Today we’d like to introduce you to Arturo Garcia.
Hi Arturo, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story begins in 2007. I pursued my dream of becoming a DJ… As a kid growing up in the 80’s & 90’s, I was in love with music. It’s all I could think about. From dancing around while listening to Michael Jackson as a child to listening to my dad’s Rock en Español or Rock bands from the 60’s & 70’s and imitating playing the drums on the couch during my adolescence. I can say, music is my first true love. In 2007, I purchased my first piece of DJ equipment and officially became a DJ. I say the word officially because prior to this, I would mix music together with software, without any hardware. As a teenager I would make mixtapes of some of my favorite tracks at that time. I would do this in the late 90’s/ early 2000’s as I attended High School. After graduating, I joined the military and would continue creating mixtapes of my favorite music. Although I had learned about House & Dance music in late 80’s/ early 90’s, Hip hop was my first true love for a genre of music. It wasn’t until the mid 2000’s that my feelings toward Dance music would become an obsession. It did take some time for me to DJ Electronic music. I first began to DJ with hip hop/top 40 as well with a new genre that had been emerging for the last several years in Reggaeton. I was living in Virginia as I was an active duty member of the military and later in 2007 I received my duty station transfer of choice to San Diego, CA.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles and as strange as this may sound to some people, I had never visited the San Diego before. So I was beyond excited to head back to the west coast and explore San Diego. It took me 2 years to really get comfortable djing as I tried various products for DJ’s until I found the right one. Now in my mid 20’s, I practiced, practiced, practiced until I got it right. I got my first big break in 2009 as I began to DJ on web streaming radio. From there I began to DJ at nightclubs in the Gaslamp district, also around San Diego as well as Los Angeles based nightclubs and even made it to SF area to DJ with some friends. After leaving the military, I moved back to Los Angeles in 2011 and began to DJ the nightlife while also still traveling to San Diego for gigs. In 2013, I was given an opportunity to DJ for FM radio and that is really when it all clicked and it really changed my life. The FM station in Los Angeles would dedicate several hours of programming to Dance/Electronic music on a Saturday night. Although mixing nightclubs with Hip Hop & Reggaeton brought a huge sense of satisfaction to me, I still did not feel complete. So when the opportunity to DJ Dance/Electronic Music on FM radio presented itself, I was able to play music I normally would not have played for an audience during that time of my DJ Career. I was a resident DJ between 2013 – 2016. In 2016, the station would change formats of music closed down it’s doors. That left a giant void in me. During this time, I began to contemplate that I wanted to do more involved with Electronic music. I started to DJ less and began to rock the mic at nightclubs as an MC. During these times for my leisure, I was at almost every Electronic Music festival and would listen to numerous Radio/Mixshows that would be available as a podcast. It was then that I thought to myself, I need to create a show in which I can play House & Dance music. In 2018, Cali’s HouseNation Radio was born.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. My biggest struggle I’ve had was moving back from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2011. I was thriving and gaining recognition for my DJ work in the San Diego nightlife. Friends that had helped me along the way in San Diego had become family, so it was especially hard to leave that. Now back in Los Angeles, I had to start from the beginning. Build new relationships. I quickly began to learn the marke and eventually did start to DJ in the Los Angeles Nightlife. I was fortunate enough to be part of creating a new DJ team that would DJ in LA and Orange County. Looking back at it now, this struggle brought me to work a little harder to get started as a DJ in a new city. Another struggle i’ve had was changing genres of the music I was mixing. I had built an audience with Hip Hop and Latin music. When I began to focus more electronic music, not all of my followers decided to join me in this course of music. So it once again felt like I started from zero and had to build my Electronic music fanbase.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Today, I am most known to be the creator of the mixshow Cali’s HouseNation Radio. It is a music mixshow in form of a podcast playing electronic music focused on House & Dance music. I started the mixshow in 2018 and my first episode was really just a mix that I made to listen to my favorite House & Dance tracks. I had so much fun making the mix that I decided to do it monthly. At first, the show was released on Soundcloud. An opportunity rose to partner up with a London based radio station and I jumped all over it. My show started as a hour long show. But the station was doing 2 hour shows and they encouraged me to add a 2nd hour of programming. Instead of just adding a 2nd hour from myself, I decided I would have more fun by inviting a guest for that 2nd hour and we would call it the guest mix. It was a instant hit with myself, the audience and of course the DJ’s had a great opportunity. My first run at Cali’s HouseNation Radio only lasted 4 episodes, 4 months. One my biggest regrets was pausing the show. I was going through life, really unmotivated and I did not have any desire to continue the show. Looking back, I was very discouraged of the amount of listeners I was getting. I was having a great time making the show, but I felt the show would never amount to anything because of my audience. So after 4 episodes in 2018, the show took a Hiatus and would not release anymore episodes during that year. During this time I really contemplated If I really wanted to continue the show. I could have take the direction in producing music, but my heart was not in it… In 2019 I had enough motivation to re-launch the show with episode 005 and we have been a continuing mixshow since that date. We re-launched as a monthly show and later went on to be a bi-weekly show and in 2020 we became a weekly show
I think my proudest moment on the show has been since the re=launching of it, I had a different approach to it. I was determined to get my show played in different countries. I remember asking some of my DJ friends and mentors of my plans and I always kept hearing the same thing. What I wanted was not impossible, but it would be a very long road ahead
I think my determination is what sets me apart from others. I’ve been in the DJ game for now 18 years now. I’ve been a part and witnessed so many trends with music, with DJ’s. A few of the people that I started out DJing with are still part of the game in their own way. Some choose to be in DJ teams, crews while others set out to do FM Radio or satellite radio, Some chose to be music producers and remixers to make remixes of tracks. I chose to stay with my mixshow and continue to grow it. I am most proud of that determination. Being a weekly mixshow means you have to deliver a show every week. Doesn’t matter if I’m not feeling well. if we are celebrating holidays. I have to deliver a show. There are some cases in which I don’t provide a mix during that week, but now I have prepared myself with friends that can take over the show at any moments notice. I’m very proud of the fact this show is still going. The fact that listeners reach out to me and tell me how good the show is, or that they can’t stop dancing. This was my vision to have a show available worldwide and bringing the world together with 2 hours of good music.
What matters most to you?
There are 2 things that matter to me the most. the first, is creating and delivering a quality show in which you can listen to weekly and just enjoy the music, spreading positive energy with the mixshow. Not being a full time music producer, I feel I have to work 10x’s harder than the rest. But that’s ok, Making this show and seeing it blossom into being syndicated around the world has brought me the necessary fuel to keep me going.
2nd thing that matters the most to me in the last recent years is to keep the integrity of the art of djing alive. Our art has been dissected and reconstructed in different ways these last several years causing many changes in the industry. Some DJs are in the our culture for the wrong reasons. Now being a veteran DJ, I do feel a responsibility in teaching some of the younger DJ’s the integrity of values that have helped me become who I am today. I’ve received numerous messages from younger DJ’s telling me how I or my show has inspired them to keep going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chnr.podbean.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calishousenationradio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DAKNocturne
- Twitter: https://x.com/chnrsocal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DAKMusicSocal
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dakmusicsocal
- Other: https://www.DAKMusic.net
Image Credits
Junior Torres
