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Tony Technique and Tim welcome veteran DJ, remixer, producer, turntablist, and label manager DJ Halo (Jeep Ward) to the Vinyl Underground Podcast. Halo recounts starting to DJ in 1997, upgrading to Technics 1200s, and surviving a life-changing incident at 22 when he was run over by two cars, with music becoming part of his rehab. He discusses early radio work in Arkansas where his hip-hop/R&B station surged in ratings before being sold, his roots in hip-hop through tapes like NWA and Public Enemy, and his approach to remixing and production in Ableton. Halo details touring and DJ runs, his time in Oakland, and current projects including an Ice-T release and label distribution challenges driven by AI-era legal scrutiny. He shares where to find his radio shows and offers advice for DJs to learn manual mixing.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
02:48 Halo Joins the Show
04:36 Origin Story and DJ Name
05:27 First Turntables and Gear Tips
07:43 Accident and Recovery
10:28 Radio Career in Arkansas
13:47 Early Hip Hop Influences
17:04 Remixes and Beatmaking Process
21:15 Ableton Setup and Workflow
23:04 Label Work and Legal Battles
27:25 AI Music and Spotify Concerns
30:14 Touring and Growing Up
34:12 NYC Connections and Breakthrough
35:06 Knitting Factory Crew
36:01 Learning to Mix
37:03 NYC Scene Memories
40:09 Touring and West Coast
42:19 Fake Four Records Era
44:18 Oakland First Fridays
45:59 Bay Life and Money
49:23 Hustle Mindset Origins
52:50 New Blue Records Update
56:44 London Yoga Meets Goldie
01:00:44 Ibiza DJ Conference
01:02:39 Where to Find Halo
01:04:42 Advice and Farewell
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.
09 Vinyl Underground - Jeep
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[00:00:00] [00:01:00] Welcome back party people to the Vinyl Underground Podcast.
Speaker: My name is Tony Technique and I got my boy, Tim. You know what's up? We're back here for 2026. We got some great guests lined up for this year, but [00:02:00] tonight we are bringing a veteran into the game. Veteran, right? Veteran the game. He is a legend.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: Uh, the guy's been around. He's done some tours with some like, uh, hip hop acts.
He does radio shows. He's a remixer, he's an artist. Uh, he's a turntableist. Uh, this guy has a collection of music that you could, you can never. Even understand, and I'm happy to have him finally have him on the show. I mean, it's been, I've been trying to get him on for like, at least, I think since last year when we, uh, started the show.
Yes, yes. And I was, I was trying to get him, get him on. But luckily we're here now and I hope you guys enjoy it. DJ Halo is here with the Vinyl Underground Podcast. Yo
Speaker 2: Root
DJ Halo: mans in the back, but not enough to murder congressmen and get to the trilateral commission with a tech 'cause they pull the strings of the scene government. It's like Jim Henson and the methods of the threat.
Tony: Welcome to the show, my man, DJ Halo.
DJ Halo: What up, man? Thanks for having me.
Tony: Halo doesn't suck. Just get, you didn't know.
Tim: Mm-hmm.
Tony: Um, but gosh, you know what, um, been, it's been a while. I mean, we, we spoke about coming [00:03:00] on the show like last year and, and it's when we first started the show and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna get you on.
But, you know, just lay some ground first with, with, you know, some previous guests. And I think right now we're in a good position to, to have you here and, and, and tell us. Yeah. I appreciate it. Tell us your story. I mean, we even, you know, we, you know, we been looking you up and know about, you know, your history as a, as a, as a dj, as a re a remixer, a producer.
DJ Halo: Mm-hmm.
Tony: Um, and torn with some, some hip hop, you know, acts and stuff like that. And shit, you got quite, quite an extensive rap rap sheet.
Tim: Yes.
DJ Halo: Yeah, I do. Yeah. In that sense and in a real sense
Tim: I like that. The second part's amazing. Yeah.
DJ Halo: But yeah, man, like when we chopped it up last year, I was like, it was, it was cool.
Like, I really like vibed with you and I was excited to come on. And I'm not the type of dude who's like, I'm mean a, I'm like, I'm busy. I'm always doing a hundred things. So it's like I'm not gonna, I don't wanna be up anybody's ass [00:04:00] about like, yo man put me on son. You know? But like, I, I'm, I'm glad that we've, we've been able to circle back on this man, and it's always cool to like, see you around town.
Yeah. Like, you're, you're a really good citizen of the DJ community. Thank you, bro. You know, so I, I want to give a hats off to you. You, bro, like, you'd be showing up and showing out, you know, I see you at events too, right? I wish I were more out at more events, to be honest. Yeah. But yeah, like when I'm, when I'm out, I, I always, I always catch up with you, so,
Tony: yeah.
That's good. Good, good. We, I'm glad we connected, um, and shit, you know, and I just been watching you do your thing and you're always into something, man. So tell me, what are you on now, man? I mean,
DJ Halo: well so what,
Tony: wait, so let's rewind. First of all, who are, okay, so who is DJ Halo doesn't suck.
DJ Halo: Sure. So I am my real name is Jeep Ward and I am DJ Halo.
And the reason I am DJ Halo, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna go all the way back to the beginning. So I had a lot of rap name, or like rap names, [00:05:00] DJ names. When I was coming up, I was a graffiti writer, so I always used my graffiti moniker as my DJ name. And before I was DJ Halo, I was the magnanimous vein one. I wrote it at all as all one word.
Word
Joe Woolworth: guess is Manne game.
DJ Halo: Exactly. Magnanimous game vein one. And people were like, who the fuck is vone? But but none of those names ever really caught on. You know, like I, I came up, I started DJing in 1997. I got like a, a DJ in the, it's all in my bio, but like, I got a DJ in the box set up, like for my, you know, for my birthday.
Really got into it and, you know, saved up money bought, like, so this is gonna be aging myself a lot. So my fir I saved up $1,200 to buy two tech twelves, A PMC oh three vestex, the Chrome one, which was like their two cha. They're like. Ba Bargain Basement. Two channel Mixers.
Tony: Mixers. Yeah. [00:06:00]
DJ Halo: 'cause I had the DJ Jazzy Jeff Scratch, master mixer that was part of my DJ in the box with these two shitty belt drive Gemini turntables, which were like the worst.
Okay, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna already break the fourth wall. If you are going to DJ or start to learn to dj, get good gear I mean, there, there are, like
Tony: from the master,
DJ Halo: there are cheap controllers out there that you can use if that's what you're gonna do. But if you're gonna get turntables, get direct drive turntables, do not some get anything else because you're gonna develop bad habits from having to overcome the shittiness of a direct drive turntable.
So don't do it.
Tony: Yep. Nice.
DJ Halo: Alright. So flash forward, $1,200 got me two tech 12 hundreds, a mixer, a mic, and a pair of headphones from Bless Abracadabra Music out there in Long Island. I wanna say it was Ron, like Ron Coner. Ah. Anyway, um, so saved up, got those turntables, and then just like,
Tony: what age were you?[00:07:00]
DJ Halo: I was 19 when I got my first like legit turntables. Yeah. Um,
Tony: I bought a pair
DJ Halo: took of, used 1210s off a kid at school and, but they were like messed up. They had like the penny glued on the to arm and whatnot, you know,
Tim: piece of tape.
DJ Halo: It was definitely on some, yeah, it was, it was definitely on some like cutting on twelves glued with the penny, you know.
So
Tony: his actual song that, that, that, that think there's a lyric
DJ Halo: from Yeah. Yeah. That, that's like a real technique that like people glue a penny on their head. Shell,
Tim: yes.
DJ Halo: But so like really took to it and I DJ'ed, um, I had like like week. I was DJing like twice a week in Long Island for like two years of my college.
And then, um, then disaster struck. Mm-hmm. So when I was 22 years old, and I hate to like, lead with this 'cause it's not something that defines me as a person, but it is something that is a major thing that happened to me. So at 22 I was run over by two cars in the [00:08:00] same incident. The second car that ran me over dragged me like 50 yards under the car.
I got spit out from under the car. A guy pulled over who happened to be a Nassau County cop. Sadly he was not working at the time, otherwise I'd be rich and probably not talking to you fellas possible. But unfortunately he was on his way to work. Yeah. That being said, he got out and was like, oh shit.
There's a kid bleeding to death in the middle of the street. So that's exactly what happened is I, I bled to death and just like woke the fuck up for no reason. Wow. To this day, nobody understands why. I just like. And
Tony: how old were you again?
DJ Halo: Decided to be alive again. 22. I was 22. 22. Yeah.
Tony: Holy
DJ Halo: shit man.
So tore two nerves in my left shoulder. The C five and C six nerves. I mean, nobody here is a physician. That doesn't mean anything to you, but basically it controls your rotator cuff. So I had like a, an operation to reconnect it. Another funny aspect of that is I, despite my hair, I'm actually a [00:09:00] ginger, like a undercover ginger.
Mm-hmm. And, um, so local anesthetic needs to be calibrated in a different way for people who are redheaded, for whatever reason, the recessive gene, you metabolize local anesthetic in a different way. Wow. They did not under, they did not know that because my hair is brown. And so I woke up in the middle of this 10 hour surgery.
Like, it was like, that's
Tony: some shit to go through that 22, man. I'm sorry,
DJ Halo: man. Oh no. I mean, it, it's, honestly, what's crazy is I have zero trauma associated to. Any of, any of this or that? Like to me's like kind of a funny story?
Tony: Yes. This, this, this obviously you emerged from this, you know, trauma and everything or this tragedy and you said, you know, you got into music and was the music like you're saving?
DJ Halo: Yeah. So you Music was part of my rehab was part of my rehab. So to this day, I don't really have much rotator cuff motion in my left arm, but like I figured out how to make [00:10:00] it work. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I just kept DJing and like pretty much my entire life, all the doors that were opened up to me were the, the opportunities that I chased down were all stemming from DJing.
Mm. Like if I, if I hadn't been DJing, I, I wouldn't have done any of the stuff that I, that I've done.
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
DJ Halo: So it's like, it's all interconnected because of DJing and like I just carved my own life. Yeah. Which to be honest, like. When I was in, in college, I was going to college for audio radio engineering.
So I have like a four year degree from Hofstra and Audio radio engineering. And so like when I got outta college, I was like hardcore trying to get on the radio, be a radio host engineering. I was like assistant engineer to a cumulus group, like right outta college. Um, and like I even was like an on-air personality in Arkansas, like right outta college.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out. It was, it's, it's kind of a funny story, [00:11:00] but so like this, this station that I was on was like essentially a hip hop and RB station, but they call it dance format. 'cause at the time it was 2003, you know, hip hop still had a cachet about it, especially in the south. Right.
So they called it dance music and there were some dance tracks like, you know, like Daniel Bedingfield or whatever were worked in there. But it was mostly rap stuff. Like, it was the first time I ever heard the Yin yang twins or any, any of the like, people who kind of blew up in, in a few years later.
Mm-hmm. Um. So like, I killed it. 'cause like I was like, I had been going long, I'd been living in Long Island for like four years, so I had a kind of a New York accent and like, you know, I was like talking the talk and people were like, who is this guy? He doesn't sound like anybody for, you know, and I'm like saying all these things about rap stuff and, and like I had free reign to do whatever I wanted on that station.
Like they didn't know what to do with the format. And I just came down there and was like stealing playlists from Hot 97 and just like doing whatever I wanted. And it was going over huge. Oh wow. To the point where it was like if you were 30 or under, you were listening to my station, that was it. [00:12:00] Wow. You know, like I could go out to a store and nobody knew what I looked like.
Mm-hmm. Because I was on the radio. But I could go out to a store and be like, Hey man, you ever heard a Jeep Ward behind the board? They'd be like, yeah,
Joe Woolworth: that guy's amazing.
DJ Halo: And I'd be like, oh, word. Yeah. You know, like it was, it was crazy. It was crazy. I was like a superstar overnight. Yeah. Right, right. You know.
Wow. But unfortunately. What happened was, it was so popular, people like parents and stuff started being like, yo, like nah, like we can't have our kids, you know, the devil music or whatever, whatever. So it's a battle belt. Yeah. So basically it was like a local station group. It wasn't like a big, like a Viacom or anything like that.
It was a local two station group, like it was my station and then the top 40 station. And like within one book we went from, my station was like second to last or dead, last to number three, and the top 40 sister station was number one in that next book. Like that's an amazing turnaround.
Tim: It is. Wow.
DJ Halo: Right.
Um, so basically the owner folded [00:13:00] under pressure from people in his church and he met, but like he, I'll be down. He had an easy out because there had been a consortium of Spanish broadcasters who were like, really, really pitching him to get the signal of my station that I was on. And finally he was like, you know what, like I can't deal with.
Annoyance of these people like calling me and being problematic. I, you know, yes, we're making money, we're killing it, but it's, it's not worth it to me. So he made a, a, a really smart lateral decision. Yeah. You know, there's an exploding Latino population in the area.
Joe Woolworth: Yes.
DJ Halo: He gave him a land, like, you know.
They're the flagship Latin station to this day, still in that area.
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
DJ Halo: So, you know. Wow. So he, he made a good lateral decision. Yeah. Right. And like, I can't blame him, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, great. Take the signal off my hands. It's been doing nothing until this kid came down here, you know? Wow. So, yeah.
So it was a,
Tony: how'd you get into hip hop though, for like, I mean, I know you guys, I'm talking about when
DJ Halo: started I got into wrap.
Tony: Yeah.
DJ Halo: I got into wrap. My sister had the tape, NWA and the Posse back in 88. Mm-hmm. And I like, went into her room, stole [00:14:00] it, high-speed, dubbed it on and like that, put it back.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And so I would do that. And
Tony: the high speed dub.
DJ Halo: Yeah. The high speeded dub. Mm-hmm. Again, dating myself quite, quite hard, but but also like making mixed tapes with the like play pause rather than stopping tape. Because if you stop the tape tape it makes the,
Joe Woolworth: I used to make mixed tapes, but with two ca deck.
DJ Halo: Exactly. Exactly. You know, and you had to pause the recording tape. 'cause if you hit stop it made a click in between songs. Right. That was like, that was, that was the Ill way to like, get the smooth mix, you know, and like timing. Like, 'cause you had to fast forward and get the timing Exactly right. So you're like, you know, timing it, so like, the lead in is, you know Yeah.
A craft. I was, I was nuts
Tim: to that. There's an art to that.
DJ Halo: Yeah. I was totally, I was totally that dude who, and like, as a young man, I was like, so like, I just wanted, I just wanted a woman to love me and I was like. Not an attractive kid, you know what I mean? So like, I was like always making mix tapes for girls and they're like, eh, like what?
What the fuck? Ice Cube and Blind Melon and same [00:15:00] tape, you know?
Tim: Yeah. Well, they weren't the ones man.
DJ Halo: Exactly, exactly.
Joe Woolworth: Their
Tim: brains were a one.
DJ Halo: Right. But so I, I just steal rap tapes from my sister. Mm. And that sort of like, put me on to like, just going to the rap section at the tape store. Um, I, this is a funny story.
I, I stole a copy of Public Enemies, takes a Nation Abil Millions to hold this back. I'd never, I didn't, I knew of Public Enemy 'cause I was like, I was that kid who was always reading the liner notes and like, it felt like, holy shit. Like, are all these dudes like hanging out and like partying together?
Because like, you got like De La Soul thanking Public Enemy and thanking NWA and thanking iced tea and you're just like,
Tony: was Public Enemy one of your favorite or
DJ Halo: Public Enemy is my favorite.
Joe Woolworth: Wow.
DJ Halo: Is my favorite rap group of all time.
Tony: Is it? Oh yeah.
DJ Halo: Yeah. I mean, I know that they have their own, like, you know Terminator X who lives in this area.
He will tell you a different story, you know, but what, regardless of whatever their [00:16:00] business practices were, public Enemy, in my mind, is the most important music that's, that's been in hip hop, like what he said, and like, unfortunately how sort of flavor Flav in his antics kind of undercut that.
Tim: Mm.
DJ Halo: But. You know, Flav is also right now like a, a, a model citizen, like, you know, sponsoring the like women's volleyball team and it's crazy, you know, all nuts in the Olympics and it's like, that's that's amazing.
Yeah. Yeah. I, I love to see something like that, you know,
Tim: it's good human story too,
DJ Halo: right? I mean, going from getting pulled over on his bike with two pounds of weed in his pocket mm-hmm. To like sponsoring the US volleyball
Tim: team. You just never know the evolution of
DJ Halo: Yeah. I mean, that, that's what's amazing about these rap moguls now Yeah.
Is like they're, they're like out in the world doing, you know, making, doing real
Tim: stuff.
DJ Halo: Yeah. You know,
Tim: they survived and kind of got lucky and also,
DJ Halo: yeah.
Tim: Changed.
Tony: There's so, so many. I mean, you know, gosh, speaking of, I was going through your, um. Through your IG and like looking at some of the um, you know, some of your mixes and stuff and some of the hip hop that you were bringing out from, you [00:17:00] know, back in the eighties and nineties and stuff.
Mm-hmm. There's so much good hip hop back in that time. There so many
Tim: good things in there.
Tony: Um, and I know, I know as far as remixes, man remixes, um, shoot, I, I used to love when we put on the radio station Right. And like, Friday, Saturday night mixes and they would put like your song like you played, but a remix of it.
Yes. And that was the most exciting part. Oh yeah. And that's why I said used to like a remix. How many re remixes you've been, have you done any like heap hip hop?
DJ Halo: Oh yeah, of course.
Tony: Remixes.
DJ Halo: Yeah. I have, I have tons. I, I'm like, I'm totally that dude that like, I can play you a million beats and you'd be like, this is crazy.
Where is this? And I'll be like, just on a hard drive, bro.
Joe Woolworth: Right, right, right.
DJ Halo: And like, what's nuts is like, so like I own and run my own record label as well as run another record label, and I just like, I can't find the time to put out my own music stuff. Yeah. You know what I mean? And like, so much of my stuff is, is remixes that like, I can't put out.
You know, I mean, there's some people that I know I could be, you know, like I did a really good remix of, um, St. Francis's Slowdown Gandhi. Like, if I wanted to, I could be [00:18:00] like, yo, Frank, like, can I put this out? Like, whatever, I'll give 50%. And he'd be like, I don't care. But like, you know, I'm all, I've also done like a remix of you know Eric B and Rakim Juice know the Ledge.
Mm. Like, ra m's Never gonna be cool with me putting out that remix. You know? Or I, maybe, maybe he would, I don't know. Yeah. But like, do I want to engage in the right time and effort to speak with his team and get it out? Yeah. When I could just strip out the vocal and just like. Re-edit the beat and be like, here's an instrumental.
Tony: Well, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I know that even if there's unofficial, I mean, I know you're, you have a passion for just making remixes and, you know,
DJ Halo: well, I, the reason I like making remixes is because it's an easier way, like, following a vocal is an easier way for me to create a more dynamic sound. Yeah. Versus just trying to think up the dynamics on my own, or like, just count, like, okay, I'm, I'm 16 bars into this time to change to something else, which feels, in some ways a little disingenuous to me.
[00:19:00] Um, but, you know, I, I've never been somebody who like follows a, you know, 'cause there's like templates. It's like you got your eight bar intro, your 16 bar verse, your eight bar hook or whatever. And I've, I try to keep that format loosely in my mind, but sometimes it's like, I'll have a 12 bar intro or a 10 bar intro and then like mm-hmm.
20 flower bar verse or whatever, you know, it's, it's like a feeling for me. Yeah. But yes, I love remixes
Tony: for a lot of reason. And that's thing, it's, it's, to me, it's an art, right? Yeah. I mean, I think, I think if you can match together and make something else, you know, just as good as what the original sounds, but, but with, with your, you know, with your expression on it.
Mm-hmm. You know, it's a beautiful thing and I love, I love remixing and um mm-hmm. It's one, even if it's, you know, just anything, you know what I'm saying? And I used to do that a lot actually with hip hop.
DJ Halo: Sure.
Tony: You know, as well in New York.
DJ Halo: So yeah. A ton of, a ton of the early remixes that I did. And like, I started making beats sort of early, but didn't start taking it seriously until later in life.[00:20:00]
So like when I was in college, I was using like acid 1.0 and like you know, like weird programs like Orion, which is like
Tony: Sound Forge.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Oh, sound Forge pace special. Like, that was like how you could, you know, make loop beats.
Tony: Mm-hmm. So, so I'll just explain, I dunno, one of the DJs I was speaking to.
You know, 'cause back then we didn't have like a, you know, we didn't have splice.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Or,
Tony: or
DJ Halo: quantitation. Like, you better chop that on time, or else you can
Tony: phoned, you know, software was just ski sequencing software, correct. Mm-hmm. And, and, and samples would be leaving your freaking cassette record the jazz station all night.
Mm-hmm. So you can take that recording and make samples out of it, and you're a Kai Sampler, whatever. Yeah. That was a process, bro.
DJ Halo: Yeah.
Tony: You know, and, um, you know, now it's like, instant man. Yeah. You know, it's so, it's so, you know, how do, how, what do you, you still producing?
DJ Halo: Yeah. I actually have a bun. So I got sick like a month ago, and like, I'll go through spurts of making beats.
So I hadn't made any beats since January [00:21:00] 20, 25. Mm. Right. And January I made 15 beats. And then like, and, and I'm like all over the place. Like I'll make some trip hop stuff, some hip hop stuff, or, and I also like, I'm really into drum and bass and jungle. Mm-hmm. Music. What, what tools
Tony: do you use?
DJ Halo: Pardon?
Tony: What tools do you use?
DJ Halo: I use exclusively Ableton.
Tony: Ableton
DJ Halo: And, and I have like physical interfaces. I'll do drum ideas. I have a TRO six, which is not the 6 0 6, but it's a TRO six is, it's just a drum machine, but you can sequence on it. Um, but it's only drum sounds. There's no melody whatsoever. So it's like you can build a cool drum pattern.
And like I've done like remixes with like vinyl acapellas using the drum machine. There's actually a video of me remixing the grouch. Um. Using my TRO six. Nice. But yeah, I mean I, I, I've used like onboard gear, like I used to have a 3 0 3 groove box that a homie of mine in Chicago gave me when I was out there.
Um, and that was [00:22:00] like a really fun thing. So 3 0 3 is like where the like acid house sound comes from? Yes. They're like, wham, wham. And like, I used to like just get stoned and just like, because it's a battery powered thing, so I just like get stoned and like sit on my couch and just like turn the knob with the headphones on and be like, just Quest,
Tony: continue, continue to loop.
DJ Halo: Like watching family guy with no sound and just hearing this like sign wave.
Tim: Mm-hmm. Good way to creep into it, man. Yeah. And just to assimilate more wisdom. Yeah,
DJ Halo: exactly.
Tony: And, and yeah, I mean, and, and you know, pro I mean, producing is, is quite, quite time consuming, man. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure that, you know, you've, you try to find time for that as well.
DJ Halo: Yeah, I mean part of, part of, part of what makes me not produce as much is like, sometimes, you know how sometimes you're just like, you just. Struggling with a beat, you're just like, God damnit, I can't even, it
Tony: doesn't come in the first five minutes. Forget it, bro.
DJ Halo: Yeah, exactly. Where it's like I could, I could struggle with a beat for an hour or I could scratch for half an hour and feel real good about myself,
Tim: myself.
Yeah. Yeah.
Tony: Feel more satisfied. Either make [00:23:00] making a mix for an hour than trying to make a beat.
Tim: Yeah,
DJ Halo: right. Exactly. Um, but so coming back to recent productions Yeah. Banged out like eight tracks. Um, one of them is actually a remix of so I have, it's been a real pain in the ass to try and get it cleared, but, um, I have three new songs from Ice Tea with mc homeless on them and remixes of, of the three songs as well.
And I remixed one of them as well. It's gonna be on a, like, super limited CD version that we're putting on, but, but not on the vinyl. Just 'cause I turned in the parts well before I did the remix, so. Wow. But I might, I might just for my own. Do a limited seven inch with like, my remix is the B side.
Okay. But, um, so this is actually a funny industry thing. So I have been engaged with the legal department of my distributor. I'm not gonna call 'em out 'cause I do like my distributor, they're great. But legal has been insane [00:24:00] lately. And I guarantee this is across the board. It's not just my distributor, it's every distributor because of AI music.
Like, oh man. Yeah. If you say, oh, I got ice tea on a verse, or Oh, ant made this beat, or whatever. So I'm gonna tell you two stories about dealing with legal. That was just, that's been insane. Yeah. So
Tony: you guys need to hear this because this has been getting crazy with Spotify and now AI music and, you know, there's so many, so many things are changing so fast,
DJ Halo: so fast, fast.
Like it was almost overnight that, that I've been having these problems. Wow. So I took on a rapper and his catalog, this guy by the name of B Dolan his new label, glaring typo, is gonna be distributed through through. My distribution platform. What's up? B Hello, glaring Typo fans. And, um, so he had some, he had ASAP Rock features Wow.
And beats from Ant On on projects. And so they, they flagged it and were like, Hey, these are such and such artists that we need further [00:25:00] paperwork. Okay. And so a while ago I had interviewed I got into a third interview to be a director position at Rhyme Stairs. And unfortunately I didn't get to get the job.
But I did make friends with their COO. And so I reached out to him and was like, Hey man, we're we're having problems with my distributor. Like, can you just sign off on this language? And he was like, yeah, sure, no problem. So I get a PDF of all the language that they had. Agreed to. Mm-hmm. Signed by the COO of Rhymesayers.
You can look it up. Look it up.
Tony: Holy shit.
DJ Halo: You know? And they were like, this is not good enough. We need a contract from management as well. And I was like, you gotta be kidding me. And they're like, we, we can't, we can't prove. And I'm like, are you kidding me right now? Mm. Like, so that there was that one thing.
Right. And then this iced tea thing was like, I have [00:26:00] a, a representative of him, like a, a approved representative of his camp mm-hmm. Signing off on this. And they still wouldn't take it because, and like, I don't under, and for me, especially with the ice tea thing, it's like I can't put a contract in front of Icet 'cause then it's gonna cost me another 10 grand.
Right. Like, I got a really good deal on this verse because it was through a guy who used to be his hype man or whatever. So like, I can't, you know. It's, it's hard for me to like come to his team and be like, Hey man, I, I really need a signature. Yeah, yeah. Right. Because otherwise that's just definitely gonna cost me some more money.
Yeah. Which is like, I'm, I don't need to drop five grand in this project, you know? So, yeah. Legal legal is insane.
Tim: That is crazy.
DJ Halo: You know, so it's like the digital may never come out of this project. I mean, the physical's gonna come out
Tim: Okay.
DJ Halo: Period. It's, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I didn't spend all that money to get this thing done and like, you know, have this designs done and like, create [00:27:00] all, everything that I've created.
Right. To like, just be like, well, I guess I'm done.
Tony: That is a big push nowadays for physical now, man. You know? Mm-hmm. We're doing CD and fine. I think people are more now. Willing to just because Yeah. You know, streaming and all that, it just doesn't feel personal.
DJ Halo: Yeah,
Tony: right. When you're having music and you wanna enjoy music, you know, you have good point.
You put it on. Right. Yeah. It feels special, you know? Um, and, and I'm hoping, yeah. I mean, right now, man, just there's like with the AI music, man, how do you feel about that? But you think of for that's going man,
DJ Halo: I mean, I feel like I love things like the soul version of Killing in the name of, right. Mm-hmm. I lo I love that somebody made that.
Right. Now what you gotta do is you gotta turn around and go to your favorite soul band and say, make this, 'cause it's a cover, it's an easy thing to clear. You know, you don't gotta talk, you don't gotta talk with Mass Appeal or Zach di Roka or Epic or anything like that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All you gotta do is, is make it happen.
Right. And so, like, something like [00:28:00] that in the same way that like, I use AI to iterate designs and be like, oh, this is, this is something cool. I can make this. Now, you know what I mean? Like, I can build something with this thing as a piece. Right. In the same way that Canva or whatever, you know what I mean?
Like those templates, if you're a designer, those templates save you a lot of time, so you can get down to the business of being creative and not fucking around with your formatting.
Tim: Mm-hmm.
DJ Halo: Right. Which is also kind of people's contention about using sync or whatever. So it's a slippery slope. Yeah, I get it.
Yeah. But like I, the genie outta the bottle as far as AI goes.
Tony: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's good, you know, it's good. It's good to I think, you know, to, to do some ta save time on tasks mm-hmm. That, that, you know, right. We can spend all day on, but
DJ Halo: Right.
Tony: Like you said, you know, it could be a slippery slope and Well, it's also, but as far as music, man, I think, I think I'm hoping, you know, um, it's [00:29:00] just doesn't get.
Too watered down with, with ai.
DJ Halo: I agree. My concern is it's so did you all know any of the like, sort of ghost groups that Spotify had? I mean a lot in the lo-fi hip hop realm and whatnot. So basically they paid these production houses a flat fee. Wow. Like to produce this music, and then they would just put it up and put it in, like pack these playlists with the music that they're making the money on.
Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Because they paid out the people who actually made the music. Right. And like the part of them making that music is they sign an NDA. So it's like if you go public with this, your life is over. Ah. Possibly. In a real sense.
Tony: Damn. Yeah. I mean, you know, but we'll see. We'll see how it turns out.
I mean, it's always, that's fascinating.
DJ Halo: It's capitalism versus creativity, you know what I mean? Like what, who's, who's gonna win the people with the money or the people with the ideas? Because the people with the [00:30:00] money rarely have ideas.
Tony: Yeah.
DJ Halo: You know what, what I mean, and I'm talking about you too, Elon Musk.
You ain't got no ideas, bro. You stood on the shoulders of giants and made a ton of money.
Tony: Go
Joe Woolworth: fuck yourself.
Tony: Yeah. Put all the guys on.
Joe Woolworth: Mm-hmm.
Tony: Have you been on tour anytime? Recently
DJ Halo: ago. I mean, I, I recently did a, like, just a four date run up in the northeast. Did New York City two dates in Connecticut and a date in Massachusetts.
Tony: With who? With, with
DJ Halo: It was, no, I was just DJ dates. Yeah. So I was at Union Pool in Brooklyn, and then I was at a place called Sally's in Stanford, a place called Ordinary in New Haven. And then like a record shop that homies own in Massachusetts called Vinyl Index.
Tony: Alright. Nice.
DJ Halo: Yeah.
Tony: Oh yeah. Vice
DJ Halo: versa.
It was good times. And I got to like, part of what I love about touring is like from touring so much and so often it's like I made friends all over the country. So it's like I get to catch up with people who I wouldn't see in a, on a normal, you know, on a normal basis. So like, my best friend in the world lives in, in Rhode [00:31:00] Island, right?
Like, I've known this kid since I was five years old. We like, this is a legit story. Yeah. We met on the naughty steps in preschool. Yes. Not just meeting in preschool, but on the naughty steps. Right? Like being like, oh shit, what are you in for?
Tony: That's awesome, man. So you're still friends?
DJ Halo: Yeah. Yeah. So, so I got to, I stayed with him.
What? This is actually a funny story too. So when I stayed with him, I stayed with him two nights in a row and his daughter was like, Jeep staying with us again. Like, that's weird,
Tony: right?
DJ Halo: Doesn't he have his own house? Like, doesn't he have a wife? And like, what's so strange is, is my homie like when we were young.
When we were young, he was like a reckless kid. So like one summer he basically like lived in my house 'cause he like didn't want to deal with his mom. And so he lived in my basement like it was, I called it refugee summer 'cause like all summer, like I was so, I was like a little hustler when I was young.
I was like managing like 30 lawns when I was like 12, 13 years old. Yeah. And so
Tim: you grind always [00:32:00] brother. Yeah. That is clear so far.
DJ Halo: So, so like my, my dad became a realtor like when I was in middle school. So all of a sudden he would like write me into contracts. Like I'd be like scraping, you know, mold off somebody's porch or like rebuilding their fence or planting a tree.
Putting it in a new mailbox or whatever, or like, you know, you want a basketball hoop in there, my son will do it, right. So like all summer before I could like actually have a job I'd, I would like wake up at like 8:00 AM and like throw my mower in. My dad, in the back of my dad's, like in my dad's like real estate car, the trunk.
And like he would drop me off like at a like two, three job sites over the course of the day. I'd come home with like 200, 300 bucks cash in, in hand and just like spend it all on weed and beer, you know?
Tim: That's good. That's good money back then.
DJ Halo: Yeah. I mean, it was crazy. I mean like if, if all day. Yeah. Well, you know, I mean I also, like when I got into high school I was like hustling on a different level and like making a lot more money, you know?
And what's [00:33:00] crazy is doing stuff like that, like you realize you see these like. You understand these accounting terms? Yeah. Like with, without like understanding the terminology, the nuance. Sure, sure. But you understand what being, you know, product rich Yep. And cash poor. Yes. Those type of things. And how to like, you know what I mean?
Because it's like, if you're product rich or cash rich, you gotta change that real fast because like somebody's try and get you. Mm-hmm. You know, and like I grew up in an affluent area, Connecticut, and people were scared of me. So like I didn't have too much static. But at the same time, you know, rough five people wanna come up to you, even if they're scared of you is five of 'em, you know?
Yeah.
Tony: Yeah. Shit. Connecticut. Where in Connecticut?
DJ Halo: I grew, I graduated from high school in a place called Westin, which is a sort of interior from like Westport, Connecticut, so. Mm-hmm. So like the Fairfield County area, like the shore area of like, right. 45 minutes to New York City from there. So like, I was in and outta New York.
I was taking the train into New York by myself at [00:34:00] like 11.
Joe Woolworth: Yeah.
DJ Halo: You know, and this is like back when like Grand Central was a dangerous place, you know, like you get into Grand Central, you like, you gotta have your head on streets and they'll put you up against the wall and be like, gimme your shit kid.
Tony: Um, and, and did you ever like, make it down into the city? I mean, when, when did you start? Did you have some time in the city? Doing some, some hip hop, like with some hip hop groups? Like, so
DJ Halo: The real Keith and guys would, how
Tony: did you try to meet those guys? Cool. Keith
DJ Halo: such Sonic. So my real like starting to be.
A DJ in the way of like, oh, this can be a living. Or like, I could be doing this as a, as a full-time thing, right? Not just like, oh, you know, I'll play on the weekends or whatever. Um, I like went out to a show with a friend of mine who's like an entertainment writer. Shout to my man, Adam Bernard. What up dog?
Mm-hmm. Um, and he took me to a show at the Knitting Factory by this crew from Brooklyn called Mind Spray. And I was like, super into what they were [00:35:00] doing. Like it was, they were like, like the, the like East Coast Anticon. It was like three DJs and 10 MCs, and they all had subgroups within that group of MCs and stuff.
And they threw this monthly at the Knitting Factory back when it was on Leonard Street, not the one in Brooklyn. And that one's closed down anyway, but um, they threw like a really cracking event at the knitting factory. And so I was like really into what they were doing. So I talked to, um, their like.
You know, they were like a, you know, Wu-Tang clan or whatever the, the rza of their group mm-hmm. Who was not a producer, but he was like, you know, one of the main rappers. And I was like, yo, I'm, I'm really into what y'all are doing. Like, I, I wanna be, basically was like, I wanna be down, I'm a dj, I can dj. And I had, and what made them be like, yeah, sure, we'll give you a chance, is I had Serato and I was like the only person they knew who had Serato at the time.
Mm-hmm. So it was like I could, you know, mix and scratch with their beats versus, you know, using a CD and scratch scratching over the, like, the [00:36:00] debt or the CD or whatever. Mm-hmm. So that's what like, got me in and like, at that time, I didn't even really understand like when I started DJing, all I wanted to do was scratch.
And I thought like mixing records was like corny house DJ stuff, you know, even though I was like a rave kid, I went down, you know, and most of the raves in the nineties were like house and trance and whatnot. Mm-hmm. You know, like if you were lucky there was a jungle and drum bass room. Yeah. Or you could go to, you know.
Concrete jungle on a Thursday of pyramid. Um, but so, you know, I didn't really know how to like blend two records even at that time. Right. And like, BPMs weren't part of like what Serato was. Like CDJs were the only thing they would read a BPM. Right. And even at that time, like, I didn't even really understand what BPMs were.
Accounting bars. Like, I have no idea
Tim: briefly to interrupt. So just follow. Are we late nineties, early 2000? What?
DJ Halo: This is early two thousands trying to, so this 2000? Yeah.
Default_2026-04-15_4: Just
Tim: to kind of follow the evolution.
Default_2026-04-15_4: So
DJ Halo: yeah, this is like 2004.
Tim: I'm, I'm hanging on your words.
DJ Halo: so like through that I just [00:37:00] started DJing like I was the, the like featured DJ at one of their sets in the knitting factory. It was all vinyl. Yes. And like, yeah, I was. It was just doing shows every single weekend, getting out into New York and then started like working with like other MCs who were like, oh, I need a DJ for this show or whatever.
And then, um, you know, there was like about maybe a year and a half maybe where as a crew we would get together religiously, like never missed a week.
Tim: Wow.
DJ Halo: Every Thursday we got together in Brooklyn and would like work out ideas. Normally it was 'cause we had a show to prepare for, but you know, we would work on, on ideas for songs we were recording or whatever, but like just got together and like just kicked it as a crew and like hung out.
Tony: That was a good time too. That was early two thousands you're talking right? That was in New York, but I was in the Lower East side at that time. And that was, um, a good, good time.
DJ Halo: Oh yeah, it was a great time. Great time. You know, sort of like the height of the diff Jux era.
Tony: Mm-hmm. You still had, you know, you still had a lot of that grime still left over from the [00:38:00] nineties.
Yeah. And it was just changing. You still had the Bowery was still there, I think. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
DJ Halo: Oh, yeah.
Tony: CBGBs was probably just closing at that time. At that time. Yeah.
DJ Halo: I did one of the last shows, the CBGBs, it was I did, it was me. I, I think it was just me concept. This dude Chaz Kgu and this group, one of like the earliest groups on Backwood Studios called the Reavers, which was like a.
Super group. Yeah. And actually one of the dudes from the Reavers played with immortal Technique and Poison Pen at the, at the Cat's Cradle recently. This guy Aki. Wow.
Tony: Yeah. And right on, yeah. Bowery Ballroom. I think that's still there. I don't even know the Bowery Ballroom.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Bow. So Bowery Presents, basically owns all the venues in New York now.
Like all, like Webster Hall, Bowery Hall, Bowery Ballroom, I think even like Cutting Room and Canal.
Tony: Mm-hmm.
DJ Halo: Or no, the Canal Room. Um, but yeah, like all the major venues formerly, like what used to be Terminal Five was owned by Bowery Presents. So yeah, [00:39:00] like all
Tony: the netting factories probably closed now, right?
DJ Halo: Yeah. Knitting Factory in Brooklyn is closed now, but they do like a, the one in Manhattan pop
Tony: up. Yeah, the one in Manhattan. And there was also another, gosh, another club on that same row that, that knitting factory's on, I forgot what it's called. The, the Verve.
DJ Halo: Oh are you talking about the, um, are you talking about sounds of Brazil on Veck?
Tony: It was on Ric, but I can't remember the name.
DJ Halo: Sounds of Brazil. Sobs. Sobs, yes. So it was like a Brazilian restaurant? Yes, yes, yes. And like you would go out to these like likes pretty thug hip hop shows, and then there's like these old Brazilian couples, like in like a suit and tie, like eating dinner crazy, like amid this crowd of like rap kids, you know, like hoodies and baseball
Tony: and
Tim: they lowkey love it.
DJ Halo: Always know what they're
Tim: getting into
Tony: those. A reggae, another reggae club on that same, that same
DJ Halo: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. Yeah.
Tony: That was really good.
DJ Halo: Yeah, I, I mean, I always said I wanted to do like book a dinner at sobs when there was a show going on to see if I could just, you know, be eaten my dinner and like, not have to pay to get a show.
Two
Tim: people at once.
DJ Halo: Yeah, [00:40:00] exactly. Exactly.
Tony: That up, that's what's up. Yeah. But shit, um, um, some of the tours you've done, 'cause I've, I was watching just a video the other, the other day with you and you played for Cool Keith and these guys. Oh, sure. Ultra mc. It's amazing. He was like, what?
DJ Halo: Oh yeah. Seen those guys.
The cool Keith thing came about. Yeah. I mean he legit through through mc homeless. So like, um, when I was. When I was in New York, I did a lot of touring with like mostly dudes from Mine Spray. But I also tour DJ'ed for a group that was signed to strange famous records called The Meter MAs. And, um, you know, just did a lot of like traveling with people.
Also did like a bunch of touring with like one of my best friends in the world. This dude broski who's, who was living in Portland, Maine at the time when we did all the touring, he now lives in Rhode Island. But you know, that dude and I, we, we've like toured all over the world, literally Wow.
Together, um, you know, like all over Europe and amazing. So you know, I just like touring. You know, I've toured with like Chesky Ramos and [00:41:00] on the West coast I was like tour DJing for Cage and this other dude sadistic and, you know. Brizo would come over and I did other tours with like West Coast people that I met when I was out there.
Um, you know, some of the people that I met when I was out there, it was crazy. 'cause it's like New York, you're, you're not apt to just like run into somebody in New York, you know what I mean? Sure. Whereas like on the West Coast, it's crazy. You just be like walking down the street in Berkeley, you're like, yo fucking Dell.
What's up? Yeah. You know, or like, oh, casual. Hey, what's up? Yeah. You know, like, it's, it is crazy. It's so weird. It's true. Like boots, Riley's handing out flyers for some fucking protest and shit, and you're just like, yo, this is crazy right now. This
Tony: is everywhere.
DJ Halo: Yeah. And like, I when I first moved to Oakland, I got in at like, I knew that, this dude, Prozac Turner, who was in a group that I was really big fan of, called Foreign Legion. He was opening a bar and I was like, I'm gonna DJ at that fucking bar. And so like, I went out chopped it up with, with with Zach, who actually knew who I was. What was [00:42:00] weird about Oakland is like a lot of people knew who I was like before I met them.
Like, and people who were in groups that I had, had records sent to me for radio or like knew these groups and was like, what? Yeah, I have no idea because I was running a label at the time called Fake four. Shasta, my Mancheski Ramos just talked to you today. Um,
Tony: what was on the label? What kind of music?
DJ Halo: It was all, it was it mostly hip hop, but there was some sort of like out there basically it, it was a very.
A very curated sound by Chesky. Most of it was rap stuff. So we, we did albums with like Buck 65 and Blue blue Sky, black Death, um, Andre Osborne, um who else? Like, you know, just like sort of people who were not necessarily Asop Rock or whatever right. But like in the periphery of, of those people and head toward with them whatever, um, you know, some
Tim: high IQ talent nevertheless.
Right. Yeah.
DJ Halo: Sounds like mean. We did an album with Open Mike Eagle.
Tim: Yeah.
DJ Halo: Um, you know, his album that, [00:43:00] I mean, I'm not gonna put words in in his mouth or anything like that, but like the album that we did with, with Mike, I feel like sort of was like the first instance of his modern sound that he, he is like now called Animal Hospital and it's the only album of his to date that has never been put out on vinyl.
Wow. Um, and like I've spoken with him and his management to like try and get it out and it just, it's. For whatever reason, it's, it hasn't happened yet. Mean it's laissez
Tim: fair, you
DJ Halo: know,
Default_2026-04-15_4: it'll
Tim: happen when it happens.
DJ Halo: Like he, you know, Mike don't gotta do shit. He doesn't wanna do, you know, I mean, he's, he's at that level, right?
Shouts to open Mike Eagle, man, I'm proud of you. But so I was running this label and like, I guess somehow that got to people. Wow. 'cause like, one of the first people I met who ended up being like, one of my best friends in the Bay, I met him at a show before I even had an apartment in Oakland. I was like crashing in my sister's Crouch.
Yeah. And, um, he was like, he came up to me, he was like, Hey man, you're, you're, you're DJ Halo from, from Fake four. And I was like, yes. [00:44:00] So it was like, it was like, it was a really bizarre, because like these people who I like, respected, know who they are. Like, oh shit, I heard you. And I'm like. What, so, yeah, that's cool.
It's reassuring. Yeah. And I, I got, I've like got a weekly at that spot called Legionnaire and then like the weekly didn't end up working out. So Zach was like, dude, I'm, I'm gonna have you DJ our first Fridays. So, first Friday's in Oakland. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. It's insanity. It's 30,000 people in downtown Oakland and they block off, and not that this is gonna mean anything to you, but they block off grand to all the way to 27th Street on Telegraph, which is like what goes from the center of Oakland all the way up in, into uc, Berkeley.
So like, needless to say, first Friday is an insane time. Mm-hmm. And like, you know, like I was like getting written up in the San Francisco Chronicle and stuff. Like, people were just like, would be like, oh dude, I read about you in the Chronicle. Or like, oh, I read about you in East Bay Express. And I'm like, what?
Nobody even told me. So it was a, it [00:45:00] was a very crazy time.
Tim: Yeah.
DJ Halo: For me. And it was a short, like, short period of time. I was only in the bay for five years.
Tim: But was that, that seems, was that a golden era in Oakland then too? If there, if there was your timing again,
DJ Halo: I, I, it feels like it, I think it was what little
Tim: I know, but
DJ Halo: no one about Oakland.
It wasn't really interesting era in, in Oakland going out.
Tim: Yeah. '
DJ Halo: cause it, it was like a lot of unique, these places that are now institutions or whatever. Like we're just getting their feet under 'em, you know? Yeah. So, and Oakland was like really turning over into like more of a, I mean, as much as, I hate to use the word, the G word it was gentrifying a lot at that time.
So like, west Oakland especially was changing where I lived in East Oakland was changing significantly less.
Tony: Yeah.
DJ Halo: But, you know, I, I don't think that I have more juice or street cred. Yeah. 'cause I lived in a shittier area of Oakland, you know? Do you like the
Tony: West coast? Do you like,
DJ Halo: I love, I love the Bay Area.
Mm-hmm. Um, you know, I'm, I miss, I miss the life that I had in Oakland. And, and I miss the Bay Area, [00:46:00] but what's special about it? I know if I, if I moved back there, I wouldn't be able to have that life. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So it, you know, so that life is gone.
Tony: But what was special about it back then?
Like
DJ Halo: What was special about it is I had an extremely dynamic social life. Like, I was out four or five days a week and it's like, I live in Oakland, so you, somebody's like, oh, I'm over at the Ruby room, or, oh, I'm gonna be, you know, like I could go out to, you know, every Wednesday there was like this, this burner electronic event called Wormhole Wednesday, which is always fun and, you know, whatever, there's drugs there.
So. Um,
Tony: Bravo. Stay off of the drives kids outta respect.
DJ Halo: Yeah, yeah. You know, like, I mean, but but yeah, and like I got to, I got to got made friends at, at those places too, like one of my other good homies in the bay who moved out to Reno. And so like, I would DJ in Reno all the time in Sacramento. And that was also part of it is like, you know, I was going up and down the west coast, you know, most, most of the time just to dj.
Yeah. You [00:47:00] know, like I was like going from Seattle to Portland to like,
Tim: oh wow.
DJ Halo: Yeah.
Tim: They just, but you got everything on the West Coast. Wow.
DJ Halo: Yeah. And it, it was like, it was just a, it, it was just a really crazy time that sounds know, like really just, and I came to Oakland with no plan whatsoever. I, I had, I had a job running a label that wasn't even paying my rent.
And like, by the time I left I was like, you know, I could, this is, this is how little, how little I need to feel. Rich is like, my definition of being rich is I can spend a hundred dollars on records at any fucking time and my budget's not gonna be screwed.
Tim: Mm-hmm. That's nice. That's a healthy perspective actually.
DJ Halo: Yeah.
Tim: Yeah. I agreed That's, that's, that's ahead of its time really.
DJ Halo: Right. That type of thing. Like, I, I can buy whatever food I want within reason. 'cause I, I am, I am by nature a thrifty person, which that thrift has served me incredibly well. Like, I do a lot of really cool shit, but I am not a rich person.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. [00:48:00] You know what I mean? So like, being able to understand how to manage money and get things for a cheaper price or figure out ways to like, you know, do something.
Tony: Right.
DJ Halo: You know,
Tony: but you're doing what you love.
DJ Halo: Exactly. And that, that's,
Tony: and that's, that's you know, that's,
DJ Halo: I could've never guessed I'd be doing this shit.
You know, like in college I would've assumed I was like, you know, done at 46, right? Like, I just had a house. And I mean, not that having a house and kids or whatever, you're done, but you, you understand what I'm saying? Like, I've, I felt like at this age I was gonna be settled. Right. Whereas like, I'm still like living this like, crazy bohemian life, which I, I could have never foreseen.
Tony: Right? Yeah. I mean, you know, it's not too many people at least get to do what they love and just. You know, you're making ends meet obviously 'cause you're, you know, but it's not extravagant. But you get, do do your job. Right. But
DJ Halo: I'm not even in, I'm not an extravagant person.
Tony: Yeah.
DJ Halo: If I was making a hundred grand, I'd still
Tony: wouldn't be in a
DJ Halo: issue.
You know,
Tony: that's, that's,
DJ Halo: there's, there's a line
Tony: like that.
DJ Halo: There's a line from a, like a, a, a cat from a song from this cat [00:49:00] beige from who's part of this group called Junk science. Where he is like, if I was famous, I'd be living exactly how I'm living now. That's man. And I'm like, that's so real.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, some people would be, I mean, some people would get a gold eagle to wear on their arm, you know?
Tim: What do you think, um, drives and motivates? Like, I feel like you, you inherently have these things, maybe credit to mom and dad, maybe credit to, but you've got a, a work ethic. Mm-hmm. But you're doing stuff that can be distracting in all of its beautiful glory 'cause mm-hmm.
I'm a fan and follower type person that isn't putting in the work, but you know. Great talent like you teaches me and inspires me passively to just kick back and enjoy. Well, thank you. But yeah, but I mean, like, but you're a, a good walking example of that. And so some of these other wise sage souls that we know too, that you also know, um, similar backstories, but, but you have a drive that, um, went beyond dabbling and kind of seems like something you were passionate about and maybe even your degree background, but then [00:50:00] you also kind of owned that shit, like when you walked the walk, you didn't, you didn't get distracted, you stayed on focus.
Is that 'cause the passion and the joy and the reward, or is it just your brain needs selfishly to be fulfilled and Oh, by the way, if you like it and you like it, great.
DJ Halo: Yeah. I would say, I would say the drive is because I don't know what, what else to do with myself. Yeah.
Tim: It's curious, curious about the human side.
It's kind of cool to hear you talk.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Yeah. I, I appreciate that. I, I will credit yes, my parents with instilling in me the hustle mind state. Mm-hmm. But they didn't. They didn't know that they were doing it. So what, what put me on the, like, what gave me the understanding that like, yo, the money's out there, you just gotta go get it.
Joe Woolworth: Yes.
DJ Halo: Right. Was when I was young. And it's funny that you use these, so when I, when I was a little kid, I was like, yo, I want a Nintendo. My parents were like, yo, you better save your pennies for a rainy day to get that Nintendo ndo. Mm-hmm. And I was like a word. Alright, so at [00:51:00] age eight I saved up $300 because I heard somebody say that that's how much a Nintendo costs.
Tim: Holy shit.
DJ Halo: I go to Toys Russ. That shit cost 99. Nine nine. And I wa and, and, and also what is like so bizarre is I didn't just blow the rest of it on dumb shit. Yeah. I bought, I bought the, I bought the system. I bought two or three other games and then I pocketed. The rest of the money. Mm-hmm. And like,
Tony: I bought some weed and beer.
DJ Halo: Exactly. Exactly. But not like I, I, my, my initial thought was not to like, just blow all the money I had. It was, it was like, okay, like I have this money, like why don't I just get, get the thing that I want, get a couple other pieces to it and then like, you know, I can have money for something else later that I might not think of.
Like, why spend the money now if on something that's like, yeah, I mean, I have the money for it. I guess I could buy it. You know?
Joe Woolworth: Yeah.
DJ Halo: So like that's those, those two things.
Tony: Yeah. That's, that's, that's [00:52:00] a great, great you know, quality to have about sometimes, you know, just
DJ Halo: Oh yeah.
Tony: Taking money. You're fishing with it.
Tim: Yeah.
DJ Halo: Well, you know, it's like, it's like the difference between calling your boy or being relieved when it's done.
Tim: Right. Right, right. Yeah. Eloquently said, man,
Tony: So what else you got going on?
DJ Halo: So, what else do I have going on? Well, I am in the middle of a catalog transition from one distributor to another for the label that I label manage, which is New Blue Records.
They also own three club properties in New York City. The guy who owns it is a guy by the name of Ilhan Hin. He is. Quite possibly the most continental person I've ever known in my entire life. So he is a saxophonist and this guy is like a world trotting saxophonist. Wow. Damn. Like he is like, every time I'm talking to him, he's like, [00:53:00] oh man, I'm in Rio.
Sorry, bro. Like, or, oh, I'm in, I'm in Turkey, or Oh, I'm in Stockholm. Wait, is
Joe Woolworth: he on one of your videos playing ax?
DJ Halo: He might have been, he might have been,
It's ER. It's E-R-S-A-H-I-N. Oh. And like the a has like a little hook on Ah, yeah, because, so his mother's Swedish and his dad is Turkish.
Tim: That's fascinating.
DJ Halo: Yeah. So he like, grew up between Turkey and, and Sweden, and then did school in Brazil. Wow. And then moved, just like moved to New York to like, make his name born
Tim: worldly,
DJ Halo: and then
Tim: became about it
DJ Halo: himself.
Yeah. Holy shit, man. So, so, yeah. He's a, he's like, he's a dope dude. Yeah. And like, um, you know, I worked with him in record distribution, which is what brought me to North Carolina. And you know, years after I. You know, a couple years after I left record the record distribution he like, hit me up, was like, was like, yo, like we need help with the label.
We loved working with you. So sweet. Yeah. So I'm doing that. And then, um, I have [00:54:00] some records coming out on my label. There's gonna be that iced tea record. It's gonna be a 12 inch, so it's like the, so one side is All Beats made by this guy Mark Live, who is cool, Keith's hype man, as well as, um, like a, a dope rapper and a producer of his own.
And then he also was Ice Teas Hype Man back in the nineties and hyped for him on occasion as well. So I have that coming out. And then the B side is remixes from this dude Rove, who's from Canada, shouts to Rove. He's also an amazing graffiti writer. And then this other dude from Germany by the name of Lansky did two remixes as well.
And so there's like vocals and instrumentals of everything. So it's like, it's like nine tracks, but it's really, it's gotta, it's really three, three tracks. Three remixes.
Tim: You're pretty proud of it.
DJ Halo: Yeah. It's, it
Tim: sounds like
DJ Halo: that's just a, it's, it's a great piece. Bio. The art's gonna look great. Like, um, one, one thing is like I do, I have a, a big hand in all the art that we do and I do all the layouts for everything.
Just 'cause it's mostly 'cause I can't pay [00:55:00] anybody. So, and like I have, you know, I'm a graphic artist as well, like, like any old graffiti writer, I, I like, you know, started doing graphic design. Yeah, yeah,
Tony: yeah, exactly. Just,
DJ Halo: yeah. So I, so I have that going on and then there's always, you know, there's always DJ stuff.
Tony: Yeah. You have your, like I know you have like, some of the series, series you used, still, still do the radio station.
DJ Halo: Yeah. So I'm, I'm on every single week on WXDU from eight to 10:00 PM on Tuesdays right now. It changes every semester, but I usually get the same slot just for consistency.
Wow. I, I, I'll never be, I'll never be like on a Tuesday or a Saturday or something like that. But like I'll always be on, on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, like, so
Tony: what's the month in the UK too? Or you? Or you?
DJ Halo: Oh so there's a, there's a station that I have a show on that's also weekly. It's called, um, hail London Radio.
Mm-hmm. And I do an open format mix show, and then I do a drum and bass show, so they alternate weeks.
Tony: Oh, that's cool.
DJ Halo: Um, yeah, the drum and bass show is [00:56:00] called Eminent Domain.
Tony: And how do you find it? How do you find that on, um, online?
DJ Halo: So I actually That's a funny, oh, how do you find it? Yeah, just Hail London
Tony: Okay.
DJ Halo: Is the address. Yeah. But how I got down with them is long time ago, 2011, I was doing like a solo DJ tour in Europe and I was in London. And, you know, 'cause I work out. Mm-hmm. I, I was gonna be on tour for six weeks and I was like, I can't just like not work out for six weeks here. I'd be able to do something.
And I'm like, I'm not gonna go to the gym in Europe
Tim: ladies. He was football team captain and a wrestler as well. So just so,
DJ Halo: so so what I, I had just started getting into, nobody calls it that anymore 'cause dude's a rapist, but it was Bikram yoga, the like 26. 26 poses. Right, right. 90 minutes. Yeah. So I'd just gotten into Bikram yoga at the time and I was like, oh, I bet I can do Bikram and like places, so many places offer like a week unlimited or something like for, you know, 15 euro, whatever.
Right? Right. [00:57:00] So I practiced yoga in like seven languages over the course of that, that six weeks. And when I was in London, I was like, this is early on in my practicing. So I couldn't be in the room before the class started proper or else I was gonna barf at the, like the midpoint, right? So I'm sitting outside and this like, girl comes rushing down the stairs and it's like all like a total whirlwind.
And um, and I hear her talking with the girls behind the desk and I hear her saying something about DJing and I was like, I was like, oh yo, you're a dj? And she was like, oh yeah. And I was like, oh, I'm a DJ from the States, I'm gonna be playing. And she was like, no way. That's wicked. And I was like, yeah, cool.
So we like go into the class. And I don't know if you, you probably know. So we go into the class and Goldie,
Tim: oh, I fucking know Goldie. Jesus.
DJ Halo: Goldie is in the class still, and she just like runs up to in the
Tim: fricking class.
DJ Halo: Yeah. She's like, what's up mate? And Goldie's like, oh, hey, so, and, and I, and she's like, oh yeah, I just met this dude out in the hallway.
He's a DJ from the States. And [00:58:00] Goldie's like, oh, what up man? I'm like, I didn't expect to meet Goldie with like tiny ass shorts time. Holy
Tim: shit. That is a crazy story. Oh,
DJ Halo: wow. Yeah. So we like did a dig a, did a beak room class with Goldie. Oh man. And then this girl, um, Sophie Callis she like, was like, Hey, I'm, I'm DJing at the spot called East east Village or whatever.
Either then, or like two days from now or something like that. She was like, oh, I'll put you on the list. I was like, yeah, sure. And like, I went out to it and I didn't expect to be on the list 'cause it's like I just, I met this person for 20 minutes, you know what I mean? And I go out and I was like, I think I'm on the list.
And I gave my name and she's like, oh yeah, you're good. And I was like, what? This is crazy. So I go in and just like hanging out in the booth and she was down with this like, all female crew called the ladybugs at the time. So they were doing like a all female DJ lineup. And it was packed by the time I left.
'cause I, I went I went out to like check out a show at another club, but like by the time I left it was cracking and a half in there. I was like, do I [00:59:00] wish I could stay? But like was it all check?
Tim: Was it DB focused like metal
DJ Halo: D
Tim: five or
DJ Halo: It was actually like club stuff.
Tim: Okay. Yeah. Either way. Yeah. I was just curious
DJ Halo: too.
It was, it was like dance, dance music, um, which was like, it was cool. And like it was dope. 'cause like all these dudes were coming up to the booth and being like, lady bugs, man. Like they were really into like that this girl crew was representing That's, I was like, that's fun.
Joe Woolworth: That's
Tim: where
Tony: that a south,
Tim: okay.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Yeah. So that, that's, um,
Tony: this is in England or
DJ Halo: So this is in England. Yeah. Yeah. And she had a show on this, on this online platform called Back to Back fm. Mm-hmm. Right. And then I got a show through her and her friend this chick Min I, I hung out with them when they were recording one time when I was in London after that.
Um, they were, they were a little disappointed 'cause I brought my girlfriend. They were like, oh, I didn't expect to see
Tim: that. Ah, that is a bummer.
DJ Halo: Yeah. Like, I, I think Sophie was kind of like, maybe, maybe not. You know, she was, I mean, I don't wanna put words in in your mouth. Mouth. I don't wanna put words in your mouth.
Tim: Sophie Callus. Shout out if you're still [01:00:00] out there.
DJ Halo: Yeah. If you're still out there, girl. Well, no, she's, she's a DJ on, so on soho radio now in, in London. Yeah. So she's like, sounds familiar.
Tim: Me. That's why I wanted to say her name.
DJ Halo: Yeah. So Ibiza came about 'cause I'm like in this DJ seminar and like, um, they throw an event.
They throw, they do like a, like a conference once a year. So I came out like the year before. So in 2024, I came out for the conference. It was like a three day thing. And like, there was like a, like a, like a show. Everybody got to DJ and stuff like that. So so I went out and did it and then like, made connections.
And then next year I, I like went out, did the conference, DJ'ed at a couple spots around where I had made connections. And then there was like a, like a opener stage that I got put in touch with. At this place, this club called 5 2 8. And so I got booked to do Pikes Presents, and then I got booked to do, I forget what the other event [01:01:00] was called on the Friday.
But what was funny is the Pikes Presents is like, that's like a legendary, more like underground local name out in Ibiza, right? And so when I was contacted about it, they were like, yo, go nuts. Be, be as eclectic as you want. And I was like, all right, dope. So I did, and you know, I'm like getting it cracking at 7:00 PM right?
There's like, you know, the, the like 200 people who are at this like, you know, in large club are like going bananas. Like, that's
Tim: nice.
DJ Halo: You know, being like, I don't know who this guy is, but he's killing it right now. And I was like, being genre agnostic. It's all dance music. But like, you know, purists would be like, whoa, what are you doing?
You're playing, you're playing trance, you're playing house, you're playing this. And it's like, it's, it's a vibe, homie.
Tim: You nailed it.
DJ Halo: I, I haven't scheduled any time to be back mostly 'cause I'm trying to, I'm trying to stay home to like get this. Label transition off the ground. Like, I, I can't really, I mean, I'm really good on like, doing the travel and whatnot, but [01:02:00] you know, I can't, I can't necessarily,
Tony: it's not as, yeah, sometimes you gotta slow down.
Yeah,
DJ Halo: exactly. Exactly. Sometimes
Tony: you gotta slow down. Let, let, let the audience know, man, everything where they can find you and you radio stations. Sure. You know.
DJ Halo: So you can find me Tuesdays eight to 10:00 PM on WXDU, which if you're in the triangle is 88.7. If you're elsewhere in the country, it is wx d.org.
Where on Christmas Day in Kabul, you could get WXDU. Wow. So long as you have an internet connection. You can also find me monthly on Ibiza Ibiza Club News Radio. Yeah, I'm usually on a Sunday. I usually am the first or second DJ on a Sunday, which ends up being like ass early. 'cause it's like noon in Ibiza, but it's like I 5:00 AM here and then I'm on weekly on, it's midnight on Thur on.
Friday. So it's [01:03:00] technically Thursday night. Friday morning. How you wanna look at
Tony: itg? I'm sure you're
DJ Halo: all asking
Tony: find
DJ Halo: Yeah, I got if you wanna look me up, all the schedules, if you wanna look me up. The best way to find me is actually on my website, which is Halo doesn't suck.com. And then if you wanna find me on ig, halo doesn't suck.
TikTok Halo doesn't suck. Facebook Halo doesn't suck.
Tim: He's being literal. He, he doesn't suck.
DJ Halo: I don't, I don't suck. No, he does not. And like, I have a, I have a mixed series on YouTube that's usually once a week. It's called Mixology, where I use tech to transform and remix songs. Yeah, that's kind of dope.
Like live,
Tony: I, I peeped in and you got a great collection of music that you Oh yeah. You display on, on, on Instagram. Oh, yeah. Always finding something, something new and eclectic, which is always enjoyable and stuff. So look him up. Yeah. Look him up on Instagram another and, and get schooled. Yeah. On this guy because he's, he's putting it there and he's, um, you know.
Man, he's just like a mixed mask over here, man. He is. He's a teacher. He's a
Tim: teacher.
Tony: Learn. I
DJ Halo: try. I
Tony: I wanna thank you for coming, brother.
DJ Halo: Oh, also you can find me once a [01:04:00] month at the Mein Farmer's Market playing 40 fives.
Tim: Now we're
DJ Halo: talking
Tony: five. Yeah, five.
Tim: Yeah. That is awesome.
Tony: Give, just give give a little advice to the new DJs, new vinyl DJs coming up.
DJ Halo: My advice to any DJ vinyl or no is learn how to manually mix it. Like you don't have to do it all the time, but you should understand the properties of how that is done because it will serve you more than you even know. 'cause if sink is busted or whatever. You're gonna have to be able to understand how to mix or know what the BPMs of your songs are.
Mm-hmm. And if you can't close those gaps, you're gonna end up like that chick who got skewered in in boiler room.
Joe Woolworth: Oh yeah. Oh
Tony: bye brother. Thank you man. That awesome for joining us tonight. It was
Joe Woolworth: fun.
Tony: Yo, thank you so much for having me sound at some point. I'm sure bump into you.
DJ Halo: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Absolutely. You know,
Tony: thank you guys for
DJ Halo: joining. Oh, I was hoping to be out at the, um, the new [01:05:00] blends with friends that they're having over at Boom Club this week. But I got my parents in town, unfortunately, so Ah, so yeah. Family. I can't really drag 'em along. They'll be like, yeah, I don't, I don't wanna hang out with you while you're networking, you know?
Yeah.
Tim: That's, that's a cute story though.
Tony: All
Tim: right,
Tony: brother. Thank you man. Guys, thank you so much. A pleasure,
DJ Halo: pleasure
Tony: to wrap it off. Catch around, bro. I'm sure.
Tim: Peace,
DJ Halo: peace.
Tim: Peace.