Episode 11 - Cliffy D

[00:00:00] Speaker A: This was for the home team. [00:00:08] Speaker B: This was for the home team. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Here we are in Tailgate Beers. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Tailgate Beers. Cheers. [00:00:18] Speaker A: Cheers. Cheers. Oh, boy, that's a long. [00:00:21] Speaker C: That is a long. Say we're here. Tailgate Beers. We have Austin and Ryan here as usual today. We're here with DJ Cliff Ed. He's the official DJ for Tailgating Tall Boys. Got some other events coming up. He's coming up to cruisins area. We'll get into here in a little bit too. So, yeah, we're here in Nashville actually this week. Austin Wayne and I and Charles come down to Nashville and hanging out with some of our friends. We're gonna have some great content to share with you guys over the upcoming weeks and talk about our trip. So thank you for joining us. [00:00:57] Speaker B: Welcome to my city. [00:00:58] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Welcome to Tailgate Beers. [00:01:01] Speaker B: So let's go. [00:01:25] Speaker C: So what. What are you getting into? I know you. I've seen on your socials and stuff too, that you got a lot of stuff going on. [00:01:32] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I stay pretty busy, you know, a DJ all around town here and I travel as well. Like go to Indiana quite a bit. I go to Illinois every now and again. I'll be there Halloween for. At Cruisins for Halloween night, bouncing around. Just built a studio as well behind my house about 45 minutes outside of Nashville and ready to get back to work doing that stuff. You know, I took kind of a year off to build it, but now I've got a space right behind my house, so. [00:02:01] Speaker C: So even a lot of what you said there, I want to. I want to dive into further. Let's. Let's first get some more information out on the. On the Halloween party. [00:02:08] Speaker B: Halloween cruising costume contest. Yeah, yeah, we're doing the costume contest. We're throwing out some money, throwing out some tailgate and Tall Boys tickets. This will be the third year in a row I've done Halloween and I'll also be there on New Year's Eve. Oh, yeah, yeah. Doing the same thing. Kind of, you know, awesome. Dropping the balloons and giving away tickets and that'll be the third year in a row I've done that as well. Yeah. [00:02:32] Speaker A: Have you gained and have you met a lot of people up there that you see repeat. Oh. Coming out there to you all the time. [00:02:37] Speaker B: I mean, I see some of the same people. I see it tailgating homeboys, some of those. There's this one, like family that truly loves the way I dj. And they're. They're gonna be their Halloween. They're going to be their New Year's, and they're always at tailgate and tall boys at the after parties and all that stuff. They're just. They're big Cliffy D fans, man. [00:02:55] Speaker A: And Cliffy D super fans. [00:02:56] Speaker B: I swear to you, I am more known in Indiana and Illinois. Illinois than I am right here. You know, like, it's because of, you know, tailgating tall boys. And I'm in front of that many people for. [00:03:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:08] Speaker B: You know, I'm on stage all day sometimes, you know, like in Iowa. Like, it's. Every festival is a little bit different, but, like, in Iowa, I did, you know, 30 minutes in between each artist that whole day. And so I was on stage for like two and a half hours, if you add it all up. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Because you really act as almost a host slash dj. [00:03:28] Speaker B: And it's funny by, like, the last time I go on, I've seen some of the same people that got there at 2:00 and I'm like, hey, we've been in this together, you know, like. Because, I mean, they're sweating, you know, they just. They've been out there in the elements. We all have all day and stuff. [00:03:41] Speaker A: It's. [00:03:41] Speaker B: It's pretty cool, man. [00:03:42] Speaker A: I love the. I love the build up to the gates opening. [00:03:47] Speaker B: Oh, but that's my favorite part. Like, and I tell all. One of my favorite parts is welcoming everyone and the initial opening of the gates. And Wayne usually comes up there too. And it's just. I mean, some people are. They're. They're doing whatever they can to get up front, bro. Some people face plant and get up. They don't even care. They're just still going. One girl last year broke her leg coming in. And then I saw her that night with the cast on. Like, she went and got the cast and came back. [00:04:15] Speaker A: Where was that at? [00:04:15] Speaker B: That was at Bloomington. [00:04:17] Speaker A: Somebody broke their leg. [00:04:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:18] Speaker A: I didn't know that. [00:04:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Sierra. I know her name. [00:04:21] Speaker A: Holy crap. Did you sign the cast? [00:04:23] Speaker B: I think I did. Yeah. I think I was the first person that sign it. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Yeah. For real. That's wild. I never, I've never. I never heard that story. [00:04:30] Speaker B: But yeah. Yeah, she went, took care of it and came right back. [00:04:35] Speaker A: So Tailgate and Tallboys, you started dj. And it's crazy to see how that's evolved because I want to say, what was the first year you DJ? [00:04:44] Speaker B: First year? I think 2018. And I was with Upchurch. Oh. As his DJ, and we were going on stage and we were playing the side stage in Peoria right there, like, underneath that Bridge. I'll never forget it. And. Because I thought it was crazy. There was a beautiful setting. Yeah, it was. It was really cool. And I think Aaron Lewis was the headliner at the main stage. And we played. The promoter, Billy asked me, he goes, y'all, y'all, don't cuss. And I was like, okay. Like. Because Upchurch is kind of known for cussing a little bit. And our first song was Bad Motherfucker. So literally, I was like. I just walked on stage, gave him the thumbs up, like, yeah, we'll do it, and went up on stage and hit that first song. But I think when he saw the reaction of, like, literally people running over to the stage, and that wasn't the first tug, you know, like, that was when I initially met Billy and Wayne and we became friends because I was the tour manager at the time, so I would. [00:05:43] Speaker A: I think that was 20, 19, 19, when church. When Aaron Lewis played. Because then that's when USA concerts started. And so you would have met Wayne and. [00:05:51] Speaker B: Yes. So, yeah. And that was that last time on that. Okay, yeah, sorry. [00:05:55] Speaker A: Because then. No, no, no. Because I was trying to think. Because then we went on our hiatus of 2020, and then you went. And then we had Taylorville, and then we had. You did DJ versus Drums in Taylorville. [00:06:08] Speaker B: I did DJ versus Drums in Bloomington, too. We did it after Jelly before Riley Green. Right? [00:06:13] Speaker C: About that. [00:06:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Morgan Wallen year, which was huge, man. That what I do is so cool, man. Doing the 10, 15, 20 minutes before the headliner. I just get chill bumps right now. Like, I get to go on at the peak of. You know what I mean? Like, when everybody's ready for the headliner. And it's so cool, man, because everybody's so excited already. You know what I mean? All I gotta do is just gas them up even more. [00:06:37] Speaker A: It's crazy how much that's evolved of you doing the DJ verse drums to being on the main stage. I think one year you're on the side. Stage two, I think. Didn't we talk about you ending up somewhere centrally located that's still up in the air. [00:06:53] Speaker B: We want to get it sponsored, you know, like, have someone sponsor above the soundboard. And that will be where I'm at all day. Because right now, like, sometimes I'm kind of in the way, like. You know what I mean? Like, bigger the band, the more stuff on the stage, you've been shoved off. [00:07:07] Speaker A: To the side, you know, and it's fine. [00:07:08] Speaker B: I still. I'll run out and do what I need to do. But up there, it would be like, focal point. You know what I'm saying? Instead of everybody working behind me and. Yeah, I think that'd be great. And that was kind of my. I was like, bro, put me up there. And he was like, that'd be great. That'd be, you know, like, let's see what we got to do, like, with the sound guys to. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:27] Speaker B: To be able to make that happen. And I could turn it into a party, and that could flow into the after party. Late night. [00:07:32] Speaker A: GA would see you more. [00:07:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And I could throw stuff out there instead of everything just being up front. [00:07:37] Speaker A: That would be sick. [00:07:38] Speaker B: I could literally have like a 360. [00:07:41] Speaker A: That's crazy. [00:07:42] Speaker B: So. But. Yeah, but it's. It is crazy. I mean, I used to just be set off to the side, and then Wayne was like, put him. Let's get him out there, you know? So then they started putting me out on the thrust. [00:07:51] Speaker A: And you had some badass pictures this past year. I'm like, God, there are some badass. [00:07:59] Speaker B: Like I said, I'm like, I'm. I'm at golden hour. I'm on. You know what I'm saying? Like, right before the direct support is golden hour. So it's like, perfect timing. [00:08:08] Speaker A: Every time I go, you got one that your hand. Your hands are up. [00:08:11] Speaker B: And then everybody else, man. It's just. It's a beautiful thing. Thing, man. And. And I'm blessed to be able to do it. [00:08:16] Speaker A: Dude, we love having you on it. [00:08:18] Speaker B: It's so much fun, man. It's like I just said earlier, I'm looking forward to next year already. Like, it's. It's like going to summer camp. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So we'll have. We'll have June 5th through the 7th in Iowa. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:30] Speaker A: And then the following weekend, we go from Clinton, Iowa, to Bloomington, Illinois. June 12th through the 15th. [00:08:38] Speaker B: Yeah, man. [00:08:38] Speaker A: So I was. Last year, I was saying, like, dude, those two back to back weekends are fun, but we're ready to be. Holy cow. But I mean, seven. Seven days of music in a span of. What's that, 14. [00:08:51] Speaker B: And, like, I don't even go home, remember, Cut the grass. I'm cutting the grass in Bloomington, you know, like, and that's my thing, you know? Next year I'll be cutting the grass in Bloomington, you know, because we get there on Sunday and it's like these grass. [00:09:04] Speaker A: Grass. Grass or grass? Both. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Okay. [00:09:09] Speaker A: I just want to make sure we were talking about what grass we were cutting. [00:09:12] Speaker B: I wouldn't cut that. [00:09:13] Speaker A: Well, I would grind it Whatever. I don't know. I don't what you guys call it. [00:09:17] Speaker C: How'd you get into DJing? [00:09:18] Speaker B: How'd you get into music, man? [00:09:20] Speaker A: I'm 42, couldn't sing. [00:09:21] Speaker B: When I was 18, I went. I. Like, I've always wanted to do it. And we. We went on our senior trip to Cancun, and I saw, like, DJ Scribble, like, all these DJs that I watched on MTV. Yeah. And I was like, I thought it would be really cool to. To try it or whatever. So I took all my graduation money and I went to Sam Ash and bought a DJ in a box and a few records. And I was 18, and I bullshitted my way into some gigs in Nashville. So I started, like, knowing the club owners and stuff. And this one club owner was like, I brought 75 people in one night just on a Tuesday night. And he was like, so you're a dj, huh? I brought a cd, you know, trying to get a gig, and. And he goes, well, you're hired. Without listening to another. He's like, you just brought 75 people to my bar on a Tuesday. You're hired. You got something. So it took that. And then he was like, we'll teach you how to dj, you know, because they were more of, like, a party bar. Like, I would play music, and then we do skits, like, with the bartenders and shit. So I learned how to really work the mic. And, like, he made me come in during the day and talk over music just so I could understand myself over music, because that's hard to do. Like, some people just grab the mic and don't really talk into it, you know? [00:10:37] Speaker A: I don't understand about dj, but I love it, man. I mean, I've been in this industry, and I love music all around, but I literally don't get it. [00:10:47] Speaker B: And you don't you, like. Like this year, I wanted you at that after party so bad because, dude, I had them, like, from the one in Iowa, which was cool. It was at that. That little Manning's whistle stop. But, dude, I turned that bar out, you know, And I knew it. I was like, this is gonna be fun. But then the after party in Bloomington, that one night, bro, I think it was the After Bailey. Yeah, it was just epic, bro. I mean, there's probably five, six thousand people. It was. We normally did it in the tent, but something happened and we had to move it to the side. [00:11:19] Speaker A: I think it was after Eric Church night, when people. It was Friday night. Yes, it was that night where there's so many people there. [00:11:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:26] Speaker A: And people were just dying to party. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And then my stage got a little out of hand. It was great. Nothing bad happened, but, you know, it was fun. It's. And just looking out there and seeing, you know, Wayne was like, dude, there was five or six thousand people in front. And I was like, I. I know. Like, it was. It was epic, bro. And they were in it, bro. I could have played anything. And they were just eating it up. And it was a. It was a good after party, bro. Like, and. And that one just. I can't wait for next year. I hope we can do one like that next year, man. [00:11:56] Speaker A: Now I want to get. Now I want to get up there and actually, you know, watch what it. [00:12:00] Speaker B: But. And a lot of people, you know, don't really get to see me, you know. And the ones that were on stage were like, dude, you're really getting it. [00:12:06] Speaker A: I love when people, even though I don't. I know there's a lot, a lot that goes into it, but some people are like, anybody can just start playing, playing songs and run around. Like you just push an imaginary button. [00:12:16] Speaker B: There's a whole flow to it and. Yeah. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Do you like, practice your sets and you kind of walk through those sets. [00:12:22] Speaker B: Tailgates? I do, yes. Because it's different than playing a nightclub. Like, I'm playing to 20,000 people all ages. So it's a little, you know, I'm not up there bombing and stuff. I might say give me a hell yeah or something, but I'm not. I keep it tame. [00:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:37] Speaker B: And I. I keep the music. [00:12:39] Speaker A: And you mix in artists that are playing and like for the country, you know. [00:12:43] Speaker B: You know, I try to take all that into. Into account. I try not to play like a cover that Jelly would do. So like, you know, like he was doing Colt 45. And Colt 45 is like a good, good song I play, you know, get everybody. So the day Jelly plays, I don't play Colt 45. Just. You got to take stuff like that into account. [00:13:03] Speaker A: Well, there's a lot. There's a lot that goes into it. Even I'm like, I. I always look at that and I'm like, what are you talking. [00:13:10] Speaker B: But it's funny. [00:13:10] Speaker A: What are you touching up? [00:13:11] Speaker B: I love that. What little part I do that it is important, you know, like, you guys see it as important and I take it serious and I think it's important, important, you know, like It's. It's a 15, 20 minute deal, but in between each band and it's Like, I'm just mind people not to look at stage, you know what I'm saying? Like, look at me. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Don't look at what they're doing. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Look at me. Like, here's some free. Yeah. [00:13:34] Speaker C: So do you have like the 15, 20 minute like set basically broken out already or kind of pre planned? [00:13:39] Speaker B: Sometimes, yeah. Well, for the most part, yeah. For, for, but the after party. No, I did all that live. Like, man, I'm just ripping it and going off what the crowd's doing because that's what. Right. What you would do in that situation. But, but yeah, for the, for the big stage. Like I keep it, you know, I don't want to mess up. Like I definitely. That's what I'm doing in the back. You know what I mean? You'll see me o rig with our computer. We're over there putting together my next set for the next artist. [00:14:07] Speaker C: Are there any songs that you like, will refuse to like? You just don't. [00:14:11] Speaker B: No. [00:14:11] Speaker C: You don't have to name them or anything, obviously. [00:14:12] Speaker B: No, I'm pretty much into all types of music. I mean, there's certain songs just being a DJ you get tired of playing. Right. But I mean, at the end of the day, I'm playing for other people, you know, very rarely am I playing for myself. That's in my car. Yeah. So other than that, like I take the ego out and I'm playing to them. So. [00:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:32] Speaker C: And I've been watching on your socials and you mentioned earlier about building your new studio in the backyard and tell us what your plans are there, man. [00:14:42] Speaker B: It's been great. I've already got artists lined up ready to work. Got Gorillaz O coming, I got Justin Champagne coming, Carly Rogers coming. Just people I've already worked with before circling back and. But like last year, even with the studio closing in September, I still put out 30 something singles last year in 2023 and I've only put out one this year because I kind of took that, that year off and. But the last single I put out was with Colt Ford and, and Jesse and it's doing very well. You know, I'm just, I'm blessed to know people like that. You know, I can hit Colt Ford up and Adam Calhoun and you know, all these guys that I've worked with in the past. It's. It's time to get back to work, guys. [00:15:26] Speaker A: So you actually sit. You're going to produce. [00:15:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:28] Speaker A: For all these people. Right. Because you're not just DJing from this stuff. So they're coming to Come in there. And you're going to run the studio, produce everything, and work with them. [00:15:36] Speaker B: Yep. So I produce. Sometimes I'll feature on it. You know, I rapped on a song last year, you know. [00:15:43] Speaker A: You did? [00:15:43] Speaker B: Yeah, Songs about Laney Wilson's ass, you know. It's called Dump Truck. [00:15:47] Speaker A: What? Oh, I've. I've heard Dump Truck. I guess I didn't, but, yeah, that's. [00:15:51] Speaker B: Me rapping on the second verse. [00:15:54] Speaker C: I have to go listen to that now. [00:15:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's funny. Like, Matt with Razor might as well play. [00:15:59] Speaker A: He'll, like, play a song. [00:16:00] Speaker B: He'll, like, listen to my whole playlist and call me and be like, bro, your music so great. He's like, hot Sauce. I love Hot Sauce. It's the song I did with K. But, yeah, it's just, you know, I. I've got EDM songs out. I got country songs out. I got rap songs out. Like, I like being versatile like that as well in my studio. So if you want to come do a country song, come do a country song. If you want to do some rap, let's do some rap. [00:16:23] Speaker A: Let's. [00:16:23] Speaker C: That's awesome. [00:16:24] Speaker B: And I love. I love EDM because I'm a dj. So, like. Like the Religiously remix. We made that remix in between Iowa into Bloomington, and I dropped it the night before Bailey. And then Bailey came out and listened to it because he was in town, you know, he came a day or two early and. [00:16:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:42] Speaker B: So, you know, just trying to stay, you know, I just. I love it, man. Like, it was cool that I was like, bro, that's. I told O rig my audio engineer, I take that's who's always with me. And I was like, bro, let's make a remix of Religiously. So we started that night and we had it done by that Friday, you know, enough good enough to play. And then I came home and mastered it. But it was cool playing. That was the first time I've played my own remix in front of that many people. And the reaction, they were all still singing along and everything. It was really cool, man. [00:17:14] Speaker A: I remember the first time that I really met you. And down in Taylorville doing all that. [00:17:19] Speaker B: Taylorville was my home. [00:17:20] Speaker A: And I want to say that Org was with you. And I'm like, what exactly do you do? What is your job role? [00:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:25] Speaker A: And I just always took him as, like, I think he's just like, weed guy. No, I'm not sure. And then now we're always rolling. I know, but I'm like, but Then I came to learn. Like, I mean, no, he's your boy. [00:17:35] Speaker B: Yeah, he's. He's my right hand man. Like, I can't do what I'm doing without him and vice versa. Like, he, He's. He's my audio engineer, bro. Like, he's the one working the board and I'm just the ears and I'm the one getting Colt Fords and. And you know, all the people together. [00:17:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:51] Speaker B: So I'm like, I'm trying to be like DJ Khaled, you know, just placing myself with all these people and all my friends, you know, at the end. [00:17:59] Speaker C: Of the day, who is on kind of your bucket list of folks you would want to. [00:18:02] Speaker B: Man, I would love to work with Limp Bizkit. I know it's like way far away, but that's me growing up. Like, I loved the DJ and the band and, like, I thought that was cool, you know? And I follow DJ Lethal and we've been messaging, you know, Like, I just, I don't think it would ever happen, but it would be really cool to at least just work and work with them, open for them something, you know? But Limp Bizkit would be bucket list for me across the board. Wow. Just because there's the rock element, I love rock. And then there's the hip hop, that it's just. Man, I'd love to work with them. It'd be really cool. [00:18:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I seen them in Denver. It's been years ago now. I was actually still in the military and. [00:18:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, well, I've seen them live. I saw them with Meth the Man and Red man back in the day here in Nashville, man, it was. It was crazy. I think I left that show with a black eye. [00:18:53] Speaker A: At least. At least. At least once a month I gotta go back and play. Like, I'll go on tick tock or YouTube and go limp Biscuit. Woodstock. Oh, and how, you know, Korn, like, thought he like wrecked the entire thing for them. [00:19:07] Speaker B: Fred knew what he was doing. He knew what he was doing that day. [00:19:10] Speaker A: There's sheets of plywood coming across, bro. [00:19:13] Speaker B: I mean, just watching the crowd during that is just. [00:19:16] Speaker A: I showed. [00:19:16] Speaker B: We get a taste of that at Tailgate, but that was just a sea of people. [00:19:20] Speaker A: Well, when we talk about our crowd and we talk about safety and we talk about all that stuff, and then I go back and I see those old videos and you're talking 80,000 people just mobbing and just crazy. Very scary. Very scary. [00:19:35] Speaker B: I would have loved to be there, though. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Yeah. I think I showed My kids, that video, and they're just like, I don't. [00:19:39] Speaker B: I don't want to be there. [00:19:40] Speaker A: Yeah, no, you definitely look at crowds differently when you get one of those big crowds. [00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah, but, man, it. It's, you know, like I said, we do 20 plus some. Some days, so it's. There's a lot of people at our shows, too. [00:19:53] Speaker A: Man, you rock those. You rock those Ray Bans. How long has that been? How long has that deal been? [00:19:59] Speaker B: A couple years. Yeah, I've been doing it, you know, pretty much since I started producing. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Okay. Have you gotten the ones. Isn't it Ray Ban that has the kid, the camera? And aren't some of them you can listen to music? [00:20:09] Speaker B: Yeah, my buddy had those in Iowa, and Blake, he was my one guest that I had in Iowa. So I was like, I snuck him on stage a couple times with me, and he wore him. One time, he went live on Facebook and all his buddies were like, how the hell are you on stage, man? Like. But yeah, he's. He. He had him. But I've seen him. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Lily's. Lily's photo guy. He. He was wearing him golfing, and I thought of you because he was listening to music. He goes, hold on. He likes. I'm like, what are you doing? I noticed the cameras on the front of them. I'm like, those things are badass. He said he'll do. When he's taking photos, he'll do, like, the point of view from his angle of taking pictures. He'll take, like, a bunch of snapshots. [00:20:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you can, like, tap it or something. It'll take a photo. It's crazy. [00:20:58] Speaker A: That's sick. [00:20:59] Speaker C: Nashville native. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Yes, sir, Born and raised, man. I came from the radio here. That's kind of like. I was on the radio for 10 years. I did, like, the 5 o'clock ride home, like, top 40 on 10 25, the party for like, seven and a half years. And then for two and a half, three years, I was right. Right across the street. I was on Cumulus radio. Oh, yeah. I 167. And I did their 5:00 ride home, so. And then that kind of beefed me up doing all the clubs around here and stuff, and. But now I don't really play Nashville a lot. I play outside of Nashville more than I do play Nashville. It's just how things worked out. Like, I have an agent and he'll. It's. I just make more money outside of Nashville. There's. Nashville's kind of over saturated. Back when I started DJing in the year 2000, there was five of us, and now there's like, 500 that are willing to work for way cheaper than I will. [00:21:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:55] Speaker B: So kind of like I was coming in. [00:21:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:57] Speaker B: I'll do it for 50 bucks, like, right. Just to get out there in front of those people. But now I'd rather play for what I'm worth and have fun at the same time. Yeah. [00:22:07] Speaker A: What? Another funny, Cliffy, is your obsession with the Jaeger. Jaeger. Oh, holy shit. [00:22:16] Speaker B: That's. [00:22:17] Speaker A: But I go a year without drinking Jager, and then you see me and I told you last time that we have at the office, we have. I mean, just an ungodly amount of Jaeger on the shelf over there. And I always manage to fuck up and not bring bottles of my. I just. [00:22:36] Speaker B: Cliffy has the easiest writer of every artist. We have waters, Red Bull and fucking Jaeger. That's all we got to get. [00:22:44] Speaker A: I just will never. I just think of you and I think Jaeger. And it's. I'll drink anything. It's not that bad, dude. [00:22:52] Speaker B: It's not like Jaeger at home, I drink Jaeger to be Cliffy. [00:22:55] Speaker A: In my mind, I just imagine. In my mind, I imagine you brush your teeth with the. That's when I think of Clippy. [00:23:00] Speaker B: There's not even a Jaeger bottle at my house. Like, it's. There's bourbon at my house. I know. [00:23:06] Speaker A: But in my mind, when I first met you, I'm like. [00:23:08] Speaker B: And I start getting in club mode. [00:23:10] Speaker A: I'm like. I think the dude just, like, eats Jaeger in his cereal. [00:23:13] Speaker B: I think. You know, it's funny because I go on first. Okay. I'm going at 2:00. So I'm like, hey, where's my bottle? They're like, Cliffy, it's 10. I'm like, yeah, go on in a couple hours. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Like, they're like, oh, damn, it cracks me up. And it was just one of my things. You. Whenever you first meet people and you don't know them that well, you just associate. [00:23:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:31] Speaker A: That type of stuff. [00:23:33] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:23:34] Speaker A: He's a Jaeger DJ guy with the bearded assistant with a weed bag. Like, I don't know. And then as you. [00:23:40] Speaker B: Consistent. Consistent with everything. [00:23:43] Speaker A: No, no. And then the. We had that weed tent in Bloomington. That was another thing that we didn't have. We didn't have last year, but that Wednesday before when we let our hair down. And, dude, I want to say it was you. And I'm trying to think of who else Was in that tent. And you're like, dude, just, yeah, have one of these brownies. No big deal. And the next thing you know, I'm sitting at the bar in Bloomington. Like, I don't know what to do with my hands. I don't. I don't know. And I think Dan. Shout out to Dan for doing all of her photos. And, yeah, Pat, too. We were sitting there, and Dan's like, dude, I think you just told me the same story three times. And I'm like, I'm very high, and I don't do that. I don't. I don't. [00:24:25] Speaker B: There's no shortage of marijuana, that's for sure, dude. Or Michigan. The weed's great up there in Michigan, man. [00:24:34] Speaker A: There's so many. There's such a very conservative community. Oh, it's probably just Midland, but Michigan in general. I mean, we get blown up every single day by somebody like, hey, we'd love to depart. Do weed at your thing. I'm like, who? [00:24:51] Speaker B: We have the first entire harvest, the first year. This is Steve O. Woods. [00:24:54] Speaker A: Steve O. [00:24:54] Speaker B: Woods, man. They had a great little tent back there in Michigan. [00:24:59] Speaker A: Yeah. With Steve O. Had that tent. He gave us all these boxes. [00:25:02] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, I got a gift. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I got one. [00:25:04] Speaker B: Custom makes all those with. You know, he get. He thinks about that stuff. That's what's cool. [00:25:08] Speaker A: He puts thought into those 3D, printed the whole inside and put your picture. And he's doing all. He's doing gift boxes. The same ones for cruisins. [00:25:19] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:25:19] Speaker A: For everybody. [00:25:20] Speaker B: He said he might be coming out Halloween night. Be good to see him. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Sick. I had to remind him because literally, I just talked to him and we're getting more. But he was up there. And then Kim brings those rose petals. Meeting her. Yes. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Yes. [00:25:35] Speaker A: I'm not even trying. [00:25:37] Speaker B: I found. If she writes. Writes her name on the joint, Right? Yeah. Yeah. So I found one. She. She handed it to me, and, you know, I didn't find it until like, a couple hours later. And I was like, yeah. [00:25:47] Speaker A: It's like, thank you. It's a rose petal blunt. And, yeah, she does like strawberries. And I don't know. She did all sorts of stuff. I think I met her at the. [00:25:53] Speaker B: Lakeview tent that she was hanging out with Those. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Oh, probably. [00:25:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Because, yeah, she knows Matt and stuff. [00:25:58] Speaker B: But we love those guys too, man. [00:25:59] Speaker A: They're. Yeah. [00:26:00] Speaker B: Killing it. [00:26:01] Speaker A: We interviewed them up in Chicag. [00:26:04] Speaker C: About to go now. Yeah. [00:26:05] Speaker A: A couple weeks ago at the Stained breaking Benjamin in Daughtry. Stained was incred Aaron Lewis is insane. [00:26:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Breaking Benjamin, too, man. [00:26:16] Speaker A: We didn't even get to see. And I love Breaking Ben, man. [00:26:18] Speaker B: I just love. I love hearing them live, too. They sound just like the damn cd, you know? Like, it's like. [00:26:23] Speaker A: And I. I've seen Breaking Benjamin, but we missed it because we were doing the podcast. But Aaron Lewis, I've never. I didn't even really get to see him when he played in Peoria. I think we were busy doing something. [00:26:33] Speaker B: I've only seen him as Aaron Lewis, not with Stain. [00:26:35] Speaker A: I've never seen Stained. And I loved Stain. [00:26:38] Speaker B: I would love to see him with Stain. [00:26:39] Speaker A: He gets up there and their production was sick. He sounded the exact same, that's all. Smoked probably two packs of cigarettes up there. [00:26:47] Speaker B: He's a cigarette smoke. [00:26:48] Speaker A: I'm like, holy cow. And just tears it up. It was good. [00:26:52] Speaker C: I saw Aaron as he came through Peoria, I don't know, last six months or so ago. And yeah, he chained. Smoked the whole time. [00:26:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:58] Speaker C: Drink is. Whatever it was, and just sat there and just played. [00:27:03] Speaker B: It was. [00:27:03] Speaker C: It was great. [00:27:04] Speaker A: But circling to Lakeview, and to tie that to you for a while, I mean, I always give them props, and I love their story of the working class, like, grinding, doing whatever you can to make it. Because people just think, oh, dude, you're the DJ of Tailgating Tall Boys. You must make a million dollars a year. I don't know yours. [00:27:21] Speaker B: No, I'm cutting the grass. [00:27:24] Speaker A: But no, because you had like a. You were doing, like. Were you doing landscape and all sorts of other stuff? [00:27:31] Speaker B: Building fences. I'd pretty much do whatever, man. Like, if I need, you know. Luckily right now, the music and DJing is enough. But it hadn't always been like that. [00:27:41] Speaker A: You did a lot of the work in your studio. [00:27:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, dude, I did all that myself. Me and O Rig and literally in the past month, I've taught myself how to be an electrician and plumber just so I could finish up. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Yeah. When it shocks you, you did something. [00:27:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you did something wrong. But, yeah, I mean, literally between the people I know and just, you know, gathered up the boys and we knocked it out in about two weeks. Like, the finishing of the electrical and the plumbing and. But yeah, I can do whatever, man. Like, I ain't afraid to work either. [00:28:12] Speaker A: No, I love. I just love hearing that. I don't think people see that side of, like. [00:28:16] Speaker B: No, no. I mean, they only Lakeview or you. [00:28:19] Speaker A: And I know you're much more, I guess, reserved away from. [00:28:22] Speaker B: People think I drink Agar all day. [00:28:23] Speaker A: And yeah, people play parties every night up assumptions. [00:28:27] Speaker B: But, dude, I mean, at one point in my life here in this town, bro, I was DJing six nights a week and I was on the radio five days a week. The only day I had off from the club was Monday. [00:28:36] Speaker A: Damn. [00:28:37] Speaker B: So I was literally every night and I was on the radio. So, like, you know, it was a grind. I didn't have time to have day jobs or anything during that time. [00:28:46] Speaker C: No, I was gonna ask you, like, are you DJ Cleffy D all the time? [00:28:51] Speaker B: No. [00:28:51] Speaker C: Is it a. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Does your wife call you? [00:28:53] Speaker B: No. No. My real name is Clifton. You know, Cliffy D's is a personality, man. Like I said, Jaeger bombs fucking give me. I'm hyped, man. Like, if you ever see me dj, bro, Like, I'm always moving, dancing hands in the air. And that's the type of dj. And I do not very chill. And the club owners around here know that. They're like, we want to get Cliffy D. When I don't even like a DJ to club. Saturday only didn't even start till 11 and DJ for 45 minutes because they do line dancing until 11, and then I go on at 11, and they're ready for it because it's been nothing but line dancing from 7 to 11. So it's, you know, it's cool, man. I'm blessed. I got a good voice on a microphone and you can understand me. And that's what a lot of these club owners and stuff. So I work at this one club in Indiana, and one of the owners, Chad, he's like, bro, you can come up here and just talk on the mic. He's like, they got a great dj. John J, He's a great dj. He's like, you just come up here and talk on the mic, man. You sound so good. And we make so much more money with your just getting them hypes by saying dumb shit. [00:29:58] Speaker A: And you got the voice of an. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Angel getting them to put their hands up. And it's really just being able to understand me, like, because that's an art form. Talking on the mic over music in front of people to where they can understand you is tough. And that, like I said, that club owner a long time ago taught me. He was like, if you want to do this, you got to be able to. [00:30:15] Speaker A: And you have people just staring at you like, come on, we're here for whoever, man. Just keep going. [00:30:21] Speaker B: And that's. That was really in Iowa, you know, Jelly was a little late and it was my job to stall the crowd. And I did. And I did a really good job of it, dude. And I know I did. I knew it when I walked off stage, man. And Jelly hugged me. He literally got off that plane, got out of that car, hugged me and thanked me. He was like, bro. He's like, thank you for holding them for me, man. I know. You know, he knew I did it, brother. I know. [00:31:17] Speaker A: Well, and also I think that's another thing I love about having the same. We have had other people want to DJ and have the host spot or have whatever. And we've had, you know, Chelsea Lynn, she did a great job hosting. [00:31:30] Speaker B: We ended up working, you know, I learned her dj. I was like, come up and dj. We ended up blending and working together. [00:31:35] Speaker A: Loved all that. But if one thing I love about the consistency of. And we've mentioned Pat on here, even Pat taking photography or, you know, video. They see the same people every year. They know Cliff, they now know who you are. [00:31:49] Speaker B: Remember you. You tagged me. That photo of the, like, the kid hold. Like, I thought that was awesome, man. But that kid was all about Cliffy D from Thursday to Saturday, you know what I mean? Like, he was really excited about when I came out and did my thing that he came to the after party. Like, he. [00:32:03] Speaker A: You have kids wanting to be DJs possibly. Like, imagine that. Like, that's awesome. People where they're like, man, I. I want to do that. You know, everybody thinks about the artist. So it's been cool that people at your household name. [00:32:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:16] Speaker A: Now. And we, we love that. [00:32:18] Speaker B: I appreciate you guys, man. And it's. It's been cool being a part of it for so long. You know what I mean? Like, it's like I've seen it grow too. Like, it from the first year over in Peoria to moving over to Bloomington to. To gaining Iowa to gaining Michigan. Remember the one year in Michigan we did Taylorville? I opened with DJ Verse Drums with Three Six Mafia. Then we get in that car. [00:32:42] Speaker A: The bus. [00:32:43] Speaker B: Yeah. And then we drove. [00:32:44] Speaker A: No rv. Two brothers who I didn't even know who they are. [00:32:47] Speaker B: And we go straight to Midland, Michigan. I mean, eight, nine. I mean, it's a ripper, dude. [00:32:52] Speaker A: Like, well, probably eight to nine hours. [00:32:54] Speaker B: And then literally that was at. [00:32:57] Speaker A: At one in the morning. [00:32:58] Speaker B: So I played with Three Six Mafia on a Thursday. We drove to that show Friday and then drove right back to the same show Saturday. [00:33:06] Speaker A: Oh, I do in a weird, fucked up way. I miss the mud park. [00:33:11] Speaker B: Oh, the mud park was my Shit, that vibe was. I was. You know, I was with Upchurch for a while, and I knew all them country rappers, like Demon Jones. I got music out with all those guys. So it's pretty cool, you know, doing those shows and playing my music, you know, like playing the music I produced, which I do slide some of it in, in Bloomington and stuff, but it's, you know, more of my country or type stuff. But there I could play country rap. [00:33:34] Speaker A: But I'm saying the personalities, the people. [00:33:37] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, the settings, characters, bro. Like, you know, there's that one big dude who wears like, the speedos and. Yeah, man, it's, you know. But I got used to playing. I played a lot of Mud Parks at that time. Not just that, when I was playing Mud Parks all around. So, you know, it. It to me, playing Mud Parks was. Was easy, you know, because I. I knew that crowd, bro. Like, I knew what they wanted to hear. So, yeah, it was fun like that. That year for Taylorville, 36 mafia, that. That. That was kind of a bucket list for me, man. Like opening up for the real 36 mafia, not just DJ Paul or Juicy J, both of them together. And just being from Tennessee, I think it meant more to me than the people up there. Cuz, yeah, in Illinois, they. We're into it. Like, all the people from Tennessee, we were all up front. We knew every word. And it just hit different for us, you know, because three six Mafia's from Tennessee, so. But that was really cool too, man. Like, getting to do. Getting to be direct support for three six Mafia, you know, with my drummer, because that. I love doing that. It's just like me DJing, but with my drummer. So it's just as hype, if not hyper. [00:34:42] Speaker A: I love that. [00:34:43] Speaker B: I love that set. I still. I talk about it to this day, man. When we got done with that show, I couldn't tell you what I played, what I did. I like, literally, like, blacked out that day. And O rig, he was like, cliffy, that's the best I've ever seen you DJ in my life. And he was like, you. He's like, I've never seen someone control a crowd like you can control a crowd. Yeah, that's. And it was. It meant a lot to me because I was like, I don't. I don't. I was like, did I do. I don't what? I. It was weird. I've heard about that happening, but that was like the first time it really happened to me where I was like, what the fuck did I just do? [00:35:18] Speaker A: Like, how did that come about? As far as DJ versus drums? [00:35:22] Speaker B: I mean, how did I tell you exactly how, man? I played this club in Murfreesboro called Bluesboro, and I was the dj, so I didn't start till midnight. So there was bands, you know, like nine to Midnight. And his band was Dirty Cherry that played all the time. And we're boys and stuff, so we, you know, they'd be taking breaks. We'd be down in the basement smoking weed and shit. So one day I was like, bro, why don't you just, like, stay on the drums when you get done and. And we'll jam together. Just see. We'll see what. See if it works. See what happens. And I played Baby Got Back or something, and, dude, it was just. It was a vibe. Like, he was. He didn't suck. I was like, well, this is crazy. So I was like, why don't you come over, you know, the next day or two? And, like, we just started, like, jamming. Like, I would just DJ and he would just drum over me DJing. And then we started getting tighter with it. I started using, like, Ableton and sending him a click track so he could really stay in time. And we just dialed it in, man, and we were. We were doing it before DJ am, you know, all that stuff. Like, we like. And now we only do it once or twice a year, but when we do it, you know, we usually do it on my birthday. And, you know, we sell. We sell a few tickets and we've opened up for Ying Yang Twins and we've done some Morgan Wallen weekend. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Would you ever want to do it again at the festival? [00:36:40] Speaker B: Fuck yeah. It's always possible. But the thing about the reason we did it set that year is because we had the middle stage. But when I'm just on the stage kind of getting moved wherever, it can't do that with a drummer, you know what I mean? Like, we have to have a setup. We got to be mic'd up, like, yeah, but for after party or something like that. Be fucking sick, dude. Like, it's just like me DJing, but just. It's more of like a visual, you know, with the dj. People get tired of just staring, you know, at me or whatever, or at the DJ with the drummer. They got two things to look at, and we're kind of going back and forth and. [00:37:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it's intense. [00:37:15] Speaker B: It is. And it's hard to explain to people, too. Like club owners, like, man, what's this DJ versus drums thing? And I'm like, well, it's me with a drummer, and they're like, yeah, but, you know, I'm like, you just gotta book it, you know, I don't know how to sell it. Like, it just. It works, you know, It's. It's. People really enjoy it, man, because there's the guys, you know, sitting in the back, just watching that. Don't really want to dance. Then you got the girls booty dancing over here. It's like a. It's not just a show, you know, I mean, it's. There's more things going on. Like, if the girls don't care about watching, they can just twerk and do whatever they want, you know? [00:37:50] Speaker C: What else is on the horizon? What's coming up, man? [00:37:52] Speaker B: Right now, I'm focusing on my studio, trying to get people back in and let them know I'm back to work. I'm back to work, y'all. [00:37:59] Speaker A: You heard it here? [00:38:00] Speaker B: Yeah, man. Like, you know, I've talked to quite a few people this past year. Houston, you know, trying to get back in contact with those guys and get. Get some. Get some work, man, and just stay busy, man. I love doing what I do, and I love staying busy and blessed to bless, to be busy, man. Like, you know, doing. I haven't worked a day in my life, if you ask me, man. I wake up every day and I get to. I get to make music and go make others happy through music, and it's awesome, bro. [00:38:32] Speaker A: What. This might stem into my. My favorite question, but, I mean, I don't even know what. I mean. I know you listen to everything. Yeah, but I mean, I guess I'll just jump into my. As well, jump into the question. I was going to ask you what music you like. Okay, But I do a little thing here where, you know, you're on an airplane, you just so happen to have every fucking album imaginable at your fingertips. [00:38:58] Speaker B: Okay? [00:38:58] Speaker A: But you. You got a bail, and you got to only take five. What are you taking? [00:39:03] Speaker B: I mean, albums are like albums. [00:39:07] Speaker A: It's still. The plane's going down, so you got to make. You got to decide what. Or what are you going to listen to for the rest of your life on your. Your Cliffy D deserted island. [00:39:14] Speaker B: Dude, that's fucked up. Asking a DJ to do that's fucked up because we got. We. Our library is like this. [00:39:22] Speaker A: Well, I get it, but I mean, man. [00:39:23] Speaker B: Dude, that's just mean to me. [00:39:26] Speaker A: I'm like, I don't know. I can. [00:39:28] Speaker B: Dude, I would have to take. Take. Take significant other Limp Bizkit because you know what I mean? Like that. That was as far as me being a dj. Like, I loved how Hype Fred was and I love the backwards hat. Like, he dressed hip hop but did rap. You know, I thought that was cool, you know, like. And so I'd have to take them. [00:39:47] Speaker A: I've never thought about it from a DJ's perspective, where all you guys do are, you know, you. Song, song, song, singles and dude, I. [00:39:53] Speaker B: Was blessed enough to be in bands, you know, Like, I thought that was cool. And then I ended up. The first artist I went out with was Jelly roll, bro. In 2012, we did the Hangovers and Hot Chicken Tour. And he hit me up just because I was the Nashville dj. And he was like, have you ever done it? And I was like, no, you know, I've never been, you know, a hype man for. For an artist. He was like, I'll teach you how to do it. You know, it's pretty easy. You just pretty much rap when I can't. So I. So the first couple shows I would see where, you know, I was watching him and whenever he needed a breath. And by the time we got off that tour, man, I was. I was as height, you know, I mean, like, I knew when to. That was right when Sunday morning came out. It's Sunday morning. [00:40:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:34] Speaker B: And we were doing that one and he was just starting to do like some rock and some country and. Yeah, it was. It was really cool, man. You know, the first tour I ever went on was with Jelly and dude, some shows were packed. Some shows there was 20, 30, 40 people at. You know, that was during that time. [00:40:51] Speaker A: And so you're trying to say you're gonna take a Jelly Roll album or what's gonna be. [00:40:55] Speaker B: No, no, no. So I would have to say we started with Limp Bizkit. I would have to go corn. [00:41:04] Speaker A: Love it. [00:41:05] Speaker B: Freak on a leash. [00:41:06] Speaker C: Yep. [00:41:06] Speaker B: Album, that was a big one for me, man. Now I'd have to probably slip over into rap and take some three six Mafia, probably Chapter One, if you know about the world domination, Chapter one two. Chapter one that had where's the Bud? On it. That was a good one. So that's three. And then country, I'd have to like go with like some classic like Garth. Like the. What was the Garth album that he was on the front with the cowboy. [00:41:36] Speaker A: Hat, the non criminal guard. [00:41:39] Speaker B: I think he was wearing like the blue and black checkered shirt that out. I'm just trying to remember albums that just like stayed in my CD player for a while back in the day. And were we at three or four? [00:41:50] Speaker A: Those are discs. [00:41:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I still have all my CDs from like when I first started DJing, bro. [00:41:58] Speaker A: Like I just went through all mine in my basement, started pulling them all out, have a huge couple totes of just. [00:42:04] Speaker B: I had the 300, you know, case Logic 330 it held. I had like four of those. And that's what I would walk downtown Nashville every, you know, just carrying my. [00:42:14] Speaker A: CDs and my one chopping them down. My one tub has those old school like cases that could open on like four sides and it would hold like 30 a slot. And I've just got like several of them in there and then there's just a bunch of blank from where, you know, the Napster. [00:42:28] Speaker B: Oh yeah, dude. [00:42:29] Speaker A: I mean, making my own mixes like a dj. [00:42:31] Speaker B: Those were huge for me, you know, Like I was definitely heavy on the Napster and Lime Wire and all that stuff. But. And then once I reached a certain point where I started making good money and I was on the radio, like once you hit radio, like you can get major discounts on music. Like certain. Some of them are free. You know, like a lot of places where I was paying for music, I got like my program director to email them and I no longer had to pay for him. And that's still to this day, like they, they never asked if I quit or anything. So a lot, a lot of that stuff. I'm still getting the emails and also. [00:43:02] Speaker A: After this podcast. [00:43:05] Speaker B: Now, now they want DJs like me to have, have the music. Because a lot of times we're the ones like Gorillazo, that's, I work with him a lot. He's affirmed, you know, he's always about the DJs, he's. We're the ones dropping music and it's still a thing, you know, DJs still drop a song in the middle of the night and for the first time, you know, sometimes. And yeah, it's, it's cool. [00:43:28] Speaker A: So we have Limp Biscuit Corn Corn, Three Six Mafia Gar. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Now I want to do some like edm because I'm like, I'm wanting a variety while I'm on this island. You know, like some people go variety. So I would have to go like a Tiesto CD or something, you know, interesting. So. Because they're long, you know, they're like 80 minutes long, you. You get your EDM. But yeah, yeah, I think, I think if I had, I got a good variety, you know what I'm saying? I want to go to A party with that. Those five CDs, you're gonna be crying all. I can play all night. [00:44:05] Speaker A: You're gonna be crying at certain nights breaking. That's hilarious, man. [00:44:14] Speaker C: Like, starting off, do you. I mean, when I think about a DJ starting off, I think about, you know, taking whatever gig you can get. I mean, weddings and bar mitzvahs or whatever. Is that kind of how you. [00:44:25] Speaker B: That's how I got started. And. But really, I got really lucky, man. I got hired at that. At that club. Like, I shouldn't have been working there. You know what I mean? Like, I was not a dj. Like, I was just wanting to be a dj, and I had the equipment and everything. But they. And they were. That place, Bar Nashville really showed me because, like, it was a place that. It was a corporate place. There was Bar Nashville, Bar Charlotte, Bar Tampa. And we had the bar book. And that's all you could use to DJ with. It was one of those books with, like 300 CDs in it. [00:44:57] Speaker A: Wow. [00:44:57] Speaker B: And that's all you could use. Every DJ that came through the building, that's all you could use. And some djs were like, no, I gotta do my own thing. And I was like, well, let me see if I can make. And that really made me a good, like, wedding DJ and shit, because it had a bunch of old on there that I didn't really know. I didn't know this 60s, 70s, and 80s music. I only knew what was current. And so that made me learn and learn how to mix that old shit. And then I went from that club to this place called Decades, where we only played 70s, 80s, and 90s. We didn't play anything past 96. So, like, the newest song I played was Back that Ass Up. Like, that was, you know, and it worked backwards. So that was really cool, man. It made me learn that old music and made. Like, I was great at weddings at a young age because the old people, like, my friends started getting married, man. My parents really like the way you're DJing. So I started getting more wedding, you know, stuff like that. But now I don't do a lot of weddings. I'll do like one or two a year for people I know because I ran into a couple bridezillas. And I love DJing too much. And I didn't want that to, like, ruin me dj, you know? I mean, get a bad taste. Like. So now if I do it for someone I know, and they know what they're gonna get. And because, dude, that girl, that wedding didn't want any Michael Jackson and dude, like, on her playlist, it was like, train and weird, like, that. I was like, how can I even make this work? And, like, the people were leaving. Like. Like, people were coming up to me requesting the songs I would normally play. And I, like, literally had the do not list. And I was like, just show them the do not list. [00:46:28] Speaker A: Whitney Houston. [00:46:29] Speaker B: And the whole wedding was like, two hours. Like, quit two hours early. She paid me and everything. But I was like, yeah, well, that's crazy. Everybody left because of your music. [00:46:38] Speaker A: Did you get married two years ago? [00:46:40] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. [00:46:41] Speaker A: So did you have tryouts for your dj? [00:46:43] Speaker B: No. The guy that's always with me is my favorite dj, bro. He is an amazing. He's a turntableist. Like, he. He's the, like, does the tricks and stuff. [00:46:54] Speaker A: I don't know what that means. [00:46:55] Speaker B: Like, he. He plays on turntables and, like, does the tricks. Like, we, you know, like, turntable stuff. Like, I'm like a remix dj. Party. Throw a party. He's like a sit back and watch him for an hour type dj. And that was cool for my wedding because, dude, I had the mic and I was getting everybody hype. And he was just DJing and is my. You know, my wife's grandparents are from Jamaica. He was going up and, like, her granddad was requesting some. And so all of a sudden we start hearing some, you know, and he's blending it in perfectly. It was a cool wedding, bro. People still talk about my wedding now. Like, they're like, that was. And I had weed at my wedding. So, like, people. My boys from, like, high school, they're like, man, I didn't fuck my wife like that in six years. And it was funny, though, because, like, you know. You know, some of my boys are, you know, haven't partied like that since high school. But at my wedding, I. I provided rides to and from. It's because I'm fresh off a dui. So I was like, I don't want no one to have to drink and drive. And. And people really enjoyed that. We all stayed at the same hotel and we took a bus to and from. Those are the best. Yeah, And I had, you know, we had the weed bar, and then we had the regular bar, and it was. The Dabby Brothers brought me a bunch of. A bunch of edibles from Florida. God, Dabby Brothers, yo. Yeah. That's another part of my posse. [00:48:17] Speaker A: Yeah. I just stay away from all the weed heads. I'm a beginner, all right? I don't want any of your. Give me a 5 milligram edible. [00:48:26] Speaker B: And, like, go away and you might be okay. [00:48:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not doing one of your dabs. I'm not doing any of that. Okay, Just. [00:48:32] Speaker B: Man, shout out to those guys. They. I mean, they drive all the way from Florida, bro. And they're just. [00:48:36] Speaker A: They're so great. [00:48:37] Speaker B: They just hang out with me and literally, I think it was a couple years ago. You know, every time I need a joint, I'm just like, bro, who's got some weed? Ready? [00:48:47] Speaker A: Remember the year again, going back to Taylorville, that park. Remember? They stayed in that tent. They were, like, in a tent backstage and. And, like, we're living. They were, like, in their truck or car. [00:48:56] Speaker B: Yeah, that was their little Ford Ranger, bro. [00:48:58] Speaker A: Who are these guys? [00:48:59] Speaker B: Yeah, man. Dude, I've known them since I was with Jelly Roll that year in 2012. 13. That's when I met them. I met them backstage taking dabs with the band. And then I circled back and came back through town in Florida with. With Upchurch. And I saw him standing backstage, and I was like, that's the Dabby Brothers. And they came and dabbed us up. And, dude, I'll see. I'll see one of them next tomorrow or two in two days in Oregon. One move to Oregon. So I'll see him. And then I'm in Orlando next week, and I'll see the other one in Orlando. [00:49:32] Speaker A: Damn. So, dude, you made me think of something when we were Talking about the DJs, the wedding and stuff. I got a good one for you. Have you ever heard this one of. What's a DJ's favorite sauce? [00:49:46] Speaker B: No. [00:49:46] Speaker A: Marinara. I don't know why my brain went that. [00:49:53] Speaker B: I will not be using that one later. [00:49:56] Speaker A: I didn't know when you. [00:49:57] Speaker B: I'm gonna do that one on stage next year. I'll be like, hey, everybody, listen to this one. Crickets. And I'll be like, blame Austin. [00:50:05] Speaker A: They blame Coley. Shout out my girlfriend for, you know, telling me that one. It does make me laugh, though. But. First time I heard it, but I don't know why. My brain. Yeah, she does it pretty good. Marinara. Yeah, she. She does the. She does that chicken one. I don't remember what that one is. Why did she cross the road? I think it is. [00:50:25] Speaker C: I'm scared to cross the road or something. [00:50:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I can't do it, though. And then it's like. Because that DJ one, when you did this, that's all I could think of for that second. [00:50:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Turntable. Yeah, he's Good. Need good, man. [00:50:38] Speaker A: Dude, I don't know. I don't know if I could ever ask to have a better DJ on the festival, man. [00:50:43] Speaker B: I appreciate having you and thank you for having me, and I hope to continue to. When. When Wayne hired me, I think. I don't know what year it was. 2019, or when I came off stage. At one point, he was like, we gonna do this for a while? I said, yes, sir. You know, as long as you guys want me to do it. And here we are on your five or six, man. [00:51:04] Speaker A: So keep it running me. Well, dude, thank you for being on the podcast, man. [00:51:09] Speaker B: Thank you, guys. We love me. [00:51:10] Speaker A: Cheers. [00:51:11] Speaker B: We'll have to do it again. [00:51:12] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. We're going to do at the festival. [00:51:14] Speaker B: Fuck yeah. So those are fun, man, because I'm like, I. I'm on a vibe all day, you know, just seeing everybody backstage. [00:51:20] Speaker A: And so we'll have to talk about a setup. I'm really trying to think because, you know, I love Ray's Rowdy and they're going to have stuff there. But we've been kind of brainstorming on, I don't know, do we do, like, a mobile trailer that we could put backstage, but then if we wanted to go take it out to the campground. [00:51:44] Speaker B: Just get one of them tents and put some AC in it, you know, like. [00:51:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:51:47] Speaker B: Or Festival, dude. [00:51:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:49] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, make it look festival. [00:51:52] Speaker A: But that's also why I was thinking. And I liked his idea of or the bus to rejuvenate the. [00:51:59] Speaker B: That used to be my green room. Damn it. Okay, I want my green room back. But that thing, Wayne, I want my green room back. [00:52:05] Speaker A: That thing is at Cruising and we're trying. [00:52:07] Speaker B: I know. It's been sitting there since the first year I used it. It was the coolest green room for me, dude. Like, I love that because everybody, like, I want to smoke, you know, and it. The. My green room ended up being the green room for all the artists. So Wayne was just like, just go in there and smoke. So, like, I ended up smoking with, like, everybody. This is awesome, dude. Like, everybody's coming to my bus to smoke. [00:52:30] Speaker A: So we wanted to do, like, a trailer. And I like the trailer only because I don't have to tear down and set it back up. So I don't know. We got the bus. [00:52:37] Speaker B: The bus is where it's at, dude. [00:52:39] Speaker A: But I would love to go out into the campground, and that's why I think it'd be sick. [00:52:42] Speaker B: Set the bus out in the middle. [00:52:44] Speaker A: I know, but then I want it backstage, so see what I'm saying? [00:52:47] Speaker B: Drive it. [00:52:48] Speaker A: I don't know if that is going to make it to Bloomington. [00:52:51] Speaker B: It does questionably run. [00:52:54] Speaker A: So tow the bus there. Yeah. [00:52:56] Speaker B: Our. [00:52:57] Speaker A: So I don't know. We got a brainstorm on some of that stuff. [00:53:00] Speaker B: That's easy. That's the easy part. [00:53:01] Speaker A: I just wanted to be cool. I mean, I want to create something that we have, like a. I'd love a college game day that if we. [00:53:06] Speaker B: Broadcast, I feel everybody's behind there. [00:53:09] Speaker A: I want to broadcast live that we're here. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Dude. Like, go hour. The hour before. Like, Doors. [00:53:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:15] Speaker B: You know, I mean, from the doors, when everybody's already right there and you can gas them up, you know? [00:53:20] Speaker A: But then it'd be sick if, like, artists came on. Yeah. All of a sudden, this person pops off. [00:53:25] Speaker B: Like, I did the raised rowdy one, and then right after me was Alexander K. Like, yeah. And people were, you know, standing around, waiting, watching, getting into it. [00:53:32] Speaker A: We're doing. So we're doing the podcast with Matt and Nick tomorrow morning. [00:53:37] Speaker B: Nice. [00:53:38] Speaker A: And I don't know, we just got to figure out how that works, because they've helped us out a ton with this one, and I want us to make sure that we're living. I don't want to take away from their podcast, but I want to keep doing ours. [00:53:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:52] Speaker A: And I want to see how we can co. Mingle. And honestly, it's probably gonna end up being there. They keep theirs out at their place, and then they got a good little cool little setup. [00:54:00] Speaker B: They had the little backdrop. They know what they're doing. [00:54:02] Speaker A: You know, I even thought about doing, like, a shared. But then if you do a shared one, it becomes like they're wanting to do one, and we're in the middle. [00:54:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Just keep. Keep it separate. But y'all both do it, you know, like, you have y'all your area, and then vice versa. You know, you go on theirs. Them, come on yours. [00:54:17] Speaker A: So we'll figure it out. But I definitely want it backstage where we can do stuff with the artist and try to get that stuff going and get that content. And that's where Ryan's gonna come into, you know, because again, I'm running around like crazy, so it's gonna be tough, but hopefully next year. [00:54:34] Speaker B: It's just. There's so much going on at those things, bro. Like, I feel like this year I saw you least. The least amount, then I saw anybody, like, and I think we said that Michigan, you were like, dude, can we get A beer while I'm in Nashville. I feel like I hadn't seen you all year. [00:54:48] Speaker A: I just want to ha with you and stuff. And I. And there's so. It's people overload. [00:54:52] Speaker B: It really is. [00:54:53] Speaker A: Talking about, you know, when I get. [00:54:55] Speaker B: Home, I don't talk for like, two or three days, bro, because I've had it turned on. Been Cliffy D for two weeks, bro. It's nice to come home and just not have to. Have to turn it on, you know? [00:55:05] Speaker A: So. No, I. I just think it sucks, but it's people overload of. I mean, my Wayne's phone blows up. My phone blows up. Problems fans. You know that because again, we're the face of. You know, there's an issue with something. So sponsors to raffle Better bothering you guys. [00:55:23] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, and that's why I feel like I've been. I've been doing this so long. Like, I know who to go to, like, without bothering you guys, whether it be Charles or. Or whoever, you know, because you guys, really. Every time I feel like I'm genuinely taking time away, because I probably am. [00:55:38] Speaker A: No, I just. You just always feel like we didn't ever, you know, get to spend that time together. And see. I mean, dude, in Bloomington, I got to catch like, two and a half songs of Eric Church from Merch. Then Bailey Knight. I mean, I was clear out at one box office helping with stuff, and I saw very little in Bloomington. And then Iowa, I took in all of Shinedown. [00:56:03] Speaker B: That man, what a ripper. That dude, man, I like, he was sprinting around stage. Dude, I was like, man, these guys are dialed in. [00:56:11] Speaker A: And I'm a rock. I mean, I'm a rock fan more than anything. And I never have seen Shinedown live. And, you know, we had Jelly Thursday, then Bailey, and it was Jelly crushed it when he showed up. He brought it two minutes he was on stage, killed it. Bailey has gotten better and better every time I've seen him. He killed it. And his production is sick as fuck. [00:56:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:37] Speaker A: Then Shinedown. And it is a weird combo. Jelly. [00:56:41] Speaker B: I thought it was a great Shine Down. I thought you. And that's what we cool about Tailgate. [00:56:44] Speaker A: Every fucking person, though, was like, shined down. Killed it. And they are. They've been, you know, performing for 20 some years together. I mean, Brent is dialed in. [00:56:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:56:57] Speaker A: On every bit of what they do. And they sounded perfect. [00:57:01] Speaker B: Yep. It was. It was a great show. That was as far as this year. That was my favorite show. [00:57:07] Speaker A: I got to see some of Jelly's, and I got to see part of Bailey's, Watch Lakeviews in Iowa. But definitely, I watched all of Shine. That was also the last night. [00:57:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:57:18] Speaker A: So the last night, you're like, thank God. Who gives a shit if you. I don't know if this is not working. I'm like, it's done. Who cares? [00:57:24] Speaker B: Can we hurry up, get to Manning's? [00:57:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, my God. I got. Yeah. We got hammered there one night. [00:57:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. The last night. The sheriff. I love the sheriff up there, man. He's great. That I love. The way they treat us in Iowa is so awesome, too. Like, the way. [00:57:43] Speaker A: Shout out Scott and Josh. [00:57:44] Speaker B: Yeah, man. The way the city embraced us, bro. Even me, like, I like. Like, I went and ate at this one place every morning, and, like, they comped my meal every morning. Like, what? Why? You know, they're like, man, you guys are. You guys are great to us. You're bringing so many people to our city. Thank you. I'm just like, what? [00:58:01] Speaker A: The first year we went there. So I'm trying to think of this, how this went. The first year we went there was. Yeah. It was 20, 23. And I don't know. I was just kind of like, we're going to Iowa. Like, we're in this middle of this park, you know, I'm not really sure how this is gonna. I didn't. I wasn't down. I just. I had no expectations. [00:58:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:25] Speaker A: Of what it was. [00:58:26] Speaker B: I love how. I love how much it's grown in just the one year. [00:58:29] Speaker A: That first year, though, I'm like, I love this. It's clean as fuck. [00:58:33] Speaker B: Yeah. That's. Yeah. [00:58:33] Speaker A: Clean as fuck. I'm wearing my nice shoes. [00:58:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:36] Speaker A: I'm running around. Then I go to Bloomington, and I'm like, in the middle of, like. You know, it's dust grass, and I'm like, in the middle of this grass, I'm like, I just want to go back to. [00:58:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Iowa. Iowa is its own vibe. You know, they all three have their own different vibe. And that's what I like about it. Like, Michigan has its own different vibe. [00:58:54] Speaker A: I love Michigan setup, and I loved Iowa's. I loved all three setup, But Michigan, how we move that to the outside. [00:59:00] Speaker B: And then Bloomington's so big, but this year, Wayne gave me a golf cart, so. But logistically, after six years, you finally get a golf cart. Guys, just remember that. Okay? [00:59:12] Speaker A: That's the threshold. Yeah. [00:59:15] Speaker B: That you gotta cut the grass. [00:59:17] Speaker A: Year 10, you get a second bottle of Jager. Hey. [00:59:20] Speaker B: He. I'm gonna make it the. [00:59:24] Speaker A: In Bloomington. The thing I hate about Bloomington is logistically, for whatever reason, it's because our backstage is set up, because I'm catering. [00:59:32] Speaker B: I get anxiety, bro. [00:59:34] Speaker A: Getting from point A to point B is my always. My biggest thing is I'm, you know, I'm clear out here in campground, but I have to get to VIP entrance. It's. [00:59:44] Speaker B: If you don't have a cart, you're fucked. Or you're trying to find a ride. [00:59:47] Speaker A: From somebody with a cart, but it's just so big. So the travel and getting around where, you know, Iowa. Getting from point to point, Michigan. Getting point is very. Iowa and Michigan were laid out almost identical. Yeah. [00:59:58] Speaker B: And it's not. It's not too bad of a walk. You know what I mean? [01:00:01] Speaker A: Like, it's. It's manageable. [01:00:04] Speaker B: It doesn't take 20 minutes. [01:00:05] Speaker A: It's fun. And just how you can always be different. What we can add and what we can do. Like, doing this podcast was something I wanted to do, and, you know, having. We'll have ones where, dude, it'd be cool to have you back on. Where we just talk about the announcement, all the artists that we have. I mean, fuck, someday I'd love to just be like, hey, dropping this Tuesday. [01:00:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:26] Speaker A: You know, we drop the lineup on here first. Oh, yeah. You know, or the how. The how tos. [01:00:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And with. [01:00:34] Speaker C: With even the lineup announcement, one of my goals for the podcast from the fan perspective is talking about the names, because we can say the names all day long, but for me, from a fan, I don't know names to songs. [01:00:46] Speaker B: Yeah, you guys build artists sometimes. Like, there was a couple, like, Houston. I never heard any music he played until I saw the flyer. And then I do my homework. I started going through, and I was like, dude, this dude's good. Yeah, he's like. He's right up my alley of people I want to work with. Like, that's. You know, but you can see here. [01:01:04] Speaker A: And say Lakeview all day. [01:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah, but then. [01:01:06] Speaker A: But then. But then when you hear home team, then you're like, oh, I heard that at a hockey game I went to. [01:01:11] Speaker B: Or. [01:01:11] Speaker C: Exactly. [01:01:12] Speaker B: And there's more artists you guys have done that with, you know, like, and. And I've built relationships with some of those guys, you know, just through them coming through the festival and me learning their music, being like, hey, man, that's a good song. [01:01:25] Speaker A: So talking about them, even doing little segments where we break down maybe four artists today. And the podcast is just on Josh Ross and Lily Rose and we talk about that and then, hell, even once we know they're going to be on. [01:01:39] Speaker B: Like go into detail about. [01:01:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Like talking about who they are, talking. [01:01:42] Speaker C: About snippets of their, you know, popular songs or viral songs, whatever it may be, just so you can kind of put the face to name. And like I said, my goal is kind of get them earlier. Get them to come see you earlier in the day rather than, oh yeah, I do know X, you know, or. Or no, I'm just gonna wait till the. The headliner because that's the big name. [01:02:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:02:01] Speaker A: And we look and we live in a day and age of reels. [01:02:04] Speaker B: Like Tucker Wetmore this year. How many that, that he was so good early. Like. And I mean, I knew of him. Yep. But I didn't know, you know what I mean? Like, and now I know the fuck you know. [01:02:14] Speaker A: Michigan. Talking about how each town is different. Last year is the same thing. Michigan people, God bless all of you. Get there super early, buy a shit ton of merch. [01:02:24] Speaker B: That's what I love about going on so early is because I get the true fans all, you know, I mean, the ones that been there with me there was all day. That's why I say we've been doing this all. Who's been in this all day? Like, you know, because we have, like, we've, we've been through this together. We have experienced this whole thing together. And it's pretty cool, man. Like, and they, they're all different. Like, like I was, I was like a compact Bloomington. It's like, yeah, it's like a shrunken down. Bloomington's just, it's. It's almost like a little city very much built. [01:02:57] Speaker A: Built in a very quick amount of time. But even like. Okay, so talking about how Bloomington is different, that's where again, we live in a world full of reels where I want to talk about Bloomington. Like, where should we buy a campground or, you know, a camp spot? What's the difference in lot A versus lot B? What's, you know, where should I go get it? What are the add ons you can get if we do these conversations that we have? [01:03:21] Speaker B: Just get in detail those snippets. [01:03:23] Speaker A: Then we do this reel for all the people that have questions about what's the difference? [01:03:27] Speaker B: Frequently asked questions. Yeah. [01:03:28] Speaker A: Water service. [01:03:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:29] Speaker A: You know, how do you get your wristband where. What's the difference in this color versus this color? You got a pee? [01:03:36] Speaker B: No, I'm good. Okay. [01:03:38] Speaker A: When we started moving a lot, when we first started talking about this. We did it in his basement, and we're down there drinking, and we're doing a podcast just like this. We're now. I mean, whether we're done or not, we sat down there and talked. He got up and peed like, four times. Like, Ryan, we're gonna have to get you like a. We're gonna get you like a decath. Not a catheter. A catheter to. So you. Dude, you're not even gonna make it through 30 minutes. But we did drink a lot more. [01:04:05] Speaker C: There, but drink a little faster. [01:04:07] Speaker B: My goal is to just be consistent, man, and keep. Keep doing what I'm doing and keep bringing you guys ideas like. Like for the after parties and stuff. And I think, like, midget wrestling. Midget wrestling would be great. [01:04:19] Speaker A: Hey, let us know. [01:04:20] Speaker B: Who wants to see midget wrestling. [01:04:21] Speaker A: Who wants to see midget wrestling at the festival? You know, comment like, let us know. That is a. That'll be a Cliffy D. Yeah, I've. [01:04:30] Speaker B: Been doing that midget wrestling, like, putting it on around. [01:04:33] Speaker A: Not you personally. [01:04:33] Speaker B: No, no, no, not a midget, of course, but it's micro wrestling. So I've been doing that for. Man, probably 15 years. I've been. Been booking my buddy Jack, and they're still out there doing it, man. They eat now he's got four different shows out on the road. Micro 1, 2, 3, and 4. And they're all out doing. Doing shows. [01:04:55] Speaker A: So we want to. We want to know. Yeah. Is it. Is it something. Oh, that camera just shut off. So guess this is gonna conclude. Yes, it's gonna conclude the session, so. Well, cheers. [01:05:05] Speaker B: Cheers, guys. Man. Yeah, man. [01:05:07] Speaker A: Thank you, guys.