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Host Tony Technique celebrates the Vinyl Underground Podcast’s one-year anniversary and welcomes Matt, Peter, and Patrick from Durham’s Party Illegal, organizers of Blends With Friends open decks. They trace Party Illegal’s origins at The Pinhook, beginning with plans in late 2012 and the first event on New Year’s Eve 2013, its four-year monthly run, and a shift in 2016 to less frequent one-off events featuring artists from outside the area. They explain how Blends With Friends began in 2021 during COVID, moved from Quarter Horse to The Pinhook in 2022, and expanded to Boom Club (formerly PS37) with regular nights. The guests discuss providing access to club gear, a welcoming space to learn and make mistakes, the Blender DJ contest pipeline to first paid gigs, community-driven equipment crowdfunding, and upcoming events including Wax Museum vinyl night at Stanchics, Mood Board at Boom Club with open decks, and Peter’s Arcana residency and new music as Bardo Bloom.
00:00 Welcome and Anniversary
01:18 Meet Party Illegal
02:19 Durham Scene Origins
03:07 Party Illegal History
05:07 Blends With Friends Begins
08:39 Open Decks Mission
11:35 The Blender Showcase
14:11 Community and Crew
15:58 Peter on Organic Growth
20:30 Open Decks Around Triangle
21:51 Mood Board Announcement
23:37 Beyond Genre Philosophy
28:15 Promoting Realities
33:11 Changing Nightlife Economics
34:27 Local Talent vs Headliners
35:30 Touring Costs and Legacy
37:54 Themed Raves Rise
38:38 Triangle Scene Visibility
39:55 Finding Events Today
43:54 From Musician to DJ
45:26 Arcana Monthly Residency
45:56 Blends and Party Illegal Origins
47:53 Low Barrier DJ Era
50:08 Crowdfunded Club Gear
54:37 Priority Nights Inclusion
56:43 Youth Workshops Garner
58:40 Upcoming Events Plugs
01:04:10 Final Shoutouts Wrap
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.
11 Vinyl Underground - Party Illegal
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome back party people. My name is Tony Technique and this is the Vinyl Underground Podcast. And I just wanna first of all thank you guys. We hit our one-year anniversary recently, and we've been, you know, trying to grow strong and bring you guys, you know, the best content we can. So I wanna thank you all for your support in our endeavors here with the Vinyl Underground Podcast, and you know that we're gonna continue bringing you the best talent and the best shows that we can here in the North Carolina Triangle area.
Tonight we have from the Durham area, we have the guys from Party Legal, and they are the hosts with the Blends with Friends podcast in Durham f- out of the Pinhook bar out in Durham. So if you know about the, the Blends with Friends guys they're here tonight and I hope you guys enjoy the show.
Speaker 7: Welcome to the Vinyl Underground, presented by Crowd Control. This is Behind The Decks, your backstage [00:01:00] 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.
Speaker 3: All right, guys. Well, welcome to the show, Party Illegal. We got the guys from Party Illegal here. Why don't you introduce yourselves here? We got... I'm Matt. I'm Peter. I'm Patrick. And I know you guys seen these guys around town, if you're in the DJ scene or have you been over to Durham, I know you've seen these guys out, whether it be in The Pinhook when they do the Blend the Blends with Friends open decks twice a month on Wednesdays.
So we got you here to... Got you, finally got you guys here, and I'm glad you're able to join the podcast and talk about you know, what's going on with you guys, what's going on with Party Illegal. Of course, you got the Party Illegal T-shirts on. Got our rep. So we know representing, right? Tell us about Party Illegal, as we [00:02:00] had Adam here on, on, on one of the shows earlier.
Yep. Mm-hmm. Um, and also we've had Marshall. I think Adam gave the most history as to the whole Durham scene and Party- Yeah ... Illegal and, and just, Yeah, that was a great episode. Mm-hmm. How'd you guys see it? Yeah. Mm-hmm. It was, um... He gave some pretty good details, and I'm glad we were able to capture that because- Yeah
you know, one of the goals here is to kinda capture, you know, document, you know, what's going on in the scene here 'cause I believe, you know, in, in, in the scene, especially in the Durham scene out here, right? Because it's a lot of talent. I feel that, you know, um, coming from other parts or living in different parts of the country and stuff like that, but I think here in Durham, it's like, it's a special mix.
I don't know. There's just something special here about the talent and the music and the scene. You know, I've been here since 2009. I've seen it grow a lot. You know, I've seen it, um, flourish, you know, and actually it started even before that, right? I mean, you know, Adam, Adam gave some, some insight and, and so did Marshall.
Um, but... And I know you guys [00:03:00] have, have been around. Patrick, I spoke to you not too long ago about, um, your interest into the scene and what you've been doing, so let's start off there.
Speaker 5: I got involved with Party Illegal in 2012. Um, Party Illegal kind of came out of The Pinhook and some parties that I was throwing there with Dirty Durham Art Collective, and then Laura, Queen Please, had also been doing parties there.
And, um, she had this idea for a monthly called Party Illegal to bring together a lot of different styles and parts of the scene, um, just different kinds of people, kind of like- looking at the club and electronic music as, as a way to bring people together and kinda like broaden everyone's horizons.
Mm-hmm. Um, and so we started kind of scheming that idea late 2012, and then the first party [00:04:00] illegal was New Year's Eve of 2013. And we ran that as a monthly for four years, um, at The Pinhook, and did a couple of one-off events at other places, but it was predominantly based at The Pinhook. Um, and then in 2016, we sunset that monthly and started doing kind of less frequent but, like, a little bit more, um, planned out, like one-off events, like bringing people from out of town.
Um, so we had Mina from the UK, um, Sinistar from Detroit, um As well as like, you know, there were people from Germany, um, Africa, like a lot of different, a lot of different parts of the world. We would try to get [00:05:00] people in for the monthly, but the monthly at first was like largely focused on, um, people in our area.
Speaker 6: Mm.
Speaker 5: And then... So Blends With Friends kind of spawned out of, out of that kind of scene and community in 2021, um, when we were still like deep in COVID. And it, it just started as people getting together. Um, I think we did it first at Laura's house 'cause she had CDJs- ... and we'd just have some friends come together and just like play tunes and- Mm
go B2B. Um, and yeah, like for the longest time, um, no one that I knew in Durham had CDJs, and- Yeah, 2013. Yeah, I mean- Or
Speaker 3: 2021 you said, yeah.
Speaker 6: All the way up to like 2020,
Speaker 5: yeah. Yeah, I didn't really touch a CDJ until like 2016 'cause- Was The
Speaker 3: Fruit even around at that time?
Speaker 5: The Fruit I think started in [00:06:00] 2014, but- Oh, okay
it wasn't doing the same kind of programming that it is now. Yeah. It, it wasn't really like as much of a electronic scene. Um- Mm. But yeah, in 2021, um, we started doing Blends With Friends at Quarter Horse, which is a- Oh, yeah ... a barcade in Durham that is no longer around. They had to shut down during COVID, and that- Right
that's now where High Dive is.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, and so we ran that as a monthly where I'd would just bring like my laptop and Traktor controller, and, you know, people could come into the booth, and like I'd show them-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: you know, just the basics of DJing, and they'd bring a hard drive or a USB, play some sets.
Um, and then my friend Maxi, who was working at Quarter Horse, he was like, "Hey, I've got, you know, some little Volca Synths I can bring out." So we started doing a synth petting zoo so people could get hands-on [00:07:00] experience with synthesizers and drum machines. Cool. And then in, Spring of 2022, Quarter Horse had to close and we moved it to Pinhook, and so we've been at the Pinhook since then.
Mm-hmm. Um, just this year we started doing, um, a Blends with Friends at Boom Club, which used to be PS37. So currently we have-
Speaker 3: Both.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we have one- Both ... a month at Pinhook and one a month at- Oh, yeah ... at Boom Club. Yeah. So it's generally first Wednesdays at Pinhook and third Thursdays at Boom Club, although the dates- Yeah
sometimes, um, shift a little bit.
Speaker 3: So is the crowd, like, Do you get more people coming over to Boom Club than, um, the Pinhook usually? It
Speaker 5: varies.
Speaker 3: Or the crowd at that varies?
Speaker 5: It's, You know, one of them's on a Wednesday and one of them's on a Thursday, so different people- Oh, it's on a Thursday ... can make different nights.
Speaker 3: Oh, that's great.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. I know. Um, we've only done two at Boom Club so far. Yeah. But, I mean, they've both been really great- So far, so good ... supportive spaces. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, but you guys do a [00:08:00] great job with coordinating the whole thing. Man, I know when I first, um, played, um, and found you guys, um, I f- I can say I was, I was welcomed by you guys.
Like, you know, you guys welcomed me with open arms and, you know, and gave me a chance and got to play for you guys. And I always noticed that about you guys when when, whenever I go and people are just... You know, that DJs that I know that are coming up who are going for the first time, you know, you guys always are very welcoming to them and opening, you know.
Pete, you know, y- you, you take care of the stage. You know?
Speaker 5: I'm easy to find.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Easy to find. Matt is over here behind the board, and Patrick is behind the board, or Matt is, you know, running back and forth doing his thing. So you know, how, how do you guys, um... I mean, you know, tell me how that workflow is, man.
I mean, you guys pretty much just get there and say, "All right, you know, we have to, we have to set up." I know you bring your... Do you bring your own equipment and everything and...
Speaker 6: Yeah, we, we bring the, So part of the You know, the idea behind it is for people that might be, like, a [00:09:00] bedroom DJ-
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm ...
Speaker 6: to give them the chance to play on you know, club equipment or- Yeah
professional equipment. Um- It's a
Speaker 3: great
Speaker 6: setup, too ... and, and on a stage in front of people with lights, and have this sort of experience that, um, you know, Patrick has described it before as, as sort of like if there's a pipeline between, um, bedroom DJ-ing and playing your first show, we're trying to fill that space-
Speaker 3: Absolutely
Speaker 6: in that pipeline- Mm-hmm ... where there was no space before. Otherwise, you're just bedroom DJ-ing, and you're, like, thrown on- Yeah ... stage, you know, or, you know, your first experience. So this, the idea behind it is to give people that opportunity to feel what it's like- Yeah ... to make mistakes- Yeah ... um, to, to sort of also feel what the, what community is like in that space- Yeah
too. So without having this like, "Oh, I'm in the green room suddenly," you know? Like, Yeah ... so that's part of what, you know, Blends is about. [00:10:00] Um, but yeah, so- Yeah ... I mean, you guys could talk about this, but yeah, we bring the either CDJs or controllers, um- Yeah ... you know, record players and-
Speaker 3: That's a, that's a good point, though, when you saying about bringing community because I know again, when I found you guys, um, again, yeah, you gave me that opportunity.
I got up on stage, and I was like, "Wow, I'm on stage," you know? With... And actually we had a, we had a night, you know, with, shout out to Poetic Note as the headliner.
Speaker 5: Um- Oh,
Speaker 3: yeah.
Speaker 5: You played the Blender.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Blender. That was- Mm ... in 2023. Believe that?
Speaker 5: Was
Speaker 6: that the first one?
Speaker 3: Three years ago.
Speaker 5: It might have been the first
Speaker 3: one.
I think it was, 'cause- You know? Yeah ... before that, I never, I've never even heard about the Blender you guys were doing. But, um, I walked in, and I played for you guys, and the next day, I remember, it's so funny. You guys, "Oh, well, you won, the second spot." I'm like, "What do you mean I won?" Yeah. "I didn't know there was a competition."
I said- Yeah,
Speaker 5: the messaging was not super clear about
Speaker 3: it at the- Yeah. It was very new and- Yeah, it was very new. And I got a message on my phone. At first, I thanked you guys, and then I, then, and then you replied. You was like, "Well, you won." I was like, "I won what?" He's like- [00:11:00] "Oh, well, you won, like, the show for Saturday," that, whatever.
I said, "Oh, really? Okay." that was a surprise, but it was a pleasant surprise, um, 'cause I remember just starting DJ-ing. I was getting my f- my foot in the door. Um, and, and then we played that night, and it was, like, one of the first nights you guys had the, the nights with M- M- Blender. Um, and, um, it was a great experience, man, just to be up there and- Yeah
you know, the sound and the, you know, actually like you were on a s- on a stage. Um, and, um- And just recently, you know, I have friends who've now, who just started DJing, and that's what they wanna, you know, they wanna get up to The Pinhook. Mm-hmm. They wanna win the Blenders, you know? And, Yeah, maybe we should talk a little bit about what,
Speaker 5: what that is.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, talk about it, man. I mean, that's, that's a great program you guys got. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5: So it- Blender is sort of a... I, I've been trying to find a way to explain it that's, like, intuitive, 'cause I think we've, we've been doing it long enough that, like, sometimes I'll, I'll just start saying words, and people are like, "What is the thing you're describing?"
And I'm like, "Oh, it's a DJ [00:12:00] contest, basically." Yeah. Um, it's not, like, hyper-competitive, and there's, you know... We are not competing for thousands of dollars. But, um, we do a couple of these showcases per year. Um, we've got one coming up at The Pinhook in September, September 24th, and we're working on doing one at Boom Club as well before the end of the year.
Um, and basically the way that it works is we have, you know, a few months leading up to the showcase where at the open decks we'll have voting. So we, like, bring out an actual blender, like a old- Right, yeah ... vintage blender that doesn't work anymore. And, you know, over the course of the night, people vote for their friend or a DJ that they just saw, whoever they, they see and they like and they want to, to see on stage.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then the Blender event itself is kind of like, you know, like to go back to the pipeline Matt was talking about. It's like, if, if someone has maybe practiced at home with a controller, and then they're, [00:13:00] they're getting on CDJs for the first time, like, Blender can be, like, your first paid gig.
Um, and so we've been doing that, yeah, since I guess 2023. Um-
Speaker 3: Yeah. Wow. It's been... I know, it seems like yesterday.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Talk to us. It does. It really does.
Speaker 3: I mean, I re- I re- I still... I was just actually... I don't know who... Someone pulled up the, the picture or liked actually one of the pictures I posted on Instagram of that night that I played at-
Speaker 5: Mm-hmm
Speaker 3: for the Blender, and then they just randomly liked it just, like, last week. And I'm like, "That, that's picture been out for, like, three years, but all right." Someone's going deep on your timeline. Yeah, that even, that even- Someone's going, yeah. I was like, "Okay." Um, but then it brought, you know, it was nostalgic and whatnot.
I was like- Yeah ... "Oh, I remember that night," you know? Mm-hmm. I still got the video. Then I went back and started looking at the videos. Um, but, um- You know, I have, I have friends that you know, that they would look, they look forward to that, you know, that, that competition so they could try to win it and, you know, get, get in there and get on stage, and that's, that's a awesome program that you guys do.
And, um, [00:14:00] you know, shout out to you guys for, you know, keeping that alive for the last three years and, you know, giving, giving the local talent some, some you know, hopes and dreams to... You know, why not? I think-
Speaker 6: Right ... I think it's also worth mentioning, um, you know, as far as Blends with Friends go- goes, the, you know, the open decks, that, you know, we've joked before about having sort of like graduating classes of people because, like you said, a lot of local people come through.
They come to Blends with Friends for a few months and then move on to actually booking shows- Yeah ... and stuff. Yeah. And, That's what I'm saying ... I know that we, again, we have joked about it before, where like we should have like a graduation- Have a yearbook ... for some people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, like a yearbook.
Exactly. Yearbook, yeah. You know, like- That'd be awesome ... um-
Speaker 3: Sh- show all the faces, right, that- Exactly. I mean- ... that go on. And that's, that's, that's what's so, you know, awesome about it, you know?
Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5: Well, and even to that point, even like within the crew, like there have been a lot of people that have come [00:15:00] through Party Illegal on the organizing side and Blends- Mm
with Friends on the organizing side. Like, you know, we're, we're sitting here today kinda representing both of those groups, but like- Yeah ... to my mind, part- if you say Party Illegal, there's like at least 10 people. Like if you go- Yeah ... back, you know, the whole-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: whatever, 12, 14 years at this point. Yeah.
Like, there, there have been a lot of people involved in various capacities. Wow. Um, so, you know, I don't wanna create the impression that it's like all just us now. No, no. No, absolutely not. Exactly. No, no. People, people have drifted in- Yeah, yeah ... and drifted out and, like- Right ... you know, taken it and gone on and done other things and then- Yeah
come back in. So it's kind of like-
Speaker 3: It's a network
Speaker 5: in many ways ... it's
Speaker 3: a, it's
Speaker 5: a blob. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I'm glad you guys are out there doing it. I mean, I don't think there's anyone else really who's been- I mean, in this area, um, that I've been doing, especially in Durham- Yeah
that I've been doing, you know, ty- the type of stuff that you guys are doing and stuff like that, which is, I think it's you know, definitely worth noting. But what about you, Peter? [00:16:00] I mean, what do you think of sitting over there all quiet, bro? Come on.
Speaker 4: Say something. I'm like, these two have great points, so I'm afraid to step on their toes.
No, I'm grateful that it's felt very organic, too. Mm-hmm. Um, even from, like, talking about doing it back at Quarter Horse, um, you know, post-COVID, just coming out of COVID. I had been in band world for a long time. There's a lot of, you know... It's certainly in DJ world, too, but a lot of ego in band world. Mm-hmm.
And showing up to Quarter Horse and just having, you know, 10 to 20 people all hanging out, playing tunes. "Oh, you made this one? Oh, that's awesome. Let me show you the one that I made." And just starting from, "I wanna learn on other people's gear." Mm-hmm. Um, and then moving up to getting CDJs, and that was the first time I'd been able to truly dive in, learn CDJs, and now it's funny for people to be like, "How do I do this?"
Yeah. I'm like, "Actually, I do know how to do that now." Yeah, yeah. Teach them. Um, but no, and then I think the first one at Pinhook you were running it by yourself, right?
Speaker 5: Prob- m- no, I think, I think it was me and Katrina.
Speaker 4: Okay. '
Speaker 5: Cause yeah, when, when it was at Quarter Horse- I... It was, like, me and Maxi were running it.
Like, Maxi would bring the synths. Mm-hmm. [00:17:00] Um, and then when we moved it to Pinhook, I think is when Katrina got involved, and then pretty soon after that, I think you came in and- Yeah ... Nakia and then X joined and Webb. It, like-
Speaker 4: Mm-hmm ...
Speaker 5: You know, I think in, like, 2022, '23 we had... Like, I remember having the Blends With Friends meetings at your house.
Yeah. And it was like a party, you know? It was, like, five, six people. Callie up
Speaker 4: on the couch with everybody- Yeah ... and she's like- Yeah ... "I got new friends."
Speaker 5: Callie is Peter's dog. Yeah. So-
Speaker 4: Oh, okay ... yeah,
Speaker 5: that's-
Speaker 4: I just, one of my favorite pictures of you and X on the couch with her in the middle just, yeah- Oh, yeah
she had a big grin. Yeah. But no, it's nice to have that community kind of all come together, and even though that's, you know, kind of waned, come back. People come in and out. Yeah. I'm grateful. It's been a- Yeah ... interesting year, so I've had to take a couple steps back. These guys have held it down. It's just- Yeah
nice to have that community with both people running it and with everyone around us, too. Yeah. Yeah. Since it's a lot of people not just showing up of, "I wanna do my thing."
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: People are, you know, happy for other people coming off the stage. Um- Yeah. New people, [00:18:00] "This was your first time?" Yeah. "I'm so excited."
Yeah. Yeah. "Great set." Um, and it's a rare thing to find.
Speaker 3: Like, like you mentioned, teaching them how to use the equipment and whatnot. Yeah. I remember, I remember when I got up there, and you guys had the, I know you used to have the, the Pioneer. The, was it the A19 mixer? Is it...
Speaker 5: Which mixer are you guys have- having?
A9.
Speaker 3: We've got the A9.
Speaker 5: The A9, A9. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, and I remember when I played , and I was just getting to learn. I don't know what I did, but I think I turned the trim way too up, too high. And I think Patrick was like, "Ah." Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean, that's, that's, that's part of the, the part of what we're doing there is to let people make mistakes.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like, I, I try... We try to make sure that people that are come for their first time or, or nervous about going up, like, this is... The, the idea is for you to make mistakes. Yeah. Like, this is where you make mistakes so that you don't- Right ... have to do that if you go on stage- Right ... in front of people for a paid gig.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. Make the mistakes here. We can help you. We're here. Right. Um-
Speaker 3: Exactly, facilitating.
Speaker 5: Well, and, and making the mistakes in front of people, I think. In front of people, exactly. That is important too- Yeah, exactly. Yeah ... 'cause, like, I, I've found a lot of times [00:19:00] when people are coming to Blends for the first time, maybe not even necessarily to play, and, you know, will introduce themselves- Mm
and be like, "Oh, so like are you gonna play tonight?" And- Mm. ... be like, "Oh, no, no." Yeah. Like, "I'm just, I've just done it, you know, at home. Like, I'm not, I'm not ready to get up and do that." And the, you know, like the stage is like all high- Yeah ... and there's lights and everything. And- ... you know, I like don't argue with them.
No pressure, no pressure. And I'm not trying to like push anyone- Yeah ... to do anything that they don't feel ready for. But it's really funny seeing, like once people do it, they're like, "Oh, why was I worried about that?" Yeah, yeah. You know? Yeah. And it's like I think that's kind of a lesson for the whole of like- Yeah
your DJ music career is like the thing seems really intimidating- Mm-hmm ... before you do it, when you're like- Yeah ... thinking about all the things that can go wrong. Mm-hmm. But then like you, if you train wreck a couple times in front of people, you're like, "Oh, well, like they didn't throw tomatoes at me." They didn't care.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly, yeah. I didn't get kicked off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I know I got, I got a couple of my friends that I've met in other open decks to come up to the [00:20:00] Print Hook. Like, I invite them, say, "You should come out to the Print Hook, you know, and, and be on the stage, right, in front of people because it's a different experience."
I mean, you've done open decks maybe in lounges or bars and stuff like that, but this is like a real setup, you know, with s- you know, lights and everything. And, and a lot of them thank me afterwards and were like- Yeah ... "Man, that was a different experience, man." Yeah. You know? It was something that I, you know, I ne- I never thought that I would...
It was intimidating at first When I got up there, I kind of felt comfortable, you know, and, and did my thing. Mm-hmm. So that's that's one thing that I know that I've heard from some of the community.
Speaker 5: Well, and to that point, like, there's, you know... We're, we're definitely not the open decks in the area. No.
Like, there's a bunch- Yeah ... of people doing it- Yep ... in Raleigh. Raleigh. You know, there's, like, Miss Ashley's Open Decks-
Speaker 3: Yep ...
Speaker 5: which is at Neptune's now, I think. It's at Neptune, yep. Shout out. Used to be at Clockwork. Um, Rabbit Hole's switched-
Speaker 3: Rabbit Hole, yep. They're in High Garden. Are...
Speaker 5: They're in High Garden, okay, and they used to be at London Bridge, right?
Yep,
Speaker 3: yep.
Speaker 5: Um, and then, like someone was telling me about Wook Wonderland last night, which is, like, more of, like, a bass music- Mm ... focused one. [00:21:00]
Speaker 3: Oh, right, the, the Bass Bunny guys.
Speaker 5: Oh, yeah. Those guys. And then, I mean- The
Speaker 3: Tuesday,
Speaker 5: the- Yeah, Bass Bunny- Or Sub Rosa ... and yeah, Sub Rosa has been going for-
Speaker 3: Long, yeah
a long time We're gonna
Speaker 5: get them on the show.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So shout out to Sub Rosa. Shout out to Miss Ashley. Shout out to Rabbit Hole- Yeah ... for your, o- for your contributions over
Speaker 5: the years. Yeah, and then in Chapel Hill Carrboro, there's Ouvert Open Decks. The Ouvert
Speaker 3: Open Decks,
Speaker 5: yep. Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Yeah, so there's like...
I, I don't know if this is normal for, like, a, you know, a area of this population, but it's like- Mm ... there's a lot of places where you can- Yeah ... where you can just go and show- Yeah ... and, you know, plug in and play,
Speaker 3: which I think is really cool. Even, even some events nowadays, if you, um, get there early enough, you know, you might have, like, the first hour of open decks and stuff.
Yeah. They've been doing that. It's been getting pretty popular as well.
Speaker 6: We do try, we try to do that with Party Legal events, too.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Where we'll have- Yeah ... like, the first hour open decks. Mm.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: Um, people
Speaker 3: seem to like that. I've seen that happen. Um, you guys just had something recently, didn't you, with Mood Board?
Did Mood Board, you party? So
Speaker 5: we just announced that. Yeah, Mood Board is a party that Party [00:22:00] Legal and Victoria Umami... Umami. Sorry. Someone was asking me how to pronounce it
Speaker 3: last night. Yeah. I just look at it and don't even try to pronounce it. Like, yeah, the, the name with a U and a Y. Yeah. Umami. Umami.
Speaker 5: Umami, yes. Um, she's gonna be cracking up watching this. Yeah. Um- Shout
Speaker 3: out to Umami ...
Speaker 5: yeah, shout out to Victoria. We started throwing that party at PS37, Maybe 2022, I think, just as kind of a one off, like wanting to, you know, she and I have been working together for a long time and been in the scene together and like checking out each other's DJ sets and- Yeah
we were like, "Let's do something together." And we did a party outside at PS37 and it was a big hit. A bunch of people came. Um, and then we were like, "We should, you know, do this more often." So we made it a monthly at Ruby's for about two years. And then in 2025 we moved it to PS37, what is now Boom Club, and made it a quarterly.
Um, and so we've had- Mm ... one so far this [00:23:00] year in 2026. We did a party in March with Sir Hiss from Bristol- Mm ... in the UK and Val- Nice ... who's a super dope producer- Yes ... from the area, um, who just played the UK. Yeah. Um, and so yeah, our next one is August 1st. We just announced that, and that's like part of how that party works- Yeah
is we do the first hour- Got it ... open decks.
Speaker 3: I'm definitely gonna make it to that one, man. I'll be in town. Last couple ones, man, I've been trying to make it but, um, just didn't work out. But this August 1st, I'll definitely wanna make, try to make the open deck, so I'm gonna let you guys-
Speaker 5: Nice ...
Speaker 3: know what's up with that and- Yeah
make it on August 1st. Yep, I'll be traveling this month. Yeah, I'll be back. So good, man. Good. So, so what do you guys focus on with that party, primarily like genres and all that?
Speaker 5: I mean, I think the philosophy of Party Illegal has always been trying to break out of genre.
Speaker 3: Mm.
Speaker 5: Um, like we never wanted it to be like this is a house music event.
Yeah, yeah. This is a drum and bass event. Yeah. This is a techno event. Notice that,
Speaker 3: and, and, and I noticed that, and [00:24:00] I know it came across to the community it does.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like, and then that was, that was really like you know, a core value that like Laura brought in from the beginning is like, you know, if we're booking four DJs over the course of the night, we would try to have it to where no two people are playing the same kind of thing- Mm
or are like the same type of person or bringing the same crowd. Right. Like kind of the idea is everyone's sort of bringing their voice and their style and their community that's there to see them, but you're going to see something that you're unfamiliar with. Um, you know, kind of trying to like push people's taste a little bit outside of- Mm
you know, I'm coming to this for this type of thing, and I know what I want, and more like, no, like you should, you should kinda just be along for the ride. Like- Mm ... you know, we think these people are dope, and they all have something to say. Yeah. And it might not fit [00:25:00] in like the box of what you're necessarily expecting.
Um, and Mood Board definitely is like a continuation of that philosophy. Um, also with kind of tying in, you know, the like bedroom DJ to headliner pipeline or whatever you wanna call it. Um- Like, when we were doing it at Ruby's, it was two DJs doing two-hour sets. Um, and we were a lot of times trying to book people who were just starting to, to, to play gigs.
Um, sometimes booking people for, like, their first paying gig. Um, a lot of times trying to book two DJs who we thought, you know, did distinct things that would play off each other interestingly. Oh, okay. So like kinda creating a conversation between, like, this person's style and this- Mm ... person's style. Or like, we're gonna have someone who's, like, very new, that maybe this is their second gig, and they're playing with someone who's [00:26:00] been, you know, doing it for a decade.
Nice. And so, yeah, like a lot of the... The goal of a lot of the Party Illegal programs is kind of like get a bunch of people in a room who can learn from each other.
Speaker 3: Mm.
Speaker 5: Um, whether that's, like, learning skills or just learning, like, how to navigate the scene. Mm-hmm. How to get gigs. Like, that is a, a question, I think, that, that we get asked very often- Yeah
at the open decks, is, is people be like, "Oh, this is cool. Like, I, you know, I got up and I used the CDJs, and I had a great time, and I'm not scared of doing this anymore." Mm-hmm. "So how do I get gigs now?" Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, well ... Yeah. It's a very difficult- Slow down there, buddy ... question. Yeah, but- You'll
Speaker 3: get there.
Speaker 5: Um, and like, you know, I wanna emphasize that, like, we definitely don't have the answers for that. Yeah. Yeah. Like, we do our own booking. There's a lot of parties and a lot of promoters in Durham, and everyone kinda caters to their own crowd and style and demographic, and like- Mm ... everyone's sort of got [00:27:00] their own vision.
So sometimes we're able to be like, "Okay. Well, you're doing this, and that would be a good fit- Mm ... for this party. So like, let me connect you with this person and, you know- Right ... see if something clicks." Mm. Um, but a lot of times people will meet in Blends and be like, "Oh, you like this kind of music too."
Yeah. "I don't know anyone else that likes this kind of music." Yeah. "Let's, like, do a show together." Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Right.
Speaker 5: So there have been some really cool like, series and parties, um, that are, you know, people that I've met through the open decks who have then started their own thing. Mm-hmm. So, like, you know, Sonic Essence, um, Red Crown, which is like a K-pop, um-
Default_2026-07-09_4: Somatic
Speaker 6: House.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There's, there's like... And, and that's like really I think one of the most gratifying parts to see is, is like we're, we're kinda trying to anti-gatekeep, to just be like- Yeah ... just do [00:28:00] it, you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Just, like, here are the spaces. Here's what you need. Mm-hmm. Just, like, go- Yeah ... go pitch a thing.
Go try to do it. Yeah. 'Cause I feel like the more people that are trying to make something happen in a scene, the more chance there is of there being-
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's more options ... a scene, you
Speaker 5: know?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. For
Speaker 5: sure.
Speaker 3: Definitely. Um, you know, promoting is one thing that, you know... DJing is one thing, promoting is another thing, right?
I mean, trying to throw parties and get people together, and having them come to your party and pay and all that stuff, that's a whole different animal to navigate. I mean, that's- Yeah,
Speaker 5: it sucks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know. I can imagine. No,
Speaker 5: it's amazing. But also- ... it's,
Speaker 3: It's great when it works out, right? It's very
Speaker 5: different from DJing.
Yeah. I mean...
Speaker 3: Um, and you know, I've known a few guys that, that, you know, wanted to get into promoting. It's always uphill battle, right? I mean-
Speaker 6: We always like, you know... We've, we've joked before. Pe- people will approach us and, and be like, "Oh, you know, I wanna get into this promotion and stuff," and I have, we have to like temper their expri- expectations.
Like, this is not [00:29:00] a money-making venture. Yeah. Yeah. You have to... If you're not doing this for the love of the- Right ... you know, the scene and the community, then you're gonna fall. Yeah. You're gonna fail really quickly. No one does
Speaker 4: this full time.
Speaker 6: Like, this is- And there is
Speaker 4: no finish line.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah. It's like, I mean I've had mul- many people approach me and like, "Yeah, I wanna...
You know, how, how much money do you make doing this?" And I'm like, "Hmm."
Speaker 5: Negative money. The opposite. Yeah.
Speaker 6: It's all the opposite.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Which is not- We're at a loss ... which is not to say- We're at a loss ... that like it's always... You know, I think if it were always like a losing prospect, then no one would really- Right
be able to do it. But yeah, there's... Like, getting into DJing-
Speaker 3: It's like an offset, right? I mean, it's kinda like, you know, either you, you make the experience and you kinda take a little bit of loss, but you have the experience, and then- Yeah ... you get the recognition.
Speaker 5: It, it's just kind of a constant learning process.
And honestly, like, one of the things that I get the most out of from doing Blends with Friends specifically, is seeing [00:30:00] how, like, younger people and, like, newer generations are approaching it. Mm. 'Cause, like, I'm pushing 40, and I, you know, I think I, I kind of peaked in my, like, ability to use social media effectively-
in, like, 2012 probably.
Speaker 3: Man, you're probably, like, way ahead of me still, believe me. No.
Speaker 5: It's a spectrum. Um, but yeah, like, you know, I'll see, um- promoters and parties come and just, like, bring this whole new energy or, like, a new approach or, like, different ideas for promo and marketing or, you know, how they present things.
Um, there's, like, trends that come and go. And so it's kind of, like, a little bit self-serving for me, but it's a way to, like, keep a finger on the pulse of, like, how are people organizing parties- Mm ... and how are people booking, and, like, who, who's coming out to stuff, and why do people come out to stuff? Yeah.
Like, that... As a promoter, like, [00:31:00] that's the question that I feel like we're constantly asking ourselves, is, like, how do we get someone to leave the house... Not only leave the house, but, like, pay money- Give us money too. Yeah. And, and come to this thing. Yeah. And that has changed so much, like, j- even in just the last five years.
Yeah. But definitely, you know, like- Yeah ... we, you know, the, the first party illegal on New Year's of 2013, we had a line down the block- Wow ... in front of the Pinhook to get in, and that created the most unrealistic expectations About what, what throwing parties and being a promoter was. And it really took, like, a couple of years and seeing, like, you know, like, the thick and the thin of it, and times where it's like, "Oh, you...
I feel like it was really good a couple months ago, and, like- Yeah ... now no one... Like, what are we doing wrong?" You know? Yeah. Like, and that's... I think it's really grounding to be doing that not in a vacuum, like part of a community of people that [00:32:00] are all trying to figure out that problem at the same time.
Yeah. 'Cause you can be like, "Oh, it's not necessarily me or us. It's just, like, we're in a time right now where no one has money to go out." Yeah, yeah. You know? Mm. Or we're in a time where the younger generations don't drink. Mm-hmm. So the bars don't make money, so they don't wanna have parties, you know? Mm-hmm.
Like, there's all of these factors that- Yeah ... come into it, and you can't ever really... You know, it's like the elephant metaphor. Like, we're all seeing just, like, a little piece of it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: But if everyone's kind of communicating about it and sharing experiences, then we can sort of figure out, like, okay, here's a way that we can keep doing this.
Yeah. 'Cause that's, like, for me at least, like, the, the goal below all of the, you know very highfalutin, like, community building and- Mm ... access to resources, is, like, how do we keep doing this? Like, how do we make it viable for people to keep making art and making music- Yeah ... and share it, and it not [00:33:00] just become a thing where, like, everyone's just at home, you know- Mm
watching AI Family Guy or whatever.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that, and that's, you know, the, the atmosphere is also changing as well, you know, in some, in some regard, right? Because you have, like, day parties now are popular. Mm-hmm. You have, like, cafe raves or whatever, coffee raves, and you have parties, just pop-ups and stuff like that. And nowadays people, like you said, people don't wanna go out and maybe to the bar and drink and spend money at the bar or- Yeah
spend money on a ticket. You know, they'd rather, rather just go to a pop-up party or something or, you know. Even though, you know, it could be, you know, local DJs, a lot of good talent too as well, but, you know, um, doesn't matter to them. I mean, if, if they're gonna go out, they really want, really wanna see an act, right?
Or d- a special DJ come from out of town, you know. And they, they may pay. I mean, I've seen it happen, right? I mean, that's like, go to The Fruit and, you know, that place gets packed sometimes. Yeah. Like, where do all these people come from? I'm sitting there like, "Where do they come from?" Right. They just [00:34:00] came out of every- Yeah.
You know, I know... Who was it? First time I went to go see was P- um, not Paul Oakenfold. It was one of the other guys that they had there. Um- Paul Van Dyk? Paul Van Dyk. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6: Mm.
Speaker 3: And I went there that night, and I was like, "Where did all these people come from?"
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm saying, I mean, I- it's a Paul Van Dyk, all right?
I get it. So, you know, it's, they're probably gonna come from, like, Greensboro- Mm-hmm ... wherever, right?
Speaker 6: Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So that was, you know. But locally, right, is that gonna happen, you know?
Speaker 6: Well, I think, yeah, I also think, you know, one of the, the focuses of Party Illegal is to lift up local talent as much as possible.
Like, um, I know, and Patrick can speak to this, but, like, at least the, the mood board that's coming up- Mm ... you know, instead of having, like, some crazy international headliner o- Yeah ... the, the move was let's focus on the local-
Speaker 5: Local ...
Speaker 6: talent as much as possible. And-
Speaker 5: Yeah ...
Speaker 6: um, you know, The Fruit [00:35:00] can do their headliner stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Their, their big headliner stuff and-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 6: um, I think that part of the, part of the reason that I, I love Party Illegal so much is because of that exact kind of philosophy that you're- Mm ... that you were talking about before where it's like how do we, how do we raise up you know, or lo- how do we showcase the local talent as best- Mm-hmm
as possible? And, you know I think that to me is very special, you know?
Speaker 5: Yeah. And I think there's, like, a, the economic piece of that too is that, um, I think globally there's sort of, like, this, this gap, right? Where, like, there's what people can afford to pay to go to a show or to go to a club- And then there's what artists are charging.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Um, and particularly once you get into touring artists, international artists, it's [00:36:00] become so expensive to tour- Yeah ... that the fees have gone up.
Speaker 4: Yeah. '
Speaker 5: Cause all of the- Hotel rates and everything. Yeah ... all of the, yeah, the rates have gone up. Yeah. All the, all the costs associ- you know, gas is more- Airlines
expensive, food is more expensive. Like, everything that goes into- Yeah ... getting a person, like- Yeah ... across the ocean- Mm-hmm ... to come play is more expensive now. And, you know, we did four parties in 2025 and really had this vision of, like, we want, like, the world outside of Durham and Durham to, like- Mm-hmm
interact, you know? Yeah, yeah. Like, have someone who's maybe only ever played in North Carolina get to share a stage with a artist who's played around the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, and, like, that was really successful in some ways, and really unsuccessful in some ways. And part of that [00:37:00] is that there's kind of a, like...
And I, I, I think this is something you and I were talking about at the day party- Yeah ... is that, like, there's such a history of dance music and club music and raving- Mm ... and, you know, what that legacy is and how it's communicated and transmitted to, like, newer generations has become very fragmented. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Right? So there are, like, people who are like, "Oh, I really love dance music, and I really love going to," you know, just to pick a random example, like Broadway Rave. Mm-hmm. You know? Or like, that's a, that's a phenomenon that has really flourished in the last, I would say, five years is, like, um-
Speaker 6: Themed raves
Speaker 5: yeah, like the rave as kind of a brand- Yeah. Yeah ... [00:38:00] in and of itself. Yeah. And it's less like, they, those kind of events I think tend to less push like, "Come for this DJ"- Mm-hmm ... and more like, "Come for this"-
Speaker 3: Atmosphere, like this-
Speaker 5: Atmosphere ... experience ... but it's almo- it almost feels like, like the f- the Facebook like micro-targeting.
Like if you have- Oh ... this five s- this set of- Yeah ... five interests, like this is the party for you. Yeah. And I, you know, I don't think that that's a good thing or a bad thing. I think it's a, a niche that people have found that is like able to be marketed effectively.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5: Um, and particularly like in a, in a scene like Durham and the Triangle where there are so many really talented people, DJs, producers, like artists of all kinds, but there's not really a ton of like cultural infrastructure.
Speaker 4: Mm.
Speaker 5: [00:39:00] Like we don't have a Red Bull funding things- Yeah ... for example. Right. You know, we don't have like a, there's- Yeah. Yeah ... there's no like the Fader coming to Durham- Yeah ... to be like, "Here are the artists you need to follow." Yeah. Which in a way is nice because then, you know, no one's kind of put on a pedestal as being like, this is like the super cool thing that you should know about.
Everyone is sort of like we're all sort of floating in this sea of talent. Yes. Mm-hmm. But then if someone is like moving here, and there's so many people moving to the Triangle- Yeah ... like constantly.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: You know, one thing that I, I would hear a lot, like at The Fruit in particular, is people would be like, "Oh, I didn't even know there was like a scene in Durham."
Yeah.
Speaker 3: I, that, tell the same- Happens a lot ... tell the same story all the time. Yeah,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: I was... I've been here since 2009. I didn't even get to know there was a scene- Yeah ... till about 2020. Yeah. Or even around there, 2021. I was like- It's crazy, right? I was like, where am I again?
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and like I think it comes back to like how do people find out about stuff.[00:40:00]
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5: And, you know, I was a little too young to really be a part of like- club culture, rave culture, like when that was, like evolving and happening in like the '90s and 2000s. Like, I got into electronic music 'cause I was doing house shows where I would play like a MicroKorg and a 404. Mm. Like, I wasn't DJing.
Mm. I was like, the, like, weird act on the bill of pop bands. Okay. And then later- Yeah ... I got into DJing, and then was like, "Oh, there's, like, a whole other- Mm.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm ...
Speaker 5: world out here."
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: And, you know, like, I think so much of how i- in the absence of, like the kind of, like cultural media and, like, music journalism that, that used to exist, like, so many, you know- Mm
iconic, like, publications have folded. Like, there's just not as much cultural [00:41:00] coverage. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I think, you know, the average person who, like moves to Durham and is like, "Well, I wanna be... I wanna go out and see something," like the first thing they're going to see is probably the event with, like the biggest marketing budget- Mm
which is probably a national-level touring themed rave.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Or like, you know, I... Like, Morning Choir does a lot of shows at The Fruit. They are, like-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: really good at getting the word out. Yeah. And so, you know, they're able to book these bigger ticket artists and really, like, fill a room around that.
Yeah. But there's kind of this missing middle of, like, if you're maybe regionally known-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: but you're not, you know, you don't have, like-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: the cover story or whatever-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: how do people find out about you? And if you're playing a show, like, how do people know- Mm ... that they should care? And that's one thing we ran into a lot when we would try...
when, when we would book artists from, you know, around the world that we thought were really [00:42:00] cool, is like, well, now we have to, like, take a step back and explain to everyone, like, why they should care about this- Yeah. Yeah. ... in a climate where, you know, you, like, open your phone and it's immediately like, "Here's 1,000 things you need to care about right now."
Yes. You know? Like, how do you not get lost in the noise of that?
Speaker 3: Yeah. I agree. And yeah, and, and, um, you know, it's... and it's rare, and it's by chance that when I got into sc- into the scene is that I found something on Resident Advisor, right? So- Yeah ... you know, again, some publications, right? I mean, Indie Week may have some stuff that's published.
I came across a, you know, a... Now, I think more and more promoters are putting stuff on Resonet- Resident Advisor nowadays- Yeah ... Which when I found the first party here was through Residen- Resident Advisor. Mm-hmm. Actually, it was... That was one of the Rabbit Hole parties. Um, and, and I had to take, like, a second look.
I was like, at, you know, refresh my screen, make sure it said North Carolina or whatnot. I was like, "Is that Garner?" I was like, "Where the hell's Garner number one?" Yeah. [00:43:00] I'm in Durham. I'm like, "Where the hell's Garner?" I was like, half hour away. Yeah. I'm like, "Really?"
Speaker 6: I'm trying to, I'm trying to think, and maybe you can...
I'm trying to... So the f- the first time I ever went to Blends before I started working with both of them on Party Illegal, it was during the pandemic. It was at Quarter Horse, and I cannot remember how I even found, like, this Blends with Friends. Yeah. Like, I don't, I cannot recall at all. Did
Speaker 5: you come to the Slingshot one first?
Speaker 6: No, I, I played the Slingshot one.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 6: But- But
Speaker 5: you came to Quarter Horse before
Speaker 6: that ... I came to Quarter Horse, so that's where I met Peter.
Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6: But how did, I mean, how did you even...?
Speaker 4: I think I'd been following you for a while and been like, "Oh- Yeah, 'cause we had done
Speaker 5: shows together.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. I remember that.
I remember. Oh, yeah. Oh my God, we did. Yeah. I
Speaker 6: remember now.
Speaker 4: At The Cave. The Cave. That's where I'm just, yeah- ... I had a live electronic band for a little bit. With the lowest ceiling. And then- Yes ... at Patrick's for a while. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I know you do a lot of musician. Yeah. You said you were a musician beforehand.
Mm-hmm. Um, and, and which, which instruments? Were you [00:44:00] guitarist?
Speaker 4: Mostly electric bass, upright bass. Upright bass. Okay. Um, and then, yeah, couple other things. But n- I have, there are people that play those instruments a lot better than I do. All right. And I'm grateful that they're my friends.
Speaker 6: Peter, Peter's also, he's being modest, but he's also a, a, a luthier, so he works on instruments and- Oh,
Speaker 3: yeah.
That's right ... yeah. That's right. You, you what is it, string instruments?
Speaker 4: Violins, violas, cellos, all the bows. And then, you know, I'll help out friends with the guitars and stuff, so. Oh, good. Yeah, shameless plug, Beauregard
Speaker 3: LL. Little plug. Nice. Okay, yeah. And I, I'd completely forgot, 'cause I know we spoke about that previous- Yeah
of your previous life before you d- you did DJing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and kind of fell into it. Was in school for music. As soon as I finished up, there was a friend who was working at a bar who was like, "Oh, this owner is looking for a DJ." I had been producing at that point, and he was like, "Well, you produce music.
You can DJ, right?" And I was like, "I can figure it out." And then started, bought my first controller, and then just start kind of trial by fire. Yeah. Like, working at college bar every week for couple years and, you know, you [00:45:00] definitely learn a lot of the time it's not about you.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Somebody's like, "Oh, I'm done with my drink.
We should go." And- Yeah ... you think, "Oh, I just played the worst song in the world." Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was like, I think things like that, where you're forced to confront your own insecurities- Right ... is a very good thing as far as musicianship DJing, because then you realize that kind of like you're talking about with promotion community, we're all an organism here.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, it's not one thing. You didn't do anything wrong. So- Right ... yeah, just kind of kept trucking from there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you're doing, um, you're doing the Arcana-
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. Very grateful ...
Speaker 3: is that once, once a quarter, or?
Speaker 4: Once a month, so first Saturdays. Mm. Um, we are off for July, since they're closed.
Um, but yeah, no, keep trucking through the rest of the year. Aaron, Arcana, the whole team, everyone's amazing down there. Good. It's good space. I love those people. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I've been in a couple times. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: And just give them the freedom to kind of play my own originals, play what I like. At the same time, I'm going for heads nodding in seats, rather than a fist pumping-
on the dance floor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I like that vibe.
Speaker 3: Good, good, good. Yeah, it's a good, it's a good atmosphere too, that place. Yeah. I like it. It's interesting, um, interesting, you know, how you guys came about and [00:46:00] kinda just met each other and then took it now to where you're at.
And how many years has it been now? What? Four or five since you guys- So Blends
Speaker 5: started in 2021, um, and then we moved to the Pinhook in 2022, so we've been there for four years.
Speaker 3: Four years, yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, Party Legal has been around since 20- We had our first party 2013. Mm-hmm. So, and I, like, I think this is a testament to, like, how I'm not the most organized person in the world.
We've never had, like, a 10-year anniversary or, like- ... anything like that. Like, I'll realize, like- Come on.
Speaker 3: We had- Oh,
Speaker 5: wait,
Speaker 3: wait. A couple things we gotta do. The yearbook or the,
Speaker 5: the- Yeah. Yeah, the yearbook, the swimsuit calendar.
Speaker 3: The swimsuit calendar and the anniversary.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Well, I would
Speaker 6: be, I would be int- You know, the, we, we do joke about the yearbook thing, but I would be, I would be very interested to actually, like, map out the sort of sort of what has been born out of- Like
Speaker 5: the family tree.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Like, you know, all the- Yeah ... the people that have started their own parties- I would be interested [00:47:00] in what comes through there, man ... and, and people that have, have, you know, moved on to paid gigs, like often. Yeah. And, Yeah ... it's funny when I, when I go on social media and, and I see, like, this person's playing.
They have five shows booked. Yeah. And I'm like, "I remember the first time they came- Yeah ... to Blends with Friends," and, like, I would- Yeah ... if, if one day we could just, like, map the whole thing out it would be- Yeah ...
Speaker 5: really, really- Oh, yeah. That, that reminds me- ... um, Zach. I think Zach- Yep ... I, I joked with him once that he had, like, speed run the pipeline.
Yeah. Oh, right. Like he's... So Zach Lor, super talented DJ- Oh, yeah. Zach ... from the very beginning. Yep. Yeah. So yeah, he went from,
like-
Speaker 3: he skipped a line. He skipped a line First time playing C- he, he
Speaker 5: went from first time playing CDJs to, like, opening for a big artist at The Fruit in, like, nine months. And I, I, like, I swear- Yeah ... I'm, I'm probably exaggerating, but-
Speaker 6: That was- Yeah ... that was pretty quick.
Speaker 5: But that's like... I think to go back to something you said about, like, kind of [00:48:00] the...
you know how the, how the band world and the musician world is different from the DJ world. Um, and not a value judgment. There's a much lower barrier to entry to become a DJ- Yeah. Mm-hmm ... now. Mm-hmm. You know, it's not like you gotta go out and buy 1200s, and you gotta buy a record collection. Yeah. Like, if you have...
If you just have a phone- Yeah ... you can get a app- Sure ... that will-
Speaker 3: Make a
Speaker 5: mix music ... you know, stream. Yeah, you can make your own music on your phone. You can, like, DJ pulling songs from SoundCloud. Like- Mm-hmm ... if you just wanna get your feet wet, like, there are so many ways to do that that don't really cost a lot of money.
Yeah. And I think that's a really cool opportunity and, like- Yeah ... thing about the time that we're in now, is that, like, deejaying, like the DJ controller is, like, the new electric guitar. Yeah. Yeah. Like, if you wanna get into music, and you just are a music lover, but you're like, "I don't wanna take piano lessons or drum lessons" or whatever.
Like, you can try out [00:49:00] deejaying, and there's not really a ton of barriers to entry to just trying it out. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, which is part of why we, you know, wanted to situate Blends, like, where it is. So it's like people who have already found that they have, like, a interest in it, and, you know, they're, they're listening to music, and they're maybe d- you know, downloading stuff, making playlists, whatever.
And then to be like, "Okay, well now, you know, here's, like, the next step you can take."
Speaker 6: Yeah. Mm.
Speaker 5: And though the flip side of that is that, like, you know, it, it can be super simple to learn, but it's like you can spend a lifetime- Yeah ... mastering it. Yeah. Yeah. And there's-
Speaker 6: The basics, the basics are quick, and then- Yeah
the rest is- Mm. Yeah ... which is, like, kind of the opposite of, of a stringed instrument really, you know? Yeah. Like- Just
Speaker 4: longer timeline.
Speaker 6: Right, right. You certainly-
Speaker 4: Yeah ... you're like, "Oh, I got this part"- Mm ... and then you practice for another two months, and you're like- Yeah ... "I know nothing."
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And then practice- Yeah
for another two months, and you're like, "I think I'm good." Yeah. Yeah. And just ups and downs. Put in the work. Yeah. I
Speaker 6: mean, and to add on to what you were saying, Patrick, it's, you know, back, back to Blends, it's, it's about, like, demystifying [00:50:00] that- Yeah. Yeah ... that part of it. Mm-hmm. You know, because people will- But you guys- Yeah.
Go ahead ...
Speaker 3: you guys brought it up a notch, though, and brought some turntables in. I'm just saying.
Speaker 5: Well, so that's a funny- Wait a minute. ... that's a funny story because when we started, when we started at Quarter Horse, I just had my laptop and a, a Traktor kontrol, like- S4. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like the, the first generation one.
I bought it off of, like, a frat guy on Craigslist- ... and, like, the buttons were sticky and like- Yeah. That one, that was what I... That was, like, the first real, like, controller that I had. And then when we moved to the Pinhook, they had turntables and a Pioneer mixer- Mm. ... but not CDJs. Mm. Um- Oh, I remember that thing.
Mm. And so kind of, like, what really, like, jump-started a lot of this was we had a combination of private donations and crowdfunding to, like- Mm ... get 3000s and get an A9. Oh, cool. Mm-hmm. 'Cause, like, I didn't have that [00:51:00] money.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, but there were enough people in the community who felt like there was, like, a real need for that.
Speaker 3: Nice.
Speaker 5: And I really felt like, you know- I wanted other people to have kind of the experience that I had in 2016, 'cause, like, in 2016, Moogfest came to Durham. Yeah. They were starting to, like, tap into the local scene, and they were like, "Okay, you know we're gonna have a showcase, and, you know, each crew bring a couple people and play a set, and you have to use CDJs."
And everyone's like- Mm. What is that?" Yeah, yeah. And I remember going down to, like, the basement of the music building at Carolina, 'cause Play Play- Yeah ... was working, teaching over there. Right. And they had, like, CDJ-900s maybe.
Speaker 2: Mm.
Speaker 5: They had a old one. They had the... Like, there was no colors on the screen. No.
Like- It was, like,
Speaker 3: that thick and what, like, like,
Speaker 5: two- It- it looked like a graphing calculator. Yeah, yeah. Like- Two telephone
Speaker 2: books
Speaker 5: thick ... yeah. And so I had to learn [00:52:00] on that, and I remember how overwhelming that was and how I was just like, "I have no idea." 'Cause I never... Like, I hadn't learned to beat match on vinyl.
Like, I was coming at DJing as, like, more of-
Speaker 6: A selector, a selector ...
Speaker 5: well, more of just, like, a weird indie electronic artist- Yeah ... you know? Oh, I see. Yeah.
Speaker 6: Mm.
Speaker 5: Um, and you know, I really felt like if we can get, like, what at the time was probably, like, the most intimidating piece of gear that you would encounter in a club- Mm-hmm
and just get... Put it in front of everyone, and just be like, "Look, just start pushing buttons." Mm-hmm. "It's really not that hard." Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's more intimidating. Like, it looks more intimidating than it is. Than it actually is, yeah. And, you know, miraculously, there were, like, a, a few people in the community who were like, "Yeah, I'll put money behind that."
Mm. And I think that that's- That's great ... like, a valid thing. And now, you know, of course, like, the technology [00:53:00] has evolved since then. Mm-hmm. And there's, like, the new, newer CDJs and newer mixers- Yeah ... and all of that.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Um, but that's, like, you know, whereas if you're trying to... Like, if you wanna start playing trumpet or something, like, the- Mm
uh like, to me, the real hills you have to climb are just, like, learning how to use the instrument and, like, how to make a good sound come out of the instrument. Yeah. You know? And the physical pain. It's like- Yeah. Yeah, like, you ever, you know, like, listening to, like, yeah, beginning violin class, like-
Speaker 6: Cheater
Speaker 5: and, and, you know, the joke about DJs is, like, we just push play. Mm. But, like, the, you know, the real hurdle there is that, like, if you wanna play on a, like a, you know, touring level, international level, if you wanna play, like, a bigger club- You probably can't just rock up with like a $200 controller.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Right.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Maybe in some situations you can, but like that to me felt like a bottleneck, and I was- Yeah ... like, there's so [00:54:00] many people here who are already like really talented DJs-
Speaker 4: Yeah ...
Speaker 5: but there's like this whole like category of opportunities that are like off limits because like you don't speak that language.
Speaker 4: Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5: And so that was like a big, um, drive behind, you know, making Blends what it is today is like no, it's really, it's really just a matter of access. It's not like- Right ... a talent issue or a skill issue. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like people don't get a chance to touch the things- Yeah ... 'cause they're rare around here.
Sure. Yeah. Like for a long time no one, no clubs had like house decks. Yeah. You know?
Speaker 3: Yeah. And the, the, um, you guys also have like vinyl nights, right? Is it, is it just vinyl night alone or is it mixed with the other-
Speaker 5: It varies. We've done a bunch of different sort of theme nights. So like one thing that we, we used to do more often that I would...
I keep saying that we're going to bring back- Yeah. Yeah ... and then I'm very disorganized and like don't actually plan for it. We will. We will bring it back. But we would do like [00:55:00] priority nights where we would specifically target like a demographic. So we'd be like this is like you know, fem and non-binary priority night.
So like, you know, the typical stereotype of DJs, like if you look at the like, you know, top 100 DJs or whatever, it's a lot of dudes. Mm.
And so there's this like... And this is something that goes back to like- the ideas behind Party Illegal and, like, kind of what Laura and I wanted to, like, see shift in the scene, is there's this whole piece of representation of, you know, like, people who aren't dudes being like, "Well, th- maybe this isn't for me 'cause I-" Yeah
"only see male DJs." Yeah. Yeah. So-
Speaker 3: Just giving them spotlight as well
Speaker 6: And they're- When we were- ... more afraid to speak up and, and- Yeah, yeah ... you know.
Speaker 3: Present themselves. Y-
Speaker 6: yeah, exactly. And, and, you know-
Speaker 3: Yeah ...
Speaker 6: they blame-
Speaker 3: But that, but that definitely, you know, you guys facilitate that in every way as possible, as I've seen that, you know, a lot of different types of, you know, talent come in and, [00:56:00] in and out.
And you know, um, from vinyl to CDJs to even attractors. Patrick could get the attractor out for you when, the next time you come. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: We've also had, we've also had, like rappers like- Oh, yeah ... hip-hop artists come and, like, do their thing and, and- And- ... we were not-
Speaker 5: Modular
Speaker 6: synth. Yeah, modular synth.
Like- Oh, yeah. Like, we
Speaker 3: don't- Wasn't that this guy Dave? Was it Dave that came with the, with the, with the, all the synths
Speaker 6: one time? Oh, Matt. Matt. Matt,
Speaker 3: yeah.
Speaker 6: Matt, yes. Yeah, Melones.
Speaker 5: Yes.
Speaker 6: But yeah, like we, I mean, if anybody listening to this is, you know, on the fence of whether to come out to Blends with Friends and might not necessarily be a DJ, like- Yeah
we're open to all of it. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Definitely, I've seen it. I mean,
Speaker 6: take a- Maybe not a band, but... Full band would be hard. I mean,
Speaker 4: even take it to when we went to Garner Performing Arts Center- Yeah, yeah ... and working with middle schoolers and- Mm-hmm ... middle schoolers- Really? ... learning, they're gonna catch us so fast that- Yeah
menu dove so fast. Oh, it was- Once and it was- ... crazy to watch ... right back in there. And then he's yelling to his dad, "Dad, get my USB from the car." Yeah. And then Matt is like, "All [00:57:00] right, we can load it up on your USB." Yeah. Loads up all of his music. So you guys wait, went to a
Speaker 3: middle school to,
Speaker 6: Yeah. So this is a new, this is a new thing and I- Oh
I'll let Pat- Oh, Peter, you tell it. Go ahead.
Speaker 4: I mean, Garner Performing Arts Center. Okay. Um, and it was just funny because, yeah, he yells to his dad, "Go get my USB." Mm-hmm. Matt plugs the USB in. We go through Record Box, load it all up on there. Oh, nice. And then he plugs it in. It was so funny to watch of just, like, immediately took to it.
I'm also like- Wow ... "This kid's got great taste." Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So that's- Yeah, he was playing some, like, crazy Bollywood remixes.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: Really?
Speaker 6: It was very cool. It's, it's just cool to, you know... I mean, that's the, the whole point of this, like, it's just great to see people that are interested having the opportunity to do it.
Yeah. And, you know- Yeah ... maybe- 'Cause otherwise- ... most of the time they, most of the time they're like, "Yes, I love this and I wanna keep doing this." Like, I don't... I can't think of many times where people have come and been like, "This is not for me." Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And i- if they do, then, then I'm glad that we were able to provide- Yeah
a space for them to find out that they- An outlet ... didn't like it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Provide, provide an outlet, and that's what it's about, right? Yeah. Because, [00:58:00] you know, you know, this isn't like a big city, right? And it's not... Everything's just pretty spread out and everything, and if you don't know, don't know something is going on around town- Mm-hmm
and somebody's providing an outlet, it's not that easily accessible, right? Yeah. And, um, and that's what's- awesome about the things you guys are doing, you know, um, either you come from Durham or you come from Raleigh. But, you know, especially being in Durham, you're pretty much central to the whole triangle area, so it's easy access and everything, and people come from, you know, from the far out areas.
But, um, you know, I think, um, definitely is a outlet for the talent that, you know, otherwise would just be stuck in their bedroom out in Garner.
Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: Right? And, um, that's, that's that's the beautiful thing. Um, but yeah, appreciate you guys, you know, coming through, um, telling your story and whatnot and, and giving us the lowdown on the Blends with Friends and the, and the Party Illegal.
Um, got the Mood Board coming up August 1st. Yeah, I'll
Speaker 5: do some quick plugs. So I'm playing a show this Saturday at Stanchics in [00:59:00] Durham, which is a, a relatively new venue. They just started doing events this year. It has been a venue under several other names- It's in Durham? ... in the past. It's in Durham.
Yeah. Yeah, it's on Main Street right by- Mm ... like Brightleaf and The Federal.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 5: Um, so we're doing a party there. It's a good space. Um, it's like a Party Illegal and DJ Shehzad collaboration, and Shehzad is like, you know, been in the scene forever. He used to play a bunch of Party Illegals, you know, when we were doing it monthly at the Pinhook.
Um, and so for this one, this, this series is called Wax Museum, and it's really focused on vinyl and playing records. And we also, you know, bring out records to sell. We've got, um, Volume, the record store in Hillsborough. Mm. They're bringing out some records to sell. Cool. And then, like, our special guest for this one is Ekbalam- Mm
who you m- you may know of. He's, he's done a bunch of stuff all around the Triangle and Asheville. Um- And yeah, that's kind of like an opportunity for us to get more into the vinyl side of it and kind of like [01:00:00] pull from our collections and maybe play a set that, you know, is, is not typically like what I would do at a club.
Mm. Like getting outside of sort of, you know, the more like EDM- Yeah ... for lack of a better word. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so that's- Vinyl. Yeah. Vinyl. Vinyl, all vinyl all night. All night? Oh, cool. Yeah. And that's- Wax
Speaker 6: Museum,
Speaker 5: yeah. Yeah. That's, um- Very nice ... this Saturday 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM at StandChicks in Durham, and it's a $5 cover, so you, you have no excuse.
Speaker 6: Depends, depends when this airs. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Oh, God. Let's try...
Speaker 3: I might just put up, put a plug- Yeah. Yeah ... put a little short in tomorrow. Yeah.
Speaker 5: But then we've got our next Mood Board party is at Boom Club on- Boomsters ... August 1st, and that one's with Alec Lamami- Alec ... Ui Mami, and, which is funny, we've got multiple- Mamis
ri- all rhyming DJs. Yeah. Shout
Speaker 3: out to Alec. He'll, he'll be on next the show soon.
Speaker 5: Nice. Nice. Um, and then House Dress, who's like a good friend of mine. Yep,
Speaker 3: yep.
Speaker 5: Um, and [01:01:00] then Pharmacil and You're So Major B2B set- Yeah ... to close out the night. Nice. And they're like the next generation, um, you know, coming out of Carolina, um, playing a lot of like really fun, like forward-thinking club music.
Um, so that's- Nice ... gonna be August 1st at Boom Club. And we do have an open decks at the beginning of that one, so if you get there early at 9:00 PM, we got open decks from 9:00 to 10:00. First
Speaker 3: come, first serve.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So one thing that we do, um, and this is kind of... I'm not gonna go on a whole tangent about this.
We don't do sign up in advance unless- Okay ... it's your first time. Right, right, right. Yeah. So if someone has never been to Events With Friends before- But that applies to the Blends
Speaker 3: and everything- Yeah. Yes ... and, and your, and your events.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So it's just y- you know, if you wanna sign up, you just show up in the space- Yeah
and like at the open decks that we do at The Pinhook- on first Wednesdays and Boom Club on third Thursdays. It's like a random draw. Random draw, yeah. So you, like, put your [01:02:00] name in a jar, and then every 20 minutes- Yeah ... we pick someone. So, like, really everyone has a equal chance- Yeah ... to get to play. Yeah.
You know, you don't get- I like that ... penalized if you get there late. Yeah. You don't get an advantage if you get there early- Sign, a sign up sheet ... and sign up, you know? A sign up sheet that
Speaker 3: never, you never get on.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the- That one's the worst part. You, if
Speaker 4: someone
Speaker 3: comes in- I said, "I'm gonna get there at 7:30- Yeah, yeah
and the sign up sheet's already full. I'm like, "What happened, bro?"
Speaker 5: Well, when we used to do- Yeah ... we used to, yeah, we used to do the list, and people started getting to Open Deck before we got there to set up. Yeah. And we're waiting , waiting to sign up, and we're like, "I think we have to- Yeah ... we have to change this- Yeah
a little bit."
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's cool, man. But you guys have anything any last words you guys wanna say to, Yeah ... Love Zap?
Speaker 4: Got some new music coming out on Friday, um, July 10th. Okay. And a upcoming six-track EP in September. How, how can they find it? Bardo Bloom. Bardo Bloom. Bardo_Bloom on Instagram, or plug it into Apple Music, Spotify, all the things we hate.
Speaker 3: All of the evil streaming platforms. All those mega, mega million merging machines. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Swing through Arcana, first Saturdays [01:03:00] 9:00 to 11:00 PM, and if you got instruments that need fixing, Beauregard.
Speaker 3: There you go. Yeah. There you go.
Speaker 6: For doing plugs, I I have a, like-
Speaker 3: Speakers, man. I know you got the speakers.
And get, yo, shout out to the speaker man right here. Yeah, yeah, that's- He got some stuff happening. That could
Speaker 6: be its own podcast episode. Speaker building, yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm serious, man.
Speaker 6: I also help run a- He,
Speaker 3: he customize stuff
Speaker 6: though- Yeah ... with the speakers, yeah. I also help run a YouTube channel called Nevs TV.
Anybody wants to check it out, um, it's filmed in, in Brooklyn. But we get a lot of really- Nevs TV, isn't it? ... really great artists coming through- Yeah ... and, and filming sets on the Brooklyn rooftop. Um- Nice ... so yeah, check it out. YouTube, Nevs TV, on all the social medias- Platforms ... Nevs TV, so N-E-V-S.
Speaker 4: Gotta shout out Brandon, who I think might have perfect attendance to Blends. Oh,
Speaker 5: yeah. Yeah, Brandon I think
Speaker 3: has been to every single one. Brandon's like at every one, man. Yeah. Every time I see him, shout out to you guys for giving, facilitating him.
He's, he's always at least the first guy up there, man. He's the
Speaker 6: best.
Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's awesome, man.
Speaker 5: He's got his s- He might be
Speaker 6: the Blends' biggest fan,
Speaker 5: yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he's got his signature move. Um-
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Which [01:04:00] is like the Brandon one-two punch- That's right. Yeah, yeah ... where he, he plays a track and then he plays the Weird Al parody of that track.
Speaker 3: Nice. Or what it's
Speaker 4: sampled
Speaker 5: from.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's, that's true too. Yeah.
Speaker 3: He's... Yeah. That's what, that's what's up. Shout out to Brandon and all the guys that come out to Blends with Friends- Yeah ... and thank you guys for coming onto the show. Thanks for having us. Thank you. We gotta have you guys back here soon- Appreciate it
in another year. We need another four or five years, but anyway.
Speaker 6: Appreciate- Yeah. ... what you're doing. I mean- Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for doing this. Yeah. I, I, you know-
Speaker 3: Yeah, we spoke, man,
Speaker 6: Not to, not to... I know that we're running out of time, but- No, that's good ... you know, when I used to podcast, I started the podcast with the same idea where, like, I felt like I was surrounded by talented people-
Speaker 3: Yeah
Speaker 6: that I just wanted to, like, t- bring to more people- Spotlight. Spotlight, yeah ... and give a voice to. Exactly, so I, I appreciate what you're doing. Yeah, man. We
Speaker 3: appreciate what you're doing. And I appreciate what you guys are doing, and this- Yeah ... is one of the reasons why I said I brought, you know, you know, just that you guys, but all, everyone around town who's actually contributing to the community, who's keeping it real, you know, and not just trying to make a dollar and just- Yeah
actually helping the community. So this is why I wanna highlight. Oh,
Speaker 5: I'm trying to make a dollar. I'm just not good
Speaker 3: at it. You just bring that tractor back [01:05:00] out, man. Man, that's true, yeah. You know, and you, you... You wanna buy
Speaker 5: it? You wanna buy a 10-year-old tractor controller with
Speaker 3: the gear stick in it? Perfect plug for it, man.
All right, well thank you guys again. Thanks for having us. And we'll see you soon. Yeah. Joe. Take it away, Joe.