KIC Back Podcast Episode 13 | DJ Tr3v: DJing Paid for College, Hacking Built His Career |

In Episode 13 of The KIC Back Podcast, we sit down with DJ Trev, one of the founding members of Excellent Soundcrew and a DJ whose journey extends far beyond the music.

Trev takes us back to the beginning, before the weddings, packed dance floors, and major celebrations. What started as a fascination with computers, downloading music, and understanding how technology worked eventually became two parallel careers. DJing helped pay his way through college, while that same curiosity for technology opened the door to a career in cybersecurity.

He shares how an English teacher unexpectedly helped launch his professional DJ journey, what it took to grow Excellent Soundcrew, and why controlling the energy of a room is far more complicated than simply playing popular songs. Trev speaks honestly about the pressure behind major wedding moments, the responsibility of reading different generations, and why even after years of experience, certain entrances can still bring nerves.

Beyond the booth, Trev opens up about fatherhood, family, discipline, and the sacrifices required to balance a demanding career with a life in entertainment. We also explore how the West Indian wedding industry has evolved, why communication can matter more than talent, and what separates a professional DJ from someone who simply knows how to mix music.

Of course, no conversation with Trev would be complete without discussing late-night food, corn mutton and roti, and the meal he still has not forgiven his friend for throwing on the floor.

This episode is about more than becoming a successful DJ. It is about following curiosity, building multiple paths, and refusing to believe that one passion has to limit what your life can become.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

And he goes to push my trust with the moving head of Ryan Groups and DJ boost on like either he goes or I go. It's in my contract. Why is it move that? I wrapped up the microphone and the base in rotating oil rotation.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

So our next guest didn't just learn how to read a room, he learned how to own one. A founding member of Excellent Sound Crew since 2007, he spent nearly two decades turning West Indian receptions into moments people never stop talking about. DJ, MC, and remixer. He operates on both sides of the mic and he does it with a kind of precision that only comes from treating this like a business, not just a passion. While the rest of the industry was still winging it, he was building client templates, capturing video testimonials, and teaching vendors that how you communicate is just as important as how you perform. He's based now out of Mount Sinai, Long Island, which is mad deep. New city, brand new baby boy, and he's still on the ones and twos. Ladies and gentlemen. English, Richie, English, English, Richie. Ladies and gentlemen, DJ Trev. Oh, that was awesome, man.

SPEAKER_05 2:46

Dude, thank you. Thank you for that great.

SPEAKER_06 2:48

We gotta glaze you, man, before we uh we gotta edit that part of the house.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Pause of the is that like a bad thing? Hold on, let's recognize my t-shirt. Hold up, hold up, Trev. One second. One second. Hold up. Guys, I was day is today. Tomorrow's the Knicks parade.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

They're getting ready for the start of the parade. Battery park down Broadway to City Hall. Wow. Yeah. The first in 53 years. Trev, how long you've been a fan of the Knicks?

SPEAKER_04 3:19

Okay. I'll be honest with you, man.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

Um, I want to say, as a New Yorker, I'm a fan of all New York teams. I always push for the New York teams except for the Jets.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

The Jets are trash, man.

SPEAKER_04 3:29

Yeah. Like and in that kind of um that spirit, it the reason why I'm I'm like hesitating to say like how long I've been a New York Knicks fan is because the Knicks were bad for a long time. When we had Jeremy Lynn, we had some faith. When Carmel Anthony was part of the Knicks, this is this is the time. And then again, it's like it's not happening.

SPEAKER_06 3:48

But we got a new king in New York. A new king in New York, man.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Big up New York Knicks. Maybe I got a couple rounds of applause going on. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_06 3:56

Yo, big up me. I passed my test.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

This one.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Congratulations to Brandon for passing his test. He just could learn about that too. One of three. One of three. All right. Yes. So yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

A lot of big things happening this year. A lot of big things. Matt, how long have you been a fan of the uh Knicks? I've been a Knicks fan for way too long. I remember when I was in when I first, the first ever game I used to go when I was in middle school. And that was when Alan Houston or Troy Sprewell was on the team. And man, those guys, like, it was tough. It was tough for them to even win a game back then.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

So I can imagine like Trump, how old are you, man? Are you? I I always think people are the same age as me. I'm uh 31.

SPEAKER_04 4:33

I'm 32. Oh I'm a 94 baby. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Yeah, then we're the same age. I'm gonna be 32. Hell we're hella old, just like Mesh. Mesh is 52.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

No offense. I was gonna be like, you look a little bit Mesh's favorite thing?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Mesh's favorite thing is touch-up gray for men.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

No, well, what's wrong? I tell him, I'm like, yo, like I had gray hairs since I was 16.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

But I also have a lot of gray hair. And my wife has recently been talking to me about uh maybe it's time to start doing some touch-ups.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

But um I done touch ups, you do it, you just gotta keep doing it though. It's like it gets annoying. I feel like I get more gray hairs when I do it, take it when I don't do it, you know?

SPEAKER_03 5:09

But how long does it last when you put it on?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Something like three days max.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Oh, it's not worth it. Yo, so here's the thing, right? If you get in grace and you keep dyeing it, or you keep touching it up and it's still going back gray, why don't just dye it all gray?

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Wow, Brian, I never thought of that. Might have to give that some more thought. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Well, Mesh, when you were 16 years old, like Trev, how old were you when you first had Grays?

SPEAKER_04 5:34

Uh I think my first Grace popped up in college. Wow, man. So that's a long time ago. All right, not that long ago. Uh we're talking like, you know, it's somewhere between around like 2014-ish. I started getting my first grays.

SPEAKER_07 5:48

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

I I people ask me all the time, like, why do you have so many grays? And stressed out, man. I'm just kidding. I mean, I no, it is, but I just uh I think it's the wedding events, man. You think so? For real? Yeah, the each wedding I do is it gives me a certain level of stress, specifically before I start MCing the entrances.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Really?

SPEAKER_04 6:08

Yeah, it's anxiety. Why?

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Because you want to make sure everything goes perfect, right?

SPEAKER_04 6:11

Yeah, and yes, exactly. I want to make sure everything goes perfect, but entrances is the icebreaker. That's when I'm like introducing myself to the crowd, and it's the easiest thing to mess up. Because yo, sometimes there's like 26 pairs in the bridal party. Well, actually, uh well, 26 people, 13 pairs. Yeah, but that's still a lot of people. It's a lot of people, it's a lot of names, a lot of names that you could potentially mess up a lot, and you have to go in a right the right order. So that's all that's if there are 15 pairs entering, that's 15 chances of messing up. That's the way I think about it. That's most of my name.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

You're so experienced in doing this for quite some time, man. So I you still feel stressed out doing this?

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Yeah, I still I mean, not as much. I I mean, now it's it's gotten a lot better, but the nerves still hit. But once I get through the entrances, and because I know that okay, the entrances went well. My first impression has been done. I've broken the ice with the audience. Now I can afford a mistake or two, you know. But if I just start off with a mistake, the whole night is now in my opinion. I feel like the audience is now judging me. I've already I've already started off on a bad impression, you know. So the entrances are very important to me. Then we go to the first dance, and in that realm, I kind of just like I have like the same words that I use, and then typically we'll go into parentess again, same words I would use. Where I stress out there is that I make sure I say the right names, like you know, this is the father of the bride, his name, yeah, this is the mother of the bride. Sometimes, I'll be honest with you, you can't tell whose name is.

SPEAKER_06 7:40

Hold on, Trev. I want to play a game with you real quick. So whose name is that? Richie. So whose name is this? Damn, Trev. Whose name is this? Whose name is this?

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Derek. No, no, we told him Trev's support. You know, we told him Derek earlier.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

So that's well, there's only three names I've been hearing, right? I know Richie's Richie, but I know who the three names have been Samesh. Uh shit, I already figured out.

SPEAKER_06 8:09

That's the only one you gotta remember.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

That's the only thing about Richie.

SPEAKER_06 8:13

You know the Taza group is not called K I C right? It's called Rich and Kruk. I hope he'll make that mistake.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I'm fucking this is a group thing, man. You know what I am guys? If you see Richie, please recognize him. You know, it's really goes through.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

All right, Trev, back to you, man. What?

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Yeah, so thanks for coming out for the show, man. If you just so I want to go back to that, right? So walk us through the first obviously you've been DJing for freaking a long time, right? So walk us through your very first professional event, like your first very wedding. How did it go? Like what was going through your mind, like what happened.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

Even before that, man, where did you start? What did where would your mom or dad buy you your first turntage?

SPEAKER_04 8:49

No, I'm I I saved up. Um, so okay, so here's how here's how it went. Um, when I I was I've always been a computer geek. So in saying that, I was into like anything technology. I got really into hacking for a little while. And that my nine to five has been cybersecurity. That's how I ended up in the cybersecurity field. But going back to then, I knew how to get the new music on dial-up before anyone else did. On dial-up. On dial up, blocking up the phone line. We were talking about AOL, you know, you get the CDs with the you know, free hours, and you you know, you swap out the CDs and stuff. So yeah, I used to dial music on dial-up. Like to get it. Yeah, that's yeah. And then uh, so at the time you had Napster, your Casa, LimeWire, WinMX was another app. Um Frostbite, Frostbite, uh LimeWire, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, bear share. Yeah, I never got into that one. Um, but you know, all these P2P uh uh programs, you know, I was able to get new music for so uh I was asked, yeah, hey Trev, can you just run some music for my barbecue? I'll pay you. I'm like mu you know, money doing this, but I also like I've always had it as a hobby, like, oh, I'm gonna like I've always wanted to get into it. I just could didn't have the means to get in. I would tell my mom and my sister about it, and they're like in their mind, like, oh, why are you getting into DJing? Like, this is not like a thing. Not a real thing, you know. What's why, like, why why would they spend and you know, this gear is expensive. Why would they spend this amount of money, you know, thousands of dollars? To get me DJ gear, it's like playing my garage or yeah in the backyard or something like that. And then my mom also is like, like, in her mind, she wants me home. She's not trying to send me out. She never wanted me in the club or anything like that, even like as I got to be a DJ and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

This is in Queens, grew up in Queens, right?

SPEAKER_04 10:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Richmond Hill. So um anyway, uh my how I got into it professionally. Um, I have to credit my English teacher in high school, uh Mr. Parsane. He saw the potential in me, and he was like, Hey, you we're having a school dance. I want you to DJ it, but you need to get insurance. Go find out how much is your the insurance, how much does it cost? Let me know that's exactly what I'm gonna pay you. And I'm like, perfect. The insurance is $320. At that time, this is like 2010, that was a lot of money, especially for like uh 10th grader. And I mean, I'm not seeing a dime of it, just paying the insurance, right? But that got me started because getting the insurance opened me up to doing professional hauls, and so that was the very first part, and it was crazy. I still have pictures like of that event because it was it means a lot to me because like you we're talking about a gymnasium, a basketball court filled with you know the kids that went to my high school. Yeah, damn. Was it like a dance or a prom or something? No, it's just a dance. Okay, it was homecoming dance. Homecoming. Well, high school, Queen's Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Whoa, what a doozy, huh?

SPEAKER_04 11:51

Yeah, it's uh it's um not too far from Edison. Everyone knows Edison. Yeah, yeah. And it used to actually be like across the street from Hillcrest, but then we moved to a new building, and that's where we had the homecoming night.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Don't say it, guys.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Nah, I didn't say nothing. Trevor, how did you feel playing like in front of your classmates? Were you nervous? Like, how did it be?

SPEAKER_04 12:09

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I like Were they like, yo, that's my boy Trev up there? No, man. I the way in my mind, I'm like, if I mess up. Were you playing like Chutney and Soka music? Because it's Queens, right? No, uh a lot of hip hop at that time. Yo, a different time, man.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yeah, 2010s was all hip-hop. Prime time.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

Oh, good time hip hop, yeah. Drake, Nicki Minaj going crazy. I don't know what you're talking about. This is how I feel. Oh, yeah. No, that was like middle school days.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

That's like 2000. Oh, is it?

SPEAKER_04 12:36

It's Lloyd, you're singing Lloyd U, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's uh look at that.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Can you continue the song? Huh? Rich Kenny continues. I'm in need of it. Alright, stop singing. We want to hear the story. So let's dip up out of here. All right, my bad.

SPEAKER_04 12:48

Nah, you good, you good. Um don't do it again, though.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

This man always wanted to be a singer, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:57

Uh on Broadway. Um, I lost my training thought. Hip hop, you were talking about it. Yeah, yeah, hip hop.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I don't think Toss, I don't think Tasso was meant for him. I think sing was meant for him.

SPEAKER_06 13:07

Yeah, we're in Did you ever see Richie Twerk? No, that's why I don't, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Sorry, Trump. We apologize, it can get a little bit crazy.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Nah, you good. Um, so uh yeah, so hip-hop, right. So at the time, like I feel like for us in high school, at the time, it wasn't cool to listen to Indian and Chutney music. Like it was like you know what I mean. Like when we went when I went to prom and as a you know high school senior, they played like two or three chutney songs. I walked off the dance floor. I was like, what I don't want to hear this here, not prom. I want it, I want a hip hop, I want an EDM, I want it to like turn up, right? But um, and so did like a lot of the other Ginese, and there's a lot of Guyneese kids, but I mean, you know, some of them did dance. I I I was like, What why am I hearing Robbie B right now?

SPEAKER_03 14:00

At the time, at the time, it was almost uncool, right? Because like that's yeah, it was it was uncool.

SPEAKER_04 14:06

It was. Um, but now like if I like I've been doing prom for the same high school for years now. Now it's like yo, you better play Indian and Chutney music. Really? Yeah, they want it. And they'll thought of uh dolenti. Yeah, they want it, they want like a wedding house, bro. Wow at the prom.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Yeah, yeah. Trev, so like what point, man, after that time did you realize, like, all right, like I have a future here in this?

SPEAKER_07 14:28

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 14:30

Like, was there a certain uh you know, amount of gigs that you got over, you know, an amount of time or I think okay, I think like the real point in time where it really hit me, like there's there's a lot here for me, is when it overtook the salary I was making with my college degree. Wow. That was like that was the there's there's no more doubt here. Yeah, right? Um up until this year, I was full-time doing um cybersecurity. But then after learning I was having a baby, um I had to decide on one of them, right? Like, or else I would never be home because I'm working Monday to Friday doing my nine to five doing cybersecurity, and then Friday to Sunday doing weddings. And so thankfully, like my my wife is she's a great partner, she's very understanding. She she's able to um you know be without me for a period of time if necessary. But after learning we were having a uh our our son, I was like, this is not gonna work. I I want to be home.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Wow. Wow. Well, was that tough, man? To be like, you know, all right, I'm gonna leave the job, leave the benefits behind. And of course, I know you you were we were talking about this before, like you can go under your wife's insurance.

SPEAKER_04 15:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So benefits-wise, yeah, that's that's how it works out. But um monetarily, it's working out better. Yeah, that's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

So yeah, that that's that. Um like every do you ever have any any fears, like any doubt of why you have that you do it, that you did it?

SPEAKER_04 16:05

Or you know, like, oh man, like I'm gonna make the right decision, you know, like so I wouldn't say I ever had a fear or doubt about being a DJ, but I've had a fairer doubt about it being something that I can depend on for stable income. Yeah, you know what I mean? Um, but I never had a doubt about being a good DJ. I kind of knew from very early on, like, all right, I'm a good DJ. Like, you know, I'm not and I know I'm nowhere near the best. I know that I say that to today, I'm nowhere near the best. There are many DJs in bedrooms who never get a gig that are technically more skilled than me. But um I know I'm all that to say that I know I'm still a good DJ. And I know that I have the confidence that any room you put me in, I will keep people dancing. I will get them on the floor and I'll keep them there.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

I mean, we've seen that, right? We've seen you have plenty of jobs, so we know firsthand that that's definitely the case. So when you say that, like how does a DJ get better? Like, how do they improve? Is it remixing? Is it improving their music catalog? Like, how does a DJ become better, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_04 17:10

It's experience. You gotta put yourself out there and you gotta get uncomfortable. So, like a lot of DJs, they only like Guinese DJs, for example, they only know Guyanese music, they only do Guyanese parties. They've never done like uh like a hookah lounge on uh in Bayside or like um Punjabi or like yeah, or Punjabi event, or or and sometimes you don't even need to be a DJ at the event, just be there. You know, maybe you just do the setup. So like I I do a lot of setups for a uh a company that does a lot of Malu weddings, and so that's a I'm gonna butcher the names.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

It's Malayalam, right?

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I'm sorry, I it's it's uh it's hard for me to pronounce it, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

No, it's just definitely a you know tongue twister if you Malayalam. Right, can you say Malayalam? Go for it. Rich, can you spell Malayalam? I think it's M-A-L-Y-A-L-A-M. Damn. I don't know if you give you a round of applause or not, I don't even know how to spell it myself.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

But the short is Malu. Yeah, right. So I stick to that because I I don't want to butcher it, and out of respect, I don't want to butcher it. But um, I do a lot of setups for and I do a lot and I emcee a lot of events for a company that specializes in those type of weddings. And just being there for those, I learn a lot about their culture, their music, uh, what they play. And that I learn because I'm observing. And so I can I I I pretty much look at what they're doing and what I can take from that and now incorporate it into what I do. Um, going back to like doing like a hookah lounge in Bayside. I used to play at a hookah lounge in Bayside, and so you had you were talking about New York City, Queens, right? You got people from everywhere, Middle Eastern, African American, Caribbean. Um, you got Japanese people coming in, you know, you got people from everywhere. And so now they're actually putting me on some music, hey, can you play this song? And they'll show me like the song on YouTube or whatever, and I'll like go grab real quick and I'll listen to it. I'm like, okay, I can make this work like this, or I can, or whatever it is, and incorporate it in. So I learned a lot there. And then in terms of like doing long durations, I used to uh play at a bar called Johnny's on Rockaway.

SPEAKER_06 19:23

All right across the street from the uh casino.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

Yeah, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sorry, so I saw that. I mixed it up.

SPEAKER_06 19:32

It's five o'clock somewhere, 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

8 p.m. to 4 a.m. That's rough. That's rough. That's crazy. Straight. That's crazy trying not to you know play the same stuff, yeah. You know, um however you do get turnover, so you know, eventually you realize okay, this is a whole new crowd. I can start playing back some of the stuff I played earlier, but your goal is to not do that, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:55

Well, Trump, I think uh we were speaking about this before. So there's some DDJs that have like a set, right? And they play the same set over and over, right? Yeah, and I guess we go to so many events, like you know, I'm like, damn, he played the same set of songs that we heard like two weeks ago. Um, do you have that set that you play all the time, or do you always read the room and say, like, all right, probably I should be playing more of this genre rather than the same old songs I play?

SPEAKER_04 20:20

It's a combination. Uh it so people always complain that the DJ plays the same music. Here's my my response to that. You guys all only know the same songs. That's the problem, yeah. Right? When you go to a wedding, if I if I'm a DJ and I come on and play 10 minutes of music you don't know, are you gonna have a good time? No, no, yeah, yeah, right. Right? You want music that invokes a feeling, and we only at a wedding reception, especially, I mean, on the short end, we have an hour and a half. On the high end, we have three hours of dancing at a at a venue. So with that in mind, we don't really have time to waste. Yeah, we we need to get on that dance floor.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

No time to experiment, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:59

Yeah, there's no there's no time to experiment there, really. You can experiment in the club, yeah, yeah. But in a wedding, not so much. So to answer your question, yeah, I do have uh a formula, I would say. I don't I want to call it a set. I have a formula that I stick to. I'm not disclosing it. But M16 classifier I have a formula that I I run by. Uh, but when when someone books me, I have a music questionnaire and it's more of a survey. It's it's not like do not give me a playlist. If you want to, I'm not that DJ, that's somebody else. If that's the case, get just run Spotify. Uh the questionnaire is just for me to learn more about what type of music you like and what don't you like? That's like the key. What don't you like? So, for example, I've had brides that don't like the new Chutney that's coming out today. So I know now, like, don't play new school Chutney, stick to the old stuff, stick to the classic stuff. Um you know, and like people will say, Oh, I like a lot of reggae music. But what do you mean by that? Do you mean Bob Marley or do you mean Vibes Cartel? Two different things.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, right? Reggae or dance hall. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Yeah. And and so there's that distinction. I I tr like my music questionnaire makes that distinction, makes it very clear, like, you know, are you okay with these songs? And then I'll ask, like, okay, line dances. But like you people forget, you know, technically Pollance is a line dance. Yeah. Um, so uh soul train, so train is a line dance. So is follow the leaders. So it's like, are you okay with these or not? Because some couples find it cliche.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

So that was a long-winded answer to say I have a formula that I follow, but it is influenced by the crowd and by what the bride and groom want.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Absolutely. Absolutely. So uh, so Trev, like I feel like this is a topic that gets tossed around a lot. Like um the first song to open the dance floor. Uh, I think it's it's always that uh crossfire song, right? Yeah, pump me up. Pump me, right? Um, is that the song that you play as well to open the dance floor? No, not anymore.

SPEAKER_04 22:56

I did for a long time. And you want to know what did it, man? Um uh a guy, I don't I don't know if I can say his name. He'll probably be happy if I say his name. His name is Michal. He called me, he's uh a member of my brother-in-law family. Um, he called me and he's like, yo, Trev, so when you do this party, right? I don't want you to start off the party with pump me up because I know what you're gonna play after. I'm like, yeah, what am I gonna play? He's like, you're gonna play Pump Me Up to Blame It on the Music by Rupee, to Till Morning by Rupee, then you're gonna someway find your way into Long Time by Arrow, and then someway into Olasoka, and then from there I don't know where you're going. And I'm like, damn it, he he literally called it out to the DJ. Yeah, just oh yeah. So I was like, all right, after that phone call, I never play Pump Me Up ever again. Really? Yep. That was like that was a long time ago. That was before COVID.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

Wow, man. No, yeah, I feel like you know, a lot of DJs still play that song to open up the dance. I don't know, it it hits, right? People still get up and dance to it.

SPEAKER_04 23:55

Yeah, it does. And I will say that there is part of my format is the old school soca. Old school soca is a good middle ground to get everyone up, no matter what their age is and where they're where they're from. You can be trinity, you can be Guyanese, you could be, you could be uh, you know, Caucasian, right? But you've been to a resort where they played like Darwine or Tiny Winey, yeah, yeah. Long time or so. So they know the music. And they if they don't know the exact song, they know the vibe because they've been to Caribbean Islands for their vacation.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Or the beach is just Caribbean, so they can dance to it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:26

Right, exactly. So it's it's a good way to start off the dance floor. Here's the thing you can't just go like full guns blazing and play like uh I did Jo Jojo.

unknown 24:37

Right?

SPEAKER_04 24:37

Like you can't do that. It it it doesn't work like that. Yeah, yeah. And I I um I I do often have to tell clients are expensive, like when we go over their program, like you especially with birthday parties, you can't just enter, cut your cake, and open up the dance floor. No one's had a drink yet, no one's like had a like a meal, you know. They there's a warm-up, just like in the club, there's a warm-up. So you're it's a process. There's there's a there's a there's a kind of like a again, a formula to how you we can maximize your party time. Ideally, we want to go to formalities out the way up front. So once we party, we just party. And and only West Indians can do that, by the way. Not like no other culture can just start the dance floor and party for hours straight and keep that energy going.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

We're certainly a very like you know, unique crowd, right?

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Yeah, party for four hours, five hours, and that's why like like a lot of couples when they book a venue, their standard program is like, all right, you enter, you you'll um you won't even do like your dances. You'll enter, you'll have a dance set, you'll sit for pasta, you'll have another dance set, you set for dinner, you have a dance set, you set again for cake, and then you have another dance.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Oh my god, I would want to go home.

SPEAKER_04 25:47

Yeah, it's annoying. It's really annoying.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Yeah, Trevor, so a little bit more about you, man. So you grew grew up in Queens and you DJ'd that dance, right? And then did you just start Excellent Sound Crew, or like how how did that work out?

SPEAKER_04 26:00

All right, so here's the thing. I did not start Excellent Sound Crew.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Oh, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 26:03

Yeah, no, well, no, because most people think I do, and I all right, so this is the funny thing. So Excellent Sound Crew is started by a guy named Hurricane Swiss, who's in South Florida, right? And he's a really good friend with uh of mine. I talked to him uh multiple days a week type thing. Um he started it as a remixer, and back when CDs used to sell Lemberty Avenue, he would make the CDs, the remix CDs, and he'd put it out there. And so before I was a DJ DJ doing parties, I couldn't leave the house. My mom wanted me home. She was my mom was a protective mom. And so the only way I could find myself to engage in music was to remix.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

So I was made CDs, not necessarily.

SPEAKER_04 26:45

I would make like single remixes and then put them out on there was a website called Masterpiece at the I mean it still exists today and still use today, but that was like the place where you post your um stuff at the time, right before I started was another website called Acid Planet.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Oh, I remember that one, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:02

Yeah, but I when I started, it was already like the that was uh that was gone. So uh I started doing remixes, and then um one of my good friends, his remixer name is Dozen Shots, he's a part of X L and Sankre, he helps me today on events and such, and he's uh he's a live DJ as well. Um he got into the crew first, and then I was like, yo, man, I really I want to be a part of this crew, and it was something about the name of it. Well, one Hurricane Swiss was one of the best remixers at the time. Still is, don't get me wrong, but at the time there was a lot of competition, a lot of competitions of bat it was remixing battles and stuff at the time. I'm like, I want to be part of this crew, and there was something about the name also that kind of stuck with me. Excellence sound crew, something about that, like it was it just seemed very elegant. You had these other crews that was like GT by sound crew, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, uh DJ Dalin roti and all this like stuff. Which is funny, but yeah, it doesn't matter. But I'm trying to take this seriously, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Be a little bit better. So the brand um resonated with me. And so I wonder just like, hey, can I be part of the crew? And they let me in and ran with it. No hazing, no hazing, no hazing.

SPEAKER_05 28:20

Well, I mean, there's not we hazed branding when he first joined. Really? What'd you do? I almost quit.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

Oh, it's very easy. That's that's very easy. It's not that bad.

SPEAKER_04 28:36

I had a I had to do a hazing thing in uh in college, but I'm under NDA. I can't disclose what I did. You did something NDA? No, not actually. I was just a mutual group. Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_06 28:48

It's M16. M16.

SPEAKER_04 28:52

Bible tell you got it easy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

Well, to him, that was hard.

SPEAKER_06 28:55

I was like, damn, you don't know what was hard then, my friend. I was about to quit. So tell me, Trev, how was Stony Brook? I heard you went to Stony Brook. How was college life? Oh, yeah, bringing up hazing, right?

SPEAKER_04 29:07

Um, Stony Brook was awesome. Uh, I think I got an extremely amazing value for my education. Um, DJing paid for Stony Brook for me.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

Oh wow, really? Yeah. Wow, man, that's really cool. Yeah, I um so Trev, you're like 18, 19 years old making some pretty decent cash then.

SPEAKER_04 29:24

Yeah, but Stony Brook's taking all of it.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

No, but I mean still, like you know, like to say that, you know, DJing, which was a hobby, yeah, right, and it built up to like almost like a job. It's your job now.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:35

Um, it built it paid for your way through college. That's that's awesome, man. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

Yeah, uh it it it had its trade-offs too, though, because I had started off with computer engineering, like like that that was my major at first. It required a lot of studying, and to be honest, because I didn't have those weekends to do those studies, I ended up changing to information systems. It was easier, yeah. Um, and so but either way, it didn't even matter because I ended up working in cybersecurity. It didn't matter. Uh, to be honest, I the degree didn't get me the job, it was the hacking that I did in middle school that got me the job. Oh, really? Yeah. Um, so anyway, yeah, so Studybork was a great time. I made a lot of great friends. I still am friends with everyone that I was friends with back at Study Break that like uh at least that were close to me. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

So, Trevor, how'd you get into actual like DJing? Because you mentioned like being able to download music, being a computer with and stuff like that. But like, when'd you actually like get a deck and started mixing and like uh practicing that part and like yeah, yeah, because that's hard, man. We used to have a little deck too. I I I tried in the past, it just never worked out. His name was DJ Barefoot. It never worked out for it.

SPEAKER_04 30:49

DJ Barefoot, you see a name.

SPEAKER_07 30:51

Yeah, other time he used Barefoot Wine.

SPEAKER_03 30:54

Um Barefoot Wine, man, and that was a cheap wine back then, so he was chilling on that. Five bucks for a bottle.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

I'm sorry, I wasn't a DJ.

SPEAKER_04 31:08

You know what's funny is I go back to the study book and the and the the alcohol thing is like a lot of my friends are drinking stuff like Svedka and Everclear, and then I was the cool guy because I had a bottle of Sirac.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

We don't endorse drinking at all, right, on the show. Oh, it's my bad. However, Svedka, we thought Svedka was super expensive back in the day.

SPEAKER_04 31:29

Yeah, like but Cardi Gold was the top tier. Yeah. Alright, so we won't talk too much about alcohol. I can talk a lot about it. Um what about you?

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Damn. I played the fifth.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

I got I gotta say though, I had a great time at Stoney. I went to Stony Brook once, and that was for the J. Cole concert. That was when J. Cole was like, that's when he only had mixtapes. This is before he ever dropped an album. What year was that? Shit, this was like um sorry, this was like 70s. It was like 2011. Oh born in the 70s. But I mean it was like it was crazy because first of all, it was like a huge school, right? And it's like they had him in like this little auditorium, and nobody, there was only like a handful of people that was paying attention to him. Yeah, and everybody else was just chilling in the back, like doing their own thing. Well, they weren't paying attention? No, because people he wasn't really that known. But it was free, it was no, I had to pay like five bucks.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

If he was stone probably free for a Stony Brook student, yeah, yeah, yeah. Outside how to pay.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

And I had a friend who had a friend that went there and he like got us tickets to his other friends because nobody really cared to go. He had to just show your ID they give you to him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like nobody was paying attention, like, minimum of like a handful of people. And then he even stayed back at the end, was like give signing autographs and like meeting people and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 32:38

So I actually had no idea that J. Cole performed. I started in 2012, so it was 2011, it makes sense that I I I missed it. Um, but fun fact, Biggie Smalls was he performed at Stony Brook.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Really? Yeah, back in the day. Yeah, yeah. Wow, man. Yeah, but then literally after he finished performing, like it ever, like I don't know, his like whole set came down, and then it just a party started. Like somebody started playing music out of nowhere, and all these guys just started dancing, and like everybody that was sitting down got up and they started dancing, and like, and it was a Sunday night, and everybody was just like it's a two-step in they started like bachata in and I was like, Oh wow, okay.

SPEAKER_04 33:11

Well, when I was going to Sunnybrook, I think I'm trying to like get the errors aligned properly, but I believe my club experience at that time was Mozzie. So like Mozzie for me was it was it mocha? No, no, I wasn't old enough to get into now it's KISS. Now it's Kiss, but Mozzie, bro, Mozzie was different. My like nothing to till today can match the energy that Mozzie had on a weekend, and so that like spoiled me because I feel I feel like a lot of people who go to Stony Brook, they're like, yo, Stonybrook had the best price. You hear it's a party school. I disagree. Yeah, you're in the club, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're in like you're talking about like again, bottles popping, music is like crazy sound system and stuff. Meanwhile, like you know, Starbert Party, the f the the frat usually has like one of their brothers play music, so he's not like an actual DJ.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Trevor, being West Indian man, there's almost no party that can compete with yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

So, you know, Starberg had a very diverse uh population, it was uh largely Asian, right? Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. But I had like maybe two I can count like probably less than four people that were Guyanese that I knew. So not too many Guyanese. I know I knew too 20 people.

SPEAKER_00 34:34

Yeah, yeah. When I went to high school, it was like 98% Hispanic. It was just like two or three percent, just like you learn how to speak some Spanish in there? Not one bit. Not one bit. It was it was tough. It was tough for me because like everybody was Spanish and pretty much everything that they were teaching was in Spanish.

SPEAKER_03 34:57

What they were teaching wasn't even in in like an ESL class?

SPEAKER_05 35:03

No, isn't isn't that the spec class?

SPEAKER_04 35:06

No, ESL is like you need you need help to learn English.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he I would not have been in an ESL class because these guys are surprised you.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Oh well, um, yeah, dude, dude. So what I was gonna say is um so you were saying that your uh your mom was very protective of you. So I'm assuming you came from a rather conservative household.

SPEAKER_04 35:31

No, I wouldn't say conservative. She I I I'm trying to find the right words, but like, you know, she didn't want me, you know. I feel like every guy don't go outside and do drugs. Well, well, I guess none of us listen then, especially Brandon.

SPEAKER_03 35:46

No, no, I know it doesn't really make anything. Just kidding, just kidding.

SPEAKER_04 35:50

But like, yeah, I mean, like my mom, she she didn't want me out out in Galavantan thing, you know, she wanted me to stay out of trouble and stuff. And to be honest, she she highly influenced how I got into the wedding industry because every young DJ I feel like comes up and they're like, Oh, I want to get in the club because you don't want to be on the flyer, they want to be on the social media. Well, back then there was no social media posts when I was like like coming up, right? But you know, being on the flyer was a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

Um, so every young DJ wants to get in the club, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

That's like you don't make as much in the club, right?

SPEAKER_04 36:24

As compared to well, I mean, it depends on who you are, yeah. Right? You have some radio DJs that come from you know hot 97, Power 105, international DJs that come in, they're making money, like big money. But your local guy, not so much. Um I quickly saw there was way more financial um stability in weddings. And I also enjoy doing weddings. Like there's something about it's a whole production, man, right? It's a whole production, but like I'm a part of this person's special moment, special day. You know, they're dreaming of this day. Um, you know, some people put more effort into it and more thought into it and care more about it than others, but generally speaking, everyone cares about their wedding day. So there's something very, very, very rewarding and fulfilling uh at the end of the night when it's like, yo, you see their smiles, you see they're happy, they're like, you know, ecstatic. I actually did a wedding one time. Um so many things went wrong. It was like it was really bad.

SPEAKER_06 37:29

Probably one of the causes for the uh gray hairs, man. What was like the biggest mess up you ever had at a wedding?

SPEAKER_04 37:35

Biggest mess up I ever had. Yeah. You know, it's not even that big of a mess up, but it haunts me, man. I think about all the time. Really? Yeah. I um I said the bride's last name instead of the groom's last name for the entrance. And I don't know, you tell me how bad of it how bad of a thing is that.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

It's not really that big of a deal.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

No, well, the bride was not happy. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 37:56

Yeah, she was not she was she like a bridezilla type? A little bit. Because I mean, like, if she's an understanding person, like people make mistakes.

SPEAKER_04 38:03

It's yeah. I mean, like, what happened is um the someone tapped me, like, because I stepped off to the side as they they made their entrance, and someone tapped me, like, yo, you said the wrong name. You said the bride's last name.

unknown 38:14

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 38:16

Like, what are you talking about? That's what because her name was all over the paperwork. She did everything, she did all the planning. The groom didn't really do much in terms of planning or any of the stuff. Her name was everywhere. So that name was what was in my head. And then he said, Look at the cake.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

And I looked at it, and I'm like, Oh, so you said like introducing Mr. and Mrs. and you said the bride's last name, not the groom's last name. So hold on, my name.

SPEAKER_04 38:41

Derek. His name over there in the ball. Brian and Tamish. But this guy, I'm not sure because he keeps messing with me.

SPEAKER_06 38:48

No, my name is Tatish. Damn. What?

SPEAKER_03 38:51

This guy's a gold. Where did this name come from? Satish. No, this is Brandon Bisnoth of the Bronx. Brandon Sam. Don't forget that. Brandon Sam Bisnoth of the Bronx. You see what's that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:05

It's not me. It's you. Sutton. Trev, is Trev your real name? Yes, it is. Oh, yeah?

SPEAKER_03 39:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 39:10

I can say that with confidence. How do you pronounce your last name?

SPEAKER_03 39:14

Bid. All right. Hold on. Oh, that's a that's a good question, man. I was thinking about that too one day. Yeah, you gotta break it up into three. Bid Hadar. Bid Hadar.

SPEAKER_04 39:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like someone would be like, Bidahar. And I'm like, that, nah, you just like that. I haven't got that yet. But my my nana used to call me Katahar. That's a pet name. Anyway. Um, hold on away.

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Brian, what about that Katahar? Damn, Brian said no katahar. Brian probably lost his voice today. I'm sorry about that.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

Oh, I'm making him shy.

SPEAKER_03 39:47

I always thought it was Bidar.

SPEAKER_04 39:49

Ah, no, that's bad. That's like told me that. Usually the mess up is Bid Ah. But I feel like they like take the two portrait. Yeah, they like flipped it. You know what I mean? But it's Bid Hadar. And um that's my dad's last name, but my father's father, that was his first name.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Oh shoot.

SPEAKER_04 40:09

So then it like came. I I guess that was the way they I was told that's the way they did things.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Wait, wait, wait. Let's start from the top. So your your whose name was what again? So my my last name is Bithidar. My dad's last name is Bidadar. Yes. Uh his father's name. So my Wait, wait, your dad's last name is Bit Bidadar Bit Bidadar? What's your dad's last name? Bithadar. And what's his first name? Jylal. Oh, I thought his name was Bitidadar. They say his grandfather. Oh, okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 40:36

Don't keep.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

It wasn't one of my situations.

SPEAKER_06 40:38

You have a Prasadia family?

SPEAKER_03 40:41

Nah. Did you see our video, man, about the Prasads? What? About the Prasad. So we had this lawyer on, his name was Mark, and he was like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Yeah, he was saying that um Well by Prasad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think he was saying his like his dad's name is Prasad Prasad or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

And then Brighton immigration just got confused. They mess it up at the immigration office.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Yeah, I was thinking about my great grandpa was named Basundeal Basundeal, and I'm like, damn, like to write that down on a paper must have been tough. Did that ever fit on a Scantron?

SPEAKER_00 41:11

See, that's why they give you two lines for the names. Yeah. And the Brit certificate.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

No, but that's that's a really long name.

unknown 41:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:19

But the but the thing about the Bidadar name, the what I was trying to get to is that like because uh my grandfather's last name was not Bididar, it was his first name, and my dad's name is Bididar, and then my last name is Bidadar. I'm his only son. So in order to keep the name going, I needed a son. Ooh, all right. So I have my son.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Trevor Burrus, so how how is that, man? I guess like um, well, you said at first that you had to quit your job because you were not gonna be around at home, right? So um, I guess being a dad now and still having to, I guess, be out late. Now you're home during the week, though. So it sort of makes up that time. Yep. But when you were at work, was that rough when your son was born, or did you quit even before he was no before. Oh, nice, nice. Yeah, in preparation. Excellent, excellent. So there there was no sort of like, you know, oh, I have to work and do this. Because that's that's a lot.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Yeah, yeah. No, uh in advance, because we also, you know, new homeowner. Um, that's congratulations, man. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So that also took up a bunch of my time, and I'm like, well, like I I just need time right now. Yeah, that's like time, time is so valuable, man. Like, you don't realize it until you as you get older and older, and like whoever's younger than me listening to this, as as you get older, you will only realize the only thing you can't control is time, and the only thing that you're limited on is time. However, to that point, I in my mind, I always when I'm like, hey, can I get this done? Right. I always think of like, okay, Obama has the same 24 hours I do, Oprah Winfrey has the same 24 hours I do, Michael Jordan and LeBron James all have the same 24 hours that we do.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

Jalen Brunson did too.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

Yes, he did. But we all choose to spend that time differently. That's right. And how we choose to spend that time is what determines where we are in life. So, like I get really annoyed when somebody wastes my time.

SPEAKER_03 43:12

Yeah, really annoyed. No, me too now, man. I think but like 10 years ago, like you were saying, when you're a little bit younger, you don't really care. Right. But now, as you're we're uh the uh you know same age, like don't waste my time. Yeah, time is of the essence, man. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 43:29

So, Trev, besides working, homeowner, give us your hobbies. Would you like doing any free time besides the DJing? Yeah, man, what?

SPEAKER_05 43:37

Okay, you like to cook it down right?

SPEAKER_04 43:41

I like to grill. Grill and and smoke. And when I to be clear, when I say smoke, I mean like smoking on the grill. Oh. With the wood chips and stuff, yeah. Uh and it's it depends what like whatever I'm cooking. If it's fish or chicken, it's usually apple. Um, my signature thing, I do a smoke. Smoked wing that's dry rubbed with Chipotle seasoning. And then when it's done, we put in well, I put it in a buffalo sauce. Wow. So it's a buffalo Chipotle smoked wing.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

My signature thing is Hennessy chicken.

SPEAKER_04 44:13

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

All right. Right, how how did you start start up with that? Hennessy chicken.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

Um, honestly, I went to a party one day. That's how I always real story, right? I went to a party. So the thing is I got invited to go, you know, celebrate the party.

SPEAKER_07 44:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

And it happened that the guy who was, you know, in charge of the grill, he was like an older guy. Um, it was his birthday as well. So me being me, I felt bad. And I was like, you know, you go enjoy, I'll take care of the grill.

SPEAKER_04 44:45

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

So I got to the chicken, I seasoned the chicken, and for some odd reason somebody put me a cup.

SPEAKER_06 44:53

I feel that's every party. Every time there's a girl somewhere we go, for example, we went to his mother-in-law's house during the game, this man ended up making everything.

SPEAKER_03 45:01

No, but Trevor, so we walk into this like barbecue, right? And he has on, I think he had on a chef hat. I was like, where's the thing?

SPEAKER_00 45:09

Talking about the full nine yard chef hat, the that whole apron. Nice, the spatula, the gloves. And he was making pounds and pounds of chicken.

SPEAKER_04 45:17

I was like, what so somebody asked me a question though. If he wasn't cooking, let's say he was like bartending, would you have picked it up?

SPEAKER_00 45:24

I mean, I do a little bit of everything. I went to my uncle's uh birthday party and uh they had a whole bartender and I said went up in the back.

SPEAKER_04 45:31

Okay, so it's it says something about his character, man. He he he he he's he he he steps in where he's where there's a need.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

That day though, he does, he does. I did 480 pounds of just chicken, right? And the the Hennesson chicken. No, no, it's true. I was there and I was like, who's eating all this chicken, man? I did 480 pounds of the Hennessy chicken. That was just the Hennesson chicken. Then I did um barbecue wings, then I did jerk chicken.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

You could make some of that for us tonight?

SPEAKER_00 45:57

I did some lemon pepper chickens and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

No, wait, we're gonna go to Trent's house to have his small chicken.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Imagine, imagine I did all of that food and I didn't get to taste a single piece of the chicken. Yo, that's always how it is. There was nothing left.

SPEAKER_04 46:10

Every time I like have company over and I'm grilling and I'm making food, like I end up not eating. The Hennessy chicken.

SPEAKER_00 46:18

The Hennessy chicken was supposed to be one small batch, like one little bowl with like 20 pieces of chicken, right? If it's as be, you know. Yeah. The thing was, as soon as the chicken was done, like it wasn't even fully cooked off the grill. Oh, and they were grabbing it. I need more. No, I mean, like it was cooked, like it was cooked.

SPEAKER_04 46:35

Yeah, yeah, but they didn't give it time to rest.

SPEAKER_00 46:37

My thing is if if I'm doing grilled, right? Barbecue or truck, you need that little bit of charredness on it.

SPEAKER_04 46:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:45

Right? Otherwise, it's not really barbecue.

SPEAKER_04 46:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Right?

SPEAKER_04 46:48

Even even corn, you eat a little bit of char.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

You need that little charredness to it. It gives it, it gives it that like extra like oomp.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

It's corn season now, right? That's right.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Dude, I didn't have a single piece of chicken to eat.

SPEAKER_03 46:59

No.

SPEAKER_00 46:59

This man came in, he had the opportunity to eat some chicken.

SPEAKER_06 47:02

Who, Richie?

SPEAKER_00 47:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 47:03

That was not new. It's never gonna come up.

SPEAKER_04 47:05

I guess I could see that. The food don't even touch the grill. This guy comes in, take pull up your plate, dick, knock and drink. He don't come eat once, eat three times.

SPEAKER_01 47:16

One time Richie took food off of my plate.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

Well, Trev, so like, do you like to share food, man? Like uh with your wife. Do you do oh yeah, yeah, yeah. This man eats like this. So so Timage has this thing where like when he has his plate, right? Yeah, if anyone, even his wife, grabs something off his plate, he gets furious. My nephew is like that.

SPEAKER_04 47:36

Yeah, nephew's like that. So I was like, you know, I used to be like that as well. I was a lot younger, but I'm like, I'm I share now.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

Yeah, so I was like, Times, you have to share with people, you know. Life is about sharing.

SPEAKER_00 47:45

I think it was your birthday that we had went up to, right? We got invited to go to his birthday, and it was a dinner birthday. Yeah, and for some odd reason, I ended up getting to sit next to him. Last person was next to him. So bro, when I tell you men's had his food, his wife tried to take a piece. Oh boy, took the fucking.

SPEAKER_03 48:05

Oh my god, he's about a shanker, man.

SPEAKER_04 48:07

Oh my god. Yo, I tell you one thing, uh I'm gonna drop his name, DJ B. Right? He's yo, one of my boys, love the guy. I owe him a phone call, so this is my reminder. I need to call him. Um, but there was one night after Mozzie, Mozzie closed, and they brought in trays of corn mutton and roti. It was like from where? From I think from Cabana. That's the best place to get it from 4 a.m. But yo, like the the it was already wrapped. It was like a burrito. Oh, what? Yeah, so you just you picked up, you you ate, you go, you chilled out, and whatever, right? Yeah, so I'm like, I'm excited, bro. I'm like, yo, B, look, I got a corn mutton and roll tea. He's like, yo, get that shit out of my he knocks out of my hand, man.

SPEAKER_03 48:52

Dude, falls to the floor, falls to the floor. Oh, I'd be furious. No, well, then we fight him. He gives a quick and dude. Five second rule, man, right?

SPEAKER_04 49:03

I still, I still get like so angry. I love you. Again, we're friends, we're really good friends. One of my brothers, I get so angry when I think about this. Yeah, I get so angry. I got like I I do like it, it's it makes me want to punch him in the face.

SPEAKER_03 49:19

So you you've been in the club scene for a while, man, right? So a lot of people say uh they talk about the core mine.

SPEAKER_04 49:24

Oh, wait, can I tell you how I got back at him? Oh, sure, sure. Go ahead. So uh I I had a I borrowed his wireless microphone for an event because I needed an extra mic. And when I returned it to him, I wrapped up the microphone and the base in roti, oil roti, and gave it back to him. Damn. That's rough. Come on. You held a real grudge, bro. I'll do it again. I think he needs another one. I I need the mic.

SPEAKER_03 49:48

That's a serious grudge. Yeah. It's rough. So I was saying, so a lot of people, Brian too, was I think one of the first people who was telling me about let's go get corn and roti at 3 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 49:57

Yeah. Right? Listen, I'm not gonna lie. Being in a club, I don't know, for some odd reason. You have a craving for cordbine, Brian? No, no, no. It's not just about having a craving for cornwater in a roti. It's about you eating that corner roti, it sobers you up.

SPEAKER_04 50:14

Yeah, it does. Really? Is it the oil?

SPEAKER_00 50:16

Bro, I don't know why. I think it's the sobers you up.

SPEAKER_04 50:20

I think it sobers you up and it also makes you a little bit tired. It gets you ready for both.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

That's too. I mean, of course it's gonna give you the itis.

SPEAKER_04 50:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:27

Rich, we had tried it. I tried it before. I'm a man of God, I don't do those activities. What's that? Go to the club and drink stuff.

SPEAKER_04 50:35

So I'm still I'm a married man with a child, I don't do it either unless I'm unless I have to be there. Good thing we're not outside it was like, probably don't put that in the video.

SPEAKER_00 50:44

No, well, Trev, so I mean, um it's an elemental, but yeah, but tomorrow, catch me outside by battery park, 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_06 50:52

Uh I I gotta work tomorrow. Can't get me there. Damn, Drew. Why does that be so early, man? I gotta proc to the earth science regions.

SPEAKER_04 51:00

I got diapers to change at that time. Yeah, I'm not gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 51:03

Trev. So how how is it, man? Like with a with a new sun and all going all these things going on. What's his name? Yeah, Noah. Noah.

SPEAKER_04 51:09

Yes. Um, he meant how old is he now? Five months.

SPEAKER_03 51:12

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_04 51:13

Coming on, yeah, five months in a few days. But um, the reason why we chose Noah is it was a very calm pregnancy. Like, you just could tell, like, at first I didn't really like the name, but Noah means calm. And as time went on during the press, I'm like, you know what? It really fits him. And my wife was the one to pick the name. So I was like, okay, great. Like, this I like it now. That's an amazing name. Thank you. Noah, yeah. So I I think it's a little bit common, unfortunately, but it really I it really matches his uh his demeanor. Even now, now that he's here, it's like, yeah, you're a Noah. We see it.

SPEAKER_06 51:48

Oh, I wanted that some that name for my son, Noah. Oh, yeah? Yeah, we said that name, yeah. Yamesh, yeah, that's a whole mesh.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Mesh is a Brahman.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

We gotta open the book. Dave Das Sangeet Sokul. Trev, so um, what are some attributes, man, that you think like uh if there's a young DJ watching, right? Yeah, that they would need to learn uh to be a really good and effective DJ. Keyword effective.

SPEAKER_01 52:16

Read the rules, do something else other than DJing.

SPEAKER_03 52:19

No, no. Well, look at that. You got a man here who's that's his that's his job.

SPEAKER_04 52:23

Well, it it so there's a thing now that I actually I do want to talk about. It's like now DJs, their entry in is social media, and the thing is though, is that DJing for TikTok or Instagram reels is a different skill than DJing for a party. It's more like mashups and things like that, right? Well, well, not only that, but you you're you're trying to put out a piece of content to get views and interactions. So a lot of the time, like not I don't want to say a lot of the time, but sometimes you'll see a DJ doing a thing and it's simple, basic, nothing special about it. Yeah, but the crowd's reactions in the background are what make it viral, or like someone's doing something on the side like that makes it just a little bit more entertaining. It's not it's not so much that the DJ skill or what was done was good, it's just the way it was delivered, you know, the visual delivery was good. So it's uh so my point is there is that there that skill of putting out viral content for Instagram and TikTok and and the short media or short form media, that's not transferable to reading a crowd.

unknown 53:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:37

But it's it's a hard skill, man. Like, I mean both are hard, and both are both are like I'm I'm not that great at like clearly, I'm not that great at the uh being viral on social media. I'm still trying I disagree, man.

SPEAKER_03 53:52

I saw some of your videos, and I think you do an excellent job.

SPEAKER_04 53:55

I I I like my videos, don't get me wrong, but I haven't crossed 10k followers yet on Instagram, right? No, it's a lot of work, man. It's a lot of work, it's a lot of work, and I'm and I'm I'm not buying them. A lot of people buy them. Yeah, I'm not every follower that I have is organic. Whether I do have like over 30,000 on YouTube, and my SoundCloud has been taken down multiple times. That's a different thing, but I have to constantly reset, so I don't like I don't even pay attention to the numbers anymore. But YouTube, yeah, YouTube has been going strong. That has over 30,000 uh subscribers. Uh Instagram, I'm still pushing. TikTok has been going off. TikTok, me, uh I didn't embrace TikTok as soon as I should have. I thought no one did, man.

SPEAKER_03 54:38

We didn't either, but TikTok took off, man.

SPEAKER_04 54:40

Yeah, yeah. So this year, I was like, yo, I gotta put out some content and it's gonna go on Instagram and it's gonna go on TikTok. And yo, it went crazy. So I I it it really like um my numbers went way higher in terms of engagement, yeah. Um, just by doing some some videos, and now I'm trying to find the time to do more videos, but I'm just I'm too busy doing the actual events, right? So um my my advice though, going to the younger DJs is you have to kind of know this. Know that the way to get booked is through social media, that's the quickest way. You need content out. You you absolutely need content out. I have YouTube videos up from 2010 that are still up today. I still get booked because of those videos.

SPEAKER_01 55:26

Yeah, wait, wait, hold on. Shout out, wait. First of all, that's that's it's funny that you mentioned that because it's scary.

SPEAKER_06 55:34

You know, I would say something like just like Brandon.

SPEAKER_01 55:37

The first the reason I knew you from from before was because of that um the DJ Trev DSK, the Chutney and Indian mix that you did.

SPEAKER_04 55:43

What it's other than one curl up a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one from the the the the first curl up.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one. I remember like hearing that mix and I was like, damn. So I was like, yo, this is this is fire. Like I so the first time I ever DJ'd a party, yeah, I played that mix.

SPEAKER_03 55:59

And I was like, you know what I want to end because we're not DJing.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

That's like saying I mean I had it on, right? And I just played, I was like, wow, I wish this never ended. I think it was like what, 12 or 13 or 15 minutes long or something like that. Yep. I was like, yo, this needs to be like an hour. Because I just remember the transitions, like, yeah, obviously there's a lot of people remixing, there's a lot of remixes out for Indian music, but that time I was like, wow, the transitions were just so unique, and like the way like it was put together, I was like, wow, this is like you can really jam out.

SPEAKER_04 56:26

To be honest, that mix, I just opened my opened my computer, and I at the time I had gotten the SZ, it's a Pioneer DDJ SZ, and I was one of the first people in like the entire world to get this controller because there was a bunch of pre-orders, and I happened to know a manager at Guitar Center, and I hope he's still not there because or he's not there anymore because what I'm about to say might get him fired.

SPEAKER_06 56:49

Oh crud.

SPEAKER_04 56:50

But he got me an SZ, like the first one out the door.

SPEAKER_07 56:55

Oh shoot.

SPEAKER_04 56:56

I went straight home, I plugged it in, I opened up my laptop, and I was like, we're gonna record something for YouTube. Because in my mind, I'm like, people are gonna search for this, so let me just do a mix. So it wasn't planned, I just did it.

SPEAKER_01 57:07

That ends up being like the best stuff. But my point is that that was the one mix that made me know who you were, and like from that point on, I was like, oh wow, this but it's interesting that you said like the way it was put together and everything.

SPEAKER_04 57:16

So it just makes me start thinking about like I didn't even put any thought into that. Like, you know what I mean? It it was honestly just like I just did it. But those mixes, man, when I hear them, I cringe because I like I'm not yeah, I'm I'm way better now. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:31

That stuff was 16 years ago, man.

SPEAKER_04 57:33

I know, but like But that's what makes you you, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:37

I mean, there's a lot of songs where you think about it, where you can like automatically tell what the next song's gonna be, what the mix is gonna be, like because you've heard it so many times, right? Yeah, but then they were like so like so. When other mixes come out and it they trick you and they play something different, or the beat is different, or they don't follow the norm. I would you I guess you could say you're like, oh wow, like these guys are not afraid to be different, right? I think you had another mix on SoundCloud, I forgot what it was that had gotten taken down, and it was like an Indian song on behalf of another song with another bat with another beat behind it. I was like, wow, this like that must have took a long time.

SPEAKER_04 58:07

Is it with the 6ix9ine beat?

SPEAKER_01 58:10

I don't even know. I I forgot, but I had it like saved and uh for some reason I'll do a play back.

SPEAKER_04 58:13

It was a crazy mix, but it got taken down.

SPEAKER_01 58:16

I would imagine like to match the beat on an Indian song like that, like it probably took you a while to put it all together, but I was like, wow, like the craft, you know, like you have to admire the craft.

SPEAKER_04 58:25

So but like those mixes, they're so and like they again, like I I look at them and I'm like, man, they're I could I could I could redo these so much like way better. So I've it's crossed my mind a few times, like maybe I should take these down and put up a remaster. Keep those in there, uh, or or or just do a remaster and keep them up. So it's it's on my mind, but I'm also like again, like anytime I get to make content, it's it should be for something new, you know, something meaningful. So like the last video I did was um original Indian remixes, which was pretty much like to pay homage to the remixes that made our parties growing up, like over the past two decades or three decades, right? I wanna say three decades really. And because like I feel like the new remixes that we're getting today, they're lazy. Yeah, a little bit lazy. Yeah, they're just they just take the the Indian a cappella and throw it on Ahsoka beat or so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:22

That's true.

SPEAKER_04 59:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:23

There's there's not much there anymore. Yeah, that's what I mean. It's too easy. Creativity is not there, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:28

There's nothing in between, there's nothing tying the vocal to the beat, there's no like melodic, yeah, like tying there.

SPEAKER_03 59:35

Well, I mean, I I guess the same can be said for a lot of things because I guess we live in like a almost like a microwave society now, right? Where you want it now, right? So you're trying to pump out all this content to put on YouTube and TikTok and you know, the gram. There's no time like you had before to really let it bake and you know how long did it take you to make those, man?

SPEAKER_04 59:53

Probably Yeah, it takes it took a lot of time. I mean, like my so my Couli Bye remix that I like I started maybe around 6 p.m. and I locked myself in my garage at the time. That's where I had the the setup. I locked myself in the garage, and I don't know where time went, but by the time I was like, okay, we're done, I opened the door, the sun was up the next day. Wow, wow, man. That's like 12 hours almost. Yeah, but like when you're in that zone, you don't realize it. Like you're just going. How long was the mix? You spent 12 hours. Less than four minutes. It was four minutes. Less than four minutes.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:28

That's a dope mix. I mean, I hear that they mix all the time.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

Yeah, I've definitely heard that like plenty of places. Wow, man, that's that's no, it's it's amazing, man.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:37

It's amazing. What is one dream place you wish you could DJ at?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

Okay. So there's this um and why all right. Well, my my first thought, I mean, I started thinking about other places, but my first thought is there's um uh uh a female DJ named Vashti. And she did the Moet party, and they put her DJ booth on top of a stack of champagne glasses. It was so sick. Like you have to see the picture, like it's hard to visualize.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

Oh, is she from Canada?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:07

No, no, no, she's from New York City, she and she's like um I I I know that she has some Caribbean West Indian heritage. I don't know if it's Trinidadian or Guyanese, but she's she has something there, but she's like hot like heavily in the hip hop scene and stuff. Like she's got she's got influences in she's done music videos for big rappers. She's the the Kia kick car, yeah, that commercial, she had like an input there. Um she's big big big person, uh celebrity, celebrity. So uh that's like to do something like that would be so cool. The booth, which is so beautiful. Um next game would be cool. Obviously, from this year, I'm like, that would be sick. That would be sick to do. Uh I'm trying to think like what else like a dream of ours.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:58

We always want to play at the White House. At the White House? One day. One day. We want to be able to play there.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:03

I don't like uh it never crossed my mind. Not the White House. It politics aside, it just never crossed my mind. Yeah. Um I just don't see the I just don't see the White House as a party place. No, it's not necessarily a party place. I saw I had to- I would I would have loved the opportunity, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

It just that it just that has never came into mind. I had seen like this like Diwali event they did like a few years ago. Yeah. They had like Dole and they had Dancers, and I think they may have had someone from Queens. And I was like, wow, like that is uh that is amazing. Yeah, I could see Tasa being very much in part. Yeah, yeah. So that's that's how how we we saw that. So Trev, um, over the years, man, right? Like one of the things that I uh think about is that you know, you sometimes the DJs would have these uncles coming up to the booth, yeah. Telling you questions all annoying people, right? Can you play some chutney now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you play this song? Yeah. Um, how did you like deal with that back then and how do you deal with it now?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:56

So back then, I would just tell them, yeah, I got you, and not play it. Yeah, but they usually do they come back up, then they come back up. So now I'm honest with them. So I'll tell them, like, straight up, like, hey, you know, all right. So for example, this past weekend, um, a younger guy came up and was like, Oh, you know what this party needs? Some Drake.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:19

Probably the most guy needs party, right? Yeah, yeah, it's the biggest Chutney crowd ever.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:24

Rock's young crowd was performing, and he's like, Yo, this party needs some Drake. And in my music questionnaire, it said, no hip hop. Really? Yeah, no hip hop, right? So I'm like, uh I'm sorry, uh, I don't I can't do that. They they said no hip hop. She's like, he's like, no, no, no. The bride said we need some Drake. And I'm like, yeah, really? And I pulled out the paper. I'm like, it says here no hip hop. I'm I'm sorry. Like, if if you want, I'll play it, but I need her to come tell me that. No one came.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:58

No, man. I I remember some people would get like kind of aggressive, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:03

So I do I do have stories about that. So for example, um, I did an event in Jersey, huge event, man. We're talking like 600 people and a wedding years ago, way before you way before COVID, even. Um, I want to say maybe like 2015, 2016, and an uncle came up and was like, play Indian music. And I was like, I just opened the dance floor, bro. Like, give me a moment before as I go, like if you're listening to this, if you want to make a request to the DJ, give him a chance. Don't come up like within the first 15 minutes. Like, let me warm up a little bit. Yeah, yeah, maybe an hour, or or or if you're gonna come up, you know, and want it for later, that's fine. Um, but and I'm gonna come back to this actually, to this, to to what I'm saying now, because it just thought it made me think of another thing. But this uh particular uncle he came up and was like, play Indian music. I'm like, Yeah, I got you, no worries. I just started, I got you, no problem. Maybe like 15 minutes later, I start playing Indian music. And he runs out from the bar side, he's like, That's how you can play in play music. You put Indian song, and I'm like, Yeah, cool, no problem. The minute I got out of Indian music and I went to like something else, he came right back at you. Came right back. Trev, say my name, but he was like, Yo, you must play Indian music now, and I'm like, yo, I got you, I'm coming back to it, don't worry. He's like, No, now, and he goes to push my trust with the moving head over, like to push it over. Yo, I stuck Brian Green, can you please come to the DJ booth? I'm like, and it's in my contract. If someone is aggressive towards me, you have it either he goes or I go. It's it's one of the two. We have to resolve this, right? So if you if you if you can't resolve it, then I go. If he goes and we're good and everything's chill, I continue. No problem. So they ended up he they apparently he's a very um that particular uncle has a history of creating problems at events. He's rather rambunctious. Yeah, so they they told him to leave. But going back. To the request thing now. My thing as a DJ with the request, with specifically aunties and uncles, why are you so rude about it?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:08

That's it. Like, why are you so rude about it? I feel like it's in our blood. Right, what's song? What song do you want to hear?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:18

Definitely not case of knee. Put on some recipe for me.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:22

Yeah, a lot of the time it's not like people will tell you this in communication. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. It's how you say it.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:28

That's right. Right? Can you please play some Chutney?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:31

Yeah, I might do it. Right. If you come up like, yo, what do you rocks you're putting? Put shipping this. Yeah, yeah. Playing the inside. I'm like, You can't play. You can't play. Yeah, you can't play, you can't. No, I'm not. I'm not. You already shut me down. Like, I'm not, I don't want to listen to you no more. Who teach you for playing? Yeah. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:51

Who teach you manners?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:54

Manners and respect, man. That's right, man. So is there any like DJs in the community? And there are a ton, man, right? Yeah, there's a bunch. Um, is there someone in the community that you look up to uh in terms of skill? Like, wow, like this guy is really, really good. Um, you don't have to say their name if you don't want to, but um yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:12

There are uh definitely people on social media that wow me. Um they're they're like, I mean, DJ Puffy. Everyone knows DJ Puffy, especially if you're in a DJ scene, you gotta know Puffy. Puffy's like, he's he's in Barbados. Man, the guy's skill is insane. Uh, he's able to tone play, he does these crafty transitions, he knows how to work the mic, which is also like a big deal. Like, as a DJ, oh, going back to the only DJ and attribute thing, knowing how to use the mic is the most powerful thing. It's more powerful than being able to play music.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:44

How long did that take you to learn math? Because I know like it's like public speaking in a way, right? Yeah, yeah. So hearing your voice for the first time, you must be like, uh, should I be a little more raspier in the yo?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:54

And the thing is, like, when I was starting to learn, every D every Ghanaian's DJ on the mic spoke like a Jamaican.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That yeah. How long did it take you to like master the skill or even get like better from where you were?

SPEAKER_05 1:08:07

I'm on the dance floor. Let me go. Let me go, everybody.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:11

Yeah. Are you screaming in the mic?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:14

Sound engineer is like, damn, I gotta turn them down.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:16

Blowing Danny's ears. Why why why is that like a thing though?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:20

I don't, I don't know. I I I really I can't tell you. I've I've wondered it for a while. Um, people have give given explanations back in the I don't remember it, but um I've just learned, yo, you gotta you gotta hone into your own personality. And if it's you know, and find your voice, right? And I've always I honestly credit my sister to me being able to be to be I credit my sister to me being able to be an MC because um when when she would take me out like to family events and stuff like that, or like for my brother-in-law's family specifically, she would tell me like Trevor, when we get there, you're gonna go say hi to everybody. You go shake their hand, you give them a smile, you don't go like sit down in the corner and don't don't, you know, say hello. You know, it's just like uh out of politeness and and and out of respect. Yeah, yeah. So like you know, if I like literally, I remember one time I went to my brother-in-law's house, it was a basement party, he had like 30, 40 people down there. I had to go say hi to each and every single one of them. That's 40 people I gotta break the ice with. That's actually a skill building thing. I didn't think about it at the time. I hated it. I really didn't want to do it, but it taught me a skill. It taught me how to just gulp somebody and say hello without fear having fear. Anyway, um, going to the MC thing, I was a DJ first and only a DJ, and then doing sound and and and doing setups, and I was doing setups for another DJ who was also an MC, and he was a very good MC, a very funny MC. Um and I I observed him, I watched other MCs, I went on YouTube and looked at other MCs, and then I kind of just took what I liked from them and what I didn't like from them, and then tried together. Yeah, make my make my own thing uh going on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:08

I remember there was like this uh MC, I don't know his name now though, but he was so animated, man.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:13

He was just like bum, everybody in the dance floor, let me go!

SPEAKER_03 1:10:16

And I like I people really enjoy enjoy that, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:19

Like it was I I find that for me, not my style. Yeah, I don't like it. I would I I wouldn't like it either. I remember I did um a wedding one time and they hired another MC. And cool, no problem. Uh, very nice guy, but he was also very animated. He was on the dance with dancing with everybody, and one of the it was a guy in his party, and I had a feeling this was gonna happen because of just how comfortable he was getting with everybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:43

Start grinding on someone or his own.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:44

Yeah, this dude, he he like, yeah, he I don't know. I I can't say I don't know specifically what he did, but for he got a little bit too close to somebody's girlfriend. Oh dude came up and was like, no, no, no, man. Pushed him back, was like, no, no, no, you gotta chill out. And no, there was no fight or anything like that. But I think at that point in time he realized, like, I'm doing too much. Yeah, yeah, he's going over here.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:08

No, there's there's always that one guy, man, in the party, right? Yeah. Who's like dancing with or try to dance?

SPEAKER_05 1:11:15

No, it shouldn't be the MC, though.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:16

It shouldn't be the MC, you're right. I'm not an MC. But you are an MC. Oh, he's an MC. He's an MC. He's a huge MC. Uh Trevor, so we're running out of time now, man. Um, so we like to close off every episode now with something we call the final four. So a closing set of questions, one from each of us.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:40

Um, and it's almost like a rapid fire, right? Uh, so you just say the first thing that comes uh to mind. Okay. No, it's not a story, it's just like if you want to answer with a story, that's fine too. That's fine too. Uh we we we certainly have a few minutes left, uh, in case it is a long-winded answer, which is fine. Bright, you're up first for the final four.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:01

Damn. Put me in a spot like that. Um, I guess my final four question would have to be uh you know, being that financially where you're at right now, right, with your whole DJ stuff and the fact that you went to school for so long to become a cybersecurity, you know, software and tech person. Um if you knew, right, if you knew that this is where you were gonna be, right, financially, with this whole DJ thing, like this is the person that you was gonna be, right? You think you would have done it differently?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:29

No, absolutely not because my professionalism, so the reason why I get booked is because I I'm known to be professional. I know I'm I'm that vendor that you book if you don't want a headache. And the way that I've I developed that in my character is by going to Stony Brook and then working in corporate, building those skills, right? Right, yeah, learning how to write an email. Yeah, you know, a lot of DJs don't know how to write an email. Um, knowing how to set up meetings, Chat GBT. Uh even before ChatGBT, yeah. But meeting etiquette, you know, like I I worked in cybersecurity for nine years. So I went to conferences and all and all those things. So like you can put me in a room, and I worked right under my CEO as well. So you can put me in a room with other CEOs, and I have been in those rooms, uh, and everything will be fine. You can put me in a like if I have a bride and groom and they're very, very, you know, corporate or trying to find another another word to describe, but I think you guys know what I mean. Yeah, I can work with them, but I can also work with the you know polar opposite. Good way to put it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:39

I guess my question would be um if you didn't do DJing, right? What would you what would be your full-time opportunity? Would you continue to pursue the um cybersecurity or would you do something else completely different? Yeah, stop taking people's questions.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:54

I I would I would probably I would very likely be still in cybersecurity. Um uh so I to be clear, I I worked in project management and cybersecurity. So some some way of somewhere of that, right? Um But I I naturally have uh an entrepreneurial spirit, so there would still be side hustles. Uh I have other side hustles outside of DJing that I do, but I rent trailers, I um I rent about that, man. That's all right.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:25

That's part two coming up, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:27

Yeah, uh so I've got other like smaller things going on that also help bring in some residual income. Residual income is like the name of the game.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:35

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:36

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:37

So you said your favorite DJ is DJ Puff? Puffy. Puffy, sorry. DJ Puffy, shout out to you. My favorite DJ, DJ Anna. One day hope to have on the podcast. So, like, what is one of your favorite singers or artists that you love to play? Coming to the um floor?

SPEAKER_04 1:14:52

Shoot, that's a good question.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:55

I know it is. I know it is. Favorite singer or artists? If you want to swing the block, you go swing the block.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:07

To bring him to the dance. See, that's the key though, to bring him to the dance floor. Bungie Garland. Oh my god. Yes, if I can play Bungie Garland, actually, actually, if I can play Bungie Garland in a party. What song from Bungie? Yo, it's gotta be like Carnival Contract, a carry it, you know, like Carriot. Yeah, but like most Guyanese weddings. Most Guyanese weddings, those songs will not work. Really? No, they won't work. They don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:34

I feel like those are like pretty you know him because you went to Trinidad. You went to Carnival. No, no, but I mean, I even before going to the card.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:41

He's like a zombie. He's like insert B row here. Even Come Home by Nyla Blackman and um I'm a friend of the other. Yeah, that's my song right there.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:48

Come on, Nila. Skinny Fabless?

SPEAKER_04 1:15:51

I think it's lyrical. What's the song? Come home by Nyla Blackman and Nyla, yeah. And then um Skinny Fab. Skinny Fab. Anyway, that song even is a risky song. High risk song. Really? And a guy needs uh promise from today.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:07

The older crowd won't know. No, yeah. The older crowd, yeah, yeah. Those are new songs.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:12

But like when you're doing a wedding, you're trying to find those songs that fit you. So, like, if if for example, if the bride and groom want like a new dance hall set, that's gotta be at the end.

unknown 1:16:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:27

I I have two questions. Yeah. Oh, I guess. Because that I just have one question. Um, first thing, do you have like a set of songs that you go to no matter what? And you don't you know, like, all right, this will keep the floor pumping. Gotta be Drake. And what not can you give me like two or three three?

SPEAKER_04 1:16:45

Oh, well, if it's Drake, it's gonna be one dance. That's like the main one, right? Um, two or three. I mean, I alright, I'll give you one right away. Everyone's probably thinking about it. Rupee, jump, jump, jump, jump, yeah, right. Rupee, jump, um, bull, darada. I I really yeah, yeah, really.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:05

Uh that's that's that that's a sleeper. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:07

Um and Dylan Chile. Okay, okay. Um, I mean, I can give you more. Definitely Wally, uh, Soka Train, uh, Two Reel, Hello by Kess, Turn Me On by Kevin Little, Bam Bam Rhythm.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:20

Um, Bam Bam, I feel like that's that's always a hit.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:22

Yeah. One of my favorite songs to listen to, like, especially when it's coming down to like towards like towards like ending time, is now um how the song goes again. Next, Brian. Not Going Home and Till them um Tell the Monica.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:35

Oh, that's that's literally what it I think what it's called. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:38

We're not going home. Literally, like school. Yo, dude, would that song start pumping? Not going home. That's the same as it's yeah. If we for some reason, like that's when everybody wants to go to like the afties, because like that's when they started getting into all the good songs.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:52

That's when they wanted the Cormon and Dolphi.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:54

You know, it's interesting you bring up that song because usually when people request the song at the end of the night, it's usually potty done. Really? I hate doing it. Uh I'm so sick and tired of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:06

Trev, also, man, so you said that your mom was pretty protective over you, didn't want you to like go out into the nightlife, right? Yep. Uh, when your son grows up, do you think you would be the same way? I think so. Because like knowing what you are now, right? I dude, I know when you're like 22 or no, even younger, 21, and you're seeing the stuff that goes on in those clubs, man. Would you want your son to be exposed to those things? I feel like if he has a strong sense of self, which I'm sure you have.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:32

That's that's all at the end of the day, in my opinion, like and this is uh just me observing people in nightlife and my friends and whatnot, it's exactly what you said. It all comes down to the this the individual, the self. I mean, by the time you're in your 20s, you're still developing, you're still changing. I'll be honest with you with you. In my opinion, once you're at 30, your personality is kind of set in stone. You're too old, yeah. I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:58

Your brain, your brain is like fully developed without that.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:00

Right, and your personality is from who you are at 21 to 27, two different people. Anyway, coming back to answer your question though, but you know, okay, you know, my the the individual is got a good head on his shoulders, he's not easily peer pressured, or he is easily peer pressured, or you know, he can handle this, or he's mature. You can you can kind of get that sense, anyway. I don't know if I would be protective of him in terms of going. I don't think to be honest with you, I don't think Cubs are gonna exist when he's of age. You think so? I don't think I don't think so. I remember I used to go play clubs.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:40

They they they're drinking like adaptogenic water, dude. Go get go get the stock prices for all the uh alcohol beverage companies.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:48

I remember when I was 17, 18, going to play Taza, coming home at level, my uncle was a yell at me. Yeah, shout out to Uncle Boy.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:54

Look at him now, huh?

SPEAKER_04 1:19:55

Every, every every like I remember in high school, everyone was like, yo, how can we get a six pack or how can we, you know, whatever. And um that's not the case today anymore, man. Everyone they're playing like Roblox, they're playing Roblox or they're smoking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nobody's drinking, nobody's drinking. So smoking and in the VR beverage sales are high, it's significantly down. It's uh it's out there, the numbers are there. Yeah, yeah, that is true. Um, so I don't unless clubs do something different and realize, like, hey, you know what? Maybe you need mocktails.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:29

Yeah, liquor sucks. Nobody drinks liquor. I don't even drink liquor nowadays. Yeah. I think I think it's I think it's overrated, to be honest. He's lying through his teeth. It's a family-friendly show, Rich.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:42

You don't drink it, you only smell it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:45

Yo, but but but like really, like when you look at restaurants over the past couple years, I I could say like before COVID, I don't really remember seeing restaurants with mocktails on there. Now, every restaurant needs a mocktail menu.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:56

Yeah, we have a guy that we know. Oh, he drinks is mocktails. Steve.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:01

Shout out to Steve. What? Steve will be so excited. Steve is the guy.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:05

So I I really do think clubs need to start understanding this and know that the trend is not in their favor in terms of alcoholic beverage sales. And I mean, I don't know where hookah is right now. I personally I don't care if hookah anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:17

Uh, it's not as crazy as it once was, man, right? Like before, I feel like you know why alcohol is not being sold in in the clubs anymore like that? It's because the prices broke hot.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:27

Yeah, but I remember seeing someone else talk about this. Like, like, no one's buying beer and no one's buying like because again, like I said, the prices be so hot.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:35

You go to the deli, right? You get a six pack, you're paying like 15 bucks. 15 is the most pack is the most, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:21:42

I say assuming I remember buying like I remember beer being cheaper than water. So now when I go buy beer, I'm like, this this hurts. Damn.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:53

You go you go to the deli, you buy a six-pack, costs you like 15 bucks. You go to a bar or you go to the club, you try to get a single one single beer, one single beer with the two pack about 15, 20.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:04

That's crazy because I remember going to a bar and paying seven dollars for a beer and be like, why why is it seven dollars? That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:11

Yeah, beer now, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:12

Like, if you go to the game, it's like 15, 20 bucks for real. Yeah, it's no, but I think to go back to the other point, I think the reason why people don't drink nowadays or the younger generation doesn't drink is because when you drink, it's more of a social thing. All these new kids, they're very antisocial. Nobody wants to talk about it.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:25

Yeah, there's a certain gap definitely going on with the COVID.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:28

You know, you drink, it's not like you could drink and not be social, right? You drink and you have to talk to people, you want to be around people, you just don't drink by yourself. So it's on their phones, I guess. Yeah, they prefer to just smoke where you could just be by yourself.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:37

And then and then here's the thing like going back to so the clubs have uh they have you know, no drinking, social awkwardness that they have to like, these are things that they have, these are their challenges over the next couple of years that they have to figure out like what's gonna attract people into your venue if they don't drink and they don't really want to be around people or they don't know how to be around people.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:00

There's gonna be online parties on GTA 6. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:06

I'm thinking it'll work for us to play that game. And I mean, like, not to sound old, but like the last time I went to a club was for Brennan's verbs. Last year, no no, but 35th. I haven't gone to a uh like an Indo-Caribbean club in years. I haven't either.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:20

Well, I mean, I I haven't gone to an Indo-Caribbean club unless I was booked in years.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:26

I haven't gone as a guest, like we went, right? And I remember like in my head, tomato and then I used to go back in the day, and it was crazy. It was like it was like a zoo in there, right? Yeah, right. And like uh when they went with Brandon, everyone's on their phone and everyone's just like in the corner chilling.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:43

I I would love to go to a no phone party.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:45

Honestly speaking, like my days at going to clubs, the best clubs I think I went to was like Webster Hall, those type of clubs. I like Moroccos. Why Webster Hall is crazy? So bear the fact that I'm in the Bronx, right? I'm in the Bronx. Everything that's around me is either hip hop or uh hip hop or like uh Spanish music. Yeah, right. The club scene in Queens, it wasn't really like my cup of tea, because uh, you know, I didn't really want to be around another bunch of drunk people, especially drunk Guinese people like myself. I know how they say the likes don't attract plus it was just like I wanted a different like you know, scenery, a different vibe. And you wanted different music, different music. So you go to these clubs in Queens, you're either getting just like Indian music, or you're either getting just like regular music, right? It depends on which club you go to. Which floor do you go to? See, when you go to the Webster Hall, dude, we love flooring. You got you got options, you go with you know what floor you got, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:48

I remember in 2012 I went to Webster Hall and I was like, uh, can I have a bottle of water? And they were like, yeah, 12 bucks. I was like, what? No, but you back then that was like fortune.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:57

You're right, because in Webster Hall, the water costed more than a drink. Insanity for some odd reason. They wanted you drunk. No, it was true, it's like it was their like, you know, they may go get you drunk till you buy more alcohol.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:11

I mean, I I guess because no one's drinking anymore, it's good because there's gonna be less like DUIs, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:25:15

So yeah, I mean, like right. Like, think about the pros here. Listen, I I'll tell you something. Uh, generally well, I don't know about generally speaking, but yeah, generally speaking, nothing good comes out of uh drinking too much.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:28

No, nothing, you're right. Well, you know, they say no good story ever comes from eating a salad. That's true. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. That's also true. No, I have a good story about a salad. I don't want to hear it. Shout out to all my people out there. Anyone else? Anything else to say? Thank you so much, man. Oh, no problem. Thank you for having me to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:52

Let's go, Nick.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:57

And that'll be all.