From as early as I can remember, music and live performances have been apart of my life’s fabric. Up until I was about seven years old, every Sunday night during the summer season would be a closed out with a live performance at the beach pavilion, known to locals as “The PAV” with the sun slowly setting in the background. Those evenings were magical, listening to the music carried by the breeze, while the sky transformed with the colors of the setting Sun. I’d let my imagination weave stories, inspired by how the music and nature seemed to harmonize perfectly. Of all these performances I had seen, only one song really stuck with me, “Soul Man” by The Blues Brothers. Something about the horns coming in as a strong intro to the song, always felt like someone legendary was going to appear the same as a WWE wrestler making a surprise entrance. These were some of my favorite childhood memories growing up & I hope to come back to “The PAV” later in life with a big artist to give back and inspire the next generation.

Growing up in Point Lookout, New York, on the South Shore of Long Island, one of my favorite childhood adventures was climbing the rock jetties that stretched from the ocean to the bay. Along the path, you are met by the view of the iconic Jones Beach Amphitheater across the Jones Inlet. On rare occasion, you could hear the live music being played from the amphitheater, if the wind was blowing strong out of the East. Even as a young boy, I felt a spark, a connection to the energy of live music.

Adding to the inspiration pot was my neighbor, Ted Wondsel, who for the past three decades was the Head Carpenter and Stage Deck Manager at Radio City Music Hall. Thanks to him, I was able to experience the behind-the-scenes of live production at a very young age. Every Christmas, I’d attend a pre-run of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular”, where I had the rare privilege to be one of very few audience members. After the show, I’d meet everyone who played a role in the show: The World Famous Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall’s renowned Orchestra, and even the animals! The moment that really stuck with me though, being able to walk out on that stage to all the empty seats, picturing them fully sold out, and all ready to be inspired by the performance that they sacrificed time & money to witness.

This is when everything ties together. Every summer, on the last weekend of June, my town would throw a “Welcome to Summer” party, complete with a live band and an amazing firework show to close out the performance! Since my birthday falls on June 28th, I was told as a kid that the fireworks were actually for me. And of course, I believed it. The lights, the energy, the spectacle, it all felt larger than life. Those fireworks, just like the music I would later discover, ignited something in me.

Flash forward to the summer of 2012, where I had just celebrated by 11th birthday to kick off the summer season. At this time, Skrillex, Avicii, and Swedish House Mafia all crashed into my musical world at the same time. A perfect storm of inspiration. A few months later at the end of September, Avicii was set to perform at Radio City Music Hall, a venue that held a special place in my heart. The thought of seeing my favorite artist perform there, felt like destiny. Unfortunately, my parents shot that dream down real fast and hit me with the, “No chance. Don’t ask again.” My parents did/do a lot for me, so when they reacted like that, I usually just let it go because of everything else I was given. Little did i realize I was shooting myself in the foot…

A few years later in the summer of 2015, I would get my first taste of it all. The song charting company, Billboard, was launching its first-ever music festival, and it was being held at Jones Beach Amphitheater. The idea that some of the biggest names in electronic music would be playing in my backyard, insane! The first year, the tickets sold out very fast so very few people were able to get access to tickets. Fortunately enough for me, I was asked to go with one of my friends from club lacrosse. A dream lineup: Skrillex, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, Kygo, and The Chainsmokers. You couldn’t have scripted a better introduction to it all for me. Truly was one of the best days of my life.

Not long after, I would watch the livestream of Avicii’s final Ultra Music Festival performance. It wasn’t known to anyone besides Tim Berg (Avicii) that this would be his last Ultra performance. That performance was the moment it clicked that this was the industry I wanted to work in. The show production that happens at Ultra gave me that same spark when I would see those fireworks on my birthday as a kid.

That realization led me to The University of Miami for college. Before going to bed at night, I would listen to my favorite songs played at Ultra and tell myself, “One day, I’ll be in that crowd with all my friends from school, have the time of of lives at the best party in the world that day”. Due to COVID-19, that experience was delayed until my junior year, but that just added to the long awaited inevitable. To close out the Main Stage on Night 1? Martin Garrix followed by Kygo, once again, couldn’t have really scripted it much better than that. After the halfway point in his set, Martin Garrix plays his famous track, “Virus”, and in this moment is when I thought of all those nights listening to this music before going to bed and now, I was finally living it. This was when I knew, I should pursue working in the music industry, specifically electronic dance music.