Dallas would sound a whole lot different if not for DJ Sober.
The deejay, producer and illustrator has left an indelible mark on the city’s music scene over the last decade, from launching the influential soirees The Party and Big Bang! to cooking up remixes and party records as one half of production duo Booty Fade. Along the way, he’s played Cowboys and FC Dallas games, spun private affairs for heavy hitters Erykah Badu and Dirk Nowitzki, thrown birthday bashes and pop-ups with Leon Bridges, and toured the country as the former DJ for rap group A.Dd+. All the while, he’s brought his distinctive taste and curatorial sensibilities with him, opening audiences’ ears to new sounds and ideas.
Sober developed his talents in his bedroom and at house parties for years before stepping out into clubs. “It was never, ‘I want to be a DJ’ career-wise or to get attention,” he says. “I just liked vinyl and collecting records and being around it.” While overseeing Dallas area promotions for Red Bull in the mid 2000s, he began organizing special events and deejaying more frequently on the side. In 2006, he combined his mixing and marketing expertise to develop The Party with fellow DJs Select and Nature, bridging Dallas’ musical and cultural gaps while bringing acts from Smif N Wessun to Justice to the city. “We kind of took over Dallas pretty quickly,” Sober says. “We started introducing different music and things that people weren’t messing with here.”
The Party ended in 2009, but Sober is more active than ever in Texas’ nightlife scene. His Thursday night Big Bang! residency at Dallas’ Beauty Bar is consistently jam-packed, attracting some of the nation’s best DJs including Eli Escobar, Kon, Nicole from Nina Sky, House Shoes and Bladerunners.
Sober has toured the U.S. with rapper/producer Black Milk, opened for bands such as the Flaming Lips and Cut Copy, deejayed alongside ?uestlove and Pete Rock, backed up Devin the Dude and Bun B on stage, performed at The Fader‘s famous Fader Fort at SXSW, the Murakami exhibit at the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth and many more high-profile events. Through his association with New York City’s Scratch Academy, he has also taught youth deejaying clinics, including one memorable one alongside hip-hop pioneer Grand Wizzard Theodore at Steve Harvey’s house. In 2013, he rocked Dallas Cowboys home games at AT&T Stadium, the world’s largest domed stadium. “It got pretty jumping in there,” Sober says. “I’m a DJ, so I’m gonna rock the party. Even if the other team wins, their fans are gonna stay and celebrate.”
From 2010 to 2013, he was the official DJ for Dallas rap duo A.Dd+, providing the cuts on “I’m So Dallas” on their debut LP When Pigs Fly, and backing the group on tour. Having a consummate DJ like Sober in their corner helped A.Dd+ elevate their stage show, as they opened for the likes of Black Milk and Talib Kweli. From 2013-2017, Sober naturally stepped into the producer role as one half of the production duo Booty Fade. Taking cues from uptempo regional styles like New Orleans bounce and Baltimore club, as well as their city’s own Dallas boogie sound, the duo made an immediate impact at home with tracks that have reached dance floors worldwide. Their remix of Erykah Badu’s “On and On” was co-signed by Erykah herself, while their single “F*** Like a Stripper” earned them best producer and best song honors from the Dallas Observer. The duo released their debut self-titled EP in March 2014.
Sober, who was previously named Dallas’ Best DJ by the Observer‘s editors in 2011 and voted Dallas’ Best DJ in its readers’ poll in 2012, cleaned up at the paper’s Best of Dallas awards in 2013, taking home both the editors’ and readers’ picks for best DJ. He has also taken home the Dallas Observer Music Awards “Best DJ” trophy 3 years in a row from 2012 – 2014 and again for 2017.
Things are looking even brighter for Sober in 2020 with the launch of his record label, Dial Up Records, a house / electronic venture he created alongside friend, DJ and fellow music aficionado Tim Funatik. The label’s first act is Tommy & Linda, a production duo comprised of Sober himself and producer / vocalist Sudie. T&L’s first single is out now.