DJ Ella Romand on Music, Branding, and Building a Career Behind the Decks

This is the beyond the Story podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Ross. Hello. Welcome to the show. Thank you. What an honor to be here. It's an honor to have you here. Yes. Welcome to my spaceship. I. We are in her spaceship, which is her home studio. Super dope. There's 14 pianos. We're going to get into that in a minute. They all have a rhyme and Reason. 1. One guitar that I've counted so far. So, so great. I'm so excited for this conversation. I know that you and I met, gosh, a couple months ago. Seems like a couple weeks ago. The great Summit at Sea. And on the second. It was the. Well, technically, the second day I got on Wednesday. We still spent the night in Miami. Woke up in Miami, Whatever. Another story for another day. Thursday was the opening ceremony for Summit at sea. And all 2,000 of us are close to. It all went out on the pool deck and there was a stage with the DJ playing. And I went up to the upper level because it was crazy town downstairs. And I look over and I see this DJ just totally in her element. And I didn't know who Rufus was either, but I start hearing the song, and in the middle of the song, it was something. Something. It sounded like something like some sort of noise a cruise ship would make, like if you have a. Like a deck party. And I was like, what is this? So I shazam it. And I was like, okay, cool. Adding that to my new playlist on here. And lo and behold, it was you. And I was totally jamming out, and I was like, this. This DJ is a total vibe on here. And I don't know that I don't think we connected again on the ship. And then I sent out an invite in the WhatsApp group about the studio event that we had a couple weeks ago, and you showed up, and then I was like, wait a second, I've seen you before. So it's just wild. That's. That's Summit at Sea for you. Summit as a community. Yeah. For. For serendipitous moments and opportunities to connect. And you're here in Miami too, which is rare for people in Summit. I know. I know. From all around the world. So. Well, I want to get into several different parts of your story, but I always like to. To kick things off just for context purposes for our listeners and go back to the beginning of the story. Now, the beginnings different for everybody, so you decide where. Where the beginning is for you. But let's take a few minutes to go Back to the beginning of the story where you, you woke up one day and you said, you know, what music is it? This is for me. And I know it goes way back because I've heard a little bit of your story, but let's start there and then we'll get into the world of what it's like to be a in demand worldwide. DJ. Ms. Abiza. Yeah. Where did it started? It started in Brazil. I was a student at architecture Student. And I always played a piano as a kid, went to the formal music curriculum with, you know, going to the recitals and all that. Always played by ear. And when I was in architecture school, I realized like, I wasn't happy. And before then I also wanted to get into a music, get a music degree, but I couldn't find anything that would please me. Everything was fine arts or a little too generic. And I always liked music and you know, I didn't want to become like a music instructor, although nowadays I kind of am. But I was trying to see something that was a little bit more around music production. So that's where I found a course on music production. I left architecture school, live with a host family in the us Came back and I'm like, no, this is not, I'm not continuing with this. Thank God. My mom was always supportive with the music career and I went, I took a course on music production back in Brazil. I'm French Brazilian. I was living there and the first day of class when I was in the computer working on the production with the teacher there, I was like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I feel like orchestrating different elements using computer. I always love technology. I grew up with all women in my house, but I was the one always hands on with like figuring stuff out at home when it was tech related. And that was it, that was for me, from my moment, it was like, this is what I want to do. So then I went and pursued a music degree, came to the us, Started my music school in California, in San Diego, then transferred to Miami, got my music degree here with a diploma on music technology. Funny enough, I just hang that diploma this week. Let's go. Proud Panther. Yes, from fiu. And that pretty much makes you a Miami girl. You got Miami cred, you know? Yes, yes, for sure. So I've been here for 16 plus years in Miami and 17, my gosh, this is. I moved back 17 years ago from Southern California. That's wild. 2009, July 2008, I left Orange County. That's a Quinky dink right there. Yeah, so. So yeah, that's a bit of my journey. I started in Brazil, took a course in music production. I was the only person who was not a dj, so everyone else was a dj. Eventually I took a DJ course that summer, like an intensive summer before I moved here. And then when I moved here, I wasn't even 21 years old. I couldn't DJ anywhere. So when I was living in San Diego, I had this DJing skills, but I didn't do it until I moved to Miami. Wow. And then I started DJing here. At restaurants, at hotels. I had a residency at Zuma for a couple years. For four years I was doing their New York City. I still can't believe I haven't been there. They have a, they have a. That's the spot on the river over here, right? Yeah, yeah, for the brunch spot. It's a great brunch spot. It's a, it's been there forever. It's been there forever. So I was their resident dj and then I got a spot like there was like some sort of context on DJs and I got a residency at Do Not Sit on the Furniture, who's also been around for like 12 plus years. And this was like when they open. So like 10 years, 12 years ago. Amazing. Almost age me, but yes, that's, that's, that's kind of like my trajectory. So. Music background and then you're like, wait a second, everyone was a dj? I should probably take a look at that because if I loved all of this, I'm probably going to love that. So what did it look like? You go sign up for the, the, the, the course or how long is it? And what do you walk in there? And I, I'm assuming you have a little bit of a slight advantage because you've got already a knack and a talent, natural talent for, for music. So you probably picked it up a lot quicker. But was it overwhelming? Was it exciting? What did it look like when you first started? So the music production was amazing. The course was a six month course. And the fact that I'm a musician too, that I play the piano, was of course very helpful. And up to this day is very helpful, you know, having a degree on that. Because I say it's like a language. Music is like a language. If you want to write a book in another language, you need to learn the language first. If you want to write a book in French, but you talk like a toddler, your book is not going to be Very. I talk like a toddler sometimes. Sometimes. So you know, to know the language, have some understanding of the language, to be able to write in that language. And it's not just some. If you want to write a book, if you want to compose a track, if you want to produce, you have to understand the language. Now you don't need to be an expert in an instrument, but you need to understand how music structure is in order to be a producer. And then there's no whole other subject to be talked about that in AI Right. But to go back to your question. So that course on music production and me being the only non dj, it was like, well, I should take a DJ course. So the DJ course was like a one or two months course that I took over the summer. I think it was a two month course. And I learned with vinyl the very first thing was conversation. Just going here. Yeah. So I learned with vinyl and of course we had the CDJS back there and was it like the 200? Nowadays it's like the 2000. So this is. Yeah, a couple years ago. A couple, many years ago. You know I moved here when I was five to get my music degree 15 years ago in year four. So yeah, so I mean I always been into electronic music of course, you know, that's why I went to music production. It's called imac. It's this academic for electronic music in Brazil that now is all over Brazil and I think they're opening now one here in the U.S. they're very, very prestigious school. Back then it was the only school was in Curitiba, my hometown in Brazil. And then it spread to many, many cities. And the whole electronic music was always something that I enjoyed. Like I was underage, you know. When I was 16 years old I couldn't really go out and my sister could and I'm like older sister, why are you not going to see this X and Y dj? This is so cool. Eventually I started going out with a friend. She kind of like sneaked me in. Back then 16, 17 years old, I wasn't there for drinking. I remember there was like a minimum consumption in the clubs and I'm like, I'll drink coconut water or smear enough ice. I wanted to hear the music, I wanted to dance, you know, like the whole. Yeah. Beats and dancing and I think that something around that too to be talked on how communities connect through dancing. Doesn't matter the music but the dancing, you know, something that connect people. But yeah, that's a bit on. On the whole package of I Was gonna ask you. Did it all, did it all start with. With vinyl? It was funny you mentioned vinyl, which. That's the world that I grew up in. I grew up in. I always joke now that if I never see a club again, it'll be too soon. Because when I was 14, 15, 16, 17, we threw every party on Miami beach up and down Washington, back down. And we were barely. We could barely reach the bar, let alone. But we would go rent these clubs out and we would get the flyers printed and we would tell all of our friends and we were like the go to parties. It was a production company we called, had called Up All Night. And our tagline was while you were sleeping, we were up all night. And I don't think any of the bars are still there. There are now clothing stores on Washington Avenue. But we had a lot of fond, fond memories of what it used to be back. Back in the day. But the DJs literally carried their records into the club and we would just make requests all night that usually did not get played because that song is on the do not playlist. But it's wild to see how the world of DJing has transpired. And it's easier to see know when you're like, I don't have that record, man, so I can't play it nowadays. You know what? I brought that last week. Yes. Yeah, it's wild to see how it's all changed. I would assume that it's easy. My, my best friend, my childhood best friend that I grew up with, who grew up carrying records for notable local DJs here, and then became an incredible DJ and now tours with celebrities and is our very own Miami Heat dj. Shout out to DJ M Dot. I've seen all of that evolve because even when I moved back 15 years ago, he was still. I'm pretty sure he had some records. And then we moved. What are the new things called? CDJS. CDJS from the word CD. So I used to play with CDs. So I would put the names of the records, like the name of the tracks and the name. You put an MP3 or wave, whatever. So that's when wave and MP3 were like, okay, we're burning the CDs and putting the tracks there that we wanted. Shout out to Napster. And I would have my flipping CD case logic, my case with the CDs and all the names of the tracks in there. And yeah, that's how I first. When I first moved to the U.S. that's how I. What I was carrying with Me, even though I couldn't really legally play. Maybe I play a few random parties or things when I was in San Diego, but then I really got back into DJing when I was here in Miami. Yeah. But. So there was. So I was the underground rave scene. All of after the nightclub stuff then came in like 1998, 1999, started the festivals and the underground raves and like here's a specific address and let's get there. Doors don't open until 3am and we would walk out and it's noon and like this is before Miami does this seven days a week. And it would be. It would be wild. And I experienced that world. But I always told myself, you know what? It's just never gonna be like it used to be back in the day. So I've never. Yeah. I don't think you'd catch me at Ultra. I mean, maybe I. I doubt it though. Maybe I got. It's worth the experience. I think I've played it Ultra twice. It's. But you had me thinking different about DJs now because it was super. Even the guy that played in the club the first night where I stayed up till 2am that was amazing. Modern day miracle. That's the night I play, by the way. It was the first night. Yes. You were on the. You were. You were in the club too. Yes, yes, yes. Okay. I think so. The guy that came on before you. Yes. He had long hair, he kept clapping. He was a whole vibe. It's like a DJ thing. You clap while you're playing. But I was walking around, I was like, this is totally cool and. But it was chill. It was. It wasn't wall to wall people. It wasn't complete, just full blown chaos. Some. Some EDM music kind of triggers me. I don't know why, but some is just. I guess it would be more of like the genre of. It's different genres within. Okay. Many, many, many, many. You go to a place like. Have you heard of Beatport? I have not. Or Trackstor. So you go to their website and you have so many subgenres of electronic music that you can really dive into. Like from Afro house to melodic techno to new disco to, you know, indie house. There is dozens. Yeah. Of. Yes. Like more than 20 sub genres. Got it. I'm a piano. Like things are you like. What is that? I think that's the. That was the unique part. Like you were. You were. You were doing your thing and playing. When I first. We were doing the whole grand opening ceremony on there. But I Was like, this is. Like, this is chill. Like, this is a total. It wasn't just the Rufus song. It was just your whole. That your whole set in general was playing. I'm like, this is. I can, I can get. I'm getting a renewed interest in the world of. Of DJs. May I dare I say EDM. I call it Tiki Tiki music. Anything but reggaeton. But even the word EDM. For us DJs. For us, EDM is more like what you hear. Ultra main stage. Yeah. And then you have house and the sub genres of electronic music. So we normally call it electronic music. Okay. And then the EDM is considered like one of the subgenres that is like the more pop or a lot more. A lot more festival. Like. Got it. So, like it's. The normal person would call it EDM, but us DJs were like, no, no, I don't play EDM. I play melodic afro, you know, like. Or I play like indie house or. And then. Yeah. So it's like a whole culture around it. Sure. Which is very interesting. John Summit has me thinking different too. I follow him and that kid is up to some really cool stuff. And I don't. It's not like this. Oh, well, it's David. What's his name again? Or TS Yeah, exactly. Like, because those guys just have reached a peak of success that it's just. Yes, it's. It's. It's. Everyone knows who they are. And this kid, John Summer, where he came from, humble beginnings, from what I understand was an accountant. Oh, so that whole. All those ads are part of his whole. But I heard he was an accountant and that's how, like, I don't recall how he blew up, but I know he. That's. That was his regular job. Seems like a real humble kid doing some. Doing some. Doing some cool things. He got kicked out of his set the other night and Monaco, because of Travis Scott showed up. Yes, I heard about that. And yeah. Kicked the poor kid out. And the kid walks out smiling. He was like. He was smiling with a smile like, I'm getting paid regardless. It was one of those smiles, you know. So this day and age, the way that creating music seems to be a lot easier not now for me, but for. For you now. How did you. How did you create music as a DJ before when there was just vinyl? Like, did you have to actually like a traditional song you would make and then get it put onto a vinyl and then play that or. So vinyl is the medium. Right. That you can put the music. But we always use computers. So computers for electronic music. And this is very interesting topic. You can go back into like the late 50s and 60s where there were some really pioneers on electronic music. Not just using the computer, like how it was back in the. Plugging in things and making like. So circuits. And like on school, a very interesting subject that we had with study was we were doing circuit boards, you call it, right? Circuit board. And we were doing like, how do you say, ah, soldering. Soldering. Okay, so we were soldering. How I knew that is beyond me. We were soldering. Thank you for that. So we were soldering and different parts of the circuit board would process different sounds and depending what we were adding there. And there was like a auxiliary plug into that and that would plug into the sound system of the room. And we were creating kind of like our own, let's say like synthesizer in a way, or not synthesizer, but like this sound wave that we're creating out of electronic. An electronic board. So, so, so cool. So that's like the origin of it, of the electronic sound. Okay. So you know, and then on the, on the 2000s, what are you late? 2000s, when I was starting to get into that world. Computer, of course, you know, using your computer, using keyboards. There's different keyboards for different things. There's the synthesizers, there is the MIDI controllers. Like something like this is a MIDI controller. So what it means, it means that there's no sounds inside of this keyboard. So if I plug this, there's no auxiliary out of this. So I can make a sound out of it on its own. So what do you do with it? So how it works is you have something somewhere. Yes, because it's connected to my. Yeah, I heard it. I'm like, I heard, I heard, I heard like a new mix in the, in the. In the making. So this, because it's connected to my computer and it's. So it plugs as a USB device into my computer and that connects to a program program called Ableton. So Ableton is one of the many softwares used to produce music. Okay. So with Ableton you can produce anything you can think of. It's just like an endless possibilities, especially nowadays, and how it advanced and how you can. Because you can not only use a keyboard or a synthesizer which has its own sound, like this one. This is actually dual. So it can use as a MIDI controller or as a keyboard. Amazing. So I take this to my hybrid sets. So it has. I wouldn't use an auxiliary, although it has one. I use what we call a quarter inch connector to go into the sound system or connect it to the mixer, the DJ mixer. And this has its own sounds. And I can also modulate and create my own sounds using all these different tools here, like the cutoffs, the filters. There is different shapes that I can do. It's just many, many different possibilities to configure the sound the way I want it. So that's a synthesizer, right? Same with the sub 37, same with the Roland. So there's different options to create the sound and produce music. That's just the world of keyboards. So there's endless other options that you have with a microphone we're recording and then how you process that sound, there's so many ways. Then once you record your main idea, then you go into the computer and you're then processing that sound. If you want to show you something later and you can tweak it, you can add reverbs, you can have effects. The effects are also like limitless. Then the options that you have are just endless. Wow. So it's literally sky's the limit. If you can think it. You guys are a little ahead of the curve before even now AI, if you go to mid journey and you're like design an image of me riding a unicorn over the moon, flying over Miami beach and it will go and create it. So it's, it's essentially the same idea with music and ideas and then also the tinkering around of being it, but also having the ear for, for, for music and, and, and, and sound. Is there like a big database of sound effects too? Yes. So more than the sound effects, they need a doorbell at 4 minutes and 27 seconds. Yeah. So the, the, the sampling, the whole sampling world is how DJ started. Right. They actually we putting samples of other pieces live DJing, you know, and then they got that into their records. They would get fragments and little clips and samples and vocals into their production. And that's where it became the whole sampling part in music production. There's like so many examples of that. It was done over the years and then from sampling in one to manipulating that sound. So using that sound to an extent where you can completely, you can reverse it that audio, you can pitch shift it, you can, you know, bring an octave higher, you can bend the sound, you can put a filter on top, you can, you know, use an oscillator to tears. Just like it's a whole like Pandora box and things that you can do. I love that. How does it work with remixes? Because I mean instagram has been remarkable. Never in a million years did I ever think that foreigners. I Want to know what Love is would be like the dopest remix ever. And have like a beat drop where I was like, this is absolutely incredible. Only like on Instagram, you discover these type of things. How does it work when you're like, I wonder what it would look to take a Beatles song and make it electronic. What is that? Is that a licensing thing? Yeah. So I, in, in, you know, the years that I work with, with music, like I work with recording studios, I worked also with Spotify. So with Spotify, it's such a different world. When you work with samples with like a major vocal or artist, first of all, you have to get the license. Second of all, to get the license, just to find who is the publisher who owns the right to that original track and do a remix. It's a whole nother world to get to that and then the cost of it. So when I work, for example. I'll give you an example. When I work with recording studio. So we would do. There's two options. When a client wanted to come and like, oh, we want a song that sounds like Shakira. I'm like, first of all, we can. I make something that sounds like Shakira. Either can license her track or we can have that as a reference. So they could sometimes go with that route and like, oh, we want to license the song for this campaign. If they have the money to use that Shakira song, they could. Or they could do something called the mastering using the master of the song. So he's not using the Shakira song. It's not the original remix, let's say the original vocal, her vocals, but you have someone else singing. So then it's a different type of ride. It's normally a lot more affordable. And that's what a lot of DJs are doing nowadays. So rather than going after the, you know, Bad Bunny or the whatever record that they want to use, they will have someone else sing that and they would go around that. It's not like going around a loop. You still need a license. It's still very expensive, but it's more reasonable when you have like a bigger dj, he can normally do that approach. So it's a whole. There's a world around licensing and music and sampling. Yeah. And like to like what I was saying about Spotify when I was. When I work with them with their DJ mixes, we had ties to that, wanted to use one of his tracks and to get that License worldwide. We couldn't even. That was his track because there was someone else singing that song that didn't have, you know, there's different locations that needs to be cleared. And that's not even a sampling of using a song. But that's the world of licensing or where the moment you're mixing one song with. With another, even though that track is available on Spotify, but the moment that DJ is mixing that song with another song is considered a new creative work. Wow. So it's, it's. There's so much that goes around. I always wondered that. I mean, these. Like, this DJ is cool that made this remix, but I don't think he'd go in there and buy the rights to. So it's probably somebody else. So somebody else performing the song. And. And that's only if you're recording something. Or is that if you're playing it? If you're recording, if you're playing, then there's a different part that comes into play, which is what we call the Performing Arts Organization, which are ASCAP and BMI and csac. And they do the part of getting the venue to have the license. So a DJ that comes here and play, you don't need to worry about having the license. It's the venue that has to cover the license. But when it comes to using a song you're gonna use, and a lot of DJs release songs that are. They didn't have the rights to use that vocal or that sample or whatever, but maybe that song blew up and then eventually the owner of the song. Okay, we wanna take it down. But now it has a million views. Oh, maybe we can have a share of that. You know, have a cut of that. So it's very interesting, the whole. The world of electronic music and sampling. It is, it is. So I caught you just in time because you're out of here next week, early next week, headed to Europe for the summer. A little Euro summer action. Yeah. Mixed with some work and play. Ibiza. Yes. I hear it's real laid back and quiet over there. Not the summer, not in the summer. Yeah, let's talk about that. Yeah, Ibiza. Super excited to be back. This year I'll be going first to Cannes. I'll be playing at the Cannes Creative Festival, the Lions Cannes. Which. It feels like a full circle moment because I. There might be some connections there for you. Oh, there might be like two or three. Please, please do. So that feels like a full circle moment for me because I used to work with recording studios as an Executive producer as a music director, and we had campaigns going to that were nominated for the cons, and we had TV shows that I help produce, and that went to an Emmy nomination. And now I'm going there to perform with a couple of brands and to connect and to, you know, be part of that. So it feels very, very exciting. And then after that, I'll be me set for two months. There's a couple gigs that are lined up that I can announce yet until things are signed and contract. But stay tuned. Yes, I love that for you. Kind of envious. Do you have any room in your suitcase? I might have a room in my house. You let me know. I only go anywhere in airplane gig goes. Oh, there are airports right there. All right. Don't threaten me with a good time. So Summit, how'd you get in the mix with Summit? That's a great question. That's a great question. And it's. It's so crazy. I got invited to perform for them four years ago. I think it was 2022 in California at their summit. Was it at Palm Springs? Yes. And I played before Brett, which is one of the founders, and I didn't had no clue. He was one of the founders, and he was the one that reached out to the person who was representing me at the time. And I got invited to play a live set, you know, playing with the keys like I've done here on the cruise. And it was such a fun time. I didn't know where I was going, getting myself into until I tell a friend of mine. I'm like, hey, I'm going to this event. It's called Summit, and it's gonna be in California. It sounds like, super cool. And yeah, my friend said it's a really cool opportunity. She's like, yeah, cool. And she's like, wait, wait, wait a minute. Are you going to play at the Summit? And I'm like, yeah. She's like, no, no, no, girl, I need to go with you. And she's actually my friend that's coming now with me to Cannes. Amazing. So it's like a full circle moment with her as well. So she went with me to Cannes, and she's like, you have to. This is an amazing opportunity. You're doing a live set there. That's awesome. And I met with a bunch of people there, and I got hooked. And I'm like, this is an incredible, incredible experience to be part of. So that was my first summit. And then, you know this. I went two years ago to the Summit at Sea, and Then now I went back this year, performing again at the first night and closing the night and it was such a wonderful time. I just feel so honored to be part of it and to be called to perform again. It's really, really awesome. It's a great community. It really. I kept hearing, I heard about it when it first, I don't know, 2016. And you really had to be a large, high profile name within the business world. Entrepreneurs, high end creators and it was invite only. And I started seeing Summit again. Summit again. I'd heard about this and I was like by application, I'm like, I will pass that application with flying colors. So you went, you heard of it in 2016? Yeah. Oh, so you knew about it? I knew about it, but I thought it was like not for me. Not, not, not 10 years ago. I wasn't like, that's for me. It was like it was for my mentors and people that I actually knew. So when I started to see it again, I was like, huh, Summit, it sees back again. Because I always told myself if it comes back around and people are getting on a ship, well like that type of like genre of people which are like founders and you know, thought leaders and people doing great things in this world, I want to figure out if I can be part of it. So I saw an Instagram ad. Oh, oh, that was your. Filled out the application and hook, line and sinker. And it was worth every single penny. Just based on the. Everywhere I turned, there wasn't. It's tough to not run into an awkward conversation these days, but beautifully awkward, let's put it that way. No, no, there were no awkward conversations the entire week. I think life in general, whether you're leaving your house or you're getting in an Uber or you're at the store or at an event. Like, chances are if you're running into an awkward conversation, not hard to do. Not the case with Summit. It's like a 360. Every time you turned around you met another dope human. Case in point. Yes. And people are so open. Yes. So open. And what I like about Summit and I even did a little post about it was that you have this incredible group of people that are there. And what I find it really awesome is that they pretty much have. They're aligned with their purpose, which is hard to get that nowadays. It's not like you have 2,000 people who like at least have an idea what they want to do. And even if they don't and they're restarting something new, they're there to be inspired, to hear new conversations. They have an idea why they're starting over, they're quitting their job or whatever they're doing to start something fresh. And I think that's really, really unique because people are open, they're aligning or already aligned with their values and they are on purpose on their journey. They want to like give back to the community or they are giving back. Right. They, you know, it's such an incredible group of people. Yeah, I found that there. It's, it's two categories. It really, it's you. They found their purpose. And I always like to say, because I, I am living in my purpose on purpose. So there's, there's, there's the category or there's that starting over. Hey, I'm quitting that job, I'm leaving that relationship. I'm moving to a new town, I'm taking the trip, I'm doing the thing. And this is, I stepped into the unknown, going to summit at sea to figure out what's next for me. And it's incredible that when we're. The curiosity that leads to being able to connect the dots that we didn't know need to be connected. And I think that's what the summit community really starts to, to provide. I mean, and I'm brand new. That was my first event. I'm like, I'm the new kid in town. Which is, which I love, I love walking a room and going. I, I knew no one going. Actually I knew one person going on that ship. And then I got on the ship and I saw two other people that I knew. So I had three people out of 2,000 that I actually knew. But they said get ready to make 1500 new things. Exactly. And that's exactly what happened. That's the beauty of it. It is, it is. And I love the fact that the community is a very conscious, driven community. It means conscious for those of you listening. What do you mean conscious? Not just alive and well, with a pulse like, like aware of what they're doing, why they're doing it, where they're going, how they're getting there in the impact, impact that they're, they're making on people. I still haven't figured out how they do yoga at like 9 o' clock in the morning and then just like in the club until 3am I haven't figured any of that stuff out yet. Yeah, I was in bed most nights by, by midnight. But you know, I, except for the first night, the first night I was up in the Club. Just where I was. Yes, yes. I think the second night was bingo in the club too. I wasn't, I wasn't down for bingo, but it was kind of cool to see. I think my, one of my favorite parts, outside of your DJ set of course, was, was the pizza bar. Right. With the live, live entertainment. Yeah. So those of you listening, there's a pizza bar like on most cruise ships and there's one on this. And this. The cruise took on. Took place on Virgin and there was a pizza shop and there was a sitting area and there was a band that came in there and it was called the Pizza Jam. Every night of the, of the, of the cruise they would start at 11 o' clock at night and they had a guitar, a guitar, a bass, drums, keys, and a mic. And if you felt like playing, singing or d all the above, will you just jump right in with the band and go. And I just saw the like the wildest, coolest, like people and also like the audacity like of people to go up there and grab a mic and go sing a song when they wouldn't. They're not necessarily like, that's not my thing all the time. But I know how to sing. So that was a lot of fun to see happen. Yeah, I think that was such. It brings a lot of the spontaneous spontaneity. Yes. To, to the boat and people are like, oof. They're like, they're with their, their souls, you know, like, it's not like the little jam session, it's like the full on thing. Yeah. I, I learned about it the first night because how it works on the ship is that you don't, you don't decide where you're going to. I guess you technically can, but they tell you, hey, you're going to the Mexican restaurant tonight and you show up and there's four other people or five other people at the hostess stand and you don't know who these people are and then they just seat you with these, these people and then you just meet these people and you have dinner with them and all kinds of serendipitous moments happen. Well, the basis in, in the Pizza Jam told me about it because he's like, we have the Pizza Jam and I'm playing in that band, but I'm also in Ben Gleave's band. So he played the keys for Ben's live show too. So that's how I learned about all of it. Now I'm a big shout out to Ben Gleb and good night with Ben Gleb, which premiere one of his episodes, premiered on the. Not premiered, but recorded on the ship. And I got roasted at the end of the show. Oh, yeah. I had my podcast suck hat on. And he was like, sir, you have a hot hat on that says podcast suck. Can you help me understand? So I just continued to ask him questions that would fuel him to roast me, because that's what you do to comedians, one comedian to another. You got to respect, you know, respect the game here. So hopefully that episode drops with me getting roasted. Nice. Well, all right. Good times. Well, I can't wait to hear back. We'll probably have to do a part two of this here. But I like post Ken's and Ibiza, because that sounds like an amazing Euro summer out there doing your thing. And also just whatever else is there for me. Yeah, I mean, what else is there? Listen, I think this year should be a very interesting year, music wise. They have a lot of new music coming out with a couple different singers. I actually just finished a remix for. It's a duo from Egypt that does live sets. So she sings and plays the guitar, and they perform together. And I did a remix for them. It's coming out in, let's say, a couple weeks in the summer, probably when I'm in Ibiza. I'll be out super excited about that. There's another track that I'm working with, a Brazilian singer. I'm super excited about that one. So a funny story about that one is that I started taking voice lessons this year, and before I know, everyone asked me like, oh, are you also a singer? And I'm like, damn it, if I could get a. I am in the shower. That's my answer. That's my answer. Like, I am in the shower. And if I could get in my car by myself. Yes, if I could get a dollar for everyone that asked me that question. But now I can be like, well, I sing in my studio. So I sang. I had this song that I wrote and that I played. I mean, that I played and that I was like, I was allowed to do vocals on top of this. And I started taking voice lessons this year a couple months ago. And the day that I took the voice lessons and I was working that track, the lyrics came to me. So I wrote lyrics before with other people. I work a lot with other singer songwriters. But I wrote these lyrics that were kind of like, it is the story of my life with a love story involved in there that I wanted to release years ago. And it feels, like, really special because well, first of all, first time I'm writing the full thing. Second, I posted this on Instagram saying I love to find a singer. Like, I can't say the name of the singer yet because we're signing contracts, but I'd love to find the singer. Blah, blah, blah. Tagged her, if anyone knows. And I put in English and in Portuguese, and she sees my story and she replies with like, hey, I'm here. And then she sends me a voice note singing the lyrics, and so I'm like, oh, my gosh, I want to cry. Yeah. So the singer that I ideally would like to have wrote to me, and now we're doing the song, and so we're having a studio session next week. So you're both singing? No, no, she's a singer. I'm saying the placeholder is me singing. Okay, got it. We're not released yet, but it's. It's her. She's gonna sing the song. And I'm super excited about this. Like, she has sang with, like, she sang with Black Coffee earlier this year. And. And somewhere in Brazil. Amazing. She has sang with a bunch of other Brazilian artists, like mas, like, I love vocals on. And she dots like bunch of other Brazilian artists. And she's super talented. She does her own thing. And she also sings a lot with electronic music, with house music. So I can. That gives a lot of hints of the singer is add so much. So much emotion to the song when there's vocals added to it. Yes. And what is crazy is she. We had this conversation the other day talking about the song, and she. She told me, like, I normally sing more about the earth and the people and the, you know, the feelings and the press, but I haven't really been able to sing to write about love. And so this is a. She's like, she's telling me, like, I feel honored singing your song because it is also a step for me to get out of, you know, my comfort zone to sing about love in this love story. And, you know, I'm like, I'm honored to have you, I know, sing my song. So that's for this year as well. And then there's a couple other songs that are. I'm very, you know, excited to move forward for this year for releases. I love that. I love that. Well, for those of you listen, I'm going to put Ella's Instagram Ella Romand on just like it sounds in the show notes in description of this podcast episode. If you're following me, I'll tag her in this post too. So when you see this story, she's going to be tagged, so follow her so you can stay in touch with with your travels. Ella, I love what you're up to. It's so great to be connected with you now. And I'm so glad we got our conversation done. We had been talking about it for a few weeks here. Any final thoughts for our listeners on anything DJ life? Listen, I think. I don't know, there's two things that I think are interesting to talk about. One is, like, allow yourself to be yourself, but, like, to the utmost, you know, your inner child. And when I say that, I also think of, like, dance, like, no one's watching. There's a whole culture where there is a lot of people that want to be in, you know, in the music scene or the industry. And there's a reason why music connects us. There's a reason why our brains light up when we're listening to music with other people. It's one thing when you listen to music by yourself in your car and you're listening in the shower, you're singing. It's another thing when you're dancing in group. And there's something so beautiful about connecting with other people through music. And I think that's at least, like, the most powerful tool that at least I somehow inherited and being, you know, guided through to do, which is connecting people through music, connecting people through, you know, the sound frequencies and being able to dance together. That's how we met. You know, I didn't know you were at my show until I saw you at your. At your event with the podcast event. And you're like, wait, you're the DJ that I saw playing. So I think that connection is so, so powerful. And, you know, allowing yourself to just connect with others and be yourself, it's. It's the most powerful thing you can do. It really is. I love those final thoughts. Thanks again for your time, Ella. Love what you're up to. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here on my little spaceship studio. We got to record our spaceship here at our home studio. Place is super dope. I saw pictures of it. I'm like, we're recording there. Yeah. All right. We'll have to do it again sometime soon. I'll see when you get back from Europe. Sounds good. Let's do it. Thank you for having me. Until next time, friends. Till next time. Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the beyond the Story podcast. Be sure to appreciate it if you haven't done so already. Make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. We sure do appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast launch lab.com studios we'll talk to you next time. Ra.