Sobriety Series | episode 1 | the intro

You’re tuning into the sobriety series! This is a new series that I’m starting, because I’M SOBER and I think it’s freaking awesome. I wanted to share with you all the many advantages to being sober, what I’ve learned, where I’ve come from, all the good stuff! Let’s dive in!

I first started spinning for a nightclub in Reno at either 19 or 20 years old, I can’t really remember. It was before I was legally able to drink.  I started DJing before I started drinking, so I knew I had to be good! Some creatives experience state dependent learning, where you’re essentially learning how to do something in a certain state. And then, when that is no longer present, AKA you’re not buzzed, all of your skills go away. Luckily, that wasn’t my case with DJing. I was very good, very successful before any of the drinking. I knew in the back of my head, I can be really really good and I don’t have to drink. 

I won the Biggest Little DJ battle when I was 20 at EDGE nightclub. EDGE was something I had only heard about at the time. It featured all of the hottest DJs. You heard about people going to EDGE every weekend. It was the place you dressed up for. It was a really nice club. Winning the DJ battle there, they had to escort me out, because I wasn't of age. I still feel like that’s one of the coolest things ever! So after winning the battle and being escorted out, I landed residencies all over, all the major casinos. I was covering all of my bases. I got in quickly with the DJ community, traveling to Tahoe, hitting all the bars, would hear Chris English play on Tuesdays. It was a constant thing. Every single night. There were Spindustry Nights starting up, Wednesdays, Sundays, Tuesdays, Friday, every single day was stacked. I think I had a couple of days in between as my off days and I was just drink immensely. It did not stop. It continued and I loved every minute of it.

Fast forward to marriage, drinking became a main theme. It became a main problem. It was made apparent that it had to change and I was not ready to give up. I thought drinking coincided with my identity as a DJ. I thought I was limiting myself and the amount of fun I could have (by giving it up). It was a tricky thing for me to digest. I couldn’t wrap my fingers around it. I would try to cut back and didn't have as much fun. It was just a bad situation!

Drinking definitely took a toll on me while I was younger. One night, I lost my Jeep in the city and had to have my family and close friends help me search for it. It ended up behind a pond shop, which I clearly wasn’t at. I fell asleep curbside. I punched holes in the walls. I ended up getting a little too drunk and redlining on the mixer, blowing out the speaker system at a club. Shout out to Rob Stone for making me replace that out of my coming paychecks! A lot of these things were occurring before I met Devin. However, it was definitely an ongoing issue. 

** Please continue to Part 2 **