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Tony Technique and guest co-host DJ Halo welcome Durham’s Morning Choir crew (Joe/Wolf, Sean/Seance, and Selly) to discuss how the organization formed in 2019 out of earlier projects like Sugar Society and Cult Entertainment, inspired by rave-style community energy at The Fruit. They explain their mission to facilitate electronic music, the high costs and long lead times of producing events, and their careful artist-booking process using personal playlists, genre focus, market fit, streaming metrics, and agent relationships. The group outlines their marketing playbook, dedicated following, and email list, reflects on COVID’s impact, touring-artist riders, and frustrations with Live Nation/Ticketmaster and investor-driven entertainment. They share personal backgrounds in music and production, emphasize supporting local DJs through submissions, preview upcoming fall shows, tease a November headliner, and mention plans to produce events for other promoters.
00:00 Show Intro and Setup
01:03 Meet the Morning Choir
02:20 Origins and Mission
04:19 Triangle Scene Talk
07:36 Post-COVID Event Reality
08:49 Booking Strategy Breakdown
11:45 Marketing Playbook
14:14 COVID Launch Story
16:27 Riders and Weird Requests
18:10 Live Nation and Capitalism
23:59 Sean’s Artist Journey
26:44 Production Career and Content
28:44 How Booking Shapes Sound
29:22 Bookings Shape Taste
29:54 Producer vs DJ Identity
30:33 Joe’s Techno Origins
31:13 From Tragedy to Marketing
33:04 Facilitating Not Headlining
34:10 Local Slots and Set Times
36:28 DJing With a Message
38:50 360 Setup and Event Series
39:37 Staying Anonymous and Allure
40:36 Guest List and Pager Tangent
42:35 Fall Shows and Big Tease
44:47 Producing Events for Others
45:47 Garth Brooks Rabbit Hole
48:39 MJ Conspiracy Talk
50:26 Wrap Up and Subscribe
Creators and Guests
What is The Vinyl Underground?
Welcome to The Vinyl Underground, a podcast created by fans, for fans of electronic music in North Carolina. Hosted by Crowd Control, this show dives deep into the local and regional scenes across Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, and Wilmington.
Our first series, Behind the Decks, showcases the hottest emerging DJs—sharing their stories, musical styles, inspirations, and favorite dancefloor moments. Whether you're Gen Z discovering the scene or a seasoned Gen X raver revisiting your roots, The Vinyl Underground is where beats meet community.
Tune in, get inspired, and stay connected to the movement.
[00:00:00] Speaker 5: Welcome to the Vinyl Underground, presented by Crowd Control. This is Behind the Decks, your backstage pass to North Carolina's emerging electronic music scene We're bringing you raw conversations, killer beats, and the untold stories of DJs shaping the underground. Plug in, vibe out, let's go.
[00:00:28] Speaker 6: Welcome back party people to the Vinyl Underground Podcast. My name is Tony Technique and today we have a special co-host guest. His name is DJ Halo. Hey. You guys seen him from the last show. He's here joining us. He's gonna kick it with us because tonight we have, from Durham, we have the Morning Choir crew.
Okay, I'm sure you guys heard of them. They've been, you know, doing their thing out in Durham in The Fruit, throwing their events, and they're here tonight. They're gonna join us. We're gonna kick it with them, so I hope you guys enjoy the show.
[00:00:58] Speaker 7: Let's get it on, y'all.
[00:01:00] Speaker 6: There you go. Thanks for having me. All right, brother.
Welcome to the show. We got the Morning Choir crew here all the way from Durham, North Carolina.
[00:01:08] Speaker 8: Hello.
[00:01:08] Speaker 6: And we got my man Joe.
[00:01:10] Speaker 8: What's going on? All
[00:01:11] Speaker 6: right. Sean, you know him as Seance. What's up, what's up? And introduce yourself as- 'Cause I forgot your name already.
[00:01:19] Speaker 9: Selly.
[00:01:19] Speaker 6: Selly, here you go.
[00:01:21] Speaker 7: Selly, she don't get jelly.
[00:01:23] Speaker 6: Sally from the jelly.
[00:01:24] Speaker 9: Call me on my celly.
[00:01:25] Speaker 6: That's right.
[00:01:28] Speaker 7: Wait a minute. How is somebody in my celly named Selly?
[00:01:32] Speaker 6: Yo, I'm telling you, times are rough.
[00:01:35] Speaker 7: That's right.
[00:01:36] Speaker 6: Times are hard on the boulevard. All right.
[00:01:37] Speaker 7: By the way, some may know Joe also as his DJ name, Wolf, spelled in a very creative name.
[00:01:43] Speaker 6: Right. So, um, first of all, let's, let's know more about you guys and who you are, what you do.
You know, we know that... You know, honestly, when I got to North Carolina, I been hearing about you guys, um, back in 2015, around that time. I don't know what, what year you guys started, but, um, I, um, was, didn't even get to know who you guys were till about maybe last year, right? So, um, you know, maybe people around town have want- been wondering the same, and, um, you know, you guys be throwing some, you know, some big events over at The Fruit.
And tell us how you guys, you know, where you guys started and what, what made Morning Choir and, and how you guys, how you guys got here.
[00:02:20] Speaker 8: Yeah, so, um, as an organization, we were founded in 2019, and we, we came in with a very specific mission, and that's simply to facilitate music, and that music that we really focus on is electronic music.
Mm. Um, both Sean and I have been friends for a long time. Um, we both worked in the professional music industry, and as you work in the professional industry, you kind of lose the love for music because it's all business. It's all, you know, every... There's... Everything's so demanding. Mm-hmm. And with Morning Choir, we wanted to really just focus on the music that we knew and loved, the artists that we were passionate about.
And we, we had a great partner at The Fruit. Um, some of the stuff that The Floor was doing at The Fruit is really what inspired us- Mm ... just because it felt like those old school raves, tho- those raves back in the '90s where- Yeah ... you know, the DJ was off in the corner. They weren't on a stage. You know, it, it didn't feel like pop.
It was just people coming to have a good time with some really good music. Yeah. And so Sean and I just started on that mission and, uh- We leveraged a lot of our relationships in the industry just to have a steady stream of talent coming in.
[00:03:32] Speaker 10: Yeah. I think even before then, like when me and Joe met sometime around like 2011 He was already doing shows with Sugar Society around- Oh, okay
the Carolinas. And then I was quickly kind of brought into the fold, and by, you know, 2013, 2014, we were doing shows with Sugar Society or more under Sugar Society as well.
[00:03:59] Speaker 9: Yeah.
[00:03:59] Speaker 10: Um, and then Cult Entertainment came along for a little bit. Um, and then that grew into Morning Choir, which was, like you said, established in 2019.
[00:04:09] Speaker 6: Mm.
[00:04:10] Speaker 10: Um, but yeah, so we- we've been really since- Yeah ... you know, 2013, 2014 it feels like.
[00:04:16] Speaker 6: Yeah, it's been... Yeah, been in it for a while.
[00:04:17] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker 6: Yeah. You know, I was just, um, I- I don't know how you feel about how the state of the, the industry is nowadays because, you know...
[00:04:26] Speaker 7: I, I feel like the state of the industry is what, what you wanna make of it.
You know what I mean? Like, it's- Yeah ... it's easy to be like, "Everything sucks."
[00:04:33] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:04:33] Speaker 7: But, you know, I mean, it's, it's only, it's only, like, what you make of it. Like, yes, there are some outside factors, et cetera, but I think the state of the industry is, you know, people who are trying hard to create legitimate, authentic events.
[00:04:48] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:04:48] Speaker 7: Um, I, I would like to say that that's gonna shine through, but it's n- it's not always the case. But there are people who care about making an event that's going to create an authentic scene around it. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I think that that's something that you all have done a really great job of doing.
In my estimation, what you've done with The Fruit is sort of give And I hate to say kids, but give some of these kids a place to learn how to party. You know what I mean? So it's like, you know, and I don't wanna say, I don't wanna minimize what you all are doing, but it's like, you know, they learn how to party at, at some fruit parties, and then they can go to Atlanta or DC or New York, and they're not gonna, you know, do something dumb or, or...
You know what I mean? Like, they're gonna understand what the vibe is- Yeah ... and, like, how to carry themselves, you know what I mean?
[00:05:37] Speaker 8: Uh, you know, I don't think it's something that's just necessarily unique to the fruit. Mm-hmm. But everyone... I- i- it has such a community ethos here. I mean, Durham, I think, really is the hub for electronic music.
There's so much great stuff coming out of Durham. Yeah. Yeah. But in the Triangle at large, there's... I mean, there's so many event producers. There's so much going on all the time that for someone like me that loves electronic music, I mean, it is just, it's a paradise.
[00:06:01] Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:02] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[00:06:02] Speaker 7: Yeah. I mean, when I first moved out here in, you know, fall 2017, I was really struck by...
And this was, like, when Roundhouse was, like, really doing it- Mm-hmm ... and whatnot. But I was, like, so struck by even beyond that, like, how many people who, like, make beats and are, like, into, you know, electronic music, like so many people- Mm ... were part of, part of a larger scene that it, it was, like, crazy to me, you know?
I mean, e- even back in the day, you had people like Subtech, like Shawny Boy- Yeah ... whatnot throwing- Yeah ... throwing events or whatever. Yep. I mean, you know. But yeah. Like, there's just so many people who are looking to throw events and, like, create a good time for people, you know? It's not a lot of... Like, even when I was DJing, like, all the time in New York and, and Brooklyn, it was like, you know, I'm just, like, showing up to a bar or whatever, you know?
It's not an event. It's like I'm just the DJ for the night, you know? There's not a lot of that happening where it's like it's just, like, somebody playing records for the night, you know? Mm-hmm. Which is interesting to me that it's, like, all of the things, the entertainment is, like, very purposeful in that sense.
Mm-hmm. It's like people are throwing something that they're promoting, you know what I mean? It's not just like, "Yeah, show up here. Like, I'm gonna be playing records or whatever."
[00:07:15] Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:16] Speaker 7: And that, that to me is a, a big difference. Um, how do you all feel about... I know that there's, like, clubs and, and bars are having trouble because younger people don't really drink so much anymore.
Mm-hmm. Like, have you all accounted for any of that when you're thinking about planning your events at all?
[00:07:34] Speaker 8: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, we, um, you know, coming out of COVID- Yeah ... COVID really killed the live music industry. Sure. Um, I mean s- Oh ... more than half of event producers went out of business after COVID.
Mm-hmm. Wow. And so, you know, to stick around, it, it takes a lot of effort and persistence. And, you know, that's, that's one of the things that I think we as Morning Choir are really good at, is that, you know, every single week for the past seven years, the three of us are on a call. We're, we're going through, we're, we're planning out these events.
Mm-hmm. And it, it has taken so much effort to do that. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, we really have dedicated our lives to it, and we would not be able to do this if people did not show up to the shows. Mm-hmm. Sure. Um, and so, you know, it's something that we always consider whenever we're producing an event because the, the stakes are fairly high with the events that we do.
I mean, the, the resources required to do these shows, um, behind the scenes we have, what, I don't know, 30-ish people across a couple organizations that are working on these things for up to a year in advance. Wow.
[00:08:39] Speaker 9: Yeah.
[00:08:40] Speaker 8: And most people only see the, the, the four or five-hour runtime of the show- Yeah ... night of, but we're, we're working on it for, you know, months in advance and months afterward.
[00:08:49] Speaker 6: Mm-hmm. How do you choose, you know, your artists and stuff to, to show up? Um, what do you... Are they, do they just, they on tour? Maybe the ones that are on tour and you figure like, "This'll be a good sell right here in this area," and okay.
[00:09:00] Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah. W- what do you think? What do you think, Sally? How do we do it?
[00:09:06] Speaker 9: I do think we look at that, but I also think that we look at the bigger picture.
[00:09:09] Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
[00:09:10] Speaker 9: Like, are, is that that type of artist that would come to North Carolina? Do we, have we had that type of artist- Mm ... come to North Carolina?
[00:09:16] Speaker 10: Mm-hmm. Yeah, have they been here in the last year or two?
[00:09:18] Speaker 9: Yeah.
[00:09:19] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:09:20] Speaker 9: Do we-
[00:09:20] Speaker 10: And how did that do?
[00:09:22] Speaker 9: We look at streamings, like d- how many monthly listeners, how many-
[00:09:26] Speaker 10: Yeah, that's interesting
[00:09:27] Speaker 9: what are they putting out? H- when's the last time they, they put something out?
[00:09:30] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:09:31] Speaker 9: Are they popular right now- Mm ... on the TikTok and the Reels?
[00:09:34] Speaker 6: Mm. Yeah.
[00:09:36] Speaker 9: With
[00:09:36] Speaker 6: the
[00:09:36] Speaker 9: kids. With the kids. With the college kids- Yeah ... and with the just people in general.
[00:09:42] Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But- Yeah ...
[00:09:44] Speaker 9: we look at a number of things.
[00:09:45] Speaker 6: So you guys, you guys have a, I guess, a team of people, like, that would do all that, or is it just you, Sally?
No. No? Okay. Not just me. I was about to say- I've
[00:09:52] Speaker 9: got a team. How could we possibly- ... say, "Get that
[00:09:53] Speaker 6: girl a raise."
[00:09:55] Speaker 8: Yeah, we, um, so w- I mean, we, we have a, a, a laid-out booking strategy, um, and, and- ... the actual events that we do, like our Deciduous series, for an artist to play a Deciduous, they have to be in one of our playlists.
They have to be- Mm ... an artist that we personally listen to and will personally get behind.
[00:10:13] Speaker 6: Really?
[00:10:13] Speaker 8: Yeah. Mm. And, um, yeah, we, we lay out specific genres, like we've been pushing progressive artists fairly heavily, like the Anjunadeep sound. Yeah. Um, we, we wanna touch on specific genres, but, um, you know, a lot of the time we get artists floated to us.
Um, so agents will reach out, and, like, we're, we're working on shows right now, like, "Well, they want this much." Mm. And I don't think it'll work in this market, but, um, you know, there are a number of considerations that go through, but the, the biggest things is w- when you get a member of the Morning Choir saying like- Mm
"Yes, this is something that we need to do. Let's figure out a way to make it work," that's when a show is gonna go through. I, I don't think people realize that sometimes to produce these shows, it's basically the cost of a car.
[00:10:53] Speaker 7: Yeah.
[00:10:53] Speaker 8: And so i- if we make a wrong decision, you know, if we, we- Mm ... book one of these artists and two people show up, like we're, we're bankrupt- Mm
and we'll, we'll never be able to do another show again. Mm-hmm. And so we, we are pretty diligent about the process, but, um, you know, we, we bring a, a lot of professionalism to it. So we, we look at financial outlooks. Um, I mean, Sean has been doing arena-level production for, for years, and, um, you know, all of this thought goes into that.
We, we curate them so well, and I, I think that's a big part of why we're able to do what we do because, um, you know, agents trust us, their management teams trust us, um, our, our partners trust us, and they know that if an artist is gonna show up, not only are they gonna be playing to a room that's filled with people, but everything in the show is gonna run flawlessly.
Mm.
[00:11:45] Speaker 7: Sure. Speaking to the, like, how expensive it is to throw these shows, right, what's your promotional vehicle behind it? Because, you know, most of the time y'all get a good, good crowd out, you know. Like, the, the room is never usually empty. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean... So what's, what's like, how's, what's the staging process for your promotional vehicle to ensure that each show is a success?
[00:12:06] Speaker 8: So we, we have a, think of it like a marketing playbook, um, there, there's an underlying recipe to marketing events. And, um, you know, this is, it's the same playbook that when, when an artist goes on tour, like a Grammy level artist, they're using a pretty similar playbook. Mm. But, um, a lot of stuff that people don't realize, like event listing services are, are really, really big because, um- Mm
you can put out a show, you can register it somewhere so when someone's listening on Spotify they see their favorite artist has an event section- Mm. Mm. Mm ... and they're listed there. So there, there's just little things you go through. Mm. You list them in bands in town. Um, we, we have a pretty decent digital marketing campaign.
Um, but I, I think a lot of it really is the fact that, um, we don't really care about socials too much, but people know to look at Morning Choir's- Mm ... socials or our website and see like, "Hey, they're, they're producing a show." And so we, we have a pretty dedicated following.
[00:13:04] Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:04] Speaker 8: A- and that does a lot. But, um, yeah, we, we do have a playbook that we go through.
[00:13:09] Speaker 7: Sure. And, and you use like email capture and- Mm ... have a big email list or whatever. I imagine y'all got like, what, probably 3 to 5,000, maybe 10,000, 15,000-
[00:13:18] Speaker 8: Mm ...
[00:13:19] Speaker 7: on your list now. Something
[00:13:21] Speaker 8: like
[00:13:21] Speaker 6: that.
[00:13:21] Speaker 7: That, that- Four. We hit four ... that's good emailing. Hit
[00:13:25] Speaker 6: four.
[00:13:26] Speaker 8: Over, I mean, what, over the, of the last seven- Sally
[00:13:28] Speaker 6: got it.
She got the numbers. Yep, four.
[00:13:30] Speaker 8: Over the last seven years we've had, what, like 70,000 people have come to our events-ish. Yeah. Um, and, and so like we, people remember us. There, there's a shelf life to fans of events because- Yeah ... you know, people tend to age out of it. But, um, it's just, I, I think people have come to know and trust us.
[00:13:48] Speaker 6: I think my shelf life is probably- Yeah. Yeah ... I think my shelf life is probably like zero.
[00:13:49] Speaker 8: Yeah, some of us don't have shelf lives. Yeah.
[00:13:52] Speaker 7: Well, I mean, it's, it's the same as like how a record label develops. Like, once a record label has arrived, right, it kinda doesn't matter who the artist is- Mm ... 'cause people are like, "Oh, they're coming out on this label.
I agree with the ethos, all the artist choices. I'm just gonna buy this record." Mm-hmm. You know? But in the same way that it's like you make a wrong move and then it's like your credibility can be shot.
[00:14:13] Speaker 10: Yeah. We had our first Deciduous planned the day that COVID actually- Like they cut the- The what is it?
March 14th, 2020. Mm-hmm.
[00:14:22] Speaker 8: Oh, the shelter in place?
[00:14:23] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:14:23] Speaker 8: Wow. Yeah.
[00:14:24] Speaker 10: Yeah. Wow. That was fun.
[00:14:26] Speaker 8: Yeah, that was, um... So m- I, the, this is a really interesting thing that I don't think a lot of people know, is that when, when we had launched Morning Choir, it, it kind of started as a let's, let's just, let's put Darude in a warehouse.
Darude's what got me into electronic music back in the '90s, and, um, I, I remember just being like, "Wouldn't that be fun if we did that?" We had gone to the- Yeah ... uh, it was the Warp Records after party that The Floor did.
[00:14:52] Speaker 7: Mm.
[00:14:52] Speaker 8: Mm-hmm. And it was just... I think that was one of the best parties I've ever been to in my life.
And, and we kept pushing Adam and Morgan, like, "Dude, do more of these," and they're just like- Mm ... "We don't have the time." Mm. And so we had, um, we, we, we did Darude, and then when 2020 hit, we were going all in on Morning Choir. Mm. Um, our plan was to do a Deciduous every week, every... Just for years to come. Oh. And we had booked, what, like 30-ish, 20, 30 shows.
So 20, 30 weeks, fir- the first of which was the weekend of the shelter in place.
[00:15:25] Speaker 6: Mm.
[00:15:26] Speaker 8: Uh, and so it just, it blew up.
[00:15:28] Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah, that was a tough time for everyone to- It
[00:15:32] Speaker 7: was ...
[00:15:32] Speaker 6: I remember the, the Darude show, y'all built like a, like a, like a desk or whatever. Mm-hmm. I
[00:15:38] Speaker 7: only know 'cause I used it. Yeah, we built a booth for the...
Yeah. Yeah. I used it, uh- It was awesome ... for one of my Fresh Fruits that I- ... threw. Nice. Yeah.
[00:15:46] Speaker 8: We had, uh, Griffin, who's on our team, is just a very talented carpenter, and he just by hand, him and Sean built it. Oh. Pretty cool. Yeah, it was like a cool, like, wrap around. What can't you
[00:15:58] Speaker 10: do, Sean? The first booth.
[00:16:00] Speaker 9: What can't you do?
[00:16:02] Speaker 8: Break dance?
[00:16:03] Speaker 10: Part of it. Break dance. Break dance.
[00:16:06] Speaker 9: Press out a cartwheel right now.
[00:16:08] Speaker 7: Yeah, no. And, and not one of those Oompa Loompa cartwheels either. Yeah. Break a leg. Break my back.
[00:16:16] Speaker 6: That'd be a, that'd be a show right there in itself, Sean cartwheeling on stage. Hey, why not?
[00:16:20] Speaker 7: Right?
[00:16:21] Speaker 9: $25 a ticket.
[00:16:24] Speaker 6: Um, yeah, so, wow, so the, the room-
[00:16:27] Speaker 7: So what, what's the, what's the weirdest rider request that you all have gotten?
[00:16:32] Speaker 9: I have had a lot of socks and specifically T-shirts, but they have to come from specific stores.
[00:16:38] Speaker 7: Okay.
[00:16:38] Speaker 9: And sometimes those stores aren't in North Carolina.
[00:16:41] Speaker 7: Oh, sure.
[00:16:42] Speaker 6: Mm.
[00:16:43] Speaker 7: Like they want a shirt from Supreme or something like that?
[00:16:45] Speaker 9: Mm-hmm. I've had-
[00:16:46] Speaker 7: I mean, you can mail order most of that stuff, yeah?
[00:16:49] Speaker 9: Yeah, except
[00:16:49] Speaker 7: for- But it's just a pain in the-
[00:16:51] Speaker 9: It is a pain in the-
[00:16:52] Speaker 7: Yeah.
[00:16:52] Speaker 10: We haven't dealt with a lot of, like, jokesters recently, but, like, back in the day when we did people like Dillon Francis or somebody like that, like-
[00:16:59] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah, he seems
[00:17:00] Speaker 10: like he's a- ... they would, they would have a silly rider. Like Steve Aoki, like, they'd have stuff like, you know, a s- autographed picture of Skrillex when he was a teenager, you know, like stuff like that.
Yeah,
[00:17:10] Speaker 7: yeah. I mean, those are funny, but it's like, all right, jokey. Right. I mean,
[00:17:15] Speaker 9: well, we- Underwear ... behind the sc- Underwear was my weirdest one.
[00:17:18] Speaker 7: What, was it, like, specific, like-
[00:17:20] Speaker 9: Yeah, it was, like, specific branding and size, and I was like, "I can't buy another person's underwear." It
[00:17:24] Speaker 7: wasn't, like, pre-worn by a specific person?
[00:17:26] Speaker 9: No, it was just underwear. All right. Under Armour. Nice.
[00:17:29] Speaker 8: Behind the scenes, we, we push back a lot on- Sure ... some of these requests because w- when you're a touring artist, you take advantage of a, a lot of show producers. And, like, here, here's a rider that's gonna cost, you know, $10,000 to get everything that's on it.
Sure. And as we're booking these shows, a lot of the time we're saying stuff like, "This is not a traditional venue that you're going to be playing in. This is a warehouse space. Um, we are crossing off the green Skittles on your rider 'cause we're not getting them for you."
[00:17:56] Speaker 10: Right.
[00:17:57] Speaker 8: And, um, I, I, I think people know coming into our shows that, hey, this is gonna be really well produced, but you're not gonna be able to treat us like Sean used to get treated at Live Nation.
[00:18:08] Speaker 6: Sure.
[00:18:08] Speaker 7: Mm.
[00:18:09] Speaker 6: Wow.
[00:18:10] Speaker 7: I, I can, I can- Tell me about it, Sean. Tell
[00:18:12] Speaker 6: the story ...
[00:18:12] Speaker 7: yeah, yeah, Live Nation. Are, are you, like, excited about what, what's been going on, the, the, like- It's outrageous ... supposed trust busting that's happening? It's
[00:18:21] Speaker 10: not surprising. Let's just say
[00:18:22] Speaker 7: that. No, of course it's not surprising.
[00:18:24] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:18:24] Speaker 10: They, they,
[00:18:25] Speaker 6: they-
[00:18:25] Speaker 10: They're very-
it's a
[00:18:26] Speaker 7: long
[00:18:26] Speaker 10: time coming ... they're very bad. Um-
[00:18:27] Speaker 7: Yeah. That, that and Ticketmaster.
[00:18:29] Speaker 10: I mean, don't get me wrong. Like, my eight years there or something like that, like, I got to work with everyone under the sun, and it was fucking cool and really a big learning experience. But they just don't treat people great and-
[00:18:43] Speaker 7: Mm
[00:18:44] Speaker 10: don't pay enough for all the hours you put in, and you do enough 18-hour days back to back to back to back- For years on end, it gets old.
[00:18:53] Speaker 7: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:18:54] Speaker 10: So
[00:18:54] Speaker 7: Sounds, sounds, sounds like capitalism.
[00:18:56] Speaker 10: Yeah, it, it really does. And it's like really like the, you know, you talk about like the, the whole, you know, making it super capitalist and then- Yeah
squeezing as much as you can get out of it. Mm-hmm. And they're definitely one of the companies that does that the best.
[00:19:09] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.
[00:19:09] Speaker 10: Um- I
[00:19:10] Speaker 7: mean, the fans and shows, it's all... It, it doesn't matter. It's, it's all just like line items on a budget. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like how- It takes the soul out of it though.
Yeah. Yeah. How are we producing money for our shareholders? Right. Which like, if that's what your goal is, like, you, you can't be... So I'm gonna go off a bit on a tangent, but, so in coming back to VC Capital, right, which is like T- it's like the country's best yogurt yogurt, right? VC Capital is like, it's venture capital capital.
Anyway, but like their whole thing is basically taking over properties, wringing it out for all that it's worth, and just discarding the husk. I mean, essentially- Yeah ... what they are is a, is a ba- is a bad mafia protection deal. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, it's expertly explained in Goodfellas when he talks about the guy who did the deal with, with Tony Cicero to, like, about the restaurant- Yeah
'cause they're always hanging out there, and he's like, "And when it- when there's no more this, when there's no more that, you light a match." It's the same, same thing with VC
[00:20:10] Speaker 6: Capital. Torch the, torch the place.
[00:20:11] Speaker 7: Right. So that's all VC Capital does, is like wring it out and then light a match. Mm-hmm. What they're doing now is trying to invest in sports teams.
Mm-hmm. Right? And the same thing with entertainment events or whatever. These are organic, authentic events, right? People already have problems with sports because of Cal sheet and whatnot, and it's like, it's, it's easy to feel like, you know, these things are being, being manipulated. Are, are these scores really real?
Are these players really playing up to their potential? Whatever. But like- When you have a, when you have a market that is diametrically opposed to what VC capital does- Mm ... like, it just ruins everything for everybody, right? Mm. In the same way that they are ruining the, you know, by being like, "Oh, these events are an investment opportunity," not, "Hey, let's throw a cool party- Yeah
or let's make some money b- bringing music to people." It's, it's an investment opportunity- Mm ... which both allows distance and a coldness where it's like, "Oh, well this doesn't matter. Ch." That's what, that's what- And, and all of a sudden 100 people don't, you know, like, don't get in, or 100 people- Yeah ... don't have jobs anymore.
You know what I mean? So it's like, that's why groups like Morning Choir are so important, because y'all are putting your, your shit on the line every single time you throw an event. Yeah. And I mean, you don't need to broadcast that, but somebody like myself who knows y'all, like every single week when I come out to an event, I'm like, "Damn, bro."
Like, and I always like, typically the first question I wanna ask you is like, "How's it going?" Do you know what I mean? 'Cause I, I wa- I, I wanna hear by 9:00 PM y'all have made your nut and shit is good. You know what I mean? Mm. 'Cause like- That's, that's real. 'Cause y'all are trying to bring something and create an environment for people to have a good time and remember something.
And if you all can make a, make something in the process, then, you know, there's no problem with that.
[00:22:06] Speaker 8: Right. I, I worked with, um- ... Disco Donnie Presents back, this was almost 15 years ago. But, um, you know, Donnie is someone who's just thrown events. You know, he, he came from New Orleans just through raves back in the '90s and consistently- Yeah
been doing it. And, um, you know, he partnered with Insomniac Events, and this was when Insomniac was starting to branch out of California and into Nevada. And, um, all of the sudden, there, there was talk about these investors that wanted to get involved. Mm-hmm. And I, I remember like, "What? This, this is crazy, you know, we're, we're just doing this because we love music."
And, um, then it started to get really serious. There were meetings, and they were flying down from New York. And then all of the sudden, we were part of a billion-dollar company. Mm-hmm. Because Disco Donnie was acquired, became a part of SFX. Mm-hmm. And that's when things just really changed. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, because, you know, people see things like DDP and they think it's this big corporation, but really it's about 10 people that have just been doing electronic music since the '90s.
Mm-hmm. And, um, you know, SFX tried to monetize music. Um, you know, they bought up like Miami Marketing Group, uh, you know, a, a bunch of different conglomerates and, and DDP was one of their first acquisitions. But it was just, you start working with accountants, people that just did not understand music. Mm-hmm.
And, um, you know, eventually, like Donnie and Michelle had basically said, "We don't want any part of this." Mm-hmm. And so they, they bought DDP back from SFX, and it went under. But that, that's when everything really changed, was maybe 10, 15-ish years ago. Yeah. And it, it went from this thing that was largely underground, where it was just people that loved electronic music, and then it became EDM, and it became pop- Yeah
and everybody knew about it.
[00:23:50] Speaker 6: And Cryonics or yeah, those things and...
[00:23:55] Speaker 8: Yeah. But then, you know, they got- Enfire ... funding for Cryo.
[00:23:57] Speaker 6: Enfire.
[00:23:57] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[00:23:58] Speaker 6: There you go.
[00:23:59] Speaker 10: I grew up in bands and, you know, started playing bass guitar in like sixth grade and guitar as well and... Until I met, really when I met Joe, the same year I met my now wife And I had known like dance music and stuff, but I hadn't really ever gotten too into it, and I really wanted to impress both of them.
So I started listening to a lot more music that was like that and got really into like bass music, dubstep, like was really into stuff like Excision for a minute. Okay. But then like quickly went to like... And then Skrillex was of course, was like an entryway because I was a former screamo kid.
[00:24:42] Speaker 7: Sure. So
[00:24:43] Speaker 10: you, so you knew him from before.
Um, and I, I w- yeah, from first to last was like- Mm-hmm ... for sure in my mix in high school. But yeah, it wa- so it wasn't until my early 20s when I picked up DJing. Um, but once I got into electronic music, it was like within a year I was like, "Yeah, I'm, I'm gonna be a DJ. Fuck this. I wanna do this." Mm. Um, but so yeah, I mean, I, I produce house music under Seance Music, and I also produce and perform rap music.
Mo- I guess like a modern hip hop, southern alternative rap, I guess is what we'd call it.
[00:25:19] Speaker 6: All
[00:25:19] Speaker 10: right. Um, with Two Dead Crew, which is a rap duo.
[00:25:22] Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
[00:25:22] Speaker 10: Um, so a couple different things going on there, but I guess Two Dead Crew is more of like a lyrical outlet for me.
[00:25:29] Speaker 6: Mm.
[00:25:29] Speaker 10: Whereas like Seance is more of like, you know, me producing my own house and techno style music, um, which has kind of l- been leaning more in towards like the bass house, UKG- Mm
UK bass style of s- things.
[00:25:43] Speaker 9: Mm-hmm.
[00:25:43] Speaker 10: Um, but yeah, that's about it. I mean, I've been making music my whole life, so work- doing something professionally with music was always in the cards, was always something I wanted and, um, when Joe brought me into the fold with Sugar Society, like in 2013, 2014, um, I had already been, you know, playing in bands and like did some light touring mainly as like a Brody and a merch guy for a couple different bands.
But I was in and out of like rock bands, metal bands. I was in a country band for a little bit too in my 20s. Nice. I'm
[00:26:16] Speaker 9: sorry.
[00:26:17] Speaker 10: Um, yeah. What? Yeah. Um- Psycho Billy country or? Psycho Billy. It was kinda like a punk folk type thing.
[00:26:24] Speaker 7: Okay.
[00:26:24] Speaker 10: Um-
[00:26:24] Speaker 7: Like a Pat the Bunny type of deal?
[00:26:26] Speaker 10: A little bit, yeah.
[00:26:27] Speaker 7: Okay.
[00:26:28] Speaker 10: Um- Is there any
[00:26:28] Speaker 9: videos?
Probably. Mm. Yes.
[00:26:29] Speaker 10: Probably
[00:26:31] Speaker 7: somewhere.
[00:26:31] Speaker 10: Little doubt. We
[00:26:32] Speaker 7: gotta, we definitely gotta look it up.
[00:26:34] Speaker 10: Maybe. Maybe I'll give you a link someday. Um, try to put those days behind me. But anyways- Um, yeah, no, I, I just love doing anything with music. So once we got into doing like rooms like Lincoln Theatre and then eventually rooms like The Ritz, and that kinda got my foot in the door there and, uh, ended up, you know- getting hired there as a production coordinator in, like, 2016, and kind of the rest is history.
Like, I did eight years with them. Did so many different shows around the Carolinas and Southeast, and like, was in... Did sh- I've done shows as a production manager in pretty much every venue- Mm ... from Savannah to Norfolk. Mm-hmm.
[00:27:18] Speaker 7: Mm.
[00:27:18] Speaker 10: Um, so yeah, definitely got a ton of experience doing that. Um, but that kind of all just progressed, you know, as I was doing shows through Sugar Society and Cult Entertainment, and then eventually Morning Choir.
Um, but yeah, I guess that kind of leads us to, to, like, the end of 2024 when I left Live Nation. We kind of just decided to, you know, I wanted to get more into it and, and get brought back into the fold- Yeah ... 'cause I was doing so many hours with the job and wasn't able to contribute as much during those later years with that company as, as much as I'd wanted to.
So we got really, you know, started doing the Breaking Frequencies. About to drop our 16th episode next week, and- Hey ... that's been really fun- Mm ... producing that. Um, and then yeah, just kind of getting the content a little bit more. So it's been really interesting just doing all that different stuff and learning all different types of things and, "Oh, you got a video edit now?
Cool." Like, I'll do- Mm ... I'll do whatever it takes as long as I'm working with music, you know?
[00:28:23] Speaker 6: Yeah,
[00:28:24] Speaker 10: yeah. That's kind of always been my mentality and-
[00:28:26] Speaker 6: Yeah ... things just kind of work themselves out No matter what, uh, venue, yeah, you're, you know- You know? ... arena you're in, you wanna, you wanna... So yeah, that's, that's, that's...
It's a progression that you can see. Like, you know, you start doing the, the production and, you know, the music and now, like, video editing, you know, all that stuff. Um, in, in my eyes, man, it all kind of all ties together. For sure.
[00:28:44] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:28:44] Speaker 7: I mean, do you feel like what, what you're, you're booking or whatever, like, how, how does that, like, affect your DJing or, like, production?
Like, when you sit down to, like, make something or whatever, do you feel like you're able to... You're, like, much more influenced by, like, what you've been exposed to or do you feel like you stay to- Yeah ... a sort of specific thing? 'Cause we all, our tastes all evolve, right? For sure. Yeah.
[00:29:09] Speaker 10: I
[00:29:09] Speaker 7: mean- But, like, um- I feel like- Do you feel like it's a direct link between, like, what-
[00:29:15] Speaker 10: Somewhat, I think.
You know, like, obviously there's always gonna be, like, how you've always felt in your experience and that plays into it. But, um, yeah, of course, like, the artists we book, I always, especially if it's someone that I haven't heard before, I always get, get them in rotation on my playlists and, like- Usually they end up in my m- my DJ mixes, you know?
Sure. A lot if I end up really liking them, you know? Um, but, but that's kind of it. I mean, I guess, I guess they do influence, like, the music making a little bit, for sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
[00:29:47] Speaker 7: Well, as both of y'all
[00:29:48] Speaker 10: are- They definitely influence my taste, you know?
[00:29:49] Speaker 7: Sure. Yeah, of course.
[00:29:50] Speaker 10: Just as much as my taste is influencing the bookings, you know?
[00:29:53] Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. So, like, y'all are, are both DJs, and you have, like, a big platform. Do you use, use the platform to be able to, like, disseminate, like, mixes that you've done or anything like that? Like, how are you being- Oh, yeah ... or do you try and silo, like, this is me as the event producer guy, and then there's me as the-
[00:30:13] Speaker 6: Yeah
[00:30:13] Speaker 7: as, as the DJ person? Like, Joe, like, I, I- Like, uh, how, how do you approach, how do you approach that?
[00:30:19] Speaker 6: I think I've seen you play maybe once- Yeah. Right ... someplace. Um, it was probably for Kinetic Audio. Mm-hmm. And, um, I was like, "Okay, now put the two together." Wait, was,
[00:30:28] Speaker 7: was I at that show?
[00:30:30] Speaker 6: I don't know. Couldn't
[00:30:30] Speaker 8: tell you.
Is that... 'Cause I ever- I
[00:30:33] Speaker 6: don't remember. Well, what's, what's your favorite, what's your go-to genre then? Like, what-
[00:30:35] Speaker 8: Techno.
[00:30:35] Speaker 6: Techno. Okay.
[00:30:36] Speaker 8: Like progressive, ethereal techno.
[00:30:38] Speaker 6: Okay. And what got you into that whole thing?
[00:30:43] Speaker 8: Um, well, I mean, I've been into music my, my whole life. Um, you know, as a kid I moved around a lot and would just listen to music in my room.
And when I was in middle school I discovered concerts and changed my life forever. And, you know, when I was in high school I was in a touring band that, um, you know, almost, almost made it. Uh, we started flirting with the majors and, um, booked a really big show. Our bassist backed out, um, and we had been recording in like the same studio that Britney Spears records in, and it kinda just all blew up.
Uh, and so I've been, I've been a lifelong musician, but, um, a- after that band blew up, the, the drummer was my best friend and he and I just kept doing music. But, um, he, he had tragically died in, this was when, when I was in my early 20s and it kinda just killed music for me and I just, I was never able really to write anymore.
And so I'd gone through school and grad school and, um, gotten married, moved to North Carolina and, um, I was working on research and my wife had an affair. And so that's, that was a big shift in my life because I was like, you know, I spend all my time just doing this boring research that there are like four people in the world that care about.
Fuck that, I'm gonna do music. Mm-hmm. And so I, I went out and bought turntables and, um, you know, I, I DJed when I was in high school because we had all the band equipment so I would DJ all the parties and just fell in love with electronic music. But, um, when, when I was in North Carolina I started applying some of the research that I was working on to concerts and it worked really, really well.
We were selling out every show and it started to catch the attention of people in the music industry, the professional side of the music industry. Mm-hmm. And I teamed up with someone from a, a music marketing agency called Fame House and they do like all the Grammy level artists. But we formed our own marketing agency and I, I sold albums and tours for, for big artists and, um, it-- I was basically just leveraging social science for music marketing and, um, that...
I met everyone that I could and, um, I, I realized that I, I was a lot better on the professional side of music and, and not in the spotlight but helping to facilitate those things. And it was really cool because like, you know, being a kid that just loved music and, um, you know, getting to like stand on stage at Red Rocks with your client while they're playing and, you know, getting into any club in the world, it was just, it was, it was amazing.
Mm-hmm. And, and so like with my own personal artist project, Wolf, you know, it's, it's a techno project but I, I don't put any effort into it. I, I just do it for sake of creating art. And, um, y- Sean and I, I don't know if you noticed, we looked at each other when you asked if we play our own shows, and we're like- Mm-hmm
"No, not in the least bit." Yeah. Because- It's pretty
[00:33:25] Speaker 10: rare.
[00:33:26] Speaker 8: Yeah. Well, I mean, we, we'll d- like, if one of us, like, l- absolutely loves an artist, we'll, we'll hop on a show, but I think that's, that's kind of... that's what makes us so good at what we do. This isn't about us. Mm-hmm. You know, this is, this is about us facilitating this music.
And, um, I, I'm somewhat weird in the way that, like, I, I work on music. A lot of what I do is, like, hardware synthesizer stuff, and I'll record it, but after every time I record it, I delete it. Mm-hmm. Just because it... I, I don't want it to get involved with the same way of, like, when you're dealing on, like, with a Snoop Dogg release.
Mm-hmm. It's so serious. Yeah. Everyone's so mad, and it really just takes the fun out of music. Mm-hmm. And so, so for me, I, I tend to just focus on, you know, if I'm doing music, I'm just gonna do it for me.
[00:34:10] Speaker 10: Yeah. There's so much talent in this area, too. Yeah. Like, I'd like just... I just started this podcast. Like, when we started doing Breaking Frequencies, that's when we were really like, "Okay," like, "we're gonna have a fresh...
We're gonna give everyone an hour set so that we can book three locals and give-" Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. And some people wanna throw shade at getting an hour set, 'cause they feel like they deserve more time, but honestly, like, you don't. Yeah. 'Cause you're, 'cause you're a local DJ, um- Right ... and this is a headlining slot.
[00:34:39] Speaker 7: Hey, if you, if you
[00:34:40] Speaker 10: got- Um, or this is a headliner, you know? If you, if you can't impress people- The headliner gets- ... in an hour,
[00:34:43] Speaker 7: you're
[00:34:43] Speaker 10: not gonna impress them- The headliner
[00:34:44] Speaker 6: gets two- ... in two hours ...
[00:34:45] Speaker 10: the headliner gets... Headliners get two
[00:34:47] Speaker 6: hours. Two hours. Yeah. That's
[00:34:48] Speaker 10: classic. You wanna get two hours as an opener, you know- Yeah
book your own shows. Yeah. Um, and you should. Mm-hmm. You know, we, we came from, like, seeing, like... I mean, I remember in the 2010s, like, seeing promoters put themselves constantly, and it still happens, and it's just like, you know, if you wanna be a promoter DJ, that's great. Like, the- I consider myself that, for sure, but I'm a promoter first and a DJ second, um, when it comes to Morning Choir.
[00:35:17] Speaker 6: Um- And I, you know, I- that's, that's one thing that I applaud you guys because you are effectively giving back to the community, right? I mean, you know, you could be-
[00:35:23] Speaker 10: It's about spreading that love. Mm. And I feel like when- Yeah ... you have artists that are that big that come through, it's like we have a... We have to show, like, a precedent.
You know, like, we have to ma-
[00:35:34] Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah, it's, I mean, a, a big part of what we are. I, I really consider Morning Choir a bridge between a local music community and the professional music industry. Mm. And we, we have a booking process for all of our local support where, um, we're, we're not just putting on our friends.
We, we have an artist submission portal- Mm ... where someone can submit their music. Every single time, we're making sure that we're getting someone new on the show, just because part of our mission is to give these aspiring musicians a platform- Yeah ... an opportunity to play a stage with some of their favorite artists.
Just we want that pathway to be open, and we wanna give these people who are, you know, focused exclusively on their musical careers a way to get to that stage.
[00:36:15] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:36:16] Speaker 7: Yeah. I th- I think it's great that, that you offer that. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, I, I had a really great time the one show, the Cassine show that I opened up.
Mm. You know? Like, that, that for me is, like, I would, you know- Yeah ... I would love to do slots like that. Yeah. It's like, uh, 'cause for me, it's like it's fun to be able to, like, do something that I don't normally do. Like, for me personally as a DJ, like, I'm a little bit over playing records for people to get drunk to.
You know? Like, I wanna, I wanna do something different and have fun and be entertained by what I'm doing, not just like, "Uh, I gotta play every jam that this per- Yeah ... you know, that these drunk people wanna hear," or whatever. You know what I mean? Like, I w- like, what I'm focused on right now, I mean, I haven't really been gigging myself personally because I'm focused on doing this, like, this AV, like, art piece.
Like I was inspired... I did, I did something for, for a battle set a while back, and then I saw the, um, I saw the Atmosphere Winter Carnival Tour and checked out Dibs' opening set. And it was like, I mean, it was dope. What he was doing was like, was really cool. It was like a hour of him like doing some beats, scratching vocals, whatever.
And like he had a video portion that was not necessarily synced to it, but it was like an hour-long video that's running that is like loosely related to the music, right? So it got me thinking, and I was like, "You know, I could do something like this, but be extremely pointedly political about it." 'Cause the battle set that I'd done was all about the LA riots back when that was happening, right?
And it was say- it was basically saying like, "We've been here before." I took a whole bunch of like news and samples from the Rodney King riots and used it as sample material to like talk about the current LA riots, right? And just, just with my hands. No, you know, I'm not talking or whatever. So like that's, that's the type of thing that I wanna do, and it's like it almost makes playing, you know, just playing at a bar for people to get drunk like, you know- Yeah
sort of like makes it... minimizes it in a sense where it's like I could do this really important message, or I could just play a bunch of jams. You know what I mean? Like I don't know- Mm ... if y'all feel that way about, about how it is. Like I, you know, like it, it, it can... The flavor of how you want to express yourself musically can change, you know?
[00:38:38] Speaker 6: Yeah. Well, in front of a crowd, like, like if you're at The Fruit or you have big... You know, in front of a crowd and You know, you already know the type of crowd you're dealing with and the, you know, what, what, what you wanna play. Nah, man- Um, how to express yourself in certain ways ... break somebody's
[00:38:49] Speaker 7: brain.
[00:38:50] Speaker 6: Yeah. I mean, you know, I, I li- I really like the 360, uh, the setup you guys have. You know, it's, that's- Yeah, every now
[00:38:56] Speaker 10: and then that's fun.
[00:38:56] Speaker 6: Yeah. Fun. And when you guys had me there, that was really fun because I got to just see, you know, everybody around and everything, and it was... I was actually looking at some videos last night and I was like, "Oh, you know, that's an awesome setup."
You guys all do that pretty often though, do you? Or- We've been kind of- 'Cause I, we had some other friends that had, like, different setups and stuff, and, um-
[00:39:13] Speaker 10: It's usually a request.
[00:39:14] Speaker 6: A request? Yeah?
[00:39:15] Speaker 8: Yeah. There was, there was a while where we did it exclusively. Mm. Mm. Um, and we just get bored with stuff if I'm being honest.
[00:39:22] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:39:22] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[00:39:23] Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and I think I missed Deciduous. Is that a, a separate, like, entity from what you have? So you have,
[00:39:30] Speaker 7: like, three lines technically, right?
[00:39:33] Speaker 8: Well, Deciduous is just an event series.
[00:39:36] Speaker 6: Okay.
[00:39:36] Speaker 8: Um- That's what I figured, yeah ... yeah. And it... For, for those of us that, or for those that follow us, we're pretty secretive about all the stuff that we do.
Um, you know, we're, we're not putting it out there. Most of the time we don't put ourselves in any photos. Right. It's all kind of a behind the scenes thing. Right. And I think that adds to the allure of it. Um, like our merch, you can only get that at a show. We don't sell it online. Mm. And we've been doing that for seven years.
But with, with Deciduous, it's just, it's an event series. Um, we, we are launching a magazine called Deciduous, just because it's the idea of this, this thing that's continuously there. It's persistent- Mm ... and it's, it's the underground. Um, but yeah, we, we, we do certain show series. We started with Ephemeral. Um- Ephemeral, right.
Yeah. Yeah. That was the first one. I remember that. Like, we, we didn't even put our name on those flyers.
[00:40:25] Speaker 6: I thought that was a separate motive at first.
[00:40:26] Speaker 8: No, it was just- I thought it was ... it, it- Yeah ... yeah, we, we just didn't wanna be associated with anything because w- Gotcha.
[00:40:32] Speaker 6: Yeah. Right.
[00:40:33] Speaker 8: We, and it worked. Ah, Sally- It
[00:40:34] Speaker 6: worked
watching you. God.
[00:40:36] Speaker 8: But when, um, when you work in the music industry, y- your phone just blows up with people like, "Hey, you gonna be at that show? Put me on the list." And- Mm ... it's just like- Oh, yeah ... we try to avoid that as much as possible.
[00:40:47] Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah. Yeah I hear you. And I know some friends that go through, go through that a lot.
[00:40:51] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[00:40:53] Speaker 6: Like, the list is closed, dude. Don't text us through Instagram anymore, please. Stop it.
[00:40:57] Speaker 9: If you don't talk to us on the regular, please don't text us.
[00:41:00] Speaker 6: Thank you.
[00:41:01] Speaker 9: Please, please don't ask for guest lists.
[00:41:03] Speaker 6: Word. That is just so- I'll, I'll give you Celie's number. Yeah. Give you Celie's celie.
[00:41:07] Speaker 7: Hit Celie on the celie, huh?
[00:41:10] Speaker 6: Yeah. No, that is kinda tacky,
[00:41:12] Speaker 7: right? 555-4362- Dude, get a- 1-900. Get a- Hold on, Jeep. There's a way to do it tastefully. Let me look up your- Just go ahead and- Let me look up your number, Jeep.
[00:41:20] Speaker 9: Just go ahead. Actually, go ahead and text me. There's like 500 text messages I haven't gotten to.
[00:41:25] Speaker 7: Holler at me on the Nextel.
[00:41:27] Speaker 9: I miss my Nextel. Baby, where you at? Nextel. That was my first phone. Fun fact. Next. Say
[00:41:33] Speaker 8: word. I want a pager. I really want a pager.
[00:41:35] Speaker 7: I mean, you can still get a... Yeah ... I think you can still get a pager. You can get
[00:41:38] Speaker 9: pagers.
[00:41:39] Speaker 7: I mean, yeah, I think- You can ... I think you can still get a pager. I, I saw them at Verizon
but it's gonna be one that has, like news updates and whatnot. Like, I had a, I had a SkyTel or a Skynet. Not,
[00:41:48] Speaker 8: not- Is that one of the clear, like- Mm ... you could see through
[00:41:50] Speaker 7: it type? No, it was, it was, it was a black pager with like a, you know, like a decent sized LCD screen. Mm. And I would like get sports updates and news updates- Oh
or whatever, and I was like, "I'm-"
[00:41:59] Speaker 8: That's too advanced. Yeah. You just need that little LED on the top- Right, the little- ... or little screen on the top ... where people text you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like they, they beep you hello at like- Yeah, yeah, yeah ... 3:00 in the morning- Yeah, yeah, right ... and you're like, "I don't know who you are."
Yeah. Or L-O-V-E, like
[00:42:11] Speaker 6: spelled with letters and numbers and whatnot.
[00:42:12] Speaker 8: Yeah. 80085. Yeah.
[00:42:14] Speaker 7: Yeah.
[00:42:15] Speaker 6: Yeah,
[00:42:15] Speaker 7: I mean...
[00:42:17] Speaker 6: Yeah, the, the, the Motorolas.
[00:42:21] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.
[00:42:21] Speaker 6: The drug dealing, the drug dealing, uh- The, the, the
[00:42:23] Speaker 7: flat black with
[00:42:24] Speaker 6: the red light ... I used to have. Yeah, I used to have that. Yes. Yes. On my hip and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. Like it was one of the times.
You put it in inside the pants leg. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:42:30] Speaker 7: Yep.
[00:42:31] Speaker 6: There you go.
[00:42:31] Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
[00:42:32] Speaker 6: Walking around like a fronting.
[00:42:34] Speaker 7: Well, yeah. So what, what are some upcoming events that you all are excited about throwing? Like, I don't wanna ki- That's a good one ... let the cat outta the bag if you haven't announced anything, but, uh- Should
[00:42:43] Speaker 8: we
Just, I don't know. Sean, you wanna leak some stuff? I don't care. We
[00:42:48] Speaker 10: can.
[00:42:49] Speaker 8: It'll probably come out after this,
[00:42:50] Speaker 10: this, this shows release. Uh, fall, fall's gonna be, you know, fall's gonna be good. That's kinda where we're, we're in hibernation mode for the summer. Yeah. August, you know, the stuff that's already announced, like Ragey Band, and then September we've got Swimming Pool.
That's gonna be a big one Who else? Oskar Metkay- Oskar Metkay ... from Norway. Um, and then Dean Turnley, who's got a really big song called Acting Tough right now, is coming through in October. But I would say we probably have, like, a dozen or more shows- How far
[00:43:23] Speaker 8: out do you guys
[00:43:23] Speaker 10: go out playing? ... in the works for the fall.
[00:43:25] Speaker 8: We're booking into, what, like March, March now?
[00:43:27] Speaker 10: Which, yeah, I mean, we're already booking for January and February next year. Wow.
[00:43:31] Speaker 9: I'm pretty sure it's April.
[00:43:32] Speaker 10: So- Wow ... we, we usually book out pretty far in advance, like eight to 10 months, if not-
[00:43:39] Speaker 8: And we've gotten a lot of requests for one specific artist. Mm. And, um, they- Who?
DJ
[00:43:45] Speaker 7: Halo?
[00:43:45] Speaker 8: They used to- Yeah, Chicken. Chicken. And actually, yeah, they're top of our list- Every- ... but we, your agent's a dick.
[00:43:52] Speaker 7: I know. Um- I gotta t- I gotta talk to my boss and my agent 'cause my boss- Yeah ... is really slave driver.
[00:43:59] Speaker 8: There- Work
[00:43:59] Speaker 7: until 8:00 AM every night.
[00:44:01] Speaker 8: There is an artist that we're bringing out that we have had a ton of requests for.
It is confirmed. There is a radius clause in play, and so we can't announce it yet. But we can give you some hints. Okay. They played the very first event that we produced, and it rhymes with pays.
[00:44:25] Speaker 7: I'm not gonna, I
[00:44:26] Speaker 9: mean- I was 10 seconds behind everybody.
[00:44:28] Speaker 7: I, I, I can't even venture a guess. I can't even venture a guess.
[00:44:33] Speaker 9: Wow.
[00:44:34] Speaker 7: It'll be fun. I'm
[00:44:35] Speaker 9: so
[00:44:35] Speaker 7: excited. Try to come after me for that. I'm so
[00:44:37] Speaker 6: excited. Excited. So- When is that? When is that?
[00:44:42] Speaker 10: That one's in November.
[00:44:43] Speaker 8: November, yeah.
[00:44:44] Speaker 6: November?
[00:44:44] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[00:44:45] Speaker 6: Mm. Good, good, good.
[00:44:47] Speaker 8: And we're, um... One of the things, I mean, we... So we all have other things going on. None of us work on Morning Choir full-time.
[00:44:54] Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:55] Speaker 8: Um, you know, I, I think it's kind of always been a dream to work on Morning Choir full-time for everyone, and so one of, one of the next big things that we're doing is, you know, we know the music industry very well.
We're, we're very good at producing events, and this is a very risky thing, but we're going to start producing events for other people.
[00:45:15] Speaker 6: Mm.
[00:45:16] Speaker 8: And so if there is another promoter group or something that, that doesn't have the access that we have-
[00:45:22] Speaker 6: Mm-hmm ...
[00:45:22] Speaker 8: if anyone will take on the risk, we will produce a show for you anywhere in the world.
So
[00:45:26] Speaker 6: like a plug-and-play type of thing?
[00:45:27] Speaker 8: Yes.
[00:45:28] Speaker 6: That is interesting. Mm. I'll keep you in mind.
[00:45:30] Speaker 8: Yeah, so i- if you wanna see Carl Cox play- Yep ... you- we'll facilitate it for you. And so we're gonna be launching that, what, this fall? Um- Yep. This is the first time we've ever publicly talked about it, but any, any local group that doesn't have agency contacts or they wouldn't- Mm
be trusted, like-
[00:45:46] Speaker 7: Sure ...
[00:45:47] Speaker 8: then- 'Cause we, we don't wanna put, like, Garth Brooks on the Morning Choir website. But- Why not? Maybe we do.
[00:45:53] Speaker 10: Selly could like some- I actually like Garth Brooks ...
[00:45:55] Speaker 7: what
[00:45:55] Speaker 10: was
[00:45:55] Speaker 7: his other- I mean, I, I, but I feel like that's more- He had a couple- ... in your, like, we've, we... Your, your, your internal deck being like, "We've done events with Garth Brooks."
[00:46:03] Speaker 10: I
[00:46:03] Speaker 7: know. And the
[00:46:03] Speaker 10: Green Day show. I'd book him as Chris Gaines. Yeah, you've done Garth, right? That's Chris Gaines, though. What about Chris Gaines? Remember his alter ego?
[00:46:09] Speaker 8: No.
[00:46:09] Speaker 10: I'd book him as that.
[00:46:11] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. He, he had, like,
[00:46:12] Speaker 10: a- We'll bring country back ... he had, like, a- He was, like, goth but rock.
[00:46:15] Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah.
[00:46:15] Speaker 10: You know?
Garth
[00:46:16] Speaker 7: Brooks. Yeah,
[00:46:17] Speaker 10: that's
[00:46:17] Speaker 7: right.
[00:46:18] Speaker 10: But he, like, changes. He had, like, the makeup. Yes.
[00:46:19] Speaker 7: Yeah, he was, he was, like- Yeah ... you know, wearing eyeshadow or, like- That's right. For a, for a little while ... like, mascara
[00:46:23] Speaker 10: or whatever I, I never, I never did a Garth Brooks show, but I did have Garth Brooks talk to me during COVID when I had just gotten, like, whatever they called it.
Furloughed? Furloughed. Oh. That's f- that's what they call it. Um, and he was... They had, like, Garth Brooks come talk to us on a conference call one time. It was very weird.
[00:46:44] Speaker 7: Wow. By the way, you can't find any Chris Gaines material. It's not, not on DSPs- That's a shame ... it's not on, on YouTube, like nothing. It's like it didn't ever happen.
Yeah.
[00:46:54] Speaker 10: He, uh, that's because of him.
[00:46:56] Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you're Garth Brooks and you don't want something to exist, you can make it happen.
[00:47:02] Speaker 6: Best Buy. Wow.
[00:47:04] Speaker 10: Yeah. I remember seeing that CD in, like, Best Buy.
[00:47:06] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I, I forget. W- I, I heard... There was, like, a, a podcast or something talking about his alter ego of Chris Gaines- Wow
and how it's like, it was, like, a weird brief period where he had, like, retired from country or whatever and then- Yeah ... came out as... And, like, he wouldn't admit that it was him. He was like- Shit ... "Oh, man, I don't know who this Chris Gaines fool is." Yeah.
[00:47:26] Speaker 10: Have you ever seen the conspiracy theories about people telling, saying that he's a serial killer?
[00:47:31] Speaker 7: Wow.
[00:47:32] Speaker 10: Yeah. But I love it. Yeah. Because there's, like, there's people that have put together, like, on his tour stops where, like, tons of people have gone missing, like- ... the law, along, like, and the timeline of, like, when he was in town and, like-
[00:47:44] Speaker 7: Wow.
[00:47:44] Speaker 10: Amazing. It's wild. He's, uh, um- If you ever want a fun rabbit hole to go down, look up Garth Brooks theories.
Yeah. It's pretty fun. He's actually- I love that ... he's Banksy. That's right. He's Banksy. Garth Brooks is
[00:47:57] Speaker 7: Banksy. Wow. So I'm gonna tell you a really funny story. A- apropos of nothing, when I used to bartend in New York, uh, my w- my now wife, she used to come and visit me w- and hang out while I was bartending. And, like, what was really hilarious is, like, dudes would come up and, like, holler at her, like, in front of me, and it was just, like, really funny to see what kind of game these dudes had.
And this guy with an English accent basically gave her his entire life story in, like, 10 minutes- ... including, "Oh, yeah, I know Banksy." And it's like- Wow ... "Do you now? 'Cause you got an English accent." Yeah. "All right, bro."
[00:48:30] Speaker 6: Yeah, right. That's it. He coulda just stopped at
[00:48:32] Speaker 8: the English accent.
[00:48:33] Speaker 6: Right. Yeah, right. Right.
That's, that's, that's all it takes. Wow. Right? Wow. Well, yeah, man, that's, uh, you know, shit, going down some conspiracy theories. Man, we were just talking about the Michael Jackson one earlier in regards to, um, you know, some- R.I.P. in peace,
[00:48:47] Speaker 9: man.
[00:48:47] Speaker 7: What?
[00:48:48] Speaker 6: Yeah, some t- Today's
[00:48:49] Speaker 9: his death anniversary.
[00:48:50] Speaker 7: Oh.
[00:48:51] Speaker 6: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:48:52] Speaker 7: I mean, I, I have Thriller and- Michael Jackson
you know, like, I, I got the albums, but not, I mean- Yeah ... I'm not a huge MJ fan. I'm a huge MJ fan that I like playing MJ 'cause people like hearing MJ. Mm-hmm. You know? But I'm not- Just some stuff ... I, I never really, like, bought into him as a, an entity.
[00:49:07] Speaker 10: Let, let's just say MJ maybe- Got deleted by a certain country.
[00:49:16] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:49:17] Speaker 10: And Sony.
[00:49:18] Speaker 9: It w- Yeah ... it was Sony. I promise you it was Sony. Yeah.
[00:49:21] Speaker 7: Sony deleted hi- He owned-
[00:49:22] Speaker 9: He unalived
[00:49:23] Speaker 7: him ...
[00:49:23] Speaker 6: he owned too much.
[00:49:24] Speaker 9: Yeah. He owned too many people's music. He owned- He was, he
[00:49:28] Speaker 7: was pissing people
[00:49:28] Speaker 6: off.
[00:49:30] Speaker 7: Yeah. That was-
[00:49:30] Speaker 10: Man,
[00:49:30] Speaker 6: they didn't like how much
[00:49:30] Speaker 7: music he owned ... that was one of the funniest things, when he bought The Beatles catalog and he was like, "Paul, I bought, I, like, you told me I should pick up, like, catalogs, and now I own your catalog."
That ain't good. "Isn't that so weird?"
[00:49:41] Speaker 9: He owned, like, 60% of Sony, Sony.
[00:49:43] Speaker 6: I believe it. Like, at the time, Motown and then-
[00:49:45] Speaker 7: So wait, but, like, how, does it just revert back to Sony once they dead it? Like, that doesn't make any sense.
[00:49:51] Speaker 9: I don't know.
[00:49:51] Speaker 7: I don't know. Yeah. The, just a, like, a crayon-written will happens to reverse all this, you know?
I'm pretty sure his family's staying
[00:49:58] Speaker 6: on to it. "I leave it all to Sony." "
[00:50:00] Speaker 7: I give it to my guy over at Sony, who is blank."
[00:50:05] Speaker 6: Shout out to Michael Jackson's soul
[00:50:06] Speaker 10: and spirit. Yeah. Let, let's just say, let's just say he was talking a lot about a certain country, uh, in support of a certain country- Yeah ... and against a certain other country, um, at a certain specific time, that he was also buying a lot of music rights, and then just happened to die.
[00:50:23] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[00:50:24] Speaker 9: He said it first, that they didn't
[00:50:25] Speaker 10: care
[00:50:25] Speaker 9: about us.
[00:50:26] Speaker 6: That's just it. Thank you guys again for, for coming.
[00:50:29] Speaker 10: Oh, yeah.
[00:50:29] Speaker 6: Sally.
[00:50:30] Speaker 10: Thank y'all.
[00:50:30] Speaker 6: Thank you so much for having us. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. All right, y'all. And we'll see you guys next time at, on, on the, on the Vinyl Underground Podcast. On the flip. I even, I was about to say the Fruit.
But now we're at the Fruit. We're hitting the Vinyl Underground Podcast, but thank you guys for joining us. Yeah. And Joe, take it away, Joe. Thank
[00:50:44] Speaker 5: you. Thanks for listening to the Vinyl Underground. If you love the vibe, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share. Want to support the scene? Follow us on Instagram at crowdcontrolnc, and at thevinylundergroundpodcast, and
@tonytechnique. Stay underground, and we'll catch you next time on the Vinyl Underground.