Open Mic with DJ Licious!

DJ Flame:
Hey, 8.1 HD three Wolf Fe Radio. It is DJ Flame here with another open mic podcast. This time we have one of my favorites, DJ Lites. How you doing today?

DJ Licious:
I’m good, how are you?

DJ Flame:
I’m doing pretty good. So I’m gonna start off with this question. What made, what made you start or gave you the idea to become a dj?

DJ Licious:
Oof. Wow. That’s, do you have we have like two hours ? No, it’s, it’s actually, I mean, I wanted to be a DJ like 20 years ago already before DJing was like super hot. It was not really something that was even considered to be a career choice. Uh, but I was a big hip hop fan and that was probably the first time I saw DJ being a major part of, uh, of a musical ensemble or, you know, of a group or an act. And, uh, I was, uh, especially fan of Li Bizkit and, and, and, and Wutang clan and all those, uh, uh, groups, uh, big bands. And, um, yeah, the, the DJ thing and making beats just, you know, uh, was something that really, really, um, impressed me and I wanted to do that as well. But at that time, when I wanted to become a dj, there was no scene yet in Europe, or I think worldwide even. There were no festivals or anything like that when I started.

DJ Flame:
So when you started, did you, like, I know you probably aimed like doing remixes, but did you ever like also plan on like doing your own releases, like your own music besides like remixes?

DJ Licious:
Well, that is also a very good question because in the beginning, a DJ was a dj. He was not a producer. And so when I started out, I was just playing records that I liked. I went to London, I went to to New York to buy my vinyl because those were, you know, the major cities to get your vinyl. And I was just like every other dj, just a dj. But then while I was getting further in my career and the de the DJing thing was evolving into a producer thing as well. So that’s when I decided to, uh, follow some courses, uh, some, uh, colleges and, um, and yeah, get into that as well because I actually have a background, uh, as a piano player and musician back in the days when I was a kid. So for me, the step was not that big.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I know, like today when people wanna be DJs today, I know it’s a completely different from like the years past because you actually have vinyls you, like when you talk people with vinyls, like what’s a vinyl in? You’re like, it’s like, it’s like a cd, but it’s not a cd, you know? I mean, exactly. You just, you know, you look at your turntable these days, it’s just a little digital and you’re like, that this is what a vinyl looks like except a vinyls when we put a needle on it. I know my, my grandmother, oh my gosh, she’s a hoarder with vitals, , like all over her, all over her wall is just like records everywhere. And I guess that’s what also got me into music, but, uh, yeah,

DJ Licious:
Well, don’t, don’t throw those away, man. You don’t know. Uh, maybe there’s some gold nugget in there because, you know, vinyl des the great thing about vinyl, it never fades. It never goes bad, you know, and that’s a whole other story. We’d see theses and, and all the digital things. Of course,

DJ Flame:
I know the vinyls, they’re, they’re just very unique. I know one time I was just walking, next thing I know there was like, like at least 20 big eBay boxes and I’m like, what’s in there? And she was like, oh, I found these vinyls online. I’m like, , okay.

DJ Licious:
Nice, nice, nice,

DJ Flame:
Nice. But yeah, I think that, I think the passion of music is, I guess came from my granny a little bit too, so that’s pretty cool.

DJ Licious:
Well, I think it, it is the same with everyone. I mean with me it was my dad, uh, he was also a music hoarder. He had everything from vinyl to CDs to cassettes to mini disk, even that’s a format that I, I think nobody knows or remembers anymore. But yeah, he was just also like completely obsessed with music and I think everyone has someone in their lives, you know, like that

DJ Flame:
Too. Yeah. Well, for me, my grandmother and my mother, I know when I was like five years old, she gave me a MP3 player for Christmas, and I’m telling she, uh, she, she went overboard with Limewire. I’m telling you that. I mean, she was like, what song do you want? She just like, put everything, I swear, I swear I still have our family desktop. And I swear his is like, most of the hard job is filled with music and viruses from Limewire

DJ Licious:
. Well that’s, that’s what I just wanted to say because I literally ruined the first family PC with Napster.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I heard of Napster because

DJ Licious:
Of, because of viruses and all that stuff. I, I just literally hoarded music. I bought music officially too, obviously, but I also, you know, the things I couldn’t because now everything’s global and digital, but back in the days, if you didn’t have the cd, sometimes it was released in the stage, but you had to wait for like two weeks or three weeks or a month even. Right. And, you know, I, I wasn’t that, you know, patient, so I just went to Napster for those thingss. But the amount of viruses I got on the family pc Oh my God. Yeah. My mom’s still upset about that.

DJ Flame:
. See, I think, well all same with us. I think we actually had to get a through hard drive at least replaced at least one time too. So

DJ Licious:
Yeah, multiple times here. Multiple times.

DJ Flame:
Surpris, I think we still have it somewhere in storage and it’s still, still going, surprisingly .

DJ Licious:
Nice.

DJ Flame:
Okay. We’ll get a blue screen here and there, but

DJ Licious:
.

DJ Flame:
So I read something on your biography and it, there’s this quote that the beginning that stick out to me the most. It says house is where the heart is in home is where the house is. Do you think you can explain about that a little bit more?

DJ Licious:
Well, uh, like I said, I I, I first got into music and the DJing thing with hip hop, but, uh, soon I, um, had some friends who were totally into house music and club music and, uh, they took me to all these clubs and I quite soon, uh, went to IHA as well, uh, the, the party island of the world. And I was just so mesmerized by the whole atmosphere that came with that kind of music, which is like totally, you know, feeling of togetherness, family, friends, you know, everybody united almost like a, almost like a hippie kind of feeling, you know, like, uh, just togetherness and being united by music. And that was something I never saw in music before. And that club music, that house music is literally where my home is, you know, that’s why Yeah, that quote came about how that co quote, how that quote came about

DJ Flame:
. Yeah, I was looking at the quote and I’m like, that, that’s actually like that, that’s definitely something to highlight right there because from reading it, I mean, we all have different means when read a quote and I read that quote and I’m like, that, that’s a deep quote right there. And I know , everyone, everyone reads they have different, I’m like, I know, it’s definitely, I seen how, so I’m like, okay, it has to be with house trap music, so Of

DJ Licious:
Course, yeah, obviously, uh, yeah, I, I I can’t take all the credit. I wrote it together with a copywriter, but we were discussing it because I, I, I actually studied advertising and I was saying like, look, I have this feeling and I want to, you know, put this in this quote. And it’s like, I am home when I listen to this music and, you know, United. And then we quickly came up with that slogan and it is not all mine. It’s also my copywriter .

DJ Flame:
Yeah. Well, teamwork, it’s still a good quote. I mean, yeah, I think when everyone listens to music, I think it just gives ’em in a place just like exactly, just like another place just to calm them down, you know? And just, just another zone just to like experience the lyrics in the musical right behind it. So.

DJ Licious:
Exactly, exactly.

DJ Flame:
So I think from googling your music and looking more into it, I think your first biggest hit was, I can’t stop if I’m mistaking,

DJ Licious:
You’re No, not mistaking. It’s very close. Uh, it’s only a few months off, but my first actual big track was calling, um, that was released in two, uh, yeah, 2060. Yeah. Uh, that one got picked up by bbc, by P Tong, by all the legendary DJs. I got emails from, from Aviche to Martin Solv for that track, and that was the first one. And then quickly after that came, I Can’t Stop, which was then signed, uh, by Don Alon Hexagon, which is also obviously a big thing. Uh, and he premiered that track on E D C Las Vegas main stage, I think. And the amount of messages I got after that, uh, was just, just insane. Uh, I still remember that time. That was very good.

DJ Flame:
Very cool. Yeah. Would, would you say that that was probably like where your like music career started to light drastically go up in the air

DJ Licious:
Or Yes. Together with the calling track? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Don, uh, has meant a lot to me. I mean, I’ve toured with him across, like, around the world, um, and he’s always been a big supporter of my music, so yeah, I am very grateful. But that moment was, I mean, your music gets premiered to like one, 200,000 people, you know, , that’s just insane, you know? And, uh, yeah, the, the the the the, the feedback on that one was huge. Absolutely.

DJ Flame:
You know, when you tr, especially when we mentioned travel around the world, when you do that just to like dj, I know you have like crazy amount of crowds, like how do you feel when you’re about to perform in like that bunch that much people? It’s just feels me, I probably passed out on spots.

DJ Licious:
. Yeah. Well, I must say, um, I’ve been now DJing full-time for like 14 years, so it’s, I don’t wanna sound cocky, but it’s kind of normalizes. That being said, there are of course still, uh, gigs that just blow you away. Uh, for example, when I played tomorrow and main stage, I can assure you there was some alcohol involved to calm the nerves, nurse .

DJ Flame:
Oh, trust

DJ Licious:
Me. And, and, and, and, and also that being said, I must say that if you pass a certain amount of people, amount, like a certain number of people, it just gets abstract, you know? I mean, I think if you pass like 10,000 people and then you go like 60 or 70 or 80, it all looks kind of similar because it’s all just a lot, you know, it’s just like, you can’t, your, I think your brain just goes into error mode or something and just says like, okay, this is a lot of people we can’t fathom anymore how much Exactly. But yeah. Um, that being said, um, I still get nervous sometimes, but I, uh, I have this little trick where I just play some, some game on my iPhone where I just, you know, just zone out and, you know, like just play a few games of something online just five minutes before I go on. And that kind of calms my nerves a little bit.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I know there’s, there’s a lot of people that has like different like ways of coping right before they get on stage. I know some like sleeping, some play game and drinking. Of course I know , I

DJ Licious:
Know not too much boys and girls too much. Exactly.

DJ Flame:
Just the limit. Just make sure you don’t hit the limit, but get close enough to the limit where you just can’t, you know.

DJ Licious:
Exactly, exactly. Just some courage, you know? Uh, it’s just, I mean, it just to, to take the edge off a little bit because you, you, I mean, you sometimes it just, um, you, it just doesn’t hit you yet how important that gig is or how big that gig is until you get there. And sometimes it’s just, yeah. You know, already like a year beforehand that this is gonna be like a major milestone in your career. And then Yeah, you, you have all the time to get nervous, basically.

DJ Flame:
I know. Cause I know eventually you’ll get used to it and you’ll like, you’ll like thank the crowd or your, like listeners basically like as a family, you know? Exactly. See all the ones to support you and you’re just like, that also gets you pumped too. You’re like,

DJ Licious:
Exactly.

DJ Flame:
It’s awesome. They’re all here for me. ,

DJ Licious:
, . Yes. That is a crazy feeling, especially when I have like the boards and with your name on it or wearing a t-shirt with your face last, uh, uh, last gig I got like puppets, uh, with my face on it and stuff like that. It’s just crazy. The flags of their national, uh, national flags within my logo on it and stuff like that. Just super blessed that people go that whole length to support me, you know? And, and that of course helps too, because if you, when you see those friendly faces in the crowd, you’re just like, okay, all right, they’re here to have a good time. I’m here to have a good time. What can possibly go wrong?

DJ Flame:
Yeah, exactly. And that, that actually kind of led on to the next thing I was gonna like, talk about like, what was the most crazy when you were performing? What was like the most craziest thing you like experienced while you were on stage? Rather it’s from the audience or like equipment wise, like,

DJ Licious:
Well, I think, I think I must, I mean, I played in Paris once, um, in the city center. It was like, uh, I don’t know if you know that in the stage, but it’s like a techn operate, which is basically, um, all these buses and trucks with DJs on them that drive, uh, through the sh which is like the biggest main street of, uh, Paris with millions of people around you, just following the truck, just walking alongside, uh, slow moving truck playing music. And every truck is hosted by a different, uh, brand or radio or whatever. And I was playing at that time, and I still remember that people just actually climbed into the traffic light, onto the traffic lights, jumping on cars, on the roof of cars, just totally destroying the cars, just having this massive ra. Um, and I, I asked, I asked one of the, the, the, the promoters of the, the, the, the parade, like, why are people not moving their cars? Because obviously if you know that this parade is gonna pass, you know, uh, and they, yeah, we, we have this problem always. We just tell people not to park there, but still pe some people do it and then it’s a whole insurance thing, , obviously. But, uh, yeah, that was just insane, man. That was, I mean, I had a, a view on the Notre Dame. I had a view on, I mean, that was just, just crazy,

DJ Flame:
Crazy because I didn’t know, like a crowd could go that crazy. They’re like, because at first the way you were talking about, I’m like, whoa, they cro they climbed in the truck with the driver about to say, whoa, the truck? No,

DJ Licious:
No, no, no, no, no. That they leave the truck alone. Because actually there’s like people, uh, walking around the truck with ropes, so nobody gets under the, the truck. It’s like a safety perimeter. But of course you’re going through the center of Paris, so everything else is up for grabs, basically. So people climb on bus stops, traffic. I had literally, uh, like 12, 14 meters high, someone hanging on traffic light going like this, like going, it’s insane. Uh, scenes. Yeah, .

DJ Flame:
Yeah. I don’t, I I can’t do that, honestly. I’ll

DJ Licious:
No, me neither. Me neither. It’s, and luckily nobody got hurt and nobody ever gets hurt. But there people are just so, you know, like stoked and hyped up on, on the whole event because it’s so surreal. You know, you have the, like the Eiffel Tower in the background and just millions of people just running around or walking with the trucks to a certain stop, to a certain, like a certain route. And it’s just insane. Absolutely insane.

DJ Flame:
That is insane. You know, that’s actually something I just like, really want to, I, well, I do wanna see in a person, but at the same time of my, I don’t want no one to get hurt, but I’m like, that’s just, it’s just crazy to think about like, people climbing up. I mean, we got, I mean, most of our traffic lights here are pretty high. So you’re just thinking, you’re like, you’re just going down the road and you just see someone hanging from a, a, a traffic light and you’re like, Hey, how are you doing

DJ Licious:
? Well, it, it’s, it’s, it’s the same in, in, uh, in, in Europe our traffic lights are very high too, but for some reason nobody gets hurt. Every, everybody is just, uh, you know, having fun and in this society where everything, um, is like super, you know, contained. Cuz I don’t know if they’re still doing the tech operate. It could be that because of those things you just mentioned, they’re no longer doing it. But I’m talking 10 years ago and then that was still just not a problem at all. Not by politicians or it was not forbidden, just police was just watching and there were no, no in incidents because like I said, the, the house music that we play is, is always about unity and love and accepting each other. And even, uh, the L G B T Q community, everything is super involved with the music we make and club music. And we’ve always been very, uh, the queer community has always been a very big part of us. There was never any color because house music literally started in Detroit. Um, so everything is just, we, we just love and embrace everyone. So those rays or parades were really, really, really peaceful. Nothing really ever happens. But yeah, I can imagine climbing a, a lab post or a traffic light is not the, um, top example of uh, um, safety. Yeah,

DJ Flame:
Safety. But at the same time, what you mentioned was really awesome because I love it when just like, people just like come together, like for like concerts and music events like that, no matter what, they’ll just all come together with love and peace, with like, no, no fear of danger or anything that can just exactly celebrate and just like have a good time with each other. That is actually pretty good to know.

DJ Licious:
Exactly, exactly. That’s why I fell in love with this kind of music because when I went to Iha to that, to that very first club, I will never forget. I was there in an afternoon, it was an afternoon rave and I got in, uh, I think Tito was playing David. It was an insane lineup. The tickets, I mean, I’m talking 15 years ago, so the tickets were not that expensive. And I was just dancing on the dance floor with a dad next to me with his seven year old son or, or on his shoulders just enjoying the music. And then 10 meters from there, that was, uh, Barbara Tucker singing, she’s a great house singer and she was singing in front of Serena Williams who was just chilling there, you know, no v i p no secure, nothing, just everybody just, you know, together, you know, like just living in the moment.

DJ Licious:
No, it was also before social media. So maybe that helped too. I don’t know. I don’t know what it was, but right there. And then I just fell in love with this vibe and, and with, with how it was, I was, was just connecting people. And I was talking to the dad and I was saying, why are you bringing your six, seven year old son here? And said, I grew up here, I love this music and I want, I wanted, I want to share this with him. It’s just, that just blew my mind, man. That was, that just blew my mind.

DJ Flame:
That’s, that’s really awesome to think about and like the inspiration to your music. Even your like, newer music today, they also sound really good. I know there’s two recent ones that, uh, one that I think it came to like the late end of last year, pop, like, I guess around Christmas time, never let you Go. That was, that was probably one of my favorites. And then you got in my heart.

DJ Licious:
Thank you man. Thank You’re very kind. Thank you. Yeah, both of them are, are, are written with the same feeling. All my music is written with the same feeling of just, you know, making people laugh, fun, love, you know, having, having these great times together because I think at recent times we are losing, gradually losing that connection a lot. And, um, in My Heart was actually written for all the fans that I had to miss during Covid and all the fans that I was not connecting with anymore. So I was, I, I was at this party in a country where Covid measures were already lifted and then some other people couldn’t join. And that’s where I wrote in my heart about like, you know, like, you are not here in, you know, like physically, but you’re here in spirit because you, we are all connected by this music and that’s what that track is actually about. So yeah,

DJ Flame:
Really that’s, I didn’t actually know that , so that’s actually pretty, cuz I know when I first heard it, I know y you hear my heart, but it’s like just a beat to it. It’s just like, you just wanna get thanks. Yeah. I’m like, this is nice. This is really catchy. So I can, I can definitely feel and see like the upbeat in your music, especially in my heart. Cuz I think when I, we think we were advertising it as new music at the beginning of this year, I was like, this is really catchy. So , that was like one of my favorite Thank you. New songs for that week.

DJ Licious:
That’s very kind, man. Thank you.

DJ Flame:
Of course. So, um, in the future do you plan on like doing any collaborations or anything in the future or any like remixes or any future plans with your music?

DJ Licious:
Uh, there are some future plans, but unfortunately like most future plants, I cannot really talk about it yet. But there are some remixes coming for a big American label. Um, and I have a big collab coming up as well. Um, but yeah, I can’t really drop names yet, but there’s also a new single coming in a month from now I think, which, uh, we’re the end of March, so month, month and a half. And it’s called Ibiza Skies. It’s about, uh, that feeling in Ibiza. So yeah. Um, yeah,

DJ Flame:
You

DJ Licious:
Understand lot, lot of, lot of stuff coming .

DJ Flame:
I understand. I don’t know that you have to like, you have to keep it secret until it comes out. Cause I can complet understand that’s just sitting, I, there’s like a few hints they like to throw out at you. I,

DJ Licious:
I don’t, I don’t, I don’t even want to be a douche about it, but it’s like, you know, it is the music industry and so many things still can go wrong because I, like recently I announced, uh, a remix that was coming and then in the end it got killed for some, you know, corporate or music reason or whatever. So that’s why I’m like super careful with these things. It’s not always even in my power how or when the music gets out, you know? Uh, so yeah, that’s why. But there are a lot of things boiling in my studio right now, so there’s a lot of stuff coming .

DJ Flame:
Yeah, we’re definitely looking forward to it too, so thank you man. Thank you. I mean, yeah. So DJ, how did you get the name dj?

DJ Licious:
That’s the, the question that always comes back and the answer is, um, is not so fancy as you might think, but, uh, when I was around like 15, 16 years old, um, there was uh, like a tendency for DJs to, to always make like a little wordplay with their names. And at that time, um, there was also a track, uh, from uh, uh, Destiny’s Child Bootylicious, how did that work? And it just, and I just, it just clicked in my head de delicious, you know, just like, okay, this sounds funny, it’s clever in some way, which I now doubt, but I was 16, so come on, let’s not be too, too

DJ Flame:
Mean. Yeah, you’re a teenager. So

DJ Licious:
Yeah, , I was a teenager at the time and then the name kind of stuck and the the fun thing is that I have a lot of, uh, European colleagues and they have like these very sophisticated names, but then they get pronounced wrong when they were like touring in Asia or in the States. And my name never gets pronounced wrong. So I call it a win. Maybe it’s not the best wordplay in the world, but I call it a win anyway. ,

DJ Flame:
It ain’t the best, but I mean it’s definitely like really, really hard to mess up cuz you think like, because when I, I think when I first saw your name, that’s actually what came, the first thing in my head came was Bootylicious. I’m like,

DJ Licious:
Exactly.

DJ Flame:
I’m like, does that where you got it from or is it just like a coincidence?

DJ Licious:
No, no, no, no, no. That’s exactly where I got it from because, uh, again, it was like the trend at the time of all the DJs like making these like word plays and like your all iterations or whatever, you know. And at that time, uh, DJ Alicia just sounded funny and, and I, I, I mean what did I know? I was 16 years old, what did I know that I was gonna travel the world with my music and produce and all that. I was just, you know, I was just playing some college parties. That was it. And I thought, well I need a name. . Yeah. And here we are 15 years later, .

DJ Flame:
I bet when you’re in college, everyone just loved to name dj. They’ll be like dj.

DJ Licious:
Yeah. Yeah. It, I mean I was even, I think it was even with a brainstorm session with one of my friends, you know, like we were on the bike, you know, just like chilling somewhere in a park. I think even it was like, I got this name and I got this name and then what do you guys think? And they were like, ah, licious, that is actually cool. And I said, okay, all right. So without any murdered consideration, I just went and dove in and yeah,

DJ Flame:
And it still, it’s still successful today so I mean, hey, if it, it still impacts today. So I mean, who knew that when you’re just young, something that you did now is actually still like relevant today.

DJ Licious:
Exactly. And exactly. And I just keep saying people, for the people who don’t like the name DJ DiUS, Terry’s a very successful artist called Marshmallow. I mean it, a name is just a name also, you know, it’s just, you know, it’s just, uh, yeah

DJ Flame:
Because I know you got like, there’s a lot of, I know like a lot of dj, which it is one of those things I like about DJ is the creativity in their names. They either just come up with the top of their head or base with like, uh, life experiences.

DJ Licious:
Exactly.

DJ Flame:
Um, I think, I know the first, the first e d m group I was introduced to was the Chainsmokers and I’m like,

DJ Licious:
Exactly. I’m like, they don’t even smoke

DJ Flame:
. They, I think like they don’t even smoke. And I’m like, cuz that’s like one of the things, do the chain spoke smoke? And they’re like, no,

DJ Licious:
No, exactly. Exactly. I mean that is, I mean it is just, you know, a moniker is just, uh, an alias. It’s, but at that time, destiny Child was larger than life. It still is, but then in the form of Beyonce obviously. But yeah, it was just, uh, yeah, just like that.

DJ Flame:
No, that’s really good. So is there like any inspiration you have for like others today that are per wanting to pursue like a career in DJing or producing?

DJ Licious:
I think, um, the key thing, and I know it’s not gonna sound any, uh, like romantic or like super, I mean it’s gonna sound a little bit preachy maybe even, but I think the most important thing you should um, um, do is follow your heart and be patient. Because I always believe that if you follow trends or you want to be like you or follow other examples or, you know, of course you can get inspired by other artists or artists that do amazing things obviously, but if you do what is coming from your heart, you will resonate at a certain moment with other people and with fans and with people who consume your music. If you’re just following blindly and like very deliberately make music or DJ and you just follow the trends, you’re always gonna be behind. If you do what you think is you, then it’s a certain moment you the trend and what you are doing are gonna come on a crossroad and that’s where it explodes and that’s what happened to me.

DJ Licious:
But for some people that moment on the crossroad can take five months and with others it can take 20 years. So that is the patience part. That is just something you really need to, you have to keep believing and you have to keep, and trust me, even if you’re like a big dj, and I don’t even consider myself to be the top, but if you are in a certain level, it still is hard. You know, it never stops. It’s, you still have to keep that inner compass and just do what you like and sometimes what you do will be like super popular and everybody will like it. And, and certain times the trend is just so far away from you that there’s not even a, you know, a little spot on you, but just keep the faith and it will come back to you for sure.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I know a lot of it DJ basis based on trial and error and just fa uh, following life experience and what you love.

DJ Licious:
Um, exactly.

DJ Flame:
Cause I

DJ Licious:
Mean it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s super hard work. You know, I I I look like crap right now because I just slept like three hours yesterday on the plane coming back from tomorrow and winter, uh, the day before I slept two hours, then I had a whole travel. I just come from Nepal. Uh, if you don’t really like what you’re doing and you’re in it for the wrong reasons, trust me, you can’t keep up with anything. This is really, really important that it’s your passion and that it is what you really want because you’re not gonna keep up with this lifestyle or pace of, of, of lifestyle because yeah, if your heart’s not in it, that’s not gonna fly for sure.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I understand. Cause I know a lot of people don’t, when they think of DJing, they never, some, most of the time doesn’t like traveling around the world doesn’t like cross their minds as much. I mean, most people just think about like locally, but like then

DJ Licious:
What? Exactly. And, and, and you can be a great local dj. I, I mean, I, I was talking to a DJ yesterday, uh, he’s like super big in Belgium. He sells out arenas, but if you go outside of Belgium, nobody knows him. Absolutely nobody. But he sells out arena shows of 20,000 tickets all by himself. And he just told me, he said like, I am very impressed what you do because you have all these jet lags. You’re doing this whole bigger area around the world with the touring, and I get to get to my own bed every night and I I, I still make the same amount of money as you are even more maybe. So it is, you never know where your career is going, where your audience is. So that is also, you know, something you need to find out and with trial and error and you know that basically.

DJ Flame:
Well that’s really cool. Yeah, no, it’s just a lot in just most of what everyone says is go what your heart follows and just what you just feel like doing for

DJ Licious:
Your company and be patient. I cannot stress that enough, be patient because I sometimes have like people sending me stuff and they’re like, oh, I’ve been uh, doing this DJ thing for a year now and it’s still not working. And I’m like, dude, a year is absolutely nothing in this, in this industry. I mean, David gta probably the most famous DJ ever to be alive. He was already pushing parties and DJing for 15 years before he got big, or 20 years even before he really blew up with all his collapse with Kelly Roland and all those things. And the black IP that was 15 years of hustle before that, and nobody sees the hustle, they only see the success, but there’s so much hustle and patience before that. Never forget that

DJ Flame:
That’s everything. I’m, I I believe that patience is key for everything and Exactly. Look at the older artists is like David gta. I mean he, I mean he has like, uh, I’m good. It’s still like really high on the charts after a few months and it’s just crazy. And most, most of his songs are, and I think it’s just the more that you get into it, the more you’ll know what to expect and just get a feel for

DJ Licious:
What, and there’s always, always the element of luck a little bit. I mean, obviously hard work pays off and, and, and it’s also the American dream and all that. And I, I, I truly believe that. But there’s also an element of luck because with David Gda, he was already on top of the world and everybody thought he cannot go higher than this. This is, you know, he’s, he’s good, he’s solid, he’s going straight and then I’m good happens. And all of a sudden he gets introduced to a whole new generation of kids on TikTok and it explodes again for him. I don’t think anyone in the music industry thought that would be possible. And he just did it with that element of luck and just the right clap and just the right, you know, music out and you know, it just resonated again with a whole new generation. And that is super cool. Same thing with Kate Bush for example, with with Stranger Things. Yeah. You know, that was a track. Nobody played that track anymore. Nobody. And then all of a sudden it gets introduced to a whole new audience and her career just exploded again.

DJ Flame:
I think that, I think that’s like one of the main things about music too, is like there’s a lot of songs that they may not seem popular now or they were popular back then, but then they’re like maybe a new trend or another platform of social media or something for the younger audiences. Exactly. That blow right back up again.

DJ Licious:
Exactly. Is, that’s the good, the great thing about internet nowadays, of course in my time when I started and you, you released music, if it was not popular, popular at, at straightaway and was not playing on the radio, it was over. Now with the internet, anything can become big 10, 12 years, 15 years after release. It can still happen. You don’t know, there’s like one guy, big guy, or a big media figure or whatever, this is like, like, oh, this is a nice song and everybody picks it up again and you, you have a whole new career. It, that’s the beauty of internet I think at the moment. It’s just, it goes in any possible direction. Who would’ve expected that Abba? Uh, with Gimme, gimme, gimme would be Biggie again, in the whole world in such a major way. Nobody,

DJ Flame:
No. Yeah, and they like, I know what they did with like, I’m good. They took like the original song by Eiffel 65 and they remixed exactly another way. So basically they in a way like rebooted it right back up, which is

DJ Licious:
Exactly, and Baby Reia did an amazing job, obviously. I mean that was just insane. But that track was big in Europe 25 years ago when I started as a dj. Super. I mean I, I was not even a DJ I think at the time. And then all of a sudden it gets picked up again and it just blows up in a way that nobody ever imagined.

DJ Flame:
Yeah, I knew that, I knew that song was big cuz I think that was one of my, like, one of the EDM songs I liked when I was younger and Really, yeah, I think I was like, I had an, I was, I forgot, I was like eight years old and I had my iPod Touch and then a song, a friend introduced me to this song, I’m like, this is a nice beat. And then that’s when I started getting more into it and I didn’t know they’re from Europe and then ever since then, it’s just like the like top dance song in Europe. And then now the day you’ll see it every now and then for like, like what people use I guess for like memes nowadays or just like reboots.

DJ Licious:
Exactly. Exactly, exactly. Yeah. Cool man. Cool.

DJ Flame:
So is there anything else that you would like to add or mention?

DJ Licious:
No, not really. There’s new music coming, uh, every, I would like to thank everyone for listening to In My Heart my latest single and if you are, uh, in Europe this, uh, summer or maybe in Asia because I’m doing a tour in at Pollan in May. I think you, you’re always welcome to, uh, come to one of my shows and, uh, reach out on Instagram and try to, to, um, respond to everyone in the best possible way, , because of course it’s sometimes, uh, you know, uh, like a job that is not, uh, sustainable. But uh, if you reach out, I always try to react and it’s always cool to see fresh faces, faces at shows. So yeah. Thanks everyone for the support

DJ Flame:
Of course and is definitely well deserved.

DJ Licious:
Thank you man.

DJ Flame:
Thank All right. Thank you for joining us again. This is DJ Flame on Open Mic. You can, if you like this episode, you can check out more episodes of open mic wherever you get your podcast [email protected]. This is DJ Flame and until next time,