Episode 45
Episode 45 | DJing! Featuring Preach Jacobs
The salient point of this podcast episode revolves around the multifaceted nature of DJing, as discussed through the lens of the esteemed DJ Preach Jacobs. In our conversation, we explore the evolution of DJing from its inception to the present-day practices that blend traditional methods with modern technology. Preach shares his personal journey, illustrating how necessity propelled him into the realm of DJing and the arts, ultimately shaping his identity as a creative force in his community. The discussion further delves into the significance of community support for artists, emphasizing the necessity of valuing artistic contributions and fostering a culture that appreciates the efforts of creatives. As we navigate these themes, we invite listeners to reflect on the role of DJs and artists in enriching our cultural landscape and the importance of equitable compensation for their work.
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Transcript
Foreign the podcast where I go down.
Speaker B:The rabbit hole to research things you.
Speaker A:May be curious about.
Speaker B:My name is Amie and I'll be your guide on this trip to Wonderland.
Speaker B:Welcome back my wonderlings.
Speaker B:I'm so glad that you could join me for this episode.
Speaker B:At some point in the past few years I became aware of an outstanding human being who is a supporter of the arts, a talented artist, an activist, and an all around good guy.
Speaker A:My name is Freaks Jacobs Preach Jacobs My man Preach Jacobs Preach Jacobs Preach.
Speaker B:Jacobs Preach has many talents, but after running into him at two different events where he was DJing, I began to wonder what it's like to be a dj.
Speaker B:I wonder.
Speaker C:I wonder.
Speaker A:I wonder.
Speaker A:I wonder.
Speaker A:I wonder.
Speaker C:I wonder.
Speaker B:I wonder, I wonder, I wonder.
Speaker B:At its core, DJing is playing recorded music for a live audience.
Speaker B: isc jockey was coined back in: Speaker B:While Winchell chose these words due to the disc shape of the phonograph records and the word jockey as someone who operates a machine, this was quickly shortened to DJ and the term is still used today some 90 years later despite changes in the industry.
Speaker B:Even when DJs moved from radio to in person performances, originally they just played songs from a record and when it was done they'd put on the next one.
Speaker B: But by by the late: Speaker B: ble was a game changer in the: Speaker B:In the black community, events known as park jams were occurring where jazz, blues and gospel records would be played for the community at a local park.
Speaker B: while, in Jamaica in the late: Speaker B: By the: Speaker B:DJs began honing their craft with techniques like beat matching to create seamless transitions by matching the tempo of the previous song to a new song.
Speaker B:Slip cueing techniques were mastered during this era.
Speaker B:Club mixes and extended versions of popular songs saw their emergence as well.
Speaker B: And Also in the: Speaker B: using records to DJ until the: Speaker B:DJs would now have access to millions of songs without having to carry around huge crates of records.
Speaker B:DJs today often embrace both methods.
Speaker B:Some prefer the OG method with turntables and a record spinning.
Speaker B:Others appreciate what the digital era allows them, creating mashups and entirely new works of art from existing music.
Speaker B:And in talking to Preach Jacobs, we got to speak to a DJ who uses many different methods in his craft.
Speaker B:I've seen him spin records at some events and watched him use high tech boards and software at others.
Speaker B:So now that we've kind of talked about the evolution of DJing, let's talk to someone who can tell us what it's like to be a DJ in today's world.
Speaker B:Please enjoy my interview with Preach Jacobs.
Speaker C:So I'm here with Preach Jacobs.
Speaker C:Hello, hello, hello.
Speaker C:And Preach is pretty famous here in the Columbia area.
Speaker C:I'm serious.
Speaker C:So to get your little notes to be able to kind of talk about you before I let you talk about you, I googled you.
Speaker A:Oh no, that's terrifying.
Speaker C:You're one of the only people I know who is this googleable.
Speaker C:So here are some notes from the Internet.
Speaker C:So Preach Jacobs is a two time South Carolina Press Association Award winner for college column writing for his column Fight the Power.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which is featured in Free Times and Post and Courier.
Speaker C:He founded colacon, the nation's only hip hop comic book convention, as a hip hop artist and DJ, contributing the South Carolina art scene for over 20 years.
Speaker C: o Columbia, South Carolina in: Speaker C:Writer, producer for the PBS series Citizen Better and the Preach Jacob Show.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And podcast.
Speaker C:And a co owner of Soul House and now owner.
Speaker C:Now owner.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C: amed one of the Top albums in: Speaker C:In addition to all of that, he has been nominated for Best of Columbia in multiple categories for multiple years, including this year for Best Local Art Gallery, Best Local Hip Hop Artist, and Best Local dj.
Speaker C:Which is what we're going to talk about today.
Speaker C:But first, if I haven't mentioned everything, let's have Preach tell us a little about himself.
Speaker A:I think you handle that.
Speaker A:You're my agent right now.
Speaker A:Now, it's just.
Speaker A:It's really funny, man.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I do a lot of things.
Speaker A:It's a part of the get rich slow scheme.
Speaker A:Because I think that when.
Speaker A:When you.
Speaker A:When you're an artist, you basically, the way I grew up, you just do things that are interesting to you.
Speaker A:And a lot of the stuff that I did, especially with like, something like DJing, it came out of necessity.
Speaker A:Like, I was an emcee.
Speaker A:Like, I was making music and I was just sick of depending on people to bring their DJ equipment for shows, Right.
Speaker A:Because I was.
Speaker A:I was doing shows as early as 14, okay.
Speaker A:In Columbia.
Speaker A:So I'm performing at a place called the Elbow Room.
Speaker A:I don't know how much you know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I'm 14, 15 years old, on stages, performing.
Speaker A:And so when I needed DJs, it was these older guys that were just like, who the hell is this 15 year old asking me to bring DJ equipment?
Speaker A:So I was just like, all right, well, I guess I need to invest in this myself.
Speaker A:So one of the things that I've learned about being an artist, it's that everything that I'm into kind of started with that.
Speaker A:It's like, okay, well, I'm into graphics design because I need to design my flyers.
Speaker A:You know, I'm into photography because I need to take pictures for promotional and marketing things.
Speaker A:I'm also a writer, so I need to write my bio.
Speaker A:So everything was a part of, you know, training me to be an artist.
Speaker A:Because you can't just focus on one thing.
Speaker C:Wow, that is.
Speaker C:So what kind of stuff are you doing at 14 years old?
Speaker A:Listen, man, like, people always ask me, what do you want to do?
Speaker A:And my answer has always been the same.
Speaker A:I want to.
Speaker A:I want to do what I'm doing, just get paid more money doing it.
Speaker A:So I was first published as a writer when I was 14.
Speaker A:There was a hip hop publication called Elemental Magazine based out of New York.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:And I did a couple of interviews and I was so excited, like, which is also hilarious, because stuff being digital now, one of the old boomer things that I absolutely love is being able to have my name in print.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, so.
Speaker A:So there was a, like, sidebar that.
Speaker A:It was an article.
Speaker A:ESPN did a big write up on Dawn Staley, and they interviewed me for It.
Speaker A:And I was so excited about it, but it was digital, and I'm like, this is, like, one of the greatest accomplishments, being in the national.
Speaker A:National media.
Speaker A:And I hit my guy that frames all my stuff, and I said, yo, is there a way we can frame something from the Internet?
Speaker A:Like, I felt like it's got to put a matter over there.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But that was just one of the things.
Speaker A:Like, the old school things is just writing, getting my stuff in print, doing music, being creative.
Speaker A:That was just something that I was just always into.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:So let's.
Speaker C:My first question here is to take us through your journey.
Speaker C:So you kind of got us where you started.
Speaker C:So you started as a very young whippersnapper up there on the stage, and then you grew out of necessity.
Speaker C:So I know I started this out by saying that you're pretty famous in the Columbia area.
Speaker C:How did you get there?
Speaker C:Like, what was that whole process like?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think this.
Speaker A:This is something I always think is really interesting when I'm talking about, like, my parents is.
Speaker A:My parents never taught me everything that I know, but they taught me how to learn everything I wanted to know.
Speaker A:And when I was.
Speaker A:I was 13, I used to.
Speaker A:I used to have this newsletter where I would email hip hop artists, and I would ask if I can interview them.
Speaker A:I was calling in to WSC on the air, doing hip hop news, interviewing people.
Speaker A:So I was just this young journalist.
Speaker A:And I remember when I was a kid, when I'm about 13 years old, I had this newsletter where I'm just interviewing, like, famous hip hop artists, and I'm just this young kid hitting them up.
Speaker A:And I would write this newsletter out.
Speaker A:I'll always have an interview, an opinion thing, and I would have, like, a poem at the end that I wrote, and I would sell these things for, like, 50 cents apiece, right?
Speaker A:And so my brother had a hookup with this person that worked at.
Speaker A:I don't know if it was Staples or Office Max or something, where the person was just like, if you come in on Sundays, we'll print these up.
Speaker A:We'll hook you up.
Speaker A:And I would print like, 50 copies of them, selling 50 cents apiece.
Speaker A:Every Sunday, when I needed to go to Office Depot or whatever, because I'm finishing the newest edition.
Speaker A:I'm like, hey, mom, we got to go to Office Depot.
Speaker A:And she never said no.
Speaker A:She never.
Speaker A:She never pushed back.
Speaker A:She never was just like, not today.
Speaker A:And so I was just in this mode of being embraced to be creative, right?
Speaker A:And I Think that that was just really, really important.
Speaker A:And I think that it kept me out of trouble.
Speaker A:Like my parents was like, well, we have no problem supporting what you're doing because this looks like a positive thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so everything that I did is kind of just happen like that.
Speaker A:And as far as hip hop was concerned, I think I just grew up in the right era where all of the, if you talk to like old school hip hop heads, the early 90s are like the golden peak years.
Speaker A:And those are the years when I just started being old enough to really, really start to develop a personality and, and knowing what I wanted to do.
Speaker A:And so one of the things that I always said is I've always wanted to write, I've always wanted to be a journalist, I always wanted to be an artist, always wanted to be around art.
Speaker A:And I'm still doing the same things now, so it always just falls under.
Speaker A:I just want to get paid more money doing it, right.
Speaker A:So, yeah, so that was one of the things, is that that's been a constant ever since growing up is that I've always wanted to do the things that I'm doing now.
Speaker C:That's really awesome.
Speaker C:Not very often do you get to speak to someone who is living their dreams.
Speaker C:You know, I don't know if it's.
Speaker A:A dream or not.
Speaker A:I don't know if it's living their passions.
Speaker C:You know, I think I do data sheets.
Speaker A:I mean, I think it was one of those things where at some point in time you, you make this agreement with yourself where there are other avenues you can turn that can make more money, that can do better things to that.
Speaker A:One of the things about my father growing up, I used to take offense to him, but he was this really anti artist and I used to think that he was just against it, but.
Speaker A:But in his mind, he's like, I don't know any professional artists.
Speaker A:So he's thinking, he's being supportive by saying, yo, if you pursue this, I don't know how you're going to make a living out of this.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And so it becomes one of those things where, you know, a lot of times when you think people are insulting you are not being supportive.
Speaker A:He's being supportive in a way because he just doesn't understand, I mean, owning an art gallery, who's buying art in this economy, Right.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:And so it just becomes one of those things where you have to make those decisions, right?
Speaker A:You have to be like, look, if finances aren't where you want to be, this and this and that.
Speaker A:How do you define your success?
Speaker A:How do you find your happiness?
Speaker A:Because it looks different to everybody else.
Speaker A:So you have to figure that answer out for yourself.
Speaker A:It's a lot of crying, a lot of therapy, a lot of alcohol.
Speaker C:Same for me.
Speaker C:But I don't play any shows.
Speaker C:So what kind of events do you DJ for?
Speaker C:So once you kind of decided, this is going to be my life, this is going to be my career, this is what I'm going to focus.
Speaker C:This is not a weekend gig type deal.
Speaker C:What kind of, what kind of things do you DJ for?
Speaker A:First and foremost, a DJ for paid stuff.
Speaker A:I mean, not all the time, but it's like, here's the thing that I've learned recently.
Speaker A:Not all money is good money.
Speaker A:And the older that I've gotten, we backtrack a little bit.
Speaker A:I think the battle or the challenge of DJing really was kind of elevated during the pandemic because it was one of those rare occasions where being an artist, you're being embraced to be a creative.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because I have this theory that I don't care if you're a musician and you usually play at a coffee shop in front of 10 people, or if you usually play in a stadium of 20,000 people.
Speaker A:The pandemic was this equalizer.
Speaker A:Everybody's at home with their acoustic guitar, right?
Speaker A:And so all of a sudden, me being a DJ became something important to the community where people like, you know what, I'll pay you 25 bucks to make a mix to send to me.
Speaker A:And it was just this vibe of, like, creating some normalcy for people.
Speaker A:So people would pay me, I would curate these, these mixes and send it to them.
Speaker A:And it was one of those moments where, you know, maybe not for the community, but for me.
Speaker A:I said, oh, I am essential.
Speaker A:Like, I am.
Speaker A:I am providing something that's important.
Speaker A:And that's a.
Speaker A:That's a strong distinction.
Speaker A:Because when you're an artist and you're creative, especially in a city that sometimes has trouble of how they handle their creatives, meaning there was a long time, and it still happens.
Speaker A:There's a long time where having an art gallery, talking to artists, the amount of times artists are expected to donate their time and their services for free.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, oh, you get exposure.
Speaker A:Oh, you get this.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And it becomes one of those things where, you know, artists think that that's just the norm and it's not the case.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so, so one of the things you have to realize is like, how do I value myself in an environment even if they don't value me the way that I should value myself, right?
Speaker A:And that means you got to tell people no sometimes.
Speaker A:And, and especially when you're desperate.
Speaker A:Especially when, look, I've been in situations where I never forget these people.
Speaker A:This is like years ago, these people were like, asked me to DJ somewhere.
Speaker A:And I had spoken to someone that got paid much more than what I was getting paid.
Speaker A:This person was a little bit bigger.
Speaker A:But the idea was when this, when this particular club would write checks, the checks always bounce, right?
Speaker A:Oh, I mean, always bounce.
Speaker A:It wasn't even a lot of money.
Speaker A:Like this is like a decade ago.
Speaker A:The checks would always bounce.
Speaker A:And I find myself always going here, going back to get my check, and they would be like, oh, we'll pay your overdraft fees, whatever.
Speaker A:And it's the visualization of me going to these people all the time asking for the money.
Speaker A:It just looked bad.
Speaker A:And there was an old school guy to say this to me.
Speaker A:He said, look, these venues talk.
Speaker A:If these people are bouncing checks, you put up with that, that words will get round if you, if you, you know, if you do an event and you slash your prices or you do such as that.
Speaker A:He said, the work is around and they're like, he gonna pay for nothing.
Speaker A:You know, he ain't gonna play for nothing.
Speaker A:Like offering peanuts.
Speaker A:He'll do it.
Speaker A:And so at a very, very early point, I had to learn to say no to things.
Speaker A:And one of the things I do now, as far as DJing is concerned, I have to DJ something that makes sense to me.
Speaker A:So one of the things that is really, really exciting for me, what excites me is I do this, I do this, this gig at Lula Drake.
Speaker A:And Lula Drake is a wine bar and I play jazz records.
Speaker A:And I love it because one, I'm the only person that's doing that there.
Speaker A:And two, it put me in a position to be like, you know, I'm 40, I don't need to play a club where I don't know half the music these people are asking for, right?
Speaker A:And that was one of the things where one of these clubs around here, they asked me to play somewhere and the money was okay, but the entire time it's young kids asking me for music that I got to figure out how to download.
Speaker A:I'm like, I have no idea what this is.
Speaker A:And at some point, one of the things I also think is important in the arts community here is there needs to be a baton passing where, especially with hip hop related stuff in Colombia, there's always this idea of there's, you know, it can only be one person, it can only be this.
Speaker A:And I don't like that.
Speaker A:I'm like, look, there should be this transition of, hey, I don't need to play these clubs that are open to 2, 3 in the morning.
Speaker A:I'm going to be in bed by 10.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:Who doesn't?
Speaker A:So let me find the younger people, the younger versions of Preach that I want to be the person to.
Speaker A:The younger artist that I wish I had growing up.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker A:Because I didn't have that.
Speaker A:So there was a lot of trying to figure stuff out for ourselves.
Speaker A:I want to cuss.
Speaker A:Can I cuss on here?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Maybe me.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right, cool.
Speaker A:I had to figure a lot of out.
Speaker C:So when you hear this, it'll go.
Speaker C:I had to figure a lot of.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Well, I think that's a wonderful story.
Speaker C:And I think it also segues us into some of the specific questions I had.
Speaker C:I asked around.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:I was like, I'm going to talk to a DJ about some of the things.
Speaker C:So these are not specific to you.
Speaker C:These are just kind of questions about what it's like to be a DJ and kind of what goes into it.
Speaker C:So actually one of the first questions was, do you know any famous DJs?
Speaker C:Not that you're not famous, but first.
Speaker A:Of all, I'm not famous.
Speaker A:Here's my thing.
Speaker A:I hesitate answering that question because it's all relative, because there's a lot of people that I think or famous to me because of the work that they do and the public really don't know about it.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So the answer is maybe, maybe because I don't want to.
Speaker A:Then I start, like, naming people in your audience is like, who the hell is that?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:DJ Skippity Toilet.
Speaker C:He's right.
Speaker A:DJ.
Speaker A:So, yeah.
Speaker C:What is the smallest audience you've ever DJed for?
Speaker C:Like, they.
Speaker C:They're like, hey, I'm booking a DJ.
Speaker C:I've got you out here and you get there and there's like this many people out there.
Speaker A:I mean, that's.
Speaker A:That's easy.
Speaker A:Like that.
Speaker A:That happens more than you think.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A: people or if it's: Speaker A:Because if you're at an event, like, because half the time, if you're paying me for something and I show up, you're paying me to do a job you're not Paying me to DJ just in case there's a crowd out there.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:So I've been in situations where people totally miscalculated.
Speaker A:You know, the fan base or Columbia is one of those places that if it.
Speaker A:If it sprinkles or, you know, a little bit outside, we're not going anywhere.
Speaker A:So those are the moments where I would say, if there is some advice I would give to young DJs.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The shows where people really don't show up, or the shows where you have a little leeway because it's not your vibe or your crowd.
Speaker A:Those are the places where you test things out.
Speaker A:Those are the places where, hey, I have this blending routine that I want to put two songs together and try out, or let me see if this works or that work.
Speaker A:So even if those two people are in that crowd, you know, they deserve to be entertained as well.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:So now if you're doing a door deal and you get paid based off, then just go home.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I've.
Speaker A:I've played.
Speaker A:I've played in front of little to no people.
Speaker A:I played in front of thousands of people.
Speaker A:I would say the pandemic.
Speaker A:I was DJing for no one because.
Speaker A:And I mean this literally in the sense of, you know, during the pandemic, one of the things to try to feel normal, you're like, oh, I want to do IG live, or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker A:And I remember that was I was making these things.
Speaker A:I was calling them Mo Better Soul Law Sessions.
Speaker A:And I was DJing these sets, and I was really excited about them, and I would record them and I would make some and I would put them out.
Speaker A:And what would kill you is if you're paying attention to the lack of people that are listening to it.
Speaker A:Like, the lack of people.
Speaker A:You wait for that number to go up on SoundCloud and it doesn't happen.
Speaker A:Or there's nothing worse.
Speaker A:When you do an IG live, you see a number pop up and then the number just starts dwindling.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, but at some point in time, as an artist, you have to make that decision.
Speaker A:How do I handle this?
Speaker A:You know, how do I, you know, am I doing this for the people to listen to me, or am I doing this because I really appreciate this as an art, a culture, a craft?
Speaker A:And when you come to that decision with yourself, it'd be a lot easier.
Speaker A:But to answer your question, I played rooms of no people in there.
Speaker C:So you mentioned something about doing the Instagram, and there was actually a question Kind of talked about, not Instagram specifically, but how do DJs deal with copyright issues?
Speaker A:Like, I mean, you really don't.
Speaker A:This, I mean, my thing is that is more likely for like venues or places to worry about.
Speaker A:It's like if, if you go somewhere in the and a venue is just like, you can't play any Michael Jackson, you can't play any this, you can't play any that, you're like, well then what you, what you got me here for, Right.
Speaker A:So a lot of times that's for the venues to kind of handle.
Speaker A:So I know that there's been conversations where certain venues have to pay like a ASCAP membership, which is basically music licensing.
Speaker A:So BMI and ASCAP is the, the licensing when you're playing certain stuff where I guess if you're a music thing you got to do it sometimes.
Speaker A:If you're a restaurant and you play music a lot, you will probably have to pay for something like that.
Speaker A:But that's something that we don't have to worry about.
Speaker A:It's like a, it's like a hip hop theory where, you know, hip hop, there's a lot of sampling in it and there's used to be this conversation of do producers have to worry about sample issues, copyright issues with sampling?
Speaker A:And the answer is always no.
Speaker A:Make the music you want.
Speaker A:Whoever is going to purchase that record or purchase that joint that someone's gonna rap or sing over, that's their job to handle all that stuff.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So yeah, we don't think about copyright.
Speaker C:I'm just here to make the music, play the music.
Speaker A:And also too like, you know, the mashup and all that type of stuff, when you hear like two songs that are two different genres being mixed together, that type of thing.
Speaker A:Like DJs don't think about copyright infringement or things like that because like that's what's going to happen.
Speaker A:Like, you know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, so now our jobs are to be as creative as possible.
Speaker A:The people that are trying to sell it are the people that try to do things with it or package it.
Speaker A:Those are the people that got to.
Speaker C:Worry about the stuff that makes sense.
Speaker C:So if somebody were to want to start being a dj, what's the bare minimum equipment they would need?
Speaker A:I don't know because I feel like a boomer when it comes to certain things where, you know, you're in a room with me with a bunch of records.
Speaker A:Yep, there's a lot of DJs that, that are anti records completely.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And I've been to A place where you were spinning records as a.
Speaker A:Well, that's, you know, that I do.
Speaker A:I do that a little Drake and I play a couple of places.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And to me, it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:And there's an art and there's a culture all into it.
Speaker A:But then there are, you know, younger people that got into DJing that never touch a record in their life.
Speaker A:So I never want to be someone shaking a fist saying this is the right way to do it.
Speaker A:I would say this, whatever you can get your hands on, to learn on, learn on it.
Speaker C:Okay?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because I think that, you know, I give you an example.
Speaker A:When I started DJing, you know, the gold standard of turntables are techniques.
Speaker A:And these are techniques, okay?
Speaker A:And technique turntables are like all the DJs used to DJ and they're expensive as hell.
Speaker A:This and this and that's.
Speaker A:So when I started getting to DJing, when I was like 15 years old, there was a company called Stanton Stanton makes needles for turntables and stuff.
Speaker A:They had a DJ box where you get two turntables in a mixer and it's 300 bucks.
Speaker A:And that was my.
Speaker A:I could afford that.
Speaker A:I'm 14, 15 years old, right?
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:And I never forget because like I said, I was getting turntables to play my own shows because I'm a, I'm a rapper and I need my own equipment.
Speaker A:I remember the older people in the community, older DJs in the community, like laughing at me like, like, you got Stantons, right?
Speaker A:And I was embarrassed because I'm 14.
Speaker A:But as I got older, I'm like, who the hell does this, right?
Speaker A:Like, like who, who goes to a 14 year old trying to get involved in a culture, a culture that you're a part of, right?
Speaker A:And make fun of them, right?
Speaker A:So I would always say, I will always fall on the side of encouragement that there might be apps out there, there might be programs out there, there might be free software out there that if you can do it, do it.
Speaker A:The only advice I would give, listen to everything.
Speaker A:So Even if you're DJing, just one genre of music, one of the things I used to do all the time, and this is kind of a funny story, is that go to a concert with a genre of music that you'll never go to, listen to a record that you'll never listen to and expand yourself.
Speaker A:I used to do this thing when I would go record shopping.
Speaker A:I will buy a record based on the COVID I'm like, oh, is this a record from the 60s?
Speaker A:And it's like a beautiful lady with an afro.
Speaker A:I'm listening to this, right?
Speaker A:And a lot of times, you.
Speaker A:You know, what's more important than learning what you like is learning what you don't like.
Speaker A:And you have to, you know, experiment.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Quick story.
Speaker A:So the free times I write for the free time, supposed to courier.
Speaker A:And there was one year they hit me up, and they were like, hey, we had free tickets to a Jason Aldean concert.
Speaker A:The country artist, they were like, if we ask you to go review the show, would you go?
Speaker A:I'm like, are y' all paying me?
Speaker A:They're like, yeah, I'll go.
Speaker A:Or, beep, I'll go.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I never listened to Jason Aldean.
Speaker A:I go to the concert and.
Speaker A:And I joke.
Speaker A:I have a.
Speaker A:I have a white friend that I need for security, and I joke with him.
Speaker A:I said, hey, man, I need you to come with me just in case things get kind of crazy, because I don't know anything about Jason Aldean.
Speaker A:He was like, all right, let's go.
Speaker A:He joked with me.
Speaker A:He's preach.
Speaker A:Don't worry.
Speaker A:He's like, you be the only black guy in there.
Speaker A:They'll think you're Darius Rucker.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So we go.
Speaker A:We go to the concert.
Speaker A:And it was one of those weird moments because if you're at somebody's concert, people assume that you're a fan of their music, and they know I knew none of this guy's stuff.
Speaker A:And so there were these really, really uncomfortable moments where, like, when the artist was playing, you would have people turning to me and eyeing you because they want you to say the words with them, like, oh, you know this, don't you?
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:So I would just close my eyes, like, I'm so impassioned by the song, right?
Speaker A:And that was.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was my way of getting away from it, right?
Speaker A:And so in the middle of the show, me and my friend was like, I think we're gonna make it out here live.
Speaker A:And then Jason ID into the microphone.
Speaker A:He was like, about the bra.
Speaker A:Somehow, out here, y' all might know pretty well Darius Rucker's here tonight.
Speaker A:Make some noise for Mr.
Speaker A:Darius Rucker, everybody.
Speaker A:Come on out.
Speaker A:Darius Rucker, my friend looked at me.
Speaker A:He said, the chick is up.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So there's an addition to this story.
Speaker A:So after I go to the Jason Nadine concert, the reputation got around, and the way I wrote the article is really hilarious.
Speaker A:I'll send it to you.
Speaker A:Because it wasn't me bashing the show.
Speaker A:It was Basically, like, local hip hop artist goes to first country concert.
Speaker A:And it was kind of like one of those, like, Hunter S.
Speaker A:Thompson joints.
Speaker A:Like, kind of like talking about the experience of it without throwing it, you know, under the.
Speaker A:Under the bus, you know, not completely, but I got a reputation of being somebody that would, like, go to these concerts, so.
Speaker A:So I was offered, hey, do you want to go see Kiss?
Speaker A:And I'm like, can I go see Kiss?
Speaker A:Go to the show?
Speaker A:Loudest concert I've ever been in in my life.
Speaker A:And there was a moment where Gene Simmons is, like, playing, and all of a sudden, all this blood and stuff starts coming out of his mouth, and the blood starts spewing out of his mouth, and there's somebody front.
Speaker A:When the blood is falling on them, the person is going crazy.
Speaker A:And I'm like, who the hell is this person going crazy with this blood?
Speaker A:I get my binoculars.
Speaker C:You brought binoculars?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Well, my friend had Governor McMaster losing his ever loving mind.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, like, it is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
Speaker A:He's like, oh, spell on me.
Speaker A:And it was the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker A:I'm like, what in the world is this?
Speaker A:Then I.
Speaker A:Then there was, like, a picture that came out right after that concert.
Speaker A:You could probably find it.
Speaker A:There's a picture where he has this declaration that it's like Kiss day or whatever it was.
Speaker A:And there's a picture of Gene Simmons and other guy and stealing their makeup.
Speaker A:And the governor's holding this, like, proclamation, all excited now.
Speaker A:Therefore, I heard, master Governor of the great state of South Carolina, to give.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker A:Day, and Kiss just looks like, just let me go so I can leave.
Speaker A:It was the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker A:And then right then, maybe a couple months after that, the pandemic hits.
Speaker A:So for a long time, I was like, my last concert can't be kissed.
Speaker C:So what did you wear to a Kiss concert?
Speaker A:I am a creature of comfort.
Speaker A:So I don't remember what I wore it, but it was probably sweatpants.
Speaker C:But it wasn't leather or face makeup.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:So it's probably.
Speaker A:It's probably sweatpants.
Speaker A:And I was probably trying to be as incognito as possible at that concert.
Speaker C:I don't know how successful you were.
Speaker A:There's a lot of mullets there.
Speaker C:All right, so let's talk.
Speaker C:You've talked a lot about, you know, encouraging people who may want to get into DJing.
Speaker C:And I think that it is human nature, especially in a world that's obsessed with kind of over consumption, that when you're like, hey, this is what I want to do, that you buy all of the things, you know what I mean?
Speaker C:Like, you're like, I need this, I need this and I need this.
Speaker C:What is something that DJs starting out sometimes buy that they absolutely just don't need.
Speaker A:I think that goes back to what we were saying about the idea of learning what you want to learn on.
Speaker A:What I think happens, and I see this happen, is that people would look at like a famous DJs Instagram page, look at their equipment and be like, oh, I'm a buy that.
Speaker A:And they invest.
Speaker A:I mean, this happens more with like guitar players, right?
Speaker A:Like, they'll see, like, if they have the budget for it, they'll see someone with an expensive Les Paul or something like that, and they'll spend like a few grand on it and then not know how to play the instrument, not knowing what to do, that type of thing.
Speaker A:And so sometimes, you know, sometimes, you know, you gotta, you gotta learn to drive on the beat up car.
Speaker A:Like as soon as, you know, if your granny gives you this old big box Lincoln and you learn on that, then you can drive anything.
Speaker A:So I think that sometimes what ends up happening is that I think people get obsessed over the gloss and glamour and the glitz of stuff that they'll, they'll invest in the wrong thing.
Speaker A:Here's what I would say, though.
Speaker A:The most important thing I would probably say is there's nothing more powerful, whether it's art, music, relationships.
Speaker A:If you ask someone who's doing what you want to do, how can I help?
Speaker A:How can I make your life easier?
Speaker A:Because like, back in the day, if you want to get into DJing, you know, no one is going to be open to showing you the craft.
Speaker A:But you go to a dj, be like, hey man, I want to learn this.
Speaker A:When you got a show and you got to take all these crates to your show, I'll help you set your equipment up, I'll help you bring your crates, right?
Speaker A:And what ends up happening more often than not is that when you develop those relationships with those DJs or those people that are in these fields that are like, oh, you're of service, you're helping, you have my back.
Speaker A:Two things end up happening and then DJ upgrades and stuff, he go, hey man, you've had my back for so long.
Speaker A:Take this old mixer.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Take this old turntable.
Speaker A:Or what's end up happening is, hey, if this guy's been helping me out and been down and shown that they've been of service.
Speaker A:If I get offered a gig that I can't take or don't want to take, give it to him, right?
Speaker A:Give it to her.
Speaker A:Like, so that's an important thing of find someone that is doing what you want to do and be of service.
Speaker A:And I think that's one of the things that whatever you want to do, whether it's DJing, whether it's writing, like, find someone that's doing what you want to do and be like, how can I help?
Speaker A:And a lot of times when people are in these fields, there's.
Speaker A:They don't want to do.
Speaker A:So if you help people to do this they don't want to do, then that's a valuable way of building a relationship.
Speaker C:So is the community then pretty good for DJs?
Speaker C:Like, is it a warm, fuzzy kind of situation or is it cutthroat?
Speaker C:And, like, now this is my gig?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know if this is warm and fuz or cutthroat.
Speaker A:I think that what ends up happening is the infrastructure of the city gets in the way.
Speaker A:Where I will always say, I will put the music community, the artistic community, the visual art community in South Carolina or Columbia specifically, up against anything in the Southeast.
Speaker A:The difference is other places might have other opportunities that can amplify these artists.
Speaker A:Give me an example and I'll drop News break news right now.
Speaker A:As of July 15, Soul House will no longer be on Lincoln Street.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker C:Where's it gonna go?
Speaker A:Well, there's some things that we're working on right now that I can't speak on just yet.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:And this is not throwing anybody under the bus.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's just basically, and put this in perspective to kind of tie everything together with the dj.
Speaker A:Question is, when I first started doing my own programming, I was doing something at this coffee shop called Immaculate Consumption.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:Really dope spot.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I spoke to these people with this idea because I was doing these really, really intimate shows.
Speaker A:And the tagline was music, art, and coffee.
Speaker A:So I would.
Speaker A:I would have an artist that would come in to perform, I would have a visual artist, and then the coffee place will sell their coffee or whatever.
Speaker A:And we would have like 40, 50 people in this coffee shop.
Speaker A:And it was this really, really, really dope experience.
Speaker A:What I learned early on is that as a creative, one place can't just be one thing, right?
Speaker A:So it has to be this hybrid ideal, that's the.
Speaker A:That's the only things can work in my mind.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Especially in Colombia.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So if, you know, some people be like, hey, I go to coffee for just coffee.
Speaker A:If I want to go hear music, I'm gonna go to a place to hear music.
Speaker A:I can't operate like that.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:There has to be a way of the connective tissue in the city and across pollination.
Speaker A:So as far as the.
Speaker A:The business model of so house, when.
Speaker A:When I had partners, the idea was this very, very traditional.
Speaker A:This traditional business model of, all right, we have art on the wall.
Speaker A:People buy.
Speaker A:But I knew that the arts community wasn't transactional like that.
Speaker A:If you're going to buy art, it's an emotional thing.
Speaker A:It's something that you have to think about because you're living with these pieces.
Speaker A:You go to a restaurant and buy a burger, you eat it, it's gone.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You buy a piece of art, you're like, I want to do.
Speaker A:I want to live with this piece that I'm looking at on a regular basis.
Speaker A:And so when I took it over, I'm like, the secret to this space is community outreach.
Speaker A:The secret to this space is partnerships with.
Speaker A:With.
Speaker A:With organizations.
Speaker A:The secrets of this place is, you know, we did something called spring break.
Speaker A:We'll be doing, like, free workshops for the community.
Speaker A:We're doing things where, you know, we had Ta Nehisi Coates there for a book signing.
Speaker A:One of the things we're working on is doing an auction that's called 200 or less, where what ends up happening with the art community is people are intimidated because they don't have $3,000 buy a piece off the wall.
Speaker A:So what's happening with a lot of art spaces is that everyone is going after the same rich 10 people to buy art.
Speaker A:And in usual ends up happening.
Speaker A:The people that have that money, they don't have the taste anymore.
Speaker A:Or be like, I've already collected what.
Speaker C:I want to collect, or there's no more wall space.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or I got the money to go somewhere else.
Speaker A:So how do you create new collectors?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And that's community outreach.
Speaker A:You have to get people that never bought a piece of art before to come in here.
Speaker A:Or the partnerships that I do with Lula Drake, we do a wine tasting, and that's really a great way to pay the rent.
Speaker A:So, hey, we have a high ticket price.
Speaker A:We bring an amazing act in here.
Speaker A:Lula Drake does the wine and charcuterie.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And it's a really, really great community.
Speaker A:Outreach event because we have a feature artist that we're showcasing in front of these people.
Speaker A:And ironically enough, if you spend $50 on a.
Speaker A:Of a wine tasting ticket, more than likely that same demographic is going to buy art off the wall.
Speaker A:So all that works together.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:Um, but in this space, the nicest way to say is like, the.
Speaker A:The owner is like, I don't want any of that extra stuff.
Speaker A:He's like, I don't want.
Speaker A:I just want it to be just a solid art retail space.
Speaker A:And I just don't think that model is going to work there.
Speaker A:So the lease is up.
Speaker A:I'm like, all right, we got to figure out new things.
Speaker A:So we have some stuff that we're working on right now.
Speaker A:But that.
Speaker A:That's all that plays into what I'm saying, is that this can't just be a place where you just sell art.
Speaker A:It has to be a place where people feel like.
Speaker A:Speak to them some.
Speaker A:Some degree.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:It has to be a place where when they look on that wall, somebody says, I see myself on this wall.
Speaker A:That's DJing too.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker A:Somebody has to feel like, you're playing this record for me.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I had a shitty day from work, had a terrible week.
Speaker A:You're somehow helping me get through something, right?
Speaker A:Hey, Preach, you had this event.
Speaker A:I know I'm getting laid to because of what you're playing for me, right?
Speaker A:So that is really, really important.
Speaker A:And I think that it's not just playing music and it's not just selling art.
Speaker A:I think that that's when I talk about making those decisions, that's a decision I make.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:It's like, all right, well, this isn't.
Speaker A:This isn't me being an artist or this isn't me having an art gallery.
Speaker A:This isn't me being a dj.
Speaker A:This is community service.
Speaker A:And when I think of it like that, then it makes it easier to digest when you don't make the money that you want, when you want it.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:So at the possibility of being crass, what kind of money does a DJ make?
Speaker C:Like, if someone who's doing it as more than just one week in a month, and you don't say, what your paycheck.
Speaker A:I mean, because.
Speaker A:Because that fluctuates too.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But again, it's not what I make, it's what I'll tolerate.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:There's a.
Speaker A:There's a certain threshold that you create for yourself.
Speaker A:But I also feel like this two things ends up happening is when the market is doing something that you don't agree with, then don't do it.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:And what I mean by that is, is don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry.
Speaker A:And a lot of times, you know, when you're desperate to do stuff.
Speaker A:And you know, and I take that back because some people different have a different perspective with it because some people are like, hey, if I want to play somewhere and you give me a bar tab and I just want to drink and holla at some chicks and that's cool with me, go for it.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:But if there's things that you want to do that are beyond that, or if you want to make a living out of that, that type of thing, you have to figure out that.
Speaker A:So there's just certain stuff where it's the same thing about renting out the gallery for events, right?
Speaker A:So it's like, I have a standard price that I would charge for the community.
Speaker A:I have a standard price that I would charge corporate events because they gonna get hit over the head a lot, a lot more.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:And then there's community outreach stuff where people come to me and say, hey, here's this non profit or here's this, this, this thing that we're doing and I'll give it to them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So you have to make those decisions like that.
Speaker A:So even like dealing with like Lula Drake, another owner, and I, when we talked about it, he was like, well, we don't have the budget to pay your rates.
Speaker A:Because he, you know, he's like, I know I'm not paying you what you usually would get.
Speaker A:He's like, please, if you're offended, tell me.
Speaker A:And I said, listen, my theory is this.
Speaker A:Two things that are really, really important for me was if you can't pay the rate, the currency I get out of that is number one, I have a residency.
Speaker A:And a residency basically means this is my night.
Speaker A:So Tuesday is my night.
Speaker C:So as a guaranteed paycheck.
Speaker A:Well, not even that.
Speaker A:You have to build a relationship with the community to people.
Speaker A:So what happens in, what happens in Columbia is you'll have these venues that have you DJ to say, hey, we have.
Speaker A:You want to come on this Friday?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:And then three weeks later, what about Thursday?
Speaker A:What about this?
Speaker A:And so the people have to guess when they see you, when they find you.
Speaker A:I want the ability to have a residency where this is my night.
Speaker A:I can build a crowd and build a relationship with the community.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:So a lot of times DJs don't have the ability to have the patience from venues because they want an immediate turnaround.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I want a residency.
Speaker A:I want patience.
Speaker A:Let's figure this out, right?
Speaker A:And so when I started playing at Little Drake, like, a month later, they won a James Beard Award, right?
Speaker A:And all of a sudden, this is like the perfect timing, right?
Speaker A:Where Tuesday nights, like, Friday nights, right?
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:And so I told him, I said the two things that were important to me.
Speaker A:I said, look, I want a residency.
Speaker A:I said, also, I own an art gallery, and people that come into Little Drake and they spend a bunch of money on wine, that might be the demographic that buys art, right?
Speaker A:So you have to figure out those things for yourself.
Speaker A:Now, if I go to some random club that.
Speaker A:That isn't paying my rate, or a random club that doesn't align with my morals or my vibes or the stuff that I want to do, then I don't want to do that, right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I think that those are decisions that you make.
Speaker A:And I will also say, you know, for the DJs out there, there's different currencies other than just money, right?
Speaker A:Like, there's a currency of being in a place that values you or that you can have a partnership with.
Speaker A:There's a currency of being at places that really, really support what you're doing.
Speaker A:That's kind of like the Sohaus conversation is that I don't want to try to convince somebody, hey, I want to be in this place.
Speaker A:Look at all this great stuff that I'm doing.
Speaker A:Like, you know, I want to be in a place where people are like, yo, preacher's going to be here.
Speaker A:We want you in this building, right?
Speaker A:So those are the things you have to kind of learn over time.
Speaker A:The things that you want to put up with, the things you don't want to put up with.
Speaker A:And it's a fluid process.
Speaker C:I can see that.
Speaker C:And I'm not going to hold you a whole lot longer because I know you've got places to be.
Speaker C:But I do have a couple of questions.
Speaker A:Yes, please, please.
Speaker C:So one of the things you said earlier is that you felt like your more established DJs at some point need to pass the baton onto the younger crowd so that they can kind of take over and do that.
Speaker C:Who.
Speaker C:Who are some of the DJs that are on your radar that you would be passing baton to that we should watch out for?
Speaker A:I don't know if it's a pass a baton situation, but, like, I.
Speaker A:She, you know, Wonder Girl is really, really great.
Speaker A:I'm a big fan of her, and she's been doing really, really great stuff.
Speaker C:Is female.
Speaker C:Is that uncommon?
Speaker A:In Colombia, maybe?
Speaker A:Right, Colombia.
Speaker A:Maybe there's another female DJ out of Charlotte.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:That she's done some great stuff, and we talk about bringing her here.
Speaker A:Her name is Seabird.
Speaker A:There's a lot of other guys that I've worked with for a while, Louis Sky, DJ Liv, and.
Speaker A:And there's a lot of times I give you an example, a prime example.
Speaker A:I got a phone call from a high school maybe a couple of weeks ago, and the woman was like, hey, we want to do this, this event for the school.
Speaker A:This and this and that.
Speaker A:And, you know, we know we don't have your budget for this, blah, blah, blah, to DJ it.
Speaker A:Could you do it?
Speaker A:I'm like, unfortunately, I can't do it.
Speaker A:And then she was just like, what do you have in mind you can refer me to.
Speaker A:And I said, which you should do because you're a high school.
Speaker A:There's a student in your school who wants to do this, who has some equipment that has something.
Speaker A:Let them do that.
Speaker A:And that would mean so much to that person, right?
Speaker A:Like, and.
Speaker A:And they're in front of their peers.
Speaker A:What the hell am I doing in front of high school kids?
Speaker A:Right, right, right.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So to me, those are the simple decisions that you have to make as opposed to saying, well, this is a paycheck, right?
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:I just like, like being at Little Drake.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, wow, it's a wine bar.
Speaker A:I feel sophisticated.
Speaker A:I play jazz records.
Speaker A:I can't go from that to all of a sudden playing a bar mitzvah.
Speaker A:Well, those are fun.
Speaker A:But listen, divorce parties.
Speaker A:But, but, but, like, I'm more specific about club stuff.
Speaker A:Like, if there's.
Speaker A:If there's, like, you know, clubs and Five Points in the Vista, where it's just like a bunch of kids.
Speaker A:Like, put it like this.
Speaker A:My rule is this.
Speaker A:If I'm at a club and everybody there, I could be their father.
Speaker A:I don't want to be there, right?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:And I don't even mean high school dad, right?
Speaker A:Like, like, like, like, like, I'm 42.
Speaker A:So it could be like, yo, yeah, you.
Speaker A:You could have graduated college.
Speaker A:This could be your right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So if it's one of, you know, everybody calls me Unc, right?
Speaker A:I don't need to be there.
Speaker A:Pass it on, you know, so.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:And, and sometimes you have to have the back of the community as well.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So literally last night, I was doing something at one Columbia that was.
Speaker A:There was a Young.
Speaker A:A young man that was putting out an EP, he was maybe 20 years old, and they were doing this whole event where all his young friends were there, all these young producers were there.
Speaker A:And there was a moment where it was just like, all right, y' all ain't got the money for me, you know, this and this and that.
Speaker A:And I want to be helpful.
Speaker A:And there's a part where you have to, like, catch yourself, because I'm like, I would have loved when I was 19 years old to have Free Jacobs have my back, right?
Speaker A:So I DJ this kid set.
Speaker A:And just the impact of him seeing me do that meant a lot, right?
Speaker A:And so I'm like, that's the other part.
Speaker A:It's not just about giving gigs to young people.
Speaker A:It's about being like, yo, I co signed this.
Speaker A:I'm also like, I'm actively trying to encourage you because I have that right, you know, so I'm getting it from both sides.
Speaker A:It was like, my daddy say, what the hell you doing?
Speaker A:And then the hip hop community was just like, bleep you too.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I'm gonna cray.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But, yes, but, you know, like, it's just.
Speaker A:It's just things like that that you just kind of have to.
Speaker A:You learn.
Speaker A:And I think that that's a big part of it too.
Speaker A:So, yeah, so.
Speaker C:And we're going to kind of close out on.
Speaker C:You've talked throughout, kind of your words of wisdom to other DJs, but to bring it all together, what would you leave.
Speaker C:What would be your parting words to not even just people who want to be a dj, but people who are going to these events and experiencing DJs and all of that.
Speaker C:Like, what.
Speaker C:What do you have to say about the world of modern DJing?
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I would say the same thing.
Speaker A:I would say to the world of modern art or appreciators of DJing.
Speaker A:Art is pay to artists.
Speaker A:A big pet peeve that I have.
Speaker A:And maybe I'm a minority with this.
Speaker A:I have some homies of mine that they have this.
Speaker A:This group message thing.
Speaker A:And usually my first response to a group message is just mute, you know, and that's the right answer, right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But they had this.
Speaker A:They had this thing where it's basically like, here's new music that's coming out and this and this and this and that.
Speaker A:And one of the guys in the group, I love him to death, known for years, but he always brags about my music tapes are impeccable.
Speaker A:I know this and I know that, and I'm like, yo, dog, you can't brag about all the music that you listen to if you don't buy it, right?
Speaker A:Not saying you can't have Spotify or Apple music, but at some point in time, if you support these artists, you need to buy.
Speaker A:You need to buy that merch.
Speaker A:You need to go to a show, right?
Speaker A:Same thing I would say to the community out here.
Speaker A:At some point in time, venues, pay these DJs, you know.
Speaker A:You know, when you have artists out here, pay them for their time, right?
Speaker A:Because a lot of times stuff will end up happening with, oh, exposure.
Speaker A:Oh, this.
Speaker A:Oh, right.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:And my argument is always this.
Speaker A:It could be a sliding scale.
Speaker A:So, like, when we did our spring break thing, the way that it was organized, it was.
Speaker A:We wanted it free to the community.
Speaker A:So it's one thing to have artists donate their services.
Speaker A:It's another thing to have organizations profit off the artists, and the artists are also donating their services for free.
Speaker A:So I would just say you gotta.
Speaker A:You gotta pay the people.
Speaker A:And the gesture doesn't have to be a lot of money.
Speaker A:It just has to be the gesture to say, hey, your time is valuable.
Speaker A:I value your time.
Speaker A:I value your energy and effort.
Speaker A:And that just goes a long way.
Speaker A:So I would say, you know, more than the DJs and the artists out there, the people that consume the art to consume the DJs.
Speaker A:The terminology, do this for exposure.
Speaker A:Sit your ass down with all that.
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker A:Because what happens?
Speaker A:And I'm not gonna throw these people on the bus, but I'm moderating a panel.
Speaker A:Not moderate, but I'm on a panel.
Speaker A:And the amount of money that's on this panel, I'm not exaggerating when I'm saying these people are dealing with millions upon millions of dollars.
Speaker A:And when they talk to you, there's no conversation about compensation, right?
Speaker A:So there's.
Speaker A:I'm not throwing them under the bus either.
Speaker A:But like, we.
Speaker A:We shot a.
Speaker A:A commercial in our art gallery, and three of the biggest organizations out there in arts and in community and culture, I tell you, offline.
Speaker A:And it was like three of the biggest companies and they wanted to shoot a commercial in the gallery.
Speaker A:Very, very excited.
Speaker A:And the argument is, these opportunities come out, it'd be like, yeah, I'll do it for free if I have to.
Speaker A:But when you get the contract and it says, owner Priest Jacobs, location sold, house compensation zero, right?
Speaker A:These organizations combined are over a trillion dollars as far as their value, right?
Speaker A:And so sometimes you got to put yourself in a position where you look at it and like, you know what.
Speaker A:What if I would have pushed back on this?
Speaker A:What if I would have said, nah, y' all gotta give me something.
Speaker A:Sometimes you have to be prepared for people to say Sometimes you have to be prepared to say no.
Speaker A:And if you're in a room and you see all this money in here and you see the sponsors and you see this and you see that, and then you're not getting paid, sometimes saying no is the most impactful thing that you can do because people know, they're like, I.
Speaker A:If I come to you again, I can't be asked with you.
Speaker A:So I will say that that's terrific.
Speaker C:And I really am glad that you did this.
Speaker C:I have been so excited to talk to you.
Speaker C:You really have.
Speaker C:And did you bring.
Speaker C:Do you have a copy of your album?
Speaker A:I do have a copy of my album, yes.
Speaker A:It's over there.
Speaker C:I'll get that after.
Speaker C:I'm picking up a copy of his album, Francis on vinyl.
Speaker C:I'm very excited about that, too.
Speaker A:So when I say if you support artists, pay for it.
Speaker A:That wasn't me.
Speaker C:I brought cash.
Speaker C:I stopped at the ATM on the way here, so.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:And it was a funny story.
Speaker C:Is I.
Speaker C:So I stream music is how I predominantly listen to music.
Speaker A:Me too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And when your album came out, I listened to it all the way through, probably four or five times.
Speaker C:But because I don't listen to albums all the way through, when it did my little recap, it was like, this is your most listened to.
Speaker C:I was like, oh.
Speaker C:I was like, look at this.
Speaker C:Preach.
Speaker C:Making my list.
Speaker C:So if you had multiple listens on YouTube, music, that was me.
Speaker A:Well, thank you so very much.
Speaker C:Any future projects you've got coming up?
Speaker A:I'm working on some stuff now.
Speaker A:I think that one of the things I've learned about being a creative is you have to go where the energy is pushing you.
Speaker A:And so, you know, a lot lately it's been.
Speaker A:My life has been the gallery, you know what I mean?
Speaker A:And having that opportunity to amplify artists.
Speaker A:The great part about me not being a visual artist is is that no one on the walls are competing with me.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so it's definitely a way of being like, yo, this is 100% me helping amplify artists work.
Speaker A:So now that there's been kind of like a recalibration of where the gallery is going to be and how we're going to work some stuff out now, I have more time to write and do some things and.
Speaker A:And sit in my home and play chess and play records.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, so.
Speaker A:So yeah, that's something I'm working on right now.
Speaker A:But I always, I always will argue that there's a lot of people that haven't heard the album yet.
Speaker A:So if you guys want to listen to the album, Francis, no pressure to buy it, but if you guys want to go on all of the DSPs, type in preach Jacobs.
Speaker A:The album is called Francis F R A N C E S, named after my grandmother, and I'm really, really proud of that project.
Speaker C:It was really good.
Speaker C:I enjoyed it.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker C:Well, that is all I have today, my wonderlings.
Speaker C:And thank you so much, Preach, for being with us.
Speaker A:Thank you for having me.
Speaker C:And that's it.
Speaker A:Peace.
Speaker B:It was such a pleasure to speak with Preach.
Speaker B:As you can tell, he's a natural storyteller.
Speaker B:If you have the opportunity to listen to any podcast he produces or is a guest on, I can't recommend enough that you give it a listen.
Speaker B:And clearly Preach is very passionate about supporting creatives in the community.
Speaker B:Please follow him for ways that you can help support creatives too.
Speaker B:And finally, if you're listening to this episode before June 20th, please take a moment to go to FreeTimes.com vote and vote for Preach for Best Local Art Gallery, Best Local Hip Hop Artist, and Best Local dj.
Speaker B:And since you're there, please also vote for welcome to Wonderland for Best Local Podcast.
Speaker B:As we see our second nomination in two years, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Preach.
Speaker B:And until next time, be safe, be kind, and stay curious.
Speaker D:The welcome to Wonderland podcast is copyrighted by Amie Bland and is distributed by Big Media, llc.
Speaker D:This podcast is recorded in and around Columbia, South Carolina.
Speaker D:Any thoughts or opinions are those of the hostess unless otherwise indicated.
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Speaker D:Thanks for listening.
Speaker C:Are we good?
Speaker C:Hey, if you say no pressure, buy it one more time.
Speaker A:This Tierra, apparently she's my manager, too.
Speaker A:So I'm waiting for you bear to be like, guess what?
Speaker A:I didn't press record.
Speaker A:No, I'm better than that.
