00:00I remember, like, I was just, at first, just making music to impress my girlfriend at the time.
00:05Because she, like, took all these DJs. I'm like, I can f***ing do this.
00:13I feel like I could lose my job any day.
00:16So the second I let off the gas, someone else is going to steam right ahead.
00:30So tell me what you were absorbing in terms of electronic music, pop music, movies, media,
00:36that, you know, kind of fed into what you're doing now. Like, what was particularly inspiring to you?
00:40I mean, I think the other pop stars this year were really inspiring. Like, I think the whole
00:45movement Charli XCX had with Brat was just incredible. Because the music was amazing,
00:49it was very electronic focused. But then there's a cultural movement as well, which I think is
00:54every kind of artist's dream, right? And then from there, just watching, like, movies I needed
00:59to catch up on. Like, I just re-watched, like, La La Land, for example. The guy who scores those
01:03movies does it with Damien Chazelle, this guy named Justin Hurwitz. And he has such an incredible,
01:07incredible score that super inspires me. And then I was looking into it and, like,
01:11Brian Gosling learned how to play the jazz piano within three months from nothing for that movie.
01:15And it just shows you that you don't even need to be particularly knowledgeable or skilled at
01:22any instrument and you can just learn it. I just re-watched Whiplash, for example.
01:25I bought a drum kit the next day. Oh, wow. Because I'm like, I want to do some drums on
01:29my next album. Right. Like, live drums, so. How's that going in terms of figuring it out?
01:34I'm not ready to present that to the public yet. But, you know, once I practice enough,
01:39I truly think anyone can learn any instrument and stuff. Just like any language, if you fully
01:44commit to it. Do you have space for it? With everything you have going on to sit at the drums
01:49and, like, figure that out? No, but I'm not a normal person, I guess, because I kind of just
01:55commit my life to this and I think that, I don't know, there's 24 hours in a day, right? So,
02:00if I spend an hour a day doing drums, an hour a day doing piano, a couple hours a day producing
02:04music, a couple hours a day working on, like, the art concept of it. There's enough time in every
02:10day, I think, to do that. Maybe my personal, my relationships go out the window. How do you
02:16break up the day that you can devote time to all of these things that you're talking about?
02:20I wake up at, like, seven every day now because I try to go to bed by midnight. I do believe you
02:26need seven hours and then I pretty much just work up until I crash. So, I'll probably take a nap
02:32around, like, noon or something, which you can't do in a corporate job. And then, so, I just,
02:37I kind of just put it up in three-hour blocks. Yeah, I really think anything's possible if you
02:41just have a really regimented, kind of, like, military-esque way of going about it.
02:47A whole place we must eat.
02:51Cheers.
02:56We talked a little bit before, but I would love to get into it more. Just, like,
02:59what you think your success says about the state of the scene in the U.S. in particular?
03:04I think it's awesome to put America on the map a little bit. Yeah. Because I'm, kind of, really
03:08expanding internationally now and I think a lot of American DJs, kind of, just got stuck in the
03:13America bubble and didn't grow out of it. I just want to showcase my art with the world.
03:17It's cool to be from America and being very supported by this country.
03:21So, of all the places that you've gone and that you get to go, is there a place in the world that
03:26feels like it's really thriving? Like, everyone says South America, but, like, what places do
03:30you go and play and you're like, wow, the fans here are incredible? I mean, South America is a
03:34good answer. I mean, you're not going to find more passionate fans from not just the music,
03:38but they, like, follow the whole cult of personality sense of they really, like,
03:44know everything about me, which I think is awesome, even though we don't even speak the
03:47same language. Like, Brazil, I go there and there's, like, totems and signs and everything
03:52and I'm like, wow, like, I thought this was only an American festival thing. Sure. So,
03:56they're true electronic music lovers at heart and the hospitality there is incredible. So,
04:00I really like going there. Another cheers, by the way. Cheers to our first place.
04:08Maybe slightly injured yourself? Yeah, because I'm an old man. I just turned 30,
04:12so I got a bum hip now. I ran too much too fast. Okay. And so, I'm learning the harsh truths of
04:18aging. Okay. Well, you're 30, so I'm going to say that you're probably going to be fine. I'm sure.
04:26Rebound pretty quickly. I mean, I used to run in high school, so I didn't stretch then and I'm like,
04:30stretch. Everyone, you know, says you have to stretch. I guess they weren't lying.
04:35Would you want to work with a major pop star? I've shot my shot to, like, Dua Lipa and
04:43Charlie XCX and stuff more in, like, a joking manner because, I mean, I think it would be
04:48amazing working with a pop star and they're ultra talented, but I do think the best talent
04:53doesn't have the most fame or notoriety. Working with Halo, when I first started working with her,
04:58you know, she wasn't a big name whatsoever and she was far more talented than anyone I've ever
05:02worked with prior. A lot of your songs are really lovey and there's a lot of longing and there's a
05:14lot of, like, contemplation. Like, do you feel like that's an accurate depiction of your sort of
05:19state and what you want to say? I'm a loving boy. Okay, tell us more. I mean, I talk to the music
05:26not on interviews, but I think it's a cool way to be self-reflective and kind of put out what you
05:32want in the world. Yeah. Most people do that through their own personal diaries, you know,
05:37but as someone that's fully out there in the open, whether it's social media, on the news,
05:42or anything, that now that I'm used to it, now I can put that through my art as well.
05:48Let's talk about Sphere. And I'm so curious about how that opportunity came to you to support Anima.
05:54So, I went and saw his show at the Sphere, which was incredible. I was really blown away by the
05:58Ellie Goulding record. And not just the record, but the visual and everything too. And Ellie's
06:02one of the most iconic EDM vocalists ever. And so, I took a video of it and I tagged Anima and
06:08Ellie on my incredible record, something along those lines. And then incredible record, incredible
06:14show. And then he WhatsApped me, Matteo did, which is Anima's name. And then Matteo was like,
06:20yo, you like the record? I go, I love it. He's like, would you want to remix it? Say less. So,
06:25then I did. And then I sent it to him. He's like, I love it. Would you want to play this together at
06:30the Sphere in like a month? And I'm like, once again, say less. I'm in. And then from there,
06:37yeah, I booked the Sphere show. Do you listen to dance music on your days off?
06:41It's all I listen to, basically. Besides when I'm trying to get inspired, like I said,
06:46or find new sounds. My days off, I guess, I'm listening to new music, new dance music,
06:51new sound, new artists and everything too. And then just like my nostalgic favorites.
06:55I'm a little feeling down and stuff. We all have our go-to's. What are your go-to's?
07:00It's hard to think off the top of my head. I need to make like a playlist or something.
07:04You should make a playlist of your go-to's and publish it. People would be fascinated to know.
07:07Now that's a vulnerable playlist. But yeah, I should do that. I'll do that.
07:11It's part of your, you know, your emotional growth.
07:13Yeah, summit's come down playlist. I like that.
07:22Tell me about the role that fitness plays in everything that you're doing.
07:28Fitness is what grounds me because I live a crazy life. Never know what time zone I'm in.
07:33Don't even know what city I'm in half the time. There's no more grounding in my activity than
07:38running because it makes you focus on the moment, focus on your breathing.
07:41It's my form of almost yoga meditation.
07:50The last time I was really at home was like during COVID and like no one knew who I was.
07:55And so I could walk around freely. And it's weird now walking around
08:00like the neighborhood town and everyone's asking for pictures and, you know,
08:03really feeling like a celebrity. I wasn't really, you know, performing in high school or anything.
08:07I didn't really start DJing publicly until college. So it's kind of a crazy concept.
08:13Maybe I go back and DJ the prom or something.
08:16I did like film and stuff in high school. So I was always really involved in that and the
08:21creative side of that. And then doing like making music on my computer and stuff. I'm not like a
08:26very instrumental person. It's always been kind of in the box. And ever since GarageBand,
08:31you know, I've gotten carried away with that. I guess I was like a nerd in high school.
08:35Like I had like a how-to video of like how to be a bro.
08:39And that like did very well at like state competitions and shit.
08:43I'm delusional. And I thought the first track I ever made was amazing.
08:46And I put the first track I made on SoundCloud.
08:49And I think it's, yeah, it's still up there.
08:51Anything that would get people up and dancing and moving.
08:53I remember like I was just at first just making music to impress my girlfriend at the time and
08:59stuff like that because she liked like all these DJs. I'm like, I can fucking do this.
09:03And then so I learned how and then I'm like very sponge-like where if I like to put myself in the
09:07room with talented people and I can pick up on the talents and stuff. And so that's the process of the
09:12album writing I'm doing right now is that I'm just trying to work with the best of the best,
09:16the best singers, best songwriters and stuff like that and create art that's never been made before.
09:20I think the standard is just making as much good as art as possible and the fans loving it.
09:25It's easier to look outside and like be inspired by people outside of my world.
09:30I'm loving like what Timothee Chalamet is doing right now. It's fucking incredible.
09:33Like that he can, you know, do Wonka, Dune and Bob Dylan all in the same year.
09:37I'm like, that's insane. It's like three different albums in the same year.
09:40I feel like I could lose my job any day.
09:43So the second I let off the gas, someone else is going to steam right ahead.
09:47It's like, you know, pool vaulting. I got to keep setting it higher and higher and higher.
09:51The bar.
09:51What I'm super inspired by the 90s, like VHS aesthetic is that whenever you see
09:57old concert footage from then, the VHS, everyone's super living in the moment
10:02because of course there's no cell phones, no TikTok, whatever.
10:04And then so I want to bring that to my own show somehow.
10:09Really capture the energy of a true party.
10:11I mean, some of the best parties I've ever went to in my life,
10:14and I'm not ashamed of it at all, are the parties during COVID,
10:17where it was no one's on phones because you'd get fired from your job
10:20or you couldn't do it because you weren't supposed to be there.
10:22And it was a very like counterculture movement.
10:25It felt very like I thought we were living in the prohibition,
10:28you know, especially me being, you know, young, broke and dumb.
10:32And then that's how I got a big name for myself as a DJ,
10:35especially in Miami here, which is why I fell in love with Miami.
10:37I kind of want to, you know, have that kind of counterculture vibe to the next album, I think.
10:42And I went to college, got a normal degree,
10:44and like I did the whole normal thing, and I was in the Matrix.
10:47Once I got fired, I'm like, enough of that.
10:48I really love where I'm at, and I'm going to work my ass off to keep it that way.
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