The Open Decks Podcast

This week, we sat down with Keenan Orr at the Music Box Karaoke Lounge in Falls Church, VA. Keenan has been DJ'ing in the DC area for 2+ decades and has performed at some of the city's top house music venues, including Flash and Eighteenth Street Lounge. He also boasts international dates in Hanoi, London, and Berlin as well as U.S. gigs in Brooklyn, San Francisco, Richmond, and Honcho Campout in Pennsylvania.

https://www.instagram.com/keenanorrdc/

https://www.instagram.com/keeandteetv/

https://soundcloud.com/keenanorrdc

https://www.instagram.com/therpgcollective/<...

This week, Ryan and I sat down to talk with Kristen London. Kristen shared some of her experiences from the dance floor and DJ booth in New York City. A curator for her collective, Dancing in Socks, she and founder Szobi have hosted events throughout the city - bringing house sounds to unique spaces to dance.

IG:

Kristen London: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmlondon_dj/

Dancing in Socks: https://www.instagram.com/dancinginsocksnyc/

RPG Collective: https://www.instagram.com/therpgcollective/

Tommy Junior: https://www.instagram.com/tommyjunior_ofc/

This week, we sat down with Regina, a mainstay at some of DCs best parties - rooftop, mainstage, and everything in between. She's been releasing her own music since September 2024 and continues to set the dance floor on fire from behind the decks. Regina has been a great friend to the RPG Collective - we hope you enjoy the conversation.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/realmofregina/

Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/artist/regina/29277/tracks

This week, we go back to Kampala, Uganda to talk with Richard Odoi. Richard and his team have worked tirelessly to grow the electronic music scene in and around Kampala. They'll celebrate their 5th anniversary this November.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/richardodoimusic/

Underground Kampala: https://www.instagram.com/undergroundkampala/

Disco Tronic Kampala: https://www.instagram.com/discotronickampala/

This week, we talked with Brandon Williams all the way from Honolulu, Hawaii. Brandon made his way to Hawaii to study following his service in the United States Armed Forces.

He shares his experiences as a producer, performer, and consumer of electronic music, from Berlin to Honolulu and everywhere between.

IG:https://www.instagram.com/itsbrandonwilliams/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCI0ixTOlOr-r3A_qQtR9tmA

This week Ryan and I had a conversation with our good friend @kelevrakidah of @the_kindred_effect

A lot to learn from this conversation as he shared with us, his insights on his favorite gear and his experience in the Internet radio scene as well as here in the DMV

Check us out on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple podcasts. Hope you enjoy the conversation!

This week, Ryan and I had a conversation with State Secret, who joined us from Aix-en-Provence (France). We initially met Andrew here in the DC area, where he is a member of The Kindred Effect, one of DC's most active collectives.

State Secret talked with us about his year in France, the appetite for house music in Aix-en-Provence, the cultural differences (and similarities) in the house music scene, and what he's got in store for himself next. Enjoy!

https://www.instagram.com/statesecretmusic/

This week, Ryan and I sat down to reflect on the first 10 episodes of the Open Decks Podcast and to look ahead to what's next in the series. Ryan also shares his experience as a festival-goer at Project Glow this year in DC. We also recapped the latest District Apple event in Brooklyn. Enjoy.

Ryan SoHo https://www.instagram.com/ryan_soho_/

Tommy Junior https://www.instagram.com/tommyjunior_ofc/

Tommy's Latest SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tommyjunior_ofc/wednesday-night-at-the-house-e2

District Apple: https://www.instagram.com/wethedistrictapple/

This week, Ryan and I talked to NANGOBI, a new DJ who picked up a controller while working in Uganda. In the past year, she's elevated her skills and performed throught the country. She's also an event curator with Femme Frequencies, a collective formed to 'foster visibility & growth for female techno djz & producers.'

NANGOBI https://www.instagram.com/jordan_beeks/

FEMME FREQUENCIES https://www.instagram.com/femme.frequencies/

RPG COLLECTIVE https://www.instagram.com/therpgcollective/

TOMMY JUNIOR https://www.instagram.com/tommyjunior_ofc/

RYAN SOHO https://www.instagram...

Joverine joined Ryan and me this Memorial Day weekend, by way of Waveroom. Joe and I founded District Apple earlier this year as an event series to provide opportunties for DC-area DJs to showcase their talents outside of the DC-area, starting with New York City.

Joe has been a fixture in the DC house music scene as a supporter for many years - and recently began his own journey as a DJ, performing at venues such as Never Looked Better and Vagabond in DC, Keybar and Eris Evolution in NYC.

Joverine<...

This week, Ryan and I talked with Casa Nova (Diego), who can regularly be found on the lineup at Flash, the standard bearer for house music in Washington, DC. We discussed everything from his psy trance project to his approach to five-hour sets; from authenticity to technology. We recorded this at Music Box Karaoke in Falls Church, VA, and we were joined by special guest ByYourDeep (Max) in the studio.

Casa Nova:

https://www.instagram.com/dfrnte/

https://www.instagram.com/casa.nova.ofc/

https://www.instagram.com/merkabatrance/

...

Our series continues with Merlinberlin, who joined us at Emissary-DC (Georgetown) for a conversation about her plans for 2025 - focusing on producing new music and building communities for performers and artists. We covered a lot of ground in our time together - from re-defining genres to creating spaces for djs to strengthening and expanding communities. Enjoyed this one - hope you will as well!

Merlinberlin

Bandcamp: https://merlinberlin.bandcamp.com/community

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/merlin_berlin

IG: https://www.instagram.com/merlinberlinmusic/

RPG Collective

IG: https...

This week, Ryan and I talked with Sean Blvd and Cas, two of our favorites here in the DC area. We discussed everything from preparing for festival set to balancing work-life-music, from crate organization to finding happiness in your musical journey. We recorded this at Music Box Karaoke in Falls Church, VA, and we were joined by special guest Elusive Water in the studio.

Sean Blvd IG: @sean.blvd

Sean Blvd SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/seanblvddj

Cas IG: @casmusicus

Cas Traxsource: https://www.traxsource.com/artist/153718/cas

RPG Mixcloud...

This week, we sat down with Shep, founder of Coffee Club Social, out of Baltimore.

We talked about the unique experiences he and his team provide, how coffee cocktails can (and should) be more than just espresso martinis, the up-and-coming DJs he's bringing to his events, and his own journey as a new DJ.

This episode was recored at the Eaton Hotel, ahead of the Cafe Disco Recs (of which Shep is a co-founder along with Reid Jaxson). That show can be found on mixcloud, linked below.

https://www.mixcloud.com/eatonradio/coffee-club-social-dc-takeover-20250422...

This week, we spoke with Nick (DJ NKTR) on location at Ghost Bar in Arlington, VA. Nick is one of the hardest working dudes in the DMV music scene - producing his own tracks, performing in the area, booking DJs for Ghost Bar (the underground rave at Clarendon Ballroom), and, like all of us, cranking out content for social media daily!

E4 was recorded prior to RPG Collective's debut party at Ghost Bar, featuring DJ Kattco and Ryan Soho, both of RPG, as well as guests Miracletek, Neo|Wise, and Chriz Javey.

DJ NKTR

Time Ritual is an improvisational live looping performer. We talked with him about his recent move to Austin, Texas, his early impressions of the electronic music scene there and the experiences in Austin and elsewhere that have shaped his journey so far and continue to influence his path forward. He will be performing April 18-20 at Lucid Dream Festival. Zen Den & Main Stage.

He discusses his musical journey - from Ecstatic Dance to Techno; from Austin to Denver and back to the DC area. He shares some insights into Live Loop Performances and DJ-ing and producing soundscapes.<...

This week, we sat down with Miracletek, an up and coming producer and DJ in the DC area. We talked about the state of UKG in the DC and the US more broadly. He shared with us some of his most recent experiences as well as what he's got on the calendar this spring and summer.

Following our conversation, Miracletek recorded a live set in the studio with us, found here: https://www.mixcloud.com/RyanSOHO/live-with-miracletek-20250407-003753/

Miracletek

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miracletek/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/miracletekmusic

Just two guys talking house music, techno, our experiences as DJs and fans of music.

In this episode: Tommy Junior and Ryan Soho