Lights Down, Music Up: With DJ Larry Davis - E3 | S3

[00:00:09] Welcome back to The Unspoken Truth. I'm your host, Breyden, and today is a special episode. This is about evolution, not just success. My guest today is DJ Larry Davis. Larry, welcome to the show. Glad you're finally here. After lots of trials and tribulations and over the river and through the woods, we made it. So there's a lot of history there between like you and I that's gone, but I'm glad that you're here because it's like a full circle moment for me. So I'm just going to dive right on in on that.

[00:00:35] So like, so we're gonna start with the what the we're gonna start off like Dallas radio online. You remember that? I do. Yeah, of course. I remember that. So Dallas radio online before there was well before there was who I am now there was Dallas radio online. What year did you start that? That was 2012. 2012? And this was before Spotify really I think before Apple music or any of this became popular.

[00:01:02] Yeah, I think maybe there was like Pandora around there was yeah, yeah, I'm in internet radio was the next the next big thing evolution. Yeah, in our technology. And I decided I'm gonna start an online radio station. And yeah, that became Dallas radio online. Dallas radio online. I had my own show. It was really cool. It's called the top 20 countdown. Braden rocks are pretty cool. It was a insert sound effects. Insert sound effects.

[00:01:26] Hashtag Larry the producer. So that was my first real on air experience, you know, structure, timing audience. So but yeah, I want to go back there. When you built Dallas radio online, what were you trying to create?

[00:01:42] Man, you're asking me to reach back into, you know, I had spent most of my career as a radio DJ since high school, since I was 15 years old. And I'd been out of it a little bit at that time. And I think there's really just the desire for me to get back into radio.

[00:02:02] But do it in a way that was just more fun. And I had control over and not being such a slave to corporate radio. I won't name any of the companies. But I think it was just looking for an outlet to to do something new and bring something that was not real popular at the time. Okay, nice. And what do you remember about that time? There's anything that you remember? I remember the one of the parties that we had at the old closed down club that is now like the restaurant.

[00:02:30] The launch party. We did. Yeah, man, we did. We put it together like a whole ass radio station. We did live weekly remote broadcast from clubs. There was what you were talking about. That was a Tuesday night weekly broadcast. And then I think we did a Saturday night broadcast from what is still now TMC in Dallas. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

[00:02:55] Yeah. And yeah, we just had we had multiple hosts. It was a dance music and EDM focused radio station. So we had lots of live DJs in the studio every week. We had DJs that had their time slot that would record a set every week and send it in to get played on their show. So there was a lot going on. We had I had clubs playing the station as their music when they didn't have a DJ.

[00:03:20] I know that. That's really cool. Yeah. Yeah. There's a fun little story about that. There's this DJ Australian DJ not Havana Brown, but tidy and Larry, I would go to these shows with Larry. You were going to say Dan Slater. Dan Slater. Dan Slater. And so Larry would always tell me, do your show prep, do your show prep. And that specific day, I just didn't do my show prep was running behind whatever. So on the way to meet up with Larry, I just Wikipedia this guy. And there was just different stories that weren't true. So we're at Lizard Lounge. You remember Lizard Lounge?

[00:03:50] Yeah. So we're at Lizard Lounge interviewing Tidy. And I was like, so you've worked with the band Perry and Justin Bieber. And he just looks at me and he's like, what? And I'm like, yeah. And he's like, no, mate, that wasn't me. And we laughed about it. I still have it on clip. It's really funny. And Larry's like, that's why you don't do your research on Wikipedia. It's one of the funniest moments. I'm glad he was really cool about that because you were the one that told me, he's like, not all artists are like that. Like, I'm like, this motherfucker doesn't know who I am. Like. Yeah. So I know some artists that would have told you, you know, get the hell out of here. We're done with this.

[00:04:20] So that was just the beginning. But your story doesn't stop there. You've lived in multiple, you've lived multiple lives in this, in the industry. So we're going to go, we're going way back to prior to Dallas Radio Online. We're going back to when you were in a country band. Remember that? Yeah, I've been in several, actually. Dickie and something? Dickie and Dude. Dickie and Dude, yes. That was here in Dallas. That's when I met you around that time when you were singing with the band.

[00:04:49] Was it? Did we go? Yeah, I guess it was. Okay. Around, yeah. Yeah. 2011, 12. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that was, I was actually in a band in Austin before that. Okay. Called Six Feet Deep. Yeah. These were country bands and I was the lead singer, guitar player. And then prior to that even, I was the lead singer for a big touring country band, still in existence today, called The Emotions in Texas.

[00:05:18] They tour all over Texas, play 52 weekends a year at venues all over the place. And they have had lead singers over the years that have gone on, one of the biggest being David Kirsch, which is a huge number one country singer. I think right prior to me coming on board, he was the lead singer and then got signed. And so they kind of, as people go on to find success, they audition new people. Yeah. But yeah, I did. Many years ago, I've had my run as the front man for different country bands.

[00:05:47] So what did being a front man teach you? You know, it got, I guess if you're born with it, you know, I feel like it's something you could learn if that's, because I know a lot of, I've come to know a lot of performers and singers and, you know, they weren't all born with it for sure. And they've come to find their. I think it can be taught. Yeah. But it just was always a comfortable place for me.

[00:06:15] I think since being on the air, since I was 15 years old in radio, even though I didn't have the million people that were listening in front of me, you know, you know that they're out there. So I think being able to own my craft coming up in radio, maybe being on stage and performing in front of people live, just kind of a natural evolution that was always comfortable. And so does that energy still show up from whenever you were a singer, like whenever you're now that you're a DJ on stage?

[00:06:45] Like, is it the same type of energy, different kind of energy? Yeah, I think for sure. You know, people say, what does it take to become a successful DJ? And I don't know, maybe we can get into that later. But I think these days, and I think it's evolved, but certainly these days, people that go to watch a DJ or go to a venue to hear a DJ perform, expect some element of performance. Absolutely. Hopefully it's more than just jumping up and down.

[00:07:15] But being into the music and what you're playing, and I think people can tell when you're passionate about what you're doing, when you know what you're doing, when you're comfortable enough to look up from the decks and involve yourself. And I go a step further and, you know, if I'm able, I'll jump off stage. I'll come out of the booth into the crowd and put on a six minute song so I can have a minute and go.

[00:07:36] So even if it's, you know, for the gram, as they say, for the photo op or for the video, I enjoy getting out, you know, going and taking a song and taking three minutes and getting out to the crowd and dancing. Just interacting. Yeah. You love a good interaction. Like you said, come out from behind the booth. Like, just interact. You got it. There's a fine line with keeping it about the music and not making yourself and your performance the focus. I don't wear any costumes. But there are DJs that do. There are?

[00:08:06] I mean, look at Dead Mouth. Oh, yeah. The head. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And Marshmallow. Marshmallow. And I mean, even in the circuit scene, you know, DJs like Vicky Kuba are the queen of nightlife or after hours. Yeah. You know, she has she's always in some. Oh, and Nina. Amana costume. Nina Flowers. Yes. Yes. Love mother. Yes. She's.

[00:08:35] Always in the full. Yeah. Lamb. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. So you've also worked. We're going to just switch gears a little bit. So along with DJing and singing on stage, you've also worked as a nurse and along with working in radio. That's two very different worlds. One is one. One is communication and media. The other one is care and pressure. How do you balance both lives or are you still a nurse or? I am still a nurse.

[00:08:59] So around when COVID happened around 2020, I was working in radio full time here in Dallas. And just after 20 years had kind of had enough and just wanted to do something different, something impactful, something stable. I think around that time, everybody started questioning, you know, is what I'm doing stable? I mean, we'd never in our generation experienced something. It's a life altering.

[00:09:26] And so I decided to leave radio, go to nursing school and became an ICU nurse. And yeah, I'm still a nurse to this day. Work every week. Nice. Luckily, I have an employer who's very supportive of my DJ career. And I have a great, I call it a golden egg schedule, kind of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for the most part. Nice.

[00:09:53] So it does not interfere with my ability to play and travel for gigs and never work Monday. So that's always my Lord's Day, the rest, recovery, sleep all day. So what has nursing taught you about people? Nothing good. Okay. Oh, man.

[00:10:15] You know, it's and it's a shame you could get another nurse to have on your show sometime and talk about just nursing. But it's really a shame what how much pressure has been put on nurses in recent years. And you see people leaving the industry at record rates. And nurses do so much and such an important part of the health care continuum.

[00:10:41] But people need help and need compassion, treatment and care more than ever. But nurses are stretched so thin. Staffing is is at record lows. Yeah. So it's a very difficult job. So if you know a nurse, they do an incredible job just to keep it together.

[00:11:07] Working without lunches, long hours, weekends, holidays, you know, we're not an option for most people. I've been so fortunate enough to find a job where I don't have to work weekends. Yeah. I mean, you got the glorified great schedule. For a nurse, that's rare. Yeah. But it's it's still a great at the end of the day. You can't walk out of that job and not feel like you've affected somebody's day in some positive way. So with being in that job, did that change how you read energy?

[00:11:39] You know, in nursing, in most cases, not all, but in most cases, you're dealing with somebody on one of the worst days of their life, especially in the ICU. Absolutely. You know, you're you're not dealing you're not working labor and delivery where babies are being born, you know, or outpatient surgery where your cataracts are moved and you can see. Great.

[00:12:08] You're so, you know, you you have the fortune and the good grace to be able to help people and catch them at their best. So, you know, energy is, you know, definitely it teaches you to be more aware of your own energy and what you're giving off and how you carry yourself. Yeah. OK, well, now. So now we're going into DJ Larry Davis, traveling, performing, doing events, different cities, different crowds.

[00:12:39] So when did you feel like DJ became who you are? You know, DJing was never on my bingo card of life. No, it is. No, you know, and for the audience, make sure we differentiate between radio DJ, also known as on air announcer or radio host, the guy that talks on the radio versus the DJing.

[00:13:04] I do now, you know, wiki wiki mixing in front of people who are right dancing and having a good time. OK. You know, that's something that I taught myself during COVID to do as just something to something new to learn when we were all locked up and had nothing better to do. Yeah. And it was. Yeah, I never anticipated where I'm at now.

[00:13:32] I never anticipated it being an entire livelihood. You know, they're like there's quite there was you. There's another one to Nick Straesner. Like you guys just kind of just just blew up. Like just I remember like you I remember him doing it and you were very quiet about it. And then you just burst on the scene like a rock star. And I was like, OK, like, oh, shit. I knew about it. But I mean, you know, just because we're friends. But I mean, you just burst on the scene, too. And like you're just everywhere now. Like you ever seen the movie Catch Me If You Can? A long time ago. Yes. Leonardo DiCaprio. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:14:03] It's about the real Frank Abagnale who baked everybody out and all these jobs and was able to get in and fly planes and be an FBI agent and all this stuff. And he was never any of that. And I tell people that ask, well, how did you get started in DJing? I said, well, I catch me if you can to my way into DJing, which really is the truth.

[00:14:23] And when I say I taught myself, shout out to my good buddy, Josh Sanders, also a DJ, who at the time was a resident DJ at S4, the big club here in Dallas. And I would go in on the weekends and hang out with him in the DJ booth and just stand behind him and literally just watch what he was doing. Yeah. Just watch.

[00:14:45] And having had some experience on radio, I had experience with sound boards and mixers and the basic stuff, but just soaked it up. And the owner of the club one day, knowing me and me being around all the time, he said, hey, you're a DJ, right? Yeah, great. Hey, we need you. We need someone to play a Halloween party. Can you do that? Yeah, absolutely. I got it. Mind you, I've never played for one person in my life. I didn't have equipment at home to practice with.

[00:15:13] I just like, yeah, I'll figure it out. And that day came and sure enough, I pulled it off. I've definitely come a long way with my skills and abilities since then, but I pulled it off. And so it was definitely a fake it till you make it kind of scenario where like, oh, you're a DJ, aren't you? Not like, well, I've never played anyone before. I'd love the opportunity. Like, no, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, let's do it. That's awesome. And kind of the rest was history. Yeah.

[00:15:43] So do you, do you, I've seen you play and I mean, this is for our listeners, but do you use a laptop or you just used to go by hard drive? And, you know, again, so a laptop is how most people learn when they start DJing. They learn on a number of programs, but using a laptop, it's kind of easier. And I never learned that way. I learned straight from, we call them the decks or the players that DJs play on. And by, and the music gets loaded on a USB beforehand.

[00:16:13] So if you put a computer in front of me with, you know, I might be able to figure it out, but I've never once played with a laptop. So I, I wouldn't know what to do. And so do you prerecord your sets or do you do it live? No, gosh. I definitely play live. Okay. You know, every, every DJ, if you talk to five DJs, they'll tell you five different ways on kind of how they play and how they approach.

[00:16:42] But I usually know for most gigs, I'll usually know what song I'm going to start with. Okay. Depending on the gig, the audience, what time I'm going on. Am I going on to zero people or am I going on to 3000 people? Yeah. I'll usually know what song I'm going to start with. After that, it's off to the races and playing it by ear. Okay.

[00:17:05] Being able to read the crowd, I think, as we say, is the hallmark of what makes a good DJ from a great DJ. Okay. And so if, if I were to predetermine and no shade to anybody else that does it a different way. But for me, I feel like if I were to, let's say I'm, I'm going to play 50 songs in a night or 40 songs. And I predetermine that list in, in order, which songs I'm going to play. Even if I don't prerecord it, I know I'm going to play these 40 songs in this order.

[00:17:34] I don't give myself any chance to read the room or the audience or the dance floor and figure out, are they, do they like this? Is this working? And if it's not, I leave myself in a room to, to pivot and go in a different direction. So. So what do you feel there? What kind of, what song do you feel is overplayed by DJs? Right now? Right now. Oh, that's easy. It's a song by an amazing DJ and producer, Yugel. The song is called Jamaican. Jamaican? Yeah.

[00:18:03] That's, I, and I've contributed to that being overplayed. Um, I, I still played it this last weekend at both my shows. I love it. After bitching about the same thing that it's incredibly overplayed. Another one is, uh, Chris Lorenzo Appetite. Um, every DJ in the world is playing that right now, including me. Yeah. And this last weekend it got, I played it again. There was a song that was a circuit song. Uh, uh, never again. Remember from the, the, the soundtrack.

[00:18:34] Never enough. Never enough. I remember they were playing that song. That was one song that I, I don't know that I'm tired of it even till this day, but I remember that song was just overplayed. Oh yeah. I have, I have, I have some remixes. That's from, uh, what movie is that? Great showman. Great. Yeah. Yeah. The greatest showman. Yeah. So it's from that movie. Um, yeah, I have some remixes of that. Maybe I'll play that this weekend. Cause there you go. I haven't played that in a long time. So speaking of weekends, what does a normal weekend look like for DJ Larry Davis?

[00:18:59] Man, it's, um, I'll tell you one thing that I don't negotiate on, um, with myself or my schedule is my sleep. Um, again, everybody does it differently. I know some DJ friends of mine that will fly into a city hours before their sound check. They'll play their gig. They'll be done at 3am and they'll go straight to the airport for a 7am flight. Never even hitting the hotel.

[00:19:26] Oh, um, and I, that is the opposite of myself. So, um, I, I make sure I like to as much as possible. Um, giving myself time on both sides of the show. I have a show on Friday and Saturday in different cities and have to, you know, play Friday night and fly out. Um, for instance, splash coming up. I play the opening party in Austin.

[00:19:53] Um, and as much as I would love to hang around for the weekend, I got to fly out the next day cause I got to go play fair pride in Atlanta. Um, and so you do the best you can with that, but I, I do make sure that, um, I leave myself enough sleep. If I'm only playing in one place, um, you know, the struggle, I think for a lot of DJs is not making every gig and trip a vacation and eating up all the money you make. Yeah.

[00:20:22] Let's say I go play in DC on a Saturday night. Um, and that's my only gig that weekend. Um, you got to be careful not, well, you know what, let's go Friday night and hang out and then Saturday night and we'll leave Monday. And well, the, the gigs paying for your hotel for one night, you know, and that, that's it. Yeah. So if you go and get a hotel for three nights and take your partner with you and bond, you've, you've, you've made no money. It's been a lot of money.

[00:20:47] So I did a lot of that early on and now you got to treat it like a business, um, and be real focused on getting in and getting out, um, and kind of picking the ones that you want to spend some time with, um, luckily, but, uh, work weekends are, are pretty much just that, you know, fly out, get checked in. Usually I will try and get a short nap, um, sound check play.

[00:21:18] Make sure I get six, eight hours of sleep, get up, get out onto the next. So how, whenever you're traveling, how do you approach a new city? Like you go in, like, I know every city, the vibes are different. So you would think like Mexico, have you played in Mexico before? I have. So like what, like, how do you approach a new city? Like, how do you plan whenever you're going to different? So I think anybody that, so to any new DJs that might be listening or that are just starting

[00:21:45] to get out of town gigs or, um, or hope to have out of town gigs in the future, I think it's real important, not just out of town gigs. I think it's real important with any venue that you know where you're walking into and you know what the vibe calls for. And if you don't know, ask the promoter, ask the venue owner, whoever booked you musically, what are you guys expecting? What is the crowd like? When, when does it start to build? When does it, when does it peak? Um, asking those questions doesn't make you look like a fool.

[00:22:14] It makes you look interested and like you give a damn enough to be able to deliver for the promoter that booked you. So, um, I tell you, I think it's real important to, you know, early on in my DJ career, um, one thing that I think really helped propel, um, me being able to be busier so quickly is I traveled around the country and I got out and I went to these parties. I went to these festivals.

[00:22:42] I met the promoters and, uh, and forged relationships just like really any business. This business is no different. It's a business of relationships. It's, they're not booking always the very best DJs. They're booking people they like. And I don't care. I don't care whether you're selling a DJ service or vacuum cleaners or Mary Kay, people buy from people they like. They do. And it's really no different than this.

[00:23:08] If you, if you take 10 DJs and they're all of the same quality skill level, uh, your relationships are what's going to get you booked. So get out there, you know, even, even local DJs, get out in your local scene. Quit. Don't be sending, uh, faceless, nameless messages on Instagram to promoters and saying, Hey, can I have a gig? Hey, can you hire me? Um, I can promise you of 299 other people that sent the same message. Yeah.

[00:23:35] Before you do any of that, get out to their parties, go to their festivals, go to their clubs, go meet them. Hey, I'm so-and-so without asking them for anything. Just say, Hey, I just wanted to see you to put a face to the name and, and keep in touch with you and, uh, you know, know what, and be a part of the scene you're wanting to work in. Okay. So being in this new DJ life where you're traveling and doing all the things and going to these events, what has surprised you most about it? What surprised me most?

[00:24:04] I'll tell you, I, what, something that, um, two things that I really kind of can't wrap my head around is the music scene, especially post COVID has changed so much and continues to change so much in that alcohol sales plummeting right now, all over the country, probably all over the world. Yeah. The latest generations are not drinking like my generation did.

[00:24:32] And so bar owners and venues are having to grapple with the effects of that. And which means less revenue for them. They're still figuring that out, um, on their hand, but that means there's less money to pay DJs. Um, I've been, I found myself in situations where I've played a venue for at a residency for two years, making X amount of dollars that was fair. And I was blowing sales out of the water on the nights that I played.

[00:24:59] And as, as they experienced more financial hard times came to me and said, Hey, can you take less? And I'm like, wait a minute, I should be asking for a raise. I've been playing here for two years. Um, so that's, it's surprising to see kind of the direction the nightlife industry has gone.

[00:25:18] Um, and the other thing is, is the something that everybody talks about, which I actually love, but it's, it's the sheer number of DJs, um, that are out there right now. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:25:38] From, um, influencers to real housewives to, I mean, I was honestly, I mean, why, why was I not the same thing? Why was I at, at the time that I came in, I was just yet another guy that wanted to be a DJ. Um, so, uh, so many DJs are out there complaining about, you know, man, if you use the sync button, you're not a good DJ or real DJ.

[00:26:05] And I, we hear all this trash talking about what makes a real DJ. Um, there's room for everybody. And I'm surprised that, um, how little community, um, and camaraderie there is among DJs, how little people are willing to help each other and how much people feel the sense of intimidation rather than, Hey, let me help you. Let me, I've, you know, I've done a ton to help people along the way.

[00:26:34] Not cause I wanted anything from it. Cause I can promise you I ain't gotten nothing from it. Um, and it gets, you know, it gets to your time. We're all human and you're like, man, you know, you asked for something or you asked for a favor from this person and you can't even get a message back from the same person that you've gotten gigs after gigs for. Yeah. Um, but I hate it when people are like that too. Like, yeah, keep going, be your, be yourself in this industry. And I think it'll, it'll come back to you.

[00:27:01] So do you feel with everything from your career, like starting off your career and DJing, growing up on the radio and, you know, doing, starting your own radio station, do you think it's all prepared you for where you're at right now? Um, I mean, I guess the easy answer would be yes. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure it has all played, uh, played together. You know, it has to have. Oh, it's, it's, I think generic, it's for you music.

[00:27:28] Like I think something to do with music for you is music, you know? Yeah. And I get to skip the part that, that a lot of people have to get used to of being comfortable in front of people and being comfortable on stage. And that's, I, as I play bigger and bigger shows with bigger audiences and bigger venues and, um, you know, this year I have some, some, uh, bucket list venues that I I'm finally getting booked at already. And, um, but I just, fortunately I'm super lucky.

[00:27:58] I don't get nervous. Yeah. I don't get nervous. I feel like the, the more people, the bigger, the gig, the bigger, the venue, the more exciting it is for me. Absolutely. And I think with anybody, when, when you have that dopamine adrenaline rush, um, I'm more dialed in, I'm more on my game. Um, you know, going out and DJing to a room and we've all done it with, with zero people there yet. And you get to play the first hour and you might have one or two people walk in the hardest

[00:28:26] thing any DJ can do. The hardest thing is play to nobody. Um, assuming you're being paid, you know, you want to impress and you want to have drawn where the people, where are my friends or my supporters? Like Beyonce. She says when she comes on stage, she becomes a different person. Is that the same thing with you? Whenever you get on stage that you become just a different person? I don't feel like I become a different person.

[00:28:53] I feel like there's definitely a switch that gets flipped. Yeah. Um, you know, you wouldn't see me perform and think that that same person afterwards at the, you know, if I go to that, the after party, um, I'm the guy that wants to sit in the couch in the corner and talk to one person. Yeah. Um, I think I've, I've had enough stimulation for the night. So that switch is off now.

[00:29:18] And I definitely am not the guy who will perform and then go to the after party, um, and want to be like taking pictures and perform again. And dude, like, um, that's not my personality. I, I'm, I'm both like introvert and extrovert. I think there's a new word for that. I think it's, I think it's outrovert. So there's definitely a switch that, you know, that you got to turn on. Um, sometimes it's easier to do than others.

[00:29:48] I think the more people and the bigger the event for me, the easier it is to do. Yeah. Um, but, um, uh, maybe if I were making Beyonce money, I would become a different person. Yeah. You put me in a skirt and heels and call me whatever you want. Right. Sasha Pierce. I love it. All right. So I got some fire round questions for you. What is one city that surprises you? One city that's the problem. When you're on tour.

[00:30:19] That has surprised me, I guess. Um, I'll give you a good answer. Cincinnati, um, is one that sticks out. I was, um, lucky enough this last Halloween to headline what was billed as Cincinnati's

[00:30:45] first circuit festival, the multi-day event, um, put on by, uh, dance with pride. Josh Hecht is the producer promoter there. Um, same guy that, um, took me to world pride in DC to perform last year. Um, and he produced this Halloween multi-day festival. You mentioned Nick Strasner. Nick Strasner played one of the nights as well in Cincinnati. Um, and Cincinnati has, has it seen there.

[00:31:13] And I really expected like no one to be there. I had no idea what to expect as far as ticket sales. But when I came out on stage, um, it was a great night and they really enjoyed it and, and had a really great time. And the production was incredible. And, um, the city itself, I, I didn't get to sightseeing per se, but weather was great. Your university Cincinnati campus right there. And, um, it was a, it was a real good time. So, um, Cincinnati delivered definitely more than I expected. Nice.

[00:31:42] So you talk about world pride. Was that world pride is massive. Like it was at one of your bigger, more, is that the largest crowd you've ever played to, or is there another, what's the largest crowd you've played to? The largest crowd I've played to. Um, no, you're good. You're good. Uh, yeah, probably world pride in DC. The, the crowds, there were, there were so many different parties and events and the crowds

[00:32:06] were, to be honest, so big that I, as a attendee, I don't know how the hell you have a good time. Uh, line, there were, there were venues and people that had tickets that couldn't even get into the venues lines down the street. I saw even as a performer. I remember the one venue, um, uh, we were going, it was an after hours and we were going to see Nina and Alex Acosta play B2B at this venue and, um, had to get on the phone with

[00:32:34] the promoter to sneak us in a fire exit because there were thousands of people trying to get into this venue with purchase tickets. And they're like, sorry, you're not getting in. And, uh, so yeah, that the amount of people that DC, um, hosted for world pride last year was, um, it was pretty insane. Um, and, uh, uh, I think the party that I played was sold out and, um, was just a great time. Nice. Nice.

[00:33:03] And so with what you're going with music, what's one track that always works once on the matter where you go, that just always works. Titanium. Oh my gosh. Titanium. Titanium. Always works. Um, gimme, gimme, gimme. Who sings that? Gimme more? Gimme gimme Britney? No, no. Hell no. No, I love all my Britney supporters. We love Britney. We love Britney. Yes. Um, okay. ABBA.

[00:33:32] Oh, oh my God. Yes. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Yes. That one. Yeah. That's a, that's a, um, Ed, you know, my, my favorite remix of 2023, my good buddy, Danny, my favorite remix of 2023, my good buddy, Danny Verde absolutely killed the remix of Beyonce Cozy. Okay. Um, I can put that on anytime it'll work, but, um, if in doubt, if you're losing your dance floor, put on Titanium and you're fine.

[00:34:03] You say Danny Verde, he did, there's two mixes that I have saved on my SoundCloud that are his. One is a Latin mix. And I think the other one was a Jennifer Lopez and just, he nailed it. They're from old, like old back 20, 21, 22, but they're just, they're. Danny's been around the scene about 20 years. And the last couple of years we've become good friends and, um, he's a incredible producer and incredible DJ. And, um, yeah, if he produces something, um, I'm, uh, I'm fortunate enough.

[00:34:31] He'll usually text me when he, when he has something new. Yeah. Nice. All right. So let's see. What is, is there a moment? Cause these are the, the, the final set that we're doing questions. So is there a moment that you'll never forget that just stands out to you when you've been on tour? Uh, the outspoken podcast, the outspoken. Is that what? Oh shit. That's why I couldn't find it on Instagram. There you go guys. Yeah. Let that one hit the other room floor, please.

[00:35:02] Um, um, okay. Take two. What is one moment that you'll never forget, whether it's been on tour or wherever, wherever you've been? Oh, the unspoken truth podcast. Okay. I see you. Hands down. Hands down. Um, besides, uh, getting to hang out with you and your audience.

[00:35:23] Um, uh, you know, I, I, I think, um, my first international booking, um, at, uh, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, um, going to play at, uh, Mantamar. Man. So I was there a couple of months ago. Yep. Um, everything's good there now. Oh man, it was good. Like three days later. It's like, yeah, yeah. Everything is a hundred percent good there. Highly recommend if you have an opportunity, get down right now, visit Puerto Vallarta. That's so pretty.

[00:35:52] It's, it's a beautiful city. Um, and the, uh, the, the gay resort there, Almar and Mantamar beach club. Um, it's such a fun gig and, uh, they take such good care of their talent there. They, they literally give you a whole vacation as a part of your, your comp package. And so they, they take such good care of you. Shout out to the doll and Brian Kent.

[00:36:18] Um, but that, that, um, hashtag of, of international DJ getting to kind of add that to your, your resume, um, is, is, is, is whether they say it or not is something every DJ works towards. Right. Yeah. And it's just a big level up.

[00:36:37] Um, so I remember, um, yeah, being able to, uh, when that first booking came in and now I'm booked out there again in my birthday week this year in August. So, um, I getting to go back. Yeah. I went there a couple of weeks in February and I didn't realize that all their roads are cobblestone and it was very interesting. Oh, it's a rough ride. Oh man. And like the XXL Uber is like the size of a, it's a midsize car here. SUV. And I'm like, we don't all fit in this. Like it's so crazy.

[00:37:07] Yeah. The roads are so tiny there. I'd spend the extra like 40 bucks from the airport to get the, uh, suburban. You're going to ask them for it, but they'll, they'll have it. And, um, yeah, once you hit, like, uh, if, if you're going out towards like the, um, I call it Zona Romantica. Yeah. Zona Romantica. Uh, going out that direction. Yes. It turns into cobblestone streets from the 19th century.

[00:37:33] Um, you know, and it, and the streets are wide enough for one car, but two cars got to drive on them. Yeah. And so there's a lot of chicken that goes on. Um, and there's also chickens that are walking the street too. No stoplights. Very minimal. I mean, yeah, it's, it's Mexico for sure, but it's definitely, it's a good time though. It's a, it's a great town. It is, uh, it's perfectly safe. Uh, and, um, I'm looking forward to going back there. But yeah, I remember getting that, getting that call and getting that booking.

[00:38:02] I'd say, you know, uh, uh, uh, another big deal was, um, this year getting picked up and added to the roster of DFL management. Um, after only a couple of years of, of DJing and touring, um, getting picked up, um, to be managed by, um, Patty Rossetto, who is, uh, you know, just one of the biggest names in the gay dance scene and manages some of the very biggest DJs out there.

[00:38:31] So to even be on the same roster as some of these, um, guys and gals is, uh, was a huge moment. And it's one of those moments where, you know, after a couple of years, you're like, yeah, you, there are definitely moments where there's highs and lows. And there's times when the booking slow down and you start to question, do I want to keep doing this? Do I want to keep putting this effort in? And then, and a few things will happen that really gave you a boost, you know? And, uh, that was one of them.

[00:38:59] So, um, 2026 is, is shaping up to be an incredible year with some great opportunities. Um, and, uh, lots of new venues coming online and, um, very grateful for the opportunities that I've had. Very cool. Last question. What is, and I asked this to all my, my guests that come on on stage about, or on stage, uh, all my guests that come on, it's about specifically to your career. What is one misconception people have about DJ?

[00:39:30] I, I think most people probably assume that, um, we are just knee deep in the party the whole time. Um, and most people don't realize that, um, in most cases I'll go from playing to 500,000, 2000 people. And bam, that ends.

[00:39:58] You're out the green room in your Uber back to your hotel where you're staying alone in complete silence. And then you get up and you onto the airport and onto the next one. So I think a lot of, now don't get me wrong. There are DJs that, that dig the life and they're, they'll go to the afters and even play for free at the afters. Cause they just want to keep the party going and Hey, you know, more power to you. And, and occasionally I'll, I'll show up. Yeah.

[00:40:22] Um, but I, I think, yeah, a big misconception is that because you are the life of the party, um, you are always knee deep in the party. And I think I speak for most of us when I say for the most part, that's definitely not true. You got to find a balance. Um, you have to treat your work like work or, um, business or it will get you.

[00:40:45] And, um, when you're off stage and you're done performing, um, most of us are ready to get to bed. Yeah. Awesome. Well, this wasn't just about a career. It was about evolution. Someone becoming new versions of themselves every time life shifted. Larry, I appreciate you being on the show. Um, is there anything you'd like to add? Thank you so much for having me. I know we've been talking about it. I think since before you guys even started. Yeah. Yeah. When y'all were still in the conceptual stages.

[00:41:15] Yes. I said, no cameras, nothing. It was, uh, scheduling as it is. We've, we finally worked it out. So is there a website people can check out to see where you're going next and all the good things? Do people still use websites? I hope so. Cause I pay for mine. I'm a big Instagram, Instagram guy. Yes. Instagram is DJ Larry Davis. SoundCloud's DJ Larry Davis. Perfect. I think Facebook is DJ Larry Davis. Awesome. Um, my Venmo is DJ Larry Davis. What's your cash app? Once again, uh, the cash app is also.

[00:41:46] DJ Larry Davis. I love it. Well, thank you guys. Don't forget to like subscribe and comment and, uh, make sure to check us out at unspoken Dallas.com. And then elsewhere, it's going to be at unspoken Dallas. Um, thank you again for coming on the show. You guys have a great day. I love you guys.