money, you get more love. And then when you do the big money shit, you get treated like shit. So it's like it's this weird dichotomy of just yin and yang, but it's the path I chose. Do you think you chose it like for a reason? Does this feel like the true alignment for you? Yeah, because I think it was a natural progression for me, from rapping and trying to get a record deal and wanting to do music professionally. But now I have been doing it professionally. I've just been making a living playing other people's music, so I think it was something that was destined to to happen. And I would say, and this might be a little blasphemous, but I would say, like being a DJ is almost godlike because you're literally controlling the moods and emotions of human beings. Like, you can literally make someone put their hands up, put them down, shout, sing along, you know, grab the person next to them, hug them, dance with somebody like you're controlling the emotions and the feelings of people, and it's like going to church. And you go to church and somebody, the pastor's up there and you catch the Holy Ghost, or you feel the sermon or whatever, and you're like, I don't know what I'm feeling, but I'm feeling something. Same shit. Almost. Yeah. Same thing in a party when a DJ is doing their job right, and you're like, you let your inhibitions go and you lost in the moment. It's a beautiful thing. It’s the most special, heavenly thing there is, is live music with a crowd of people dancing to the same thing. That's why I do it. Yeah. We, I feel everything that you were saying, even up to the dates. So it resonates with me so much. 2021 was an awful, awful pivot year for me too. Lost a friend to suicide and someone you mentioned like, you know, those those dates. It gets. That was a really intense time. And, I'm so happy you didn't do it. Me too. I am so happy. And, what, like, what made you put the gun on the table and, like, what was what was the thing that got you? Because I think that that might actually be helpful for some people here. I think, the thought of my eldest daughter at the time, you know, what it would do to my family. Again, having a very close family and not wanting to be selfish. now I have two daughters and, you know, I'm stronger. I'm not the strongest, but I'm stronger now than I was then. And I think that's the important thing is, like, the ebbs and flows of life, right? It's always darkness before the dawn, they say, like so. I was the darkest point. But this hasn’t gotten that dark since then, it's always, it’s been brighter. And brightening since then. And I’m trying to continue down that path. And I feel like with every storm at least that I've survived, it's gotten it's like, oh, that this last one was nothing compared to the one three times ago. Right exactly. And it's like you, you have your own back more and more each time. Your strength builds and builds and builds, yeah. Yeah. And that’s why I go, I talk to, high school students, college students, elementary school, like I and I going to share this with them. I asked the teachers, I'm like, is it okay? I'm going to. And they're like, no, it be real, so. Totally because I'm a very big advocate on mental health, on stability and, and especially like, you know, as, as a young black man in this country, they always told you, man up. Don't show weakness, definitely don't cry. Like and I never adapted to that mindset. Same thing I told the students at FIU yesterday, like in the documentary, it’d be because I talk about that, and it's a very vulnerable, thing that like, how are you able to be so vulnerable? And I said, I find strength in that. Absolutely. I find strength in being open and honest and showing that if someone who you deem as got it going on or whatever it has, has these moments of weakness, and I'm able to talk about it and be transparent about it, then maybe you'll get the motivation and let go of the fear of talking about what you're going through too. And you don't need to go as deep into the depths of hell because I've been there before you. And I can tell you that, can take the shortcut and it'll get better. Yeah. I think that's the biggest thing for me, too, is it has gotten better. Like, granted, there are still really shitty days. You have really shitty chapters. Yeah. But if in my, my Dark Knight of the soul came from a car accident that was nine years of chronic pain. And the craziest part about it and I haven't even fully officially said it publicly, but I was able to work with a group about a year ago who fixed it. And so it's this new chapter of life where I'm now dealing with what is my life without this mentality of always being in pain and always like, who am I now? And so the headspace that you can get in from being depressed or being in something like that for a while, can feel never ending and it can feel absolutely smothering. Yeah. And as one person, two people who have like gotten to the other side of it and who are you know, at least in a sunny chapter, you know, we can't say that life is going to be perfect forever, but like. it's a fucking beautiful, crazy world. Yeah. Crazy life. Yeah. Crazy human experience. And it's short, so you got to embrace it, enjoy it, maximize it as much as you can. Definitely. And you lost your dad at 15, you said. 15, yeah. And so, you were essentially the only child at that point because of your older siblings. Just me and my mom in the house, yeah. And how is that with your mom? Did you grow up real quick? It made us become best friends. Yeah, it made me grow really, really fast. And it made me and my mom become best friends and, you know, I'm the youngest, but I'm like, I'm the only one also who lives in Florida. And I'm not the closest to her proximity wise. And I think just in terms of just, you know, like I drove her to chemo every day and that's a good irradiation. And you know, I'm very, attached to I mean, all three of us are, but I see her a lot more than my brothers do. I know they wish that they could see her more. But that helped watching her bounce back from that and seeing how strong she was. She could have given up, but she chose to fight and she beat her situation. So who am I to let my, my tribulations you know take me out, like no, no. Do you feel like that's transferred over into your career in terms of getting through the the smaller gigs and everything to just that resiliency? Oh yeah, 100%. Because sometimes this shit will make you like, oh man fuck I quit. like But, again, it's like being resilient and knowing that, you know, yeah, you may be down right now, but it's going to go back up. And then it goes back up, hold on to that, try to sustain that and remind yourself that when it does go back down, don't let yourself mentally go back down. Bottle it up and store it for a winter. Yeah. Store the good stuff. Yeah, exactly. For real. It's it's it's not it's not easy. But you know, as I say, nothing worth having comes easy. You know, so. Do you have a good crew of friends? I have a good, good crew of friends, that are not DJs. And then there are there are a couple of DJs that I've gotten really close to like that were mentors to me. And there are DJs who I've mentored, that I’m, that I'm close to. You know, it's a very competitive. Especially in Miami. Oh my God. Yeah. Like, I feel like we're all scratching for the same dollar. We’re all, we’re all are trying to pick the same pocket, but, That’s why I like I, I stay in my lane, and I do what I do not focus on what I do, and I try to just be like a good human being first and then a good DJ second. You know, and I let my, my personality and my, my reputation precede me to just know that, like, I'm not out here on some bullshit. I'm not trying to rob anybody, snake anybody like, I'm really just a good person. And then the, the career part of that comes, comes after that. You know, so. But it's it's hard. It's it's harder than people think to keep friends in this business. When you feel like everyone is competing with each other, but if you're like, like, I see, like an EDM DJ and a reggae DJ, be great friends they’re playing in different shows, different crowds, different, venues, you know, but if you is like, there's a hip hop night in this club, and they book one DJ on one week, and then they book a different DJ the next week, and then that DJ is wondering, why, why did I get booked again? Why you got this guy? Oh, well, did he take a pay cut? Is he. Is he undercutting the. Totally. All that kind of shit? Thankfully, I feel like I'm a little far removed from that now. But. You've carved out your own path enough to. Yeah. Solidify. Thanksfully, yeah. Reputation. But the first, ten years were king of like. Kind of rough. Just trying to, like, find where to. Where do I fit in? You know, for a long time, I was like, the old school DJ. Playing you said 90s R&B and stuff like that. 90s R&B, 80s, you know. You can't say no to that. You know? And then when I got with the team I'm with now, headlining, like I started doing LIV, then that was like, oh, so now you're now you're doing that shit now. And then, you know, you're the South Beach guy now. And I'm like, well, I mean. Why don't you all just shut up. You know, like can i just. Yeah. Can I earn a living? Yeah. Is that cool? You know. And why do you care. Exactly. Just come dance. And how do I, like nothing I do affects you. Like if you're if you're another DJ. Like, why you worry about what I'm doing? I’m. Yeah. I actually, I'm cheering you on. I'm coming to your parties when I'm off, But I know I thankfully, like, now, like, with, I have, like, a pretty big R&B party called Duap. And it's all R&B music. Yeah. It's pretty cool. So we do it around the country. I mean, this is our fourth year doing it, and we just got asked to do the Roots picnic, in May. Congrats! Yeah, I’m very excited about that. That’s badass. Very excited about that. So we've been we've been slowly building and building and building it and it's it's it's now about to I think after the roots picnic. It's gonna. Are you prepared.? Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. We, we've been built. But you know doing LIV on Sunday like, you know, shout to my man, Mike Garner, a headliner like that's, you know, the high profile the top of the top. So it's this is like I always say Duap is the LIV on Sunday of R&B parties. That's how I describe it as. Because it's it might not be the most attended in terms of quantity of people, but it's the most high profile because of the stars that we have hosted and everything. I mean, we did Chris Brown twice last year, last summer, and Chris Brown doesn’t really host parties. Right. But he works with us, you know because his relationship with, with Mike is, is real tight. So, you know, Jamie Fox hosted our New Year's Eve party. You know, so when I tell people like, humbly, no, do opposite shit. Trust you when I tell you. And it's because the stars want to come to it, because they know the vibe that they get musically is going to be impeccable. Well, let's talk about throwing a good party then. What goes into throwing a good party? Starts with the music, but there, starts with the music. But I will say, as something I've learned over the years, there's so many other elements that go into a successful night or day. The venue has to be right, has to have the right ingredients, the sound system has to be right. Doesn't matter how great the music you play is. If it sounds like shit. It's not going to matter. You know, the staff has to be on point. You have to treat the customers with respect, so that they feel like their time and their money is worth them being there. Like it's so many different, like different intricacies that go into it beyond it. But the foundation is the music. The DJ, it starts with us. It starts with us. It starts with us. There is such a responsibility, as you said, not only for like a dance floor, but just the intention that you can, bring people together unanimously for and have it be something bigger than them, just like walking into a room and be like, oh, like, oh, this is fine. Like I'll stay here for 20 minutes. Right. You’re making them actually feel like this. There's nowhere else in the world that they would want to be. They would want to be. Yeah, exactly. Yep. And that's what to me, I've always tried to say, like, because I spent so many years as an opening DJ, that understanding the opening concept is so I don't think it's appreciated enough because you literally have to create. You’re preheating the oven. You gotta create. You’re creating the environment out of nothing like, I literally four walls and an empty room. Totally. And people are coming in sober. They haven’t gotten to the bar yet. And then they’re high, or whatever. They’re just getting there, you know the, the AC is blasting and it’s the freezing. And I'm like, okay, we're here now what? Time to have fun. Like, how do you make the room fun Do you ever get too frustrated with vinyl? Is that ever? No. No it's worth it. It's worth it. I think probably what I like most about it is going to a record store that day, finding what I call a gem, you know, gems. When you’re digging. And then playing it that night and then it getting the reaction that I knew I was going to get when I was purchasing it. That is like proabably the purest. Best drug. It's the purest dopamine feeling, like because you, you dig like you’re. It’s a little box under the shed and you're like okay, all the new shit is up here. Let me look under here and getting scabs and scars on your fingertips and dusting, hand sanitizing, and you look in and like, oh, shit, oh, this is going to kill them tonight. And then you pay 2 or $3, whatever it is, because it's in the it's in the discount pile. But it's like Christopher Cross and you're like and then the room reacts to and you're like, yeah, best $3. I spent all month. Hell yeah. And then you just multiply that by, you know, 50-60 records. It’s a beautiful, I love this shit. Like. For sure. Love it. Is there anything that you were particularly excited about that you want to share? My exhibit that's out now, that will, again it just launched on Thursday for Miami Music Week, and it's going to be up til July. I'm so excited. Freedman. Thank you. That is a very big deal. It's in partnership with Florida International University. So it's at their gallery on Washington and 16th. 1680 Washington Avenue. So I'm excited about that. I'm excited about just continue on and doing these vinyl sets and continue to just advance my career and bring more awareness to DJ mental health and stability. And. Yeah, keep the conversation going with, with the community. Yeah. And what we're doing here with Danger Den. I feel like it's the other side of this, this conversation that you're having about mental health. I mean, this is meant to be the biggest greenroom, you know, of all of the elements that you can use to at least attempt to try and get your head right before or after a show. Yeah. And I'm so happy that this conversation is becoming such a more frequent and loud one. Yeah. Because. It's, it's necessary. It's very necessary. And, you know, we're so grateful for all of the art that we get to consume in various ways without necessarily thinking about the artists who make it right. Right, right. And so, if we don't take care of our artists, I feel like we're just going to have gray, sad, flat art and. Bland. Nope. Not on our watch. Nope. Not on our watch. Not at all. Fly Guy, it's been so great chatting with you. Thank you so much for having me. Seriously. And thank you for your vulnerability and for being so real about it. It is just such an important conversation, and I think the braver people are about just sharing their own stuff. It's just going to make it less scary for other people to talk about. Yeah. Definitely. But yeah, if you are going through anything, that is making you feel like this is not worth it anymore. As two people who have been through really shitty chapters, take this as a sign that it's it's worth it and you should just keep going. Yeah. For sure. Thank you. Thank you so much, man. Yeah, thank you so much for watching The Danger Den. And we will see you next time.