Worth the Drive
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Worth the Drive
Joe Rivera: Worth the Drive
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This week on Worth the Drive, Michael sits down with Joe "Joe Future" Rivera—a DJ with over 40 years behind the turntables, wedding officiant, relationship coach, and one of the most respected personalities in Southern California's wedding industry.
Joe shares the incredible story of how a childhood love of music, inspired by his grandmother, grew into a lifelong career that kept him out of trouble and led him to thousands of unforgettable celebrations. From spinning records at just 13 years old in Compton to DJing weddings, officiating ceremonies, coaching couples, and mastering the art of reading a room, Joe reveals what it really takes to create moments people remember for a lifetime.
Along the way, Michael and Joe dive into the psychology of music, the importance of human connection, the evolution of weddings, and why great DJs do far more than play songs—they manage emotion, energy, and memories. Joe also opens up about personal struggles, lessons learned through divorce, becoming a better listener, and how those experiences shaped his work helping couples build stronger relationships.
This episode is packed with hilarious stories, behind-the-scenes wedding insights, and meaningful conversations about purpose, growth, and the power of showing up for people.
Whether you're planning a wedding, love music, or simply enjoy hearing how passion can evolve into purpose, this is one drive you won't want to miss.
So today I'm in the car with Joe Rivera, Joe Future. Joe, Joe, Joe. So I know you love music. I almost want to introduce you a little more. So Joe's a uh marriage coach. Joe's a officient, Joe's a good guy, Joe's a DJ, I want to say lifelong DJ.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 40 years.
SPEAKER_0140 years in the DJ industry. And see, the coolest thing that I find, you know, I'm in the wedding industry too. Work last night with your buddy Ryan. Yeah. Um the best thing I find about wedding DJs and DJs in general is they're a part of every one of your memories growing up. Yeah. Like you awkwardly dancing with someone at a junior high dance, a DJ was there. Yeah. Right. Yeah. A DJ was there.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So you get to be with people on some of the best things of their life. Oh yeah. For for their entire life. Oh, I almost forgot. You're an efficient. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. That's a different dynamic, but it's the same thing, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So what what started your love for uh for being a DJ and being in music? Give me a little bit of your backstory. Sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I uh since I learned how to walk, I used to dance. My grandmother was a professional dancer, and uh she was always dancing around the house.
SPEAKER_02Nice.
SPEAKER_00I'd be over there when my parents were at work, and um she also cooked early. My one parent when my parents sleeped in on the weekends, so I learned how to dance from her, and she always had records playing English, Spanish. She was from Spain, so she played uh all kinds of music. There was Tango and Cumbia Salsa, Cha Cha, it was awesome. And then at 13, uh breakdancing was really huge.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00And um I thought, you know, I can't break dance without music. So I started to kind of play music for other breakdancers and pop lockers, and a friend of mine had a mixer. That's another story, and I bought a mixer when I was 13 with my allowance that I used to get for good grades and doing chores around the house and things like that.
SPEAKER_01No, this is this is vinyl to vinyl mixing, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Vinyl, I used a reel to reel. You had a reel to reel? I would, yeah, I would I would edit music on a reel to reel. I would have uh eight-track if you remember eight-track tapes.
SPEAKER_01I used to have a portable eight-track, it would hang on my shoulder like a like a purse, yeah, pop that sucker in there, a single speaker. It was awesome.
SPEAKER_00I never knew they had those. Yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness. So your grandma was what type of professional dancer?
SPEAKER_00She used to dance uh flamenco and uh so like like hardcore, hardcore. Yeah, castanet. She used to play her castanets when she was dancing, yeah, and then she got into learning um folklorico dancing from Mexico, and she used to choreograph all my elementary school dances across the street. I went to school across the street. I was always late too, and even though my school was across the street. That's what always happened.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's funny because I I pictured you as Joe now, just your big old head on a little body. Yeah, is what I picked up.
SPEAKER_00With a big giant stone brera or something, just dancing in the living room like a crazy person.
SPEAKER_01I love it. So that that developed your your love for music. Your grandma gave you that gift, which is pretty incredible. I mean, I think my grandma did something similar. She didn't dance, but it was always like the cassettes in the car. She'd play her music. Like, so it would be like the Statler brothers. Oh, wow, yeah. And stuff like that. And it's so funny to me now. I listen to it, I'm like, man, this song's corny. But like back in the day, I was all trailers for sailor. Hey! You know, like I was a little crooner at freaking five or six. That's so cool. Yeah. That's so cool. The cool thing about music is it it inherently brings out joy or I mean, my I hate to say it, my favorite thing are sad songs. It's weird. You'll just sit in the car and like you'll feel, I don't know if it's a cathartic or whatever, but I'll just play sad songs. I have moments like that. I'm like, I need to play some you know, third eye blind or something like that. Yeah. Some emo rock music. Yeah. I need to go on the black parade or something. So you got your mixer. I almost pictured you like Dr. Dre because you were Compton, yeah. Yeah, I grew up at Compton. Yeah, did you borrow Dr. Dre's Reel to Reel? Because you guys got it there.
SPEAKER_00It was actually this mixer used to belong to DJ M Walk, who's a pretty popular hip-hop DJ. Yeah. Uh his cousin had it and sold it to me. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you had a little history even within the mixer, like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So right away I called up an old friend uh who's still with us today. Um, and I said, Hey, I got a mixer, man, you gotta come over and check it out. And so he he comes over, he's like four blocks away. So he rides his bike over. He's like, Cool, man, what flavors we got? And I'm like, Flavors? He thought it was a ice cream mixer.
SPEAKER_01Y'all, dude, that's the lame thing you could ever say right now.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, Well, it is a summertime. It was June of um 1986 that I bought that mixer. Changed my life because it kept me out of trouble. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you started you started just mixing by yourself, like in your bedroom.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, by myself. I uh had a turntable for my uncle next door, my uncle Jesse. Uh it was a tuner with an eight-track in the front, and then it was the one where you put the stick over and it drops like an album at a time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then I borrowed one from my grandma. My grandmother always had something to play music on. And so I had two of these hooked up to this mixer, and we didn't have the right equipment, but we were making it work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially with that drop-down record player. Not very, not very many.
SPEAKER_00Not not even, no.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that you developed a love by yourself, and then when when was like your first, like, okay, I'm I'm really gonna do this?
SPEAKER_00So the summer we we played with it all year. My first gig was um during the end of that school year, so 87. The school across the street needed a uh back then they called them graduations today, they called them promotions. Uh, I DJ'd one of those. And I went to the school. All I had were 11 records. Wait, how old were you? I was uh not not even 14 yet. I was 13 and a half. Yeah. That's epic. Yeah. I remember getting that check for $20, and I thought I was a rich guy. I'm like $20 for doing something I love to do. Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01But at least you only had five records. You weren't carrying crates upon crates.
SPEAKER_00No, no, it was one crate with 11 records.
SPEAKER_0111 records. Were they the like half-in records of the time, or were they just anything you pull together?
SPEAKER_00They were a little bit of a little bit of everything because remember, I had my grandmother's music, I would borrow hers. My my dad was a collector of oldies, uh-huh. 50s and 60s, 70s rock. Oh, yeah. I had a little bit of everything, but I was kind of catering. I was like, what do these kids want? And one of them asked me for a song, and I'm like, oh, I got this. Then I would play genres, the same genre for a while, until I ran out of music and I just kept repeating it. No one cared. They just wanted to dance.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, well, I think that's still to the point. Like, people just want to hear those certain songs, you know, to kind of bring back nostalgia from an earlier time when they had another DJ playing that, or it reminds them of a time where they were having a blast listening to that music. I think that that's important about it. So, with the fundamentals that you gained from that, is that when you're like, hey, I could do this, I can make this a living. 20 bucks. I'm a buccaneer. I'm a freaking dollar over here, man. Oh, yeah. And so when did you decide, hey, I'm gonna do this?
SPEAKER_00When I turned 15, I'm like, I wanted to go big, and so I begged and begged and begged my mom to um give me some real gear. So we went over to this place in San Gabriel Valley and bought two speakers and a microphone and uh some turntables, some legit ones, and um she financed it and I said, I'm gonna pay you back, mom. So every 25% of every job I would pay to my mom to pay her back for this uh amazing gift she gave me, you know. Well, she gave you your career, you didn't even know it. That's true, yeah, that's true, yeah. That's true. My dad was always against it, wasn't too supportive, but she was like, We gotta figure out how to, you know, can have a good time and keep you out of trouble.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Well, and I mean, so Compton, at the time, very few children. Out of trouble. Yeah. Because you were your your DJ. Like that, that's pretty incredible. Yeah. So can you tell me a story about a time where uh things got a little sketch?
SPEAKER_00Oh, big time. So we we took anything and everything, and two spots come to mind. So one of them was a uh house party in Compton. This was like right behind what used to be the Compton Swap Meet. It was Sears. Yeah, uh, I think it's uh Walmart now or something like that. Yeah, that plaza. Yeah, right, yeah. So we did this party, and then uh all of a sudden the fight broke out, and then they took it outside, and then we just started hearing gunshots. Oh, Jesus. And we were in the corner of this house, and the window is to our right. The window shattered, and we heard gunshots and window shattering. So I got down on the floor, and it's funny, we took the turntables, pulled them off the amp, and put them down on the floor too.
SPEAKER_01Because you didn't want those to get hit. We didn't want those to get hit. But my mom paid for them, they weren't ever completely paid for them. Oh man, I'm still taking these off.
SPEAKER_00So um we got on the floor and and I walked over to um or crawled over to the kitchen, and back in the day we had these phones on the wall when you as soon as you pulled it off the wall, it had this long cable. So you could walk in the kitchen, cook, and go to the living room, go outside, and this long cable. Yeah, and uh it would decapitate people. No, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, people would get coiled up even.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I was I was moving the cable till it came off of the receiver and we dialed 911, and the trouble was gone. Police in that time did took their time to come in that time, and then they came, they came in about like uh 25-30 minutes by that time.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's fast. This is a long beach, yeah. It's like four hours.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, but we had all our equipment loaded in the van already, and there were people on the floor bleeding from their leg, you see their jeans full of they were red, not blue anymore, and it was pretty scary, you know. But part for the core, I mean, that's what we we used to see that growing up, see people get blasted like that.
SPEAKER_01Is that when you learn to charge in advance? That's when I learned to we want money up front, up front, just in case sideways happens, we're not waiting until the end of the night. So, so these are house parties. So, like you were DJing house parties, which are a different level, right? Yeah, and then you do these promotions, these graduations. What what was your first venture into the wedding industry?
SPEAKER_00Um, it was my so what got me into that, my dad got me a job doing his company party. He worked for Southern California Gas Company, and we they had this small gathering, 30 people, and we just I just played a bunch of oldies all day, all night, actually.
SPEAKER_01Wait, your dad who wasn't supportive of it's like, okay, I need a flavor.
SPEAKER_00Well, well, here's the thing: I didn't have my driver's license. So he would drive, pick up a six-pack, sometimes a 12-pack of schlitz, and sit in the van while me and my partner would go out and DJ these parties in the house.
SPEAKER_01So they're drinking schlitz in a car. Yeah, yeah. While you're DJing, love it.
SPEAKER_00So he he there was a payoff of Orhub, right? And um, I think he secretly wanted to support me but didn't know how. Yeah. Because he was like, go to school, get a good job, get you know, go to go to a company, retire. You know, this this music things, dancing thing, this acting thing's not gonna take off.
SPEAKER_01Well, because that's what he did.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_01So the safety nap for him was hey, I went, I got this corporate job, I got all this stuff. So he was probably looking in the sun, going, oh man, yeah, he needs to. Well, I I don't want to say settle, but yeah, that's what it is. You like a lot of people settle for their careers.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he had a family to provide for, you know, and I get his perspective too. He did what he needed to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but yeah, I always like that like quiet support. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's like, yeah, I don't want you to fail, but I want you to do the best you can, which is good. This was Long Beach? Yes. This is nice. This was Virginia Country Club. Uh and the cool thing about this is all these movies that are shy here. Like there's the Donnie Darko house, there's the Ferris Bueller house around here. There's all kinds of Model T in the front yard. There's uh, I don't know if you watched Blackish, they shot some episodes of Blackish. Oh yeah. So there's a whole bunch of stuff here. Oh, and Truman Show, I think is that's what that one is. But a lot of stuff over here. So your dad's sitting in the car while you're DJing. He did the corporate thing for your dad.
SPEAKER_00And at that party, someone was getting married and hired me for the first wedding. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01At the at the PG from that.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah. The gas company.
SPEAKER_01They're like, hey, this is great. I'm gonna have this kid. How old are you at this point?
SPEAKER_00I'm uh 14 and a half. 14 and a half.
SPEAKER_01What?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I could imagine. I loved it.
SPEAKER_00I love that it was such a rush. Like I never did drugs, and uh, it felt a rush to me, and what people describe as taking drugs, the music thing felt the same way to me. The euphoria of it. Yeah, the euphoria of that. It was wow.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's dope. So you how how was the stress of that? Because weddings hold a different weight, even as a photographer. Like yeah, I shoot these big time magazines and stuff, and I'm just like, whatever, but when I shoot in a wedding, I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_00It's a different ballgame. Yeah. Yeah, one chance, one, one uh pass. Yeah. You know, it's a live, it's a like a live show, which I learned later. It's a there's a different way to approach a wedding. So I had no official training. This was on the job training. Yeah. I don't recommend that for many people for a wedding, but if you're gonna do stuff, the backyard parties, the corporate events, you could figure stuff out. But weddings, it's it's it was tough. They said, Hey, this is what scared me. I was doing fine until someone said, Hey, can you make an announcement? I'm like, I have to talk. I uh yeah. Um now this was before I got the super gear at 15. I was 14 and a half, and I had no mic. Oh. So I'm like, well, this headphone jack looks like a microphone jack. Let me plug this in. And I'm talking through the headphones. Oh my gosh. Making announcements. Uh yeah, and they were horrible. Horrible. Yeah, all muffled.
SPEAKER_01Like you're taking an order on a drive-thru.
SPEAKER_00And that week after I took the money I made from that job and bought me a microphone. Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_01So, did you have to get past a little fear on that? Like you said, I was so scared. I was so scared. Yeah, because you could hide behind the music a lot of times. Yeah. Like me, I hide behind my camera. Yeah. Literally put up to my face, like, no see me. But yeah, you were hiding behind the music because you didn't have to say anything. Yeah. That's when you realize that was part of the job, right? Well, it's funny to me is you say this because that's that's my favorite thing about you DJing them, is when you talk. Really? Because I hate to say there's some corny ass DJs out there. And this is not a, I mean, if I if I've ever been at a wedding with you and you're a DJ and I look at you like this, it's like, what are you doing? It's because you're a corny DJ.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you do it well, and it's like you everyone kind of embraces you at that point, like, oh, this guy, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Do you that that has developed over the years, I'm assuming?
SPEAKER_00Uh, training. So um, when I was 19, I took some acting classes, improvisation courses, voiceover courses, uh, started studying the craft of being a master of ceremonies. Which, if you pay attention to the Academy Awards, you you could I could see the good ones and the ones, the ones that are not so good. Yeah. Usually singers are not good MCs because they they eat the mic.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's too much. But I I learned a lot throughout the years. Joined Toastmasters to learn how to be a better speaker and how to write things better. I took a comedy writing workshop and a performance workshop. So all those compiled made who I am today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, it made you you hone in your craft, right? Yeah. Like I think a lot of people just stick with the status quo, hey, it worked out first time, let's just keep going.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But the moment you stop improving is when it gets down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love learning. I I read something that said uh learning is the antidote to disruption and change. And and and that's life. There's always gonna be disruption and change. And learning is the antidote to that. I'm always trying to learn new things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you get better and better at it. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's why you stand out, right? Like DJ, and I think that's why people will call for you and ask for you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01My wife being in the industry, it's it's hilarious to me. It's like it's not only loyalty, she surrounds herself with people who are the best in the industry. Yeah. And you guys are constantly on the on the hook for her.
SPEAKER_00So that's that's and working with her iron sharpens iron. She's like V. She's crazy. I keep telling her she should she should train other planners.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know. I think she she truly believes that uh no one can do what she does because she's that good. Yeah, and she's tried training people, but you know, you gotta have something inside you. I mean, it's just like that little spark that you felt when you were younger and you got that turn the turntable setup, it's like it's different. Yeah, some people have it, some people don't. You can teach a little, especially with photography. Like, I can't teach you the technical ins and outs, but I can't teach you an eye.
SPEAKER_00That's true.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? So that's that's that's the difference. That's the difference. So you're DJing, you've been DJing for a long time, doing this stuff. When did you get in the efficient world?
SPEAKER_00Uh a friend of mine asked me to officiate his wedding in Colorado, and in Colorado you can marry yourself. You don't need someone that's ordained or got any certificate or anything like that. I said, Oh, I've never done that before. He goes, So his fiance, who I didn't know, I knew him. She goes, Whoa, we love how you're talking to us, and we we feel you'd you'd be great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I talked to my wife, my wife goes, You would be really good at it. You you you connect with people at a different level, people pay attention to you. I'm like, huh, okay.
SPEAKER_01So I feel like even with you DJing, it feels like personal. Yeah. Like you take it personal.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So I did, and um people asked me for a business card. They were asking me, like, hey, where's your church at? We want to go to your church. And I'm like, Oh, like you were a pastor? I'm not a pastor. I don't have a church. You're all, but I'm gonna start one next week. Bring your tithes. Yeah, so um, I really enjoyed the process of putting this together. And I had I have great mentors as I do, I still have mentors as a DJ, I have mentors as an officiant, some great people. One of the guys actually performed Britney Spears' wedding. I I call him every once in a while. I see him once a year, twice a year. And um, I asked him for I asked him for a lot. I go, hey, if I want to do this, like what's what's your approach? And then I kind of take a little bit of everybody, and then I make my own deal. And ever since then, I I started to do really well. And in 2019, I actually um my wife says, you know, you should turn this into more of a full-time thing rather than doing these onesies and twosies here. And then I pulled the trigger and partnered with some two people that actually have a lot of officiate jobs. And uh here I am. Yeah, I do like about 140 to 150 events a year. Uh, about a hundred and a hundred to hundred and five of those are weddings, and like half of those are ceremonies, and half of those are are DJ gigs.
SPEAKER_01That's well, my favorite thing is when it's bold. Yes. Because everyone sees you up front, they're like, oh, this offician's look, look how eloquent he is.
SPEAKER_02And then you come in, you're all and oh, and you're wait, is that the official?
SPEAKER_00What's happening? This guy can party too. Sometimes I get people, hey, weren't you the officiant? And they say that while I'm on the mic. I go, well, you're absolutely correct. I was the officiant. Yes, yes, and I'm also the DJ tonight. And I'll be cooking your food too. Let me know if you want no pepper on your steak. And if it gets out of hand, I'm gonna come back with an officer's hat and arrest somebody to get out of hand.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I gotta charge extra for that, but I'll do it. I'll do it.
SPEAKER_00And you know, I get people loosened up, and because I mean you think about it, it's a a wedding's a social event, and you have two different families, and most of them haven't met each other yet. Yeah, and I try to say things that kind of uh like uh common things to most people so they can drop their guard and hopefully their social anxiety can decrease and they can enjoy themselves celebrating their two favorite people that are getting married.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, see, that's the cool thing is it kind of bridges the gap. Yeah, I think that's why I like it when you're there for both. Well, one for my own selfish reasons, like to hang out with you. Yeah, you know, and uh you my gear always sits right by you, so yeah, I babysit your gear for you.
SPEAKER_00I gotta charge you for that next slide. No, no, it's it's called call bone, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You got but the cool thing is the connection, right? Like I find that as a photographer too. Like, I always try to find the connection with my clients. Um in that way I feel like family, in that way they feel comfortable around me. And it becomes easier that way because it's the the guards down, right? Yes, and like that's your the DJ is incredible because you're letting people who come in, like you said, all statistics and like, okay, I don't know these people. I don't know what level of fool I can be during this event. Yeah, and so with you there, you kind of give people the permission to be like, all right, I can act a little foolish. Okay, I'm comfortable now. I'm gonna let my my hair down and do what I want to do. And that's part of your job because it's not just about playing the music, right?
SPEAKER_00No, no, you're right, it's it's all about what you just said because you know, human connection is super important, and through all the social media and the disconnection that happens online, I mean. I mean, people are now in person, live in the flesh, and and you gotta treat it as such.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I've been to some weddings, man. I've been to quite a few weddings. I've been to one wedding where all of a sudden the wedding died. Like completely just died. And no matter how no matter how much the DJ tried, that wedding was done. Do you have an experience like that?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Um, I used to have a lot of it in the 1990s. Because back then people would have these marathon events. It started like 12, 1 o'clock in the afternoon and go till 1, 2, 3 in the morning. Now venues don't let you have parties that late anymore.
SPEAKER_01No. And my body won't let me have parties like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can't either. Too much alcohol, hot sun, long days. You know, people pass out. Yeah. The party fizzles.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And um a party can fizzle real quick if people don't take certain things in consideration. Like, is your family traveling? Are they coming in the day before? You know, do they have jet lag? Parties like that will fizzle no matter what you do. These people want to dance, but they're exhausted from the whole full day of things. Yeah. And that just the party just dies.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. I've been I've been at one and it was like, all right, it was a small wedding. And uh TJ's going, TJ's trying his hardest, man. I could see him up to try and his hardest. No one's on the dance floor, no one's on the dance floor. All of a sudden, older tables get up and leave. I was like, oh my god, we're down to 20. 20 feel. As a photographer, when there's less people, you're more noticeable. So when there's tons of people, I do my rounds, I can take pictures, and no one notices you're there. Yeah. But there's 20 people left, and all of a sudden those 20 people are like, yeah, it's kind of so 10 more leave, and it's me and 10 people. I was like, this is crazy. And then the bride and groom just leave. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is incredible. Like the wedding completely died. So it's just me and the bride and groom aren't there.
SPEAKER_00So I'm like, So they left early? Yeah. Honeymoon.
SPEAKER_01So I told the DJ, I'm like, I'll start wrapping it up. I don't know, man. This is freaking crazy. That's the one time that that's happened to me. Yeah, there was a catastrophic event.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like I passed ambulances called, which is crazy.
SPEAKER_00Oh god, I heard about those. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you're like, okay, we're done.
SPEAKER_00You know, I I had a good friend tell me one day. Um, like I said, I have mentors everywhere. And he said, uh, you know, sometimes you have to watch the door and not the floor, meaning the dance floor. Uh huh. Watch the door, and not sometimes I'll take a complete shift and go down to like yacht rock or something, dependent upon who's in the room. Uh-huh. And sometimes just good music. They don't want to dance, but good music. They stay there drinking, talking longer. They vibe. And they vibe. And sometimes you have to change that vibe, and every once in a while you're like, hey, can you play this? And that's a danceable song from that genre. And then, like, then you can rebuild it that way. Because you don't have to rebuild it with nothing but hit, hit, hit, hit.
SPEAKER_01It gives them an idea of what this it can be type situation. Yeah. Okay, I dig that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So they're like, oh, oh, so maybe they're not feeling the means you're playing, but then you give them a sample of the genre, and then like, oh yeah, this song from the genre. Yeah. Yeah. See, I always wondered how you kind of build, especially build on the fly. Because sometimes you just have to completely throw whatever you have out the window.
SPEAKER_00This is why I I sometimes clients give you 200 song playlists, and I'm like, my you're gonna handcuff my hands and not allow me to do what I'm really good at is moving things. Or when they say, I want this request and I want you to play it like right now. And I'm thinking, like, this is not a good time to play this. It's gonna, yeah. Just like pausing a dance floor to have a speech, which I've done before, which kills the vibe. Yeah. Well, so-and-so wanted to talk for a toast, but they were they weren't ready earlier, but now they're ready now. I'm like, the dance floor's been swinging for an hour, and uh, you would have stopped this?
SPEAKER_01You're gonna throw on the emergency brake and it's gonna really kill things.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that building is important, like the building up. Um the kickoff, right? Like some of the tricks that we've been using lately, I freaking love. Like everyone on dance floor for a big photo, yeah, right? And then I take that photo, and the DJ, I can just see, just ready. Just ready the moment they know I took it, they're gonna pop, like, you know, turn down for what? Or something. Like it's it's gonna be good going off. And I could tell I could just see this like chomping at the bit because the DJ gets stoked because they see a full dance floor, and they're like, oh energizing, oh, here we go. And that's that's incredible. I mean, a reverse anniversary dance or something along those lines. So let's go into the MC section. Like I know you get timelines from your planners and stuff like that, but how do you not only with the music, but with your words, hype up a crowd and get them going?
SPEAKER_00So I I learning about the client is super helpful for this part. Because if they're introverted, they don't want I don't they don't want me to use your name a lot. They don't want all the attention on them. So I try to use that sparingly. But I always ask them like, who are the fun people in your wedding party? You know, you know, a bride that's single and just loves to mingle and dance and have a good time, or a or a groomsman or a best man that uh, you know, has little Jack Daniels and start dancing all crazy on the dance floor. Like, I like to know about these people. So we have a planning form that we use on our planner, our portal, that allows us to get stuff like that. We also get sensitive subjects with this information. Oh, we also get in there. Is there anyone that you want us to acknowledge for you? Special birthdays, anniversaries. We try to use other people to build that energy in the room because then it creates um familiarity. Yeah. It creates like that, oh hey, hey, their birthday's close to yours, you know, and that kind of deal. And I try to use that as much as I can. And if they're extroverts, that's easy. Spotlight, spotlight, spotlight on the groom and bride.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or grooms or brides, yeah, you know, the partners. Get them focused, like if they're extroverted. So learning that information is helpful to me to learn how to write. Sometimes some couples, when they go from a high-energy grand entrance to a first dance and they're cool with it, I'll build a segue and I'll build something in that tells a little bit of how their proposal took place or a high-end moment they had on their first date. It gets people laughing. And then I go, now join me in welcoming for their very first dance as a married couple. And then I say their name. And so it kind of brings the energy from up here from the grand entrance down to a different kind of energy for the first dance.
SPEAKER_01I do kind of like that transition. I do like the entrance is all hyped up and then all eyes are focused, right? Yeah, and then that's when you hit them with that emotional moment. Like first dance is incredible, right? Yeah, and sometimes it goes in father-daughter, mother-son, all that. So yeah, the emotional roller coaster you get to take people on is pretty cool. And the fact that no one sees it. No, it's happening. Yeah, they know it's happening, but they don't see what you're doing and what behind the scenes is leading to these feelings you're happening, right?
SPEAKER_00And that's the sign of a professional. It's when you notice things like that, you're like, uh, something's off here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, and I learned I was uh, you know, in college, did radio. Yeah. You are home with a wild gooter, Superman in the morning. Um being able to build a set list that's gonna carry people through something, as well as being able to put in those things, the station brakes, the commercial brakes, all that stuff. Um, it's an art. And if you're listening to the radio and you notice it, they're not good.
SPEAKER_00That's true. They're not good. Dynamics is music dynamics are so crucial.
SPEAKER_01If the record drops and it's done, like something something happened. Yeah. And that makes that makes everyone look. And and even though you're just vibing, you're just listening to music, if the music stops or if an announcement comes in out of nowhere, you instantly go, What's up? What's something's up, something's up, something's wrong? Yeah. So your ability to not have that happen is is pretty incredible. So in your experience at doing weddings and different events, give me that one song that always, always gets people crazy.
SPEAKER_00That's a tough question. Um, I do a lot of multicultural events, so it really depends who's in the room.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And um, like sometimes it's dropping a slow jam, the lady in red, and then building from there.
SPEAKER_01So you get that you think it's more than one song that does it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Sometimes it's uh um Van Morrison, brown eyed girl. Sometimes it's a Neil Diamond song, sometimes it's La Chona.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was last night, man. Yeah, yeah. That got the that got the place going. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00And with the younger crowd, it's always the top 40. What's trending today? It's Bad Bunny.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Um excuse me.
SPEAKER_00Baboni. Baboni, yeah. Baboni. He got he's the good guy.
SPEAKER_01Little Canito. Yeah. So the the idea of building up in these songs, right? Now, of course, the bride and groom give you some songs sometimes, right? But other times you just go to your set, these three are gonna kill with this cinemographic of person, or is it so specifically for the client?
SPEAKER_00It's specific, there's no two weddings that are the same, which is why I no longer send out mixes. You know, sending out a mix of a wedding you did, it's personalized to that couple and the songs they wanted, and you playing them at the right time because you're watching the audience, you're watching the guests, um, and then you share it with someone who's like their vibe is completely different. It's not gonna work. They're like, oh, I don't like your, I don't like your song selection, or I don't like how you mixed from this one to that one. It's like, well, it worked if you saw it, if you were there and live and in person. So it's kind of hard to do that. But learning about the couple, because like I had a wedding a few weeks back there, they shared a lot of like acid jazz, little shade, little things like that. So I knew what dance songs would hit. I dropped, I dropped the Jamiraquis song and it went wild. I'm like, I don't play Jamiraquis songs.
SPEAKER_01No, like especially lately. Like, you're not playing Jamiraquis.
SPEAKER_00No, you don't, but I dropped that as like people went crazy, like on the dance roll board.
SPEAKER_01Okay, what song?
SPEAKER_00Um, um I said in my head, I can't think of the name right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Okay, okay. I'll let you sing it.
SPEAKER_00That's funny. You know, my wife and I joke about this. I love rhythm, I love drum samples, and none of these can't remember lyrics to save my life. My wife, lyrics, she understands lyrics, she can sing, she can sing lyrics to any song out there, any genre. I think they're a different type of people, because I'm a lyric guy, I'll listen to every word.
SPEAKER_01Every word. Yeah. And I tell my wife, I'll go, oh man, the way he structured that, right? Or the way they said it. Like, like if you there's uh Zach Bryan right now, right? Yeah, kind of a country guy. Yeah, yeah. And what you could say is she uh she's smoking a vape. That doesn't sound great. No, he goes, plastic cigarette. I was like, that was yeah, genius. That's why for me, I'm like lyrics, I'm like, that's freaking great. Yeah, plastic cigarette? Like, come on, come on. Yeah. So I because yeah, if it's gonna be vape, no, not as cool, man. You gotta come up with something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm not a lyric guy. Sometimes she'll say, Oh, wow, this is a beautiful song. What do you like about it? I go, well, she'll repeat the lyric, and I'm like, yeah, I don't get it. She's like, you know, I'm like, oh.
SPEAKER_01But I think you mixing music comes with beats per minute.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm watching the beats per minute, I'm watching the key too, the key of the song.
SPEAKER_01So you have to dissect it so you know what's going into next. I think that's some of the best things as as I notice as DJs, and it's those crossover songs, and I'm like, wait, wait. And especially if you're thinking about any of the four-chord songs, you're like, wait, that's the same freaking song.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What? And we have software now that we can drop the drums, drop the melody, or drop the vocal off and just keep it one way and drop an a cappella from another song and make this whole new vibe that brings the energy in the room up. It's funny, I had a friend goes, Hey, can you manage the energy in the room? Like he kept joking around, man. What are you talking about? He goes, he's worried you can't manage the energy in the room. And I, so I did a wedding of a guy who used to run nightclubs for a living. Oh, of course. And he's like big on the energy. So I know you're a wedding DJ, but do you know the energy of a nightclub? I go, Yeah, I do. I go, the energy of a nightclub is a slightly different than a wedding. Wedding's different. You gotta build up to a point and then you gotta drop it down, build it up again. So it's almost the same, but you gotta keep into consideration all the different ages. You have generational dynamics you're working with, genre dynamics you're working with, and so it's like, oh, okay, so you can manage the energy in the room. And so the guys get the guy got drunk. It's like, hey, you're managing the energy in the room really well. And so this became this constant joke all night long. It's funny.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But see, that's what's funny because it is it is a vibe. Like it's a different vibe. Like we've done weddings where uh we did one recently wedding DJ, killing it, and then all of a sudden, the Brighthe brothers are these world-famous club DJs. So they come and they set up their board, and it kind of went quiet, and I was like, What's gonna happen? But then these guys started the club mix because at this point, all the older people were stepping out, they were they were done. And this was like the after party, but in the same spot. Yeah. And these club DJs, the vibe completely shifted to this club environment, and I was like, I just saw that happen. Like you could see it change to what it was, yeah, which is pretty insane.
SPEAKER_00That's uh reminds me of a wedding I did a few months back. It was a South Asian wedding, Indian wedding, and they brought in a guy from New York to play the last hour. And so when he got there, I'm like, hey, what kind of vibe are you gonna create? I could do whatever. I'm like, you can? I go, okay. I go, but where do you work at most? He goes, Oh, I do nothing but clubs back in New York. I'm like, thinking, okay. All right. Now, the beautiful part about me working in clubs in my 20s is I know how to open, I know how to be a middle DJ, and I also know how to headline. And so I know the different dynamics of that. So I built a set to build it to the moment. So as soon as he comes in, he goes, Oh, this is perfect, this BPM is perfect for me. He jumps right in and was seamless. But you notice the energy shift as soon as he started to play because he started playing like Bangra, started playing some music relevant relative to the to the culture. And it's just, I don't know if anybody thinks that way. That you have to set up the person coming after you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not just self.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's basically you're all the steward of the event or the party or the wedding or whatever. Yeah. So you're setting it up and you're setting everyone up to succeed, not fail, which is which is crucial. Yeah. Which is crucial.
SPEAKER_00You want everyone to have a good time. The bride and the groom was talking about this for decades.
SPEAKER_01So I I was lucky enough to photograph our good friend Ryan Gerges, it's his brother's wedding. Nice. Yeah, Richard's awesome. Flew up to Sacramento, got to stream Richard's wedding, had a having the time of my life. My shift ended. I I put the gear away. DJ Ace is DJ, and I had a I love Ace.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Ace is cool.
SPEAKER_01Ace is my guy. I love things. We actually took a plane up together, and it was just me and him on the plane. Really? I was like, they're losing money on this. And so me and Ace both sat together. They still wouldn't let us sit above in front of that line. No way! So me and Ace are just sitting in the first seat behind, you know, we're like economy plus or whatever. But we flew up there together. But it's like two in the morning. And the one thing I know about uh Coptic people, Egyptian people, uh they party. Oh yeah. They party. Okay, it's two in the morning. Yeah. Two in the morning. And I've flown from Long Beach all the way up past Sacramento. Uh and Ace's like, man, he looks at me and I'm like, what's wrong, Ace? He's off. I've been up here for six hours. I need to use the restroom. So I was like, all right, all right. He's like, you got this, right? And I'm like, I'm looking at his board, I'm like, yeah, I got this. And he's he's halfway through a song, so he's like, all right, I'm gonna, he's uh, here you go, I'm gonna set you up. And then the moment he leaves, that screen goes black. No way. I'm like, great, great. Oh man. So I booted back up, and I'm like, all right, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And he was playing hip hop, 90s hip-hop. I'm like, all right, cool, cool. Um, so I played uh 50 Cent in the club, yeah, and I transitioned to Ice Cube Weavy Clubbing. That was my golden moment. It was like, yeah, we kept it club vibe. Yeah. So I was like, man, I may not have the beats on, but it was what came up because it was in C's or whatever, whatever it was in. I was I'm going this and this. Yeah, and I did it, and then Ace comes back and he and he sits down. I was like, freaking Ace, get up here! Two in the morning. I shot photos all day. I was like, I'm glad you trust me, bro, but come on. Come on, this ain't my job. I don't know what's going on. That's funny, but yeah, that wedding was that wedding was nuts. It was a lot of fun. And that's the cool thing, is like someone in in the industry asking you to do something in the industry is really kind of a compliment.
SPEAKER_00It's fun. You never asked me to shoot a photo.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I just get it asked. I don't everyone sees your face all the time. I've taken your picture a million times, and it's just because you were an official. Yeah, yeah. I always try to take pictures of DJs too. Yeah. Because I think the bride and groom are right, really. That was the best party ever. They want to see who did it.
SPEAKER_00That's true. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, that I give the photos to Ryan so he can promote himself and do all that stuff. I want to take his picture. That's an awesome. That is awesome. Uh you you told us uh the the horrible shooting up of uh the the house party thing. So what's your what is your creme de la creme? What was the best event you ever shot? Or ever shot, say, DJed.
SPEAKER_00Um oh gosh. I I have so I have one from the club scene. I was able to DJ for one of the fly girls from In Living Single or Living Colored. Oh, yeah? Yeah, Dragonfly and Sand of the Club. It wasn't J-Lo. I you know, I it could have been. It could have been. I don't know. We just played it. Yeah. It was a lot of fun, a lot of inner C insiders. I've done a lot of uh movie rap-up parties and stuff like that, but they they were kind of like, you know, whatever, status quo. They kind of do what they do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And as far as uh private events are concerned, I there's a lot of highlight moments that I've had.
SPEAKER_01Um well, let's break it down a little bit. What was the most rewarding? Because there's good events and rewarding events.
SPEAKER_00Most rewarding? Oh, I I I got one. So I had a DJ call me and uh schedule a call with me, and we talked. He goes, Hey um, hey, listen, man, I just want to be straightforward with it. And I talked to five other companies, and not one of them understands what I want. Just to be up front, I'm a DJ and um I want something a certain way, because I I don't want any corness. I want, you know. And he's I I go, okay, well, well tell me, you know, explain what you want. And he explained this whole thing to me. And then I basically recreated him, which is a training that I have about listening between the lines and summarizing what someone says.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he goes, Oh man, that's exactly what I want.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because that's exactly what you said.
SPEAKER_00He goes, dude, dude, send me the contract. I'm like, okay, all right, cool. And DJing for another DJ can sometimes be nerve-wracking. Oh, yeah, you know. Oh yeah, but you know, we we got along really great. He ended up moving to Arizona. And um he one time I was in there, I gave I shot him a quick text. He goes, dude, let's get together for coffee. We got together for coffee, and we just had this great moment, Reet talking about his marriage and about what's happened since then, thanking me profusely, like, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Like we we both got teary-eyed. I mean, that that whole relationship developed from that wedding I got to do for that DJ was was awesome.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's also a little more respect when it's someone in your industry, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like, uh, I can only compare it to the photography world, but like everyone's a photographer. Everyone thinks they're a phone, right? Right. But like every once in a while there's someone, and I'm like, oh, oh. That guy knows what he's doing or whatever. But when they're the ones, which is great, they're the ones that will compliment you. Because they'll see what you're doing, and they're like, Oh, okay. I was shooting a cover the other day, and I was on a bridge in Naples Island. Oh, nice. And uh the sun was going down, but it's hot because it's coming right into the lens. So I'm overpowering the sun with my flashes, and this guy walks by and he's all that's a real photographer. And I was like, Yeah, I'm real. He's all no, that that flash and shooting into the sun, man. That's a real I'm like, yes, because no one can do that. No one can do that. Do that with your iPhone, you're gonna just get lens flare or whatever. Oh, yeah. But it's that I think something about someone in your industry complimenting you is so much better because they know what you're going through, right? They they know the struggle. Gear in your industry has completely changed. Oh gosh. Your speakers have gone from how many pounds to how many pounds? I remember those two. 70 pound uh yeah, the what's 200-pound speakers?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, those uh yeah, those uh earthquakes, they call them Cherba Vega earthquakes. Things were huge, just massive. And and see, nowadays, heavy speakers have four wheels. Back then it was only two. Yeah, you have to balance the whole thing and forget about going upstairs or places with no elevators. That's just how many trips, man. Oh, lots of trips. We're talking three-hour setups, four-hour setups, nuts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but now I see these little speaker clusters, like they have a wide base, tall with a little speaker on top. I'm like, this is freaking awesome. Just just weight alone. Yeah. So the industry is Shane, you're not carrying those crates full of records. Nope. Although Ryan's backpack weighs about 500 pounds. I don't know if you've ever listened to it.
SPEAKER_00That's kind of heavy, right?
SPEAKER_01But now it's all on the computer, right? Yes.
SPEAKER_00And uh backup on a four terabyte hard drive.
SPEAKER_01Just in case. So you can just plug that, plug it in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It makes it easier. Contingency plans are important for the weddings that we do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we covered the DJ, we covered the efficient stuff, right? I do know you're you're somewhat of a life coach. And I think that's why I kind of wanted you on the show. Okay. Because we talk all the time, and we could just shoot the shit forever. Like whenever you come in to get your hair done or whatever, we get your perm.
SPEAKER_00A perm in my 90s jeans that you baked out of.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. We can talk about anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I think there's a connection between your MC work, your DJ work, and kind of like your uh your marriage coaching and and and stuff like that. I think there's a connection that people listen to you. Right?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Have you noticed that people have listened to you your whole life?
SPEAKER_00Um, no.
SPEAKER_01I've always listened to you.
SPEAKER_00I always felt ignored as a kid. So I had to do stupid things to get attention. But it's in the process of learning how to listen that I was able to be a good speaker.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because people used to tell me, you don't listen, you don't listen, you're selfish, you don't listen. I don't know how many times I've heard that as a kid in my early 20s, late 20s. Uh I got married, and I don't think I was a good listener. I didn't pay, I wasn't present in the marriage. I was working long hours. I was in the television industry at the time. And um, after that divorce, it crushed me. And I started to take an inward look at myself and like, what who am I? I didn't know who I was, and so I had to take a journey, go down a path to think to learn how to love myself again.
SPEAKER_01And um did you frame your life like by your career? Or I find people like like with me, it's like for the longest time when I was working my butt off, I was a photographer before anything. Oh right, and so that's who I was. I wasn't a husband, I wasn't a dad, I was a photographer first. Okay. Where's my life shifted? Like, were you so into the work that you just didn't?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I uh I I was working really hard. I wanted to be a television director. I love aesthetics, blocking, yeah, uh storytelling, I love stuff like that. So I poured my heart into that, and yeah, that that's what I wanted to be, and I was always saying, yeah, I'm I'm in the industry, I'm gonna be a director, TV director, multi-camera, da-da-da. And that, yeah, I kind of lost myself when I didn't have a passion for that anymore after my divorce. And um I got to learn who I was and learned uh how to listen better, how to stay present with people, and how to communicate. I mean, I could tell you a long list of workshops and seminars and courses that I've taken that uh allowed me to do what I do. In 2011, I got certified as a relationship coach. And uh it had an emphasis in personal finances because what the company I worked at, they paid for my certification in schooling. So I'm like, I'll take it. I'm like, I love this stuff. And learning how to phrase things, learning how to ask the right questions is crucial to being able to like, okay, let's take a look at this from a different angle. Because perspective, if you ever hire a coach and have a mentor, you're paying for you're having perspective. Sometimes looking at things one things one way, you can't find a solution. But if you look at things multiple ways, you can find a solution so much faster. And I give a couple uh personality assessment using a DISC, and that allows me to see inside their thought process that helps me to be a really good coach with them.
SPEAKER_01And that I mean that changes lives. Yes. Because I don't even think people realize that the communication is lacking.
SPEAKER_00No, they don't, because they're they're it they're blinded by all the love language and you know they're they're doing things for each other, the act of service, the physical touch, and all that stuff is is there. But when you get into the grind and you start getting into your work, you start doing less of those things, and your relationship becomes more work.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And if you don't do the pre-work, the work is so much harder, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So I think I think of everything you do, I think that's really important. And I think you probably bring a little of that into the other things. Like when you're being inefficient, you're talking to these people prior to their wedding.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure you're breaking down a little bit of that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes. Right? Like I I recommend certain things for the ceremony based on how they're interacting with each other, and I'll say it out loud, and they're like, that's beautiful. Like, that's that's a relationship.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm sure they have these aha moments. Like, oh yeah. Wait, oh like I had a I had a couple one time she said, you know, I want you to do the vows, but I don't, you know, the sickness and health, I don't, I just want the sickness, I just want the health part. Richer part, I just want the richer part. Like, she did not want any of the negativity, negative words. And I said, I said to her, I go, okay. I go, but how do you have those those richer, those healthy moments without knowing what it feels like to be sick?
SPEAKER_01Right? How can you have the good without the bad?
SPEAKER_00I said, you enjoy those good times when you have a bad moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like, think about the moments you've had in your relationship. And I started asking her those questions. I go, No, I can do exactly what you want me to do, but let me help you to to kind of know my approach and how I believe it can help with the ceremony. And at the end of the day, she goes, Oh, that makes total sense. I go, it's like yin and yang. So, what do I set that? She goes, Oh my god, I have a yin and yang tattoo on my back. And I'm thinking to myself, why don't you want it now? You should want this stuff in there.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I have to do this because we're taking a left on Lewis. Okay. Then I hooks the left on to one in Lewis. Yes, I love it. There's there's everything you do in life. All this stuff you do, like what I do in business, I find that my style of business and what I do in my business, I tend to flock towards businesses similar to mine.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? I tend to support businesses similar to mine. Uh, definitely people with the same political views, the same heart, right? Yes. I would like you to give me three shout-outs of businesses you think need a little love, a little uh a little shout-out uh from you.
SPEAKER_00Does it matter where they're at?
SPEAKER_01Doesn't matter where they're at.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01They could go across genre too. It could be whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00Those are so many great businesses, and the names are slipping me. I gotta look that up on my phone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, go for it.
SPEAKER_00But I do know the I do know the Blackbird Cafe has a great vibe going in there, and it's in Long Beach.
SPEAKER_01It's right here, right here on the corner of Wardlow and Orange. It's literally a uh what do you call major city uh block away from us? Yeah, and we eat there all the time. We love Blackbird. Love that place. And the owners are amazing, and they're mom and pop.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, everyone's welcome there too. Yeah, um, the other one is uh Bees Sugar Spice. That's S-U-G-A, Bees Sugar Spice. This woman is just awesome. I mean, she's so easy to work with, so friendly. She does this thing where they have like diced up fruit with like fresh-made uh sorbet or ice cream. They put toppings on it, like you know, uh uh Marindo spicy stuff like that, or or peach peach sugar rings. And that's not the only one she has. She has like where where are they? They're located in um oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01I love that because that feels like my childhood.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So they do they do it everywhere. It's the L-A-O-C-I-E-S-V-S-V-V. Um, they're look, they're out of Whittier.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. She says, I got all your munchies. DM me for a menu. Bees, chicken, spice. I love it. Like, I've worked with her quite a few times, and then I ran into her quite a few times. She's trying to get her food at liquor stores and trying to do stuff like that. But there's a whole thing with like, you know, the California State, uh, the health department. And so she's she's struggling with that. But um, I've tasted these things, they're amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, that's another mom and pop, right? Another mom and pop. I love it. Exactly. I love it.
SPEAKER_00And I what I love about it is like, I'm like, when's the best time to call you? Well, I got my I got my kids, they go to school this time and this time, I'm available this time and this time. She's juggling so much, yeah, and still building this business.
SPEAKER_01I see, those are the businesses I love support because I I see myself in those businesses. Yes, you know, yes, and I guess I I see the struggle of when you're uh a parent and you're having to do all this stuff and jump through all these hoops and still grow your business as well as run your business. Exactly. And that's why that's why I do these shout-outs, because there's places that maybe some of the listeners haven't heard about and can give a little bit of love to. And if anything, just go and click on their page, drive traffic their way, and maybe that helps them boost their analytics and all that fun stuff. So go out and search them.
SPEAKER_00Number three. Oh gosh, number three. Uh I probably have to go with a with a winery.
SPEAKER_02Uh oh.
SPEAKER_00Bougie. Bougie. Yeah, it's got a strange name, but see, I can't I can't drink wine.
SPEAKER_01I don't drink in general, but like wine's the headache capital of drinking.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, limited, limited. Because I I dude, if I have like two glasses or three glasses, I get a headache the next day. So one glass with dinner.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um glass, I'm a cheap date. One glass, I'm done. I'm done for. I I drink uh like one beer a year, usually, and it's uh excluding this year because the World Cup was rough on my Norwegian butt. But uh one beer, it's usually when we do, we do a big uh tamale cook every year. Oh, nice. My friends get together.
SPEAKER_00Where's the invite, bro? Oh, you want to come.
SPEAKER_01We are critical on our tamale scale, so you better know how to stuff a tamale. Oh yeah. Um get our little rice spoon to get it in there, it's perfect. Janelle and I oh Janelle, yeah!
SPEAKER_00Did you talk about that, Wendy?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, it's because you know, during the holidays I'm a little busy, so I'll live off tamales.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Live off tamales.
SPEAKER_00Tamale's an egg, tamales. Oh, gotcha.
SPEAKER_01Just do everything tamales-wise.
SPEAKER_00So you got your third one? Yeah, I'm pulling it up right now in the CRM I use. Because you're part of a business group, right? Yeah, part of a networking group. You know, I find when I used to network in the wedding and events space, it's very clicky. It's hard to find like-minded people. It is.
SPEAKER_01You know, they're gatekeeping like crazy.
SPEAKER_00Oh, gatekeeping, they're they're all about the Benjamins, and I'm like, wait a minute, why do you do this job? Yeah, and so I find networking with other business professionals that take holistic approaches to helping their clients is perfect. Like in this group, there's there's like different categories. So if I'm talking to a client, I find out they want to buy a house, I know a real estate agent that is a warm and friendly voice that will, even if they don't help them find something, they're gonna help them get clear a clearer picture on what they want.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or uh a person that helps financial trusts, you know, financial plans.
SPEAKER_01I love that because that it's the it's exactly what I do in the car here. Yes, you do, exactly. Well, these businesses that come out, I know them personally. I vouch for them personally, or else I want to have them on here, right? Yeah, and I think those businesses are better to work with because there's that trust already, right? They're pre-qualified for business. So being a part of a group like that, yeah, they know they're gonna see you again, so they're gonna do your people right.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah, and then they have certain like uh criteria, you know, you have to be a go giver rather than a go taker.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You have to have integrity, good character, believe in lifelong learning. Yeah, and um, you know, they vet you out. They they they call references of yours before they even think about allowing you in. Oh, yeah. And it sounds weird, right? But I mean, it just keeps the quality of the people there top-notch. Yeah, which is what I enjoy most about just hanging out with you.
SPEAKER_01Well, you can surround yourself with like-minded people, exactly, because iron sharpens iron makes you better, right? Yes, it makes you better. So, what's your give back, Joe?
SPEAKER_00Well, my give back is any any opportunity I have with anyone, um, what I have a heart for is helping um being a role model for those without a parent figure in their life. Yeah, sometimes it could be a father or that kind of a role model. And it gets confusing with TikTok and with social media. It's like they're lost and they don't, they are not able to find themselves. If I was able to find myself after a divorce and get remarried to an amazing woman that supports what I do, uh, you know, knowing who you are, you have to know who you are first before you get in any relationship, or that person will dictate who you are. And I like to help youth, like you know, I have a few people that I'm mentoring right now.
SPEAKER_01Well, that helped us because you brought Matthew into our life. Matthew, yes. He's a sweet kid. I mean, we haven't seen each other in a couple years now, but we were able to get him to have courage to step out and do his own films and filmmaking, and we got him to edit stuff for people, like to kind of get him past that. Oh, I don't do this, to actually doing it. Yes.
SPEAKER_00He just finished school, he got a certificate in um media, media.
SPEAKER_01He's an amazing kid. Yeah, I think that's because he had people like you watching out for him. Otherwise, who knows, right? Especially in a dream industry, right? Like we're we're an industry of just following our dreams, yeah. Um, because it's something we want to do. So that I think that's important. Yeah. So you also get back every year, you're always at our tree lighting. Yes, I love the tree lighting.
SPEAKER_00Watching all those kids play and have fun and this the choirs that come about. It's amazing to guys do.
SPEAKER_01It kind of gives back to the community in general where we're based, right? Yes, and I think that is the most tangible give back.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh because you actually get to see the joy. Oh god, right? Yeah, as opposed to a lot of times it's not the joy happening. We're we're like working our butt off for people who've got $500,000 on a wedding when I was like, you could have saved homeless people or bought a house. I mean, a hundred thousand dollar wedding, I it still sounds like a lot of money, but that's the every once in a while might be $500,000 weddings, and I'm like, this is insane to me. No offense if you spent $500,000 on your wedding. Book me and Joe.
SPEAKER_00So I got this third venue, and it's a it's a winery, and they have open winery, but they also have weddings there. What I liked about them is like they ended everything at 11 o'clock, but yeah, the couple has this real big thing about 1111. Like that's their time. Yeah. They let them have their last dance at 1111. Oh. And then also they coordinate with the other venues that have live entertainment to take a break during the time of the ceremony so that you can the ceremony works. Like, who doesn't?
SPEAKER_01You're not hearing other venues.
SPEAKER_00No. Yeah. They're so capable, so friendly. They're, you know, some places want to give vendor meals at the end of the meal, but then that's when we start working.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00At the end of the meal, it's like there's toast or there's something else we don't get to eat. They're like, come on, we gotta we gotta put table for you back here. Let's get you fed while the guests are eating so you can get back to work afterwards. And I love that.
SPEAKER_01That happened last night at Tarraneia.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, but we ate when the guests were eating, so we were ready to go afterwards. Yeah, which is awesome, especially DJ-wise. Like, you guys, yeah, nothing happens without you. So that's important.
SPEAKER_00Gershawn Bacchus Vent nurs in Temecula.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Gershawn Bacchus. I mean, the the I met the owner and his wife, such good people. They've been there for like over 20 years. I haven't never even heard of that uh space. So my wife and I got to take a trip down there and go have lunch.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's funny though. Okay. So this just came into my head because it happens to me all the time. Um, because you were talking about the meals, and that's kind of a respect thing, right? Because they're respecting your timeline, they're respecting all your stuff. Being in this industry so long, I've been blatantly disrespected at some of these venues and some of these by some of these people. It's like, uh, I've guaranteed a meal and they're like, that's through you and the bride, not us. And it was like, whoa! So the respect of people in the industry, right? Whereas I try to respect everybody. Yeah. You guys are constantly respecting everybody because everyone relies on you guys as DJs. Everyone relies on you as an officiant to run the show. The respect you guys have to have for everyone is incredible. And I think that's why I go to you, I go to Tempo, because the respect is there no matter what. Yeah. I think that respect classifies who you guys are as people. Yeah. Right? Like you could be a dick character. You could as a DJ, you could be a dick. Because I've seen them. Yeah. I've seen them. Why do you choose not to be?
SPEAKER_00Well, first of all, that's one of the criteria for the staff that we have. That pride pride has no place in the marriage, pride has no place in the business. If you're at someone's service, it's funny. It does a couple of things. Number one, it makes the environment easy to work in. Because weddings are high strong. Yeah. The other thing it does is it attracts people to us, they want to recommend us to their clients. They want to recommend us to their future clients. So it does all that, but it goes even further back. You know, I've been in situations where I've been mistreated. It doesn't feel good. No. And I've noticed that people treat an officiant different than they do a DJ. But you know, it is what it is. So when I play the role of a DJ, I just smile and say, I could do that for you. Yeah, yeah, we could figure that out. Or something to the effect of that to move things forward and just if you have a smile on your face, uh, they're less likely to beat you down like they would if you were just like, What? Yeah, yeah. Like less confrontation, less abrasiveness, like just keep it copacetic with everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Me, it's a tap on the shoulder. It's a hey, and they point to something. Yeah. I'm like, not that I I only captured that a hundred times before you noticed it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But it's like, what are you doing? It's like, I'm a professional, that's what I do for a living. So it's that respect thing that that's interesting to me. And the physical touch is weird. Yeah, I get touched. I'm just like, oh, okay. And especially at the end of a wedding where people are a little having a little fun. It's always, it's always the beard stroke or the chest touch. And I'm just like, all right, this is now awkward for me. Because I am stone cold sober, and you guys are woo-hoo. So I appreciate you coming on, Joe. I hope people learned a little bit about you, and I hope um people understand a little bit more. It's not just someone playing music, it's not just someone speaking at your wedding. It's it's a personal connection. It's a connection that you've developed over years of doing. Started on real to real and freaking vinyl, and now we're running digital assets. And I think the game has changed, but the heart's still there.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Right? Like I don't I don't think that's ever gonna go away. Uh especially with someone like you. And and always book someone that has heart. Heart within the industry, heart within what they do. Someone who cares more about the whole than the individual. I think that's that's crucial in this industry.
SPEAKER_00And uh if you want to learn more about Joe, you can head over to uh Instagram at Tempo DJs or uh at Joe Rivera Jr. Joe Future. Where did Future come from? Oh, that's a good question. Um, so I was uh working a club. Uh I was going by the name DJ Sin, S-I-N-N. I was really aggressive when I used to play. You were a bad boy. That was a bad boy. I told you, I have had, you know, numerous uh I've been butterfly, caterpillar, butterfly, caterpillar, butterfly. And this guy walked to me and said, Hey, um, are those your records? I go, yes, you want to be on the radio? I'm like, yes. He's like, be at this place at midnight. So I went, I had to write the songs I was gonna play, and I played. And um, the way my style is, I think like a music producer. The way I put together my sets, and this uh the engineer for the radio station approached me and said, Hey, uh, you need to come back. I'm like, cool, cool. So what's your name? I go, um, my name's Joe. He's like, cool. What's your DJ name, DJ Sin? And he looked at me kind of weird. He's like, huh. I go, bro, you need to have something more futuristic. I mean, the way your style is, you're like a producer, you think, and he's the one that told me that. It's like the way you go from here to there, and you just you're mixing this with that, and it doesn't feel like it sounds like it goes good, but it goes. He's like, dude, you're like future, like futuristic. You should be like Joe Future. And like, I'm like, he gave me my name.
SPEAKER_01That was it. Joe Future. That was it. That's way better than Sen. I can market future.
SPEAKER_00Thanks.
SPEAKER_01I can't mark Sen.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, that's kind of it's a it's an acquired taste, uh awesome.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for being on the show. Hope you guys enjoyed the drive, and uh, we'll see you next time.
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