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Rob Gee: 30 Years of Hardcore, Positive Vibes, and One Gabber Family on the Virtual Sessions 1/12/23

Rob GEE | January 12, 2023
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Rob Gee: 30 Years of Hardcore, Positive Vibes, and One Gabber Family


In this powerful Virtual Session, The DJ Sessions host Darran Bruce sits down with Jersey City’s own Rob Gee to celebrate 30 years of his groundbreaking career in hardcore techno and gabber. Rob reflects on his first record in 1993, Not Schleppin’ Stockin, a playful experiment that unexpectedly launched him into the international spotlight when it was licensed as the opening track on Thunderdome 3. That moment secured his first international booking in Rotterdam and set the tone for a career defined by authenticity, resilience, and relentless creativity.

 

Rob shares stories from his days at the iconic Limelight in New York City, early battles and friendships in the hardcore scene, and the birth of his long-standing motto, Positive Vibes Only, which has also become his personal trademark. He emphasizes unity across genres, explaining how his One Gabber Family philosophy encourages fans to embrace diversity within the hardcore community rather than focus on division.

 

The discussion also covers Rob’s recent collaboration with Dr. Funk on Sing-Along Song, his eclectic catalog spanning punk, hip hop, and metal, and his excitement about upcoming projects with members of Slipknot and System of a Down. He speaks candidly about the toxicity of cancel culture, the dangers of “keyboard gangsters,” and how sobriety transformed his life and career, allowing him to focus fully on the music and the fans.

 

With three decades of experience, Rob Gee remains a fierce, electric, and eclectic force, still driven by the same passion that first brought him to the stage.

 

Show Notes – 

Host: Darran Bruce
Guest: Rob Gee
Location: Virtual Studios – Seattle WA & Jersey City, NJ
 

Overview:
Darran Bruce speaks with Rob Gee about his 30-year career in hardcore techno, the origins of his Positive Vibes philosophy, his eclectic catalog, and what’s next for one of hardcore’s most enduring names.

Topics Covered:

  • Celebrating 30 years since his first release in 1993 
  • Early career breakthrough with Not Schleppin’ Stockin and Thunderdome 3 
  • Memories from New York’s Limelight and Rotterdam’s hardcore scene 
  • Collaborations including Sing-Along Song with Dr. Funk 
  • Upcoming projects with members of Slipknot and System of a Down 
  • Defining his music in three words: fierce, electric, eclectic 
  • Exploring punk, hip hop, and metal influences alongside hardcore 
  • The philosophy of One Gabber Family – uniting subgenres of hardcore 
  • Positive Vibes Only – a trademarked motto and personal life mantra 
  • Overcoming toxicity, cancel culture, and online negativity 
  • Reflections on sobriety since 2012 and finding strength in community 
  • Stage presence: channeling energy into a powerful performer-audience exchange 

Call to Action:
Follow Rob Gee on all platforms at @TheRealRobGee and visit therealrobgee.com for music, news, and tour dates.
Discover more exclusive interviews and live sessions at thedjsessions.com

Rob GEE on the Virtual Sessions presented by The DJ Sessions 1/12/23

About Rob GEE –

Rob GEE is famous all across The Universe as “the hardest DJ to ever play the Limelight in NYC.” In the club’s early 90’s heyday, the versatile GEE kept delirious audiences going through spinning at Limelight’s “Future Shock” dance/techno nights and performing with his live band as well as spinning at the club’s “Rock And Roll Church” metal/ rock/ industrial nights. The crowds kept coming back to Limelight, just like they did in Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Austria, Hungary and Belgium to name a few. GEE is a recurring headliner at Sensation,Thunderdome, Mysteryland, and Love Parade, where GEE played before one million people.

His diverse appeal keeps him performing weekly at all types of musical events and concerts. GEE has shared the stage with everyone from Hatebreed and Biohazard to Crystal Method, Busta Rhymes, Kurtis Blow, and Afrika Bambaataa. His GEEness has also has spun at many Slipknot and Korn after parties with his good friend, DJ Starscream a.k.a. #0 of Slipknot.

GEE’s history of DJing and live performances shows his dedication of bringing the fusion of organic and electronic music to a wide variety of listeners. GEE’s love of hip-hop, hardcore, techno, metal and every other genre for that matter set him apart from the rest. While other DJs make tracks and spin records, GEE is an Artist who writes original songs. His indecisiveness as to whether or not he wanted to breakdance and spin hip-hop or jump in the mosh pit and play in a metal band was one of the reasons he began to cultivate his own style of both.

Rob GEE is the only artist of his kind to collaborate and create with members of respected rock, metal, hardcore and hip-hop acts such as Slipknot, Hatebreed, Biohazard, Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, and System Of A Down (just to name a few) creating a unification of Rock, Electronic, & Metal as well any other style GEE chooses to use. The GEEsult is Rob GEE gabber music.

Rob GEE says, “There are no boundaries in music” . GEE is writing history launching gabber into the scene of the galaxy……

“The Gabber Guru,” as GEE is known for his constant motivation of #PositivianVibes gained worldwide fame after the release of “Ecstasy You Got What I Need”. The song went Gold and was the #1 video on The Box for 13 straight weeks. At the same time, “Ecstasy” rose to #9 on the pop charts and earned him Best Artist, Best Producer and Best Song of the year at The Thunder Awards in Holland.

The GEE Man has recently enjoyed more worldwide success along with band mates Neophyte and Tieum with their collective efforts “Coming At You Strong”, “Anxiety”, & “Rage With Pride” under the name “Riot Squad”. Rob GEE is still pushing solo success globally with his most recent hit “Right Now”. GEE, always with his open mind, has enjoyed recent Hardstyle & Rawstyle bangers teaming up with heavy hitters like The Prophet and Adaro. While in the same breath has been rocking the mainstream airwaves collaborating with hardcore giants Noize Suppressor, Mad Dog, & Furyan.

Look out later this year, nu metal will meet hardcore in the studio ring when Rob GEE teams up with none other than Shavo Odadjian of System Of A Down.

Rob GEE won’t be stopped!!!!!!

The sound is 100% Rob GEE, which means eclectic, unexpected and completely unique.

Much #GEEspect & #PositivianVibes

About The DJ Sessions –

“The DJ Sessions” is a Twitch/Mixcloud “Featured Partner” live streaming/podcast series featuring electronic music DJ’s/Producers via live mixes/interviews and streamed/distributed to a global audience. TheDJSessions.com

The series constantly places in the “Top Ten” on Twitch Music and the “Top Five” in the “Electronic Music”, “DJ”, “Dance Music” categories. TDJS is rated in the Top 0.11% of live streaming shows on Twitch out of millions of live streamers.

It has also been recognized by Apple twice as a “New and Noteworthy” podcast and featured three times in the Apple Music Store video podcast section. UStream and Livestream have also listed the series as a “Featured” stream on their platforms since its inception.

The series is also streamed live to multiple other platforms and hosted on several podcast sites. It has a combined live streaming/podcast audience is over 125,000 viewers per week.

With over 2,400 episodes produced over the last 12 years “The DJ Sessions” has featured international artists such as: BT, Youngr, Sevenn, Wuki, Scott Slyter, Simply City, Micke, Netsky, Rich DietZ, Bexxie, Boris, MJ Cole, Flipside, Skeeter, Bissen, Katie Chonacas, Hollaphonic, Lady Waks, Arty/Alpha 9, Miri Ben-Ari, DJ Ruby, DJ Colette, Nima Gorji, Kaspar Tasane, Andy Caldwell, Party Shirt, Plastik Funk, ENDO, John Tejada, Hoss, DJ Sash U, Arkley, Bee Bee, Cozmic Cat, Superstar DJ Keoki, Crystal Waters, Swedish Egil, Martin Eyerer, Dezarate, Maddy O’Neal, Sonic Union, Lea Luna, Belle Humble, Marc Marzenit, AthenaLuv, Maximillian, Inkfish, Kidd Mike, Michael Anthony, They Kiss, Downupright, Harry “the Bigdog” Jamison, DJ Tiger, DJ Aleksandra, 22Bullets, Carlo Astuti, Mr Jammer, Kevin Krissen, Amir Sharara, Coke Beats, Danny Darko, DJ Platurn, Tyler Stone, Chris Coco, Purple Fly, Dan Marciano, Johan Blende, Amber Long, Robot Koch, Robert Babicz, KHAG3, Elohim, Hausman, Jaxx & Vega, Yves V, Ayokay, Leandro Da Silva, The Space Brothers, Jarod Glawe, Jens Lissat, Lotus, Beard-o-Bees, Luke the Knife, Alex Bau, Arroyo Low, Camo & Crooked, ANG, Amon Tobin, Voicians, Florian Kruse, Dave Summit, Bingo Players, Coke Beats, MiMOSA, Drasen, Yves LaRock, Ray Okpara, Lindsey Stirling, Mako, Distinct, Still Life, Saint Kidyaki, Brothers, Heiko Laux, Retroid, Piem, Tocadisco, Nakadia, Protoculture, Sebastian Bronk, Toronto is Broken, Teddy Cream, Mizeyesis, Simon Patterson, Morgan Page, Jes, Cut Chemist, The Him, Judge Jules, DubFX, Thievery Corporation, SNBRN, Bjorn Akesson, Alchimyst, Sander Van Dorn, Rudosa, Hollaphonic, DJs From Mars, GAWP, Somna, David Morales, Roxanne, JB & Scooba, Spektral, Kissy Sell Out, Massimo Vivona, Moullinex, Futuristic Polar Bears, ManyFew, Joe Stone, Reboot, Truncate, Scotty Boy, Doctor Nieman, Jody Wisternoff, Thousand Fingers, Benny Bennasi, Dance Loud, Christopher Lawrence, Oliver Twizt, Ricardo Torres, Patricia Baloge, Alex Harrington, 4 Strings, Sunshine Jones, Elite Force, Revolvr, Kenneth Thomas, Paul Oakenfold, George Acosta, Reid Speed, TyDi, Donald Glaude, Jimbo, Ricardo Torres, Hotel Garuda, Bryn Liedl, Rodg, Kems, Mr. Sam, Steve Aoki, Funtcase, Dirtyloud, Marco Bailey, Dirtmonkey, The Crystal Method, Beltek, Darin Epsilon, Kyau & Albert, Kutski, Vaski, Moguai, Blackliquid, Sunny Lax, Matt Darey, and many more.

In addition to featuring international artists TDJS focuses on local talent based on the US West Coast. Hundreds of local DJ’s have been featured on the show along with top industry professionals.

We have recently launched v3.1 our website that now features our current live streams/past episodes in a much more user-friendly mobile/social environment. In addition to the new site, there is a mobile app (Apple/Android) and VR Nightclubs (Oculus).

About The DJ Sessions Event Services –

TDJSES is a WA State Non-profit charitable organization that’s main purpose is to provide music, art, fashion, dance, and entertainment to local and regional communities via events and video production programming distributed via live and archival viewing.

For all press inquiries regarding “The DJ Sessions”, or to schedule an interview with Darran Bruce, please contact us at info@thedjsessions.

Transcript

[Raphaella]
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ Sessions presents the virtual sessions. I’m your host Darran and right now I’m sitting in the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington And on the other end coming in from the other side of the country from Jersey City We have Rob Gee in the studio with us today in the virtual studios. How’s it going Rob?

[Rob Gee]
Y’all doing fantastic Thank you so much for having me.

[Raphaella]
It’s a honor and a pleasure Awesome first and foremost want to give a shout out to Josie Kennedy coming in saying hi Rob heart heart heart Fans out there tuning in but hey, and I would say Kai Gorlowski as well coming in From your Facebook feed. Thank you both for joining us today. We’re gonna jump into this interview and Rob You’ve been doing what you’ve been doing for quite a long time Can you tell us about the 30 years of Rob Gee?

[Rob Gee]
Yeah, so, um, I marked 2023 as the 30 years of Rob Gee because I go by when my first record came out So in 19 because I was doing it way before making music before but in 1993 is when my first record came out and my very first vinyl That I did which was a song called not schlep to stock in which is a made-up word I took the word nonsense and made it cry try to sound like foreign That came out on a label that we created for that record in New York called 12-gauge records but that first vinyl got licensed as track number one on Thunderdome three And from there, it really just like sent me like into like the stratosphere like immediately and If I can elaborate a little there’s a bit of a interesting story about that song so I Was making my bones at this club in the limelight in New York City and it was and at the time It was the hottest club in New York City.

[Raphaella]
You never heard about it before in an ever ever never

[Rob Gee]
So that was like the place to be I mean everyone went there not just like Ravers it was like Wall Street and you know the the entertainment community like everything and like so There was like if you were like a Raver at that time You either went to you know, Lord Michaels future shock at limelight or you went to like Frankie Bones a storm rave you know and I like both but I was definitely more of a limelight guy and The guy who ran it Lord Michael, you know, he had a this two artists repeat and Damon Wilde Which were a group called Equinox on their label his label called vortex records But he wanted to come up with this concept of like let’s just make a record label called war and we’re just gonna start beef With everybody and but we’re not gonna put anyone’s name on it’s gonna be like war one so the first record they did was a record called Rotterdam is full of shit and Even though they loved Rotterdam and like we’re huge fans of Rotterdam records everything They’re like they thought that was like well This is of course We’re gonna attack the biggest dogs at the time because at this point You know cuz I’m like 90 to like 92 it was still like we were calling a techno over here Maybe rave music, you know, you didn’t really start hearing so much of the words trance jungle hardcore Like it was there but you know, it was the subgenres really hadn’t splintered as much so like When this record was done a big record by your own masters called also the cloak day Which means like everything’s fucked up kind of like that’s a loose transfer Translation in Dutch, you know, and they jumped the BPMs up to 160 which at that time was like unheard of They’re like, well, let’s go after these big dogs So like they were like as a joke like, you know, like they loved Rotterdam records But of course when the record came out there was a lot of beef like like well Who the fuck are these motherfuckers from New York and like what are you doing? And so the limelight crew minus me because I hadn’t made any music or anything. We’ll be clear about that I was not involved in that record was blaming Frankie bones and storm rave and source Frankie bones storm Like this ain’t us, you know, it’s it was like going back and forth and you know You didn’t have social media like you do today, but still Of course Rotterdam records found out they were pissed, you know, and of course my good friend DJ Paul Paul I’ll stack, you know who was like, you know But you know the A&R of Rotterdam and like, you know Like the Godfather in the Netherlands over there for like hardcore techno, you know, of course We’re like, you know piss The one guy in the group that made the record repeat, you know, I love the dude nice guy But he’s you know, he’s a little nervous about like, oh my god, they’re gonna find out and whatever So as a joke I went in the studio with Damon because we were just happened to be near his house and his studio was in his house I go, you know Damon. I want to make like a Fake diss record back to your record and say it’s the guys from Rotterdam And I go let’s fuck with Pete, you know, and he’s like, alright, let’s do it So, you know, we went in the studio and you know at that mention before fast record and we’re like 160 I was like 195, you know 9 out don’t fucking turn it up and distort it as much as you could, you know sample this guitar going And I Not knowing any Dutch or anything just started like speaking gibberish.

I was like Good money, baby He saw the record repeat And that’s like the first time I screamed that word and you know, the picturals come in 195 and then there’s a big break I’m like a repeat And The first version which was just a joke. This is a prank a complete prank was about a minute and 45 seconds I I you know, I call up Pete. I’m like Pete You know Rotterdam found out bro, he’s like, what do you mean?

I was like, dude, I’m in the record store There’s this Rotterdam record and like you’re getting your ass kicked by some dude with like wooden shoes and you know Damon’s getting you know fucking fucked by a cow and fuck him like, you know They’re putting tulips in his ass and I’m like saying all these like funny things and I go listen to this and I play him The thing he’s like, oh, oh my god, like well, it’s a good record. It’s a good record and Like but you could tell he was like nervous so about an hour later me and Damon go and meet pizza and of course This is the subject and Damon and I just couldn’t keep it together and like, you know, Pete’s like what’s what’s so funny?

You know, like why this is not funny. This is gonna ruin my career and whatever. I was like Pete relax.

It’s me That’s me on the record. I made this record and he’s like look at me Look and his face went like this We took that cassette which was a prank to the limelight that Friday We played it for like I think it was like I forget the main floor is a couple thousand people or whatever Places packed the place went crazy went so crazy. We were around the cassette Played it again.

They went even more crazy and that’s when we decided to create 12-gauge records just for this record But here’s the interesting part about this that record You know again license of you know track number one at Thunderdome 3 that really paved the way for me the first international booking I get is from DJ Paul L stack who asked me to come play at Nightmare in Rotterdam number four in the Energy Hall in March of 1994 so it’s like he had no idea that I made or even that record is a disc record back to the Rotterdam is full Of shit record. I didn’t start talking about this to a few years ago because I didn’t want to blow anyone’s spot up It’s fucking almost 30 years now, but you know, but so it’s like so ironic the guy I was like defending and whose city I was defending that’s where I get my first international booking like so you can’t write that

[Raphaella]
You can’t well, it’s definitely led to to I can see over the 30 years You have a great fan base want to give a shout out to Omar Sean Jean Ariel Cedric Patrick Darran Brianna You know, thank you for all joining us today in this interview we got a lot of stuff to cover and that’s a great kickoff Story, I mean, that’s a great success story if I’ve ever heard one You know getting out there in the biz, you know We were talking a little pre-show about you know getting started in the industry and you know It seems like you had a lot of good friends a lot of good people you were surrounding yourself with in that scene You know You know, but moving future forward Your recent track you worked on with somebody that the sing-along song. Yeah on cloud 9 records with dr.

Funk That’s your latest release, correct that just came out.

[Rob Gee]
Yeah, that’s the latest member That’s yeah, it came out in November.

[Raphaella]
Yeah, November ish 2022. Tell us about that collaboration I mean, you’ve got so much history. We just went from the beginning now.

We’re at the latest We’re at the present most current. So tell us about that collaboration and how that came about Absolutely.

[Rob Gee]
So dr. Funk, first of all, he’s my homie. That’s my that’s my buddy, you know You know before we were you and I when we’re off-camera We were speaking about some of the different generations and there’s you know, that’s not everyone of course, but there’s you know Certain, you know younger generations which kind of like, you know, they have the ego right away and Not enough of the heart, you know, not enough of the passion.

Dr. Funk is not one of those guys This guy is an awesome dude, you know, his heart is there, you know, he’s got passion for the music He’s a good good dude So we were friends first and you know, we’ve messed around in the studio before and you know We would try to couple things Yeah, but nothing we never actually completed anything it wasn’t because the lack of trying it’s like yeah, we did it We’re gonna finish it this time we were just kind of hanging out in his studio and in door direct, which is about maybe 20 minutes away from Rotterdam and Bro, we were just having so much fun in the studio like, you know Even the melody alone with besides the synths behind it, you know We do like this do-do thing on top of it And we were kind of like almost singing back and forth to each other like do-do-do and like, you know He’s like, no, no, no, no, no, no No, and like so we like collectively, you know came up with this melody and then we had that and we knew we had Something special and then I just kept doing this voice, which I never did before I don’t even know what accent I’m trying to do boy. Oh, yes party people. It’s time to come alive Oh, here we are.

Like I don’t even know what that is It’s I feel like I’m trying to sell it sell an island like a condo in Aruba or something like oh, yes come to this beautiful island and but Started as a joke, you know that but when we put it in the record To connect the melody and the parts it’s like okay this this feels good. And yeah There’s a lot of labels that wanted it and a lot of big labels I don’t want to mention them because I don’t want to put down that I we passed on them but there were some very big labels who I respect very much, but we wound up going with cloud 9 and Yeah, it’s a little bit of him.

[Raphaella]
It’s a little bit of me and The result is what you hear If you could describe to our DJ sessions fans that don’t know your music If you could describe it in three words How would you what three words would come to mind when you would describe your music if somebody’s never heard it before? I would say fierce Electric and eclectic Do you ever make music completely out of your own genre That never gets released.

[Rob Gee]
Uh Yes, I have I’ve definitely done some songs that were like just straight-up like old-school hip-hop which Maybe I never put out or maybe it was like on a b-side or something like that. I definitely at some point in the mid-2000s, I kind of like Took my DJ performance and took took took more of a live PA To thing where we had guitarist the drummer bass player Acoustic drummer as well as a guy playing electronic percussion to add the 909’s I know you’re talking about stuff that really didn’t get released, but that did get released but um, it was definitely not what I’m Necessarily known for you know, so I’m always and if you look at my overall catalog, I mean, I’ll throw in some punk I’ll throw in some metal. I’ll throw in some. Oh, yes funny people, you know I don’t really have any rules and where some artists might want to like make a certain name for a certain genre I don’t like to do that I kind of like what I call it is like the Beastie Boy approach meaning when those guys did check your head They said, you know what?

We’re gonna go back to our punk roots, but we’re still the Beastie Boys. We’re still gonna do our hip-hop We’re still the Beastie Boys. We’re gonna do some little laid-back instrumental.

We’re still the Beastie Boy So no matter what music I play unless of course I’m collaborating and then we make a different name for that But if this is a Rob Gee song, no matter what it sounds like it’s always gonna be 100% Rob Gee Nice.

[Raphaella]
I want to give a stop for a shout out right now to Jesus, Satu, Michael, Richard and You know, they’re asking some questions in the chat room. We’ll get some of those questions out there in just a few moments What is it what was the weirdest moment you’ve ever heard one of your own tunes play one of your own tracks play Yeah, okay.

[Rob Gee]
Um, I Do have an answer for this It’s like skipping my mind because I remember I was like, what the hell Damn I think maybe Just this isn’t the one I’m thinking of but this is you know, definitely out of its element as well I don’t know if you have them on the west coast. You might hula hands It’s like an Applebee’s sort of thing. Okay Same yeah, but it’s called hula hands.

So like I remember And this is like not even this is like pretty long ago Also, it’s just like before like, you know spot you might just click on a Spotify or whatever Like someone actually had to bring this music in there and like play throughout the speech so picture Applebee’s like really that sort of setting only it’s called hula hands and Yeah, I walked in there and I heard like, you know You know one of my songs and I was just like it was really out of place because there’s these families, you know eating You know lunch or dinner or whatever It was there’s people at the bar the businessmen, you know having their drinks and like and there was like I think it was I believe it was ecstasy you got what I need which was playing which was also weird too because of the song content and you’re Like in this like public place of whatever but yeah, that was definitely, you know, kind of odd

[Raphaella]
And Tell us about one gabber family and The concept behind and the meaning behind one gabber family what it means to you.

[Rob Gee]
All right, so for me so in hardcore techno You know, we were just speaking earlier You know like how even raves splintered at all these genres and then those genres have now splintered into so many genres Hardcore has splintered into so many genres I mean you have people like and people like I mean, I think it feel like every week like someone’s making up something new You know, like hey, you know polka core or something like that, you know But like you got some of the main ones like up tempo French core Tara, you know, I always like the word gabber and I and You know, there’s speed core.

There’s this core. There’s that core. There’s I don’t give a fuck or there’s all these things and You know, I’m not saying you have to love everything, okay That’s not what I’m saying.

I know once gives you you need to love this or whatever, but you don’t need to hate something I mean hate is such a strong emotion and takes so much energy out of you Like if these guys want to listen to music that sounds like that Let them you know, like why so I’ve been I’ve seen like a lot of you know hate being spewed That’s fucking that’s not real hardcore you like this French core fuck this or this isn’t real gabber or whatever and you know I’m just I’m just not feeling that you know, and so There’s a lyric in there. So it’s like you can like up tempo or some French core even some terror, but it’s all hardcore We’re one gabber family and that’s a fact old-school gabber. I’m bringing it back and I don’t even like yeah It’s got a bit of an old-school vibe in the music But I’m talking about the vibe what I felt from the early 90s You know if a lot of this music that I just mentioned whether it was up tempo or French core, whatever if it came out in the 90s, you probably wouldn’t be putting a different label of it It would be like this sound would be oh, this is what a party raiser record sounds like Oh, this is what a dr.

P top record sounds like because in the 90s when you picked up a CD You know whether it was Lenny D or Rob Gee or Paul Elstagg or Gizmo or BuzzFuzz? I could go on and on you didn’t even really have to look at the credits You kind of knew like oh this that that’s Rob’s record. You know that that’s Gizmo’s record So if those songs came out like during those time, I think you would just be you know Looping like a gathering into hardcore techno, you know and gabber and you know gabber, you know comes from Dutch slang like meaning like your friend your brother your sister your homie like like this is like where the word derives from so Whether you like it or not all this music all these different sub genres of hardcore Came from that so you all at the end of the day has something in common and like, you know Why do you want to like, you know hate on someone and what they like just because it’s different from what you like You don’t have to like it, but you don’t have to hate it either I’m just saying we’re just one even big human family at the end of the day But the fact that we share something that was derived from the same place I think there’s something to be said about that where you know, there should be more unity and less diversity

[Raphaella]
Mm-hmm, definitely, you know the the the plural concept Pia pleat peace love unity respect concept Yeah, you know something that was early on. I remember those days going out to my first Raves, we didn’t even know what they really were in 92 here in Seattle, right?

You know, it was like what is this event and Everybody was cool with everyone you had we were talking a little bit You know mentioned limelight and you had the businessman you had the punk rockers you had the artists community You had you know, all these different musicians coming together to have this great experience and there were no cliques no genres at that time I know exactly getting together, you know

[Rob Gee]
I mean, yes, like, you know besides even the word, you know gabber Like even you take it back into like a rave as a whole like, you know It’s supposed to be a place where everyone’s welcome doesn’t matter what you look like doesn’t matter what color you are, you know You know who you you know Gravitate towards sexually or whatever and I none of this needs to matter, you know So when I see people just you know, you may hate about this like, you know There’s better things to do with your life, you know it It’s like I know I’m repeating myself like hate is like such a strong emotion I’m just I’m not about that, you know, like again, you don’t love everything No one’s saying rubber stamp and yes, we all like this.

[Raphaella]
We’re robots, you know, but you know You don’t have to hate on everything Very that that goes perfectly right into my next question And you know, it may be this may be the topic that you want to discuss is is there something really messed up in the DJ? Scene and how would we go about changing that if it hate is that kind of topic? What would be the best way that you would say after your 30 years of being in the industry?

to go about Changing that do you think social media has come into so much play with? Cancel culture and people be able to break off in their own factions in their own groups that has that destroyed that concept so far That now when you say I do like this even your friends can come on board and say no that sucks And you’re like, yeah, I like green eggs and ham Can I just eat my green eggs and I’m about getting actually hated upon and because I like green eggs and ham, you know

[Rob Gee]
Exactly, my brother. So yeah, I agree Listen social media is not going away, you know It’s here to stay You know who knows if The formats we you know, we talk on now are gonna be the once forever. They seem like there’s test there They’re holding the test of time on like say a myspace or a friendster or something like that And yes, it seems like so many people are just they start typing without thinking like oh my god You know and then you know like and at first now like it’s like is this really something you would say to like someone’s face?

Like probably not, you know, like I don’t go around trying to like take pictures of people and like confront them but If someone looks familiar to me, and I know they might have said a certain something. Oh, oh hell. Yeah, you know I’ll definitely confront you but let’s talk about the solution.

I think you need more artists and more people who have a platform to not be afraid to speak out and and you know And not be afraid of cancel culture because I think that itself has gone too far I mean listen if someone has done something deliberately Harmful to another individual or another group of people and it could definitely be proven. This isn’t just someone’s Bullshit idea because oh, he doesn’t like me or he didn’t respond to me or something like that Then that is warranted But, you know, there’s a lot of people who make up stories and there’s a lot of people who like I’m, sorry, uh, you know You need to be have a little backbone, you know Like some things are just words and what just because you don’t agree with something doesn’t make that person right or wrong You can just agree to disagree but I think we’ve gotten to a point and not just in music as in life in general where People are afraid to speak their minds like, you know, whether it’s about you know music, you know, you know politics You know whether they’re a vegetarian or not And you know, you know, we’re all different human beings with a different chemical makeup some of us have some similarities and some of us are very different but I think the solution is people need to be more brave to speak their mind because when I talk to a lot of people behind Scenes like yeah, man. I’m i’m i’m with you. All right, you know, I support you like But they’re like afraid to say that out loud sometimes.

Yeah

[Raphaella]
I’ve had to deal with it in my own city and and calling out what I saw in the toxicity of the environment and basically Flipping a big middle finger and saying y’all are saying that you hate this But y’all go out there and do it and here’s the whole proof of you doing it to people and it’s like And everyone knows you’re doing it and it and you try to claim that you’re not doing it but it’s right proofs in the footing and During pandy you saw more of this come out because people could kind of hide like cockroaches In the shadows and not everyone would watch what was going online But once we all had to sit at home and everyone watched what was going online.

They’re like, whoa Exactly. There’s something going on. This person’s whoa did not I wanted to quote out of a movie.

Have you seen glass onion yet?

[Rob Gee]
I have not but it’s funny you mentioned that my concierge downstairs, uh yesterday She said, uh, you know, you have to check out this glass onion I thought sometimes they serve it hula hands

[Raphaella]
No, no, it’s a great movie but there’s a there’s a quote that daniel craig’s character says pretty early on and I wanted to get into this, uh, just for a second because it reminds me of everything you were talking about and The quote is it’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth

[Rob Gee]
Yes

[Raphaella]
and and he says this because this there’s a character in the movie she just basically just I say whatever comes to mind and that’s like and it’s like wait a second, but That can be highly offensive to other people that can that can be really rude That you think you’re right just because you’re speaking without thought you’re not thinking What you’re saying and that when you mention that typing on the keyboard and not thinking about what you’re putting out there You know happens so much and that especially in cancer culture and then we call it tough guy keyboard, you know Or keyboard tough guy, you know hiding behind they say, you know 20 years ago There’s things you would never put on a keyboard because you get punched in the face for it, you know, yeah

[Rob Gee]
And that’s the thing like i’m definitely not like trying to like, you know, uh, you know put a rubber stamp on violence or something but like Keyboard, yeah, someone just wrote keyboard gangster.

I’m, sorry. I caught that A tail of my eye, but that is true, you know, you know, what’s up? R o paradox, but uh, yeah keyboard gangsters like is really like the way Way to put it and I definitely i’m not you know, uh trying to you know, uh condone violence or something like that But yeah, we live in a world where yeah If you used to say like I said it goes back to would you say this to someone’s face?

Most people probably wouldn’t because yeah, they would get knocked the fuck out And it’s just like no repercussion and what I don’t like about the whole cancer culture thing this keyboard gangster thing. It’s like you know you’re now becoming the bullies, you know, and That was so like some people like trying to like, you know get on their you know social justice platform and listen I love everybody, you know, we’re all human beings. There are good and bad people of all walks of life and every You know different color and everything was there’s not a one size fits all but when you get to the point You know where you’re now Being such a hypocrite that you’re now bullying this one individual because maybe they disagree with you uh on on something Uh, and now you’re like, you know, we gotta cancel this person.

We gotta cancel this person and like It’s insane Like I remember seeing on twitter during you know, I like you said pandy. I never heard that before pandemic. I made that one up I love it.

I love it. But I remember on twitter. I was watching like some like, you know ravers saying oh What what dj should we cancel now?

You know, uh, they’re obviously, uh, you know white supremacist and i’m like i’m reading this I’m like and I would know the person they spoke about like this person is not Some white supremacist like they’re a very loving genuine genuine individual like like this is getting out of control you know and Just you know, we’re all human beings. Let’s just like don’t take a deep breath. Take a step back, you know There’s a lot of us have some things in common, but there’s a lot of differences But like like and again if someone really did something fucked up Yes, they deserve to be held accountable 100 but there’s some people like you said that are just speaking, you know, maybe um, You know, this girl didn’t like her it didn’t like him or her, you know, and oh, well, you know what this one’s, you know, and and and they because people do lie there’s liars in the world, too, so I don’t know. I mean, I I just think more people like myself need to be a little more outspoken and um, You know, hopefully it can curve things. I I do feel That we have hit a tipping point where some people who might have been like, okay I don’t want to get involved or now like all right.

I’ve had enough of this shit, you know Now you are going too far because now you’re like bullying me Into trying to it’s either your way or the highway and that’s not right Yep.

[Raphaella]
Yep. I’m seeing i’m seeing it happen right now with people that don’t understand how The dynamics of social media works what it can do and they’re just behind that keyboard typing and it’s now coming back to bite them in the ass And people are like, I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to be a you’re you’re just you burnt your career You burnt that bridge you burnt that bridge because I know if you did it to this person over that circumstance Who says you’re not going to do it to me?

[Rob Gee]
Yeah, it’s like, you know, so, you know all my life, you know, um, i’ve uh You know, I have my moments where i’m in the gym aggressively, you know, and i’m eating really well like even during covet. I um, I uh You know full transparency in march of 2020, I weighed about 305 pounds by december of 2020 I was down to 221 and I was you know feeling good And then america started to open up a little bit and like I was back to the big five-star hotels and these big Breakfasts and all this other shit. So I started to put some of that weight back on and now thankfully, you know, um, um i’m down 29 pounds from where I was my heaviest this past december.

So i’m on my way back down but like most of the video Of me performing at uh ghost town the netherlands and uh from november. It was a great show But you know, um, definitely I had my little belly there and there’s there’s some dude. Oh my god What a fat piece of shit and what this and like so this is what you got from it And then I would like, you know, I was I couldn’t help myself.

I go and look at like the person’s profile It’s like this dude is like my i’m 51. So you’re like my age You have children at home And this is what you want to do with your spare time Go online and like fat shame someone who just posted a video of them playing music for people and making people dance like like what a loser, you know, and like it’s it’s it’s really and and that makes me even like more like What like especially when I see that they have a family i’m like, what are you doing? Like, you know, you could be spending that time with your daughter maybe doing something Maybe spending some more time with your wife, you know, maybe that’s why she’s not so happy but like but yet you want to come on, you know my page and like You know focus on me.

[Raphaella]
It’s like it’s a little crazy You know now speaking of being on stage and performing I gotta know something How big of a charlie daniels band fan are you Okay, so I all right.

[Rob Gee]
I love charlie daniels the charlie daniels band but full transparency, I really love The devil went down to georgia. I’ve loved that song since I was a little kid only recently um I would say in the last few years have I started actually get a liking for country music I started going to down to nashville with uh, my friend ray who owns this place out here in jersey called shawn’s crazy saloon Which uh his whole concept was like he wants to put put a little piece of nashville here in new jersey Uh, so now I I there’s a lot of country music that I like, you know, I never hated it You know, there’s a lot of people growing up.

It’s like oh some kind of music like well, I like rock I like just I hate country a lot of people just said they hate country for like no reason uh, I never said that but Uh, I I do like it now, but as far as that song goes ever since I was a little kid That song just stood out and I love that song. Maybe it’s because in the last verse he says son of son of bitch Oh, yeah, it’s so fucking cool. And there’s a cool little story that goes along, you know That are the the lyrics of the song.

So yeah, I do love that song.

[Raphaella]
Yeah, it’s definitely one of my top favorites Goes back to classic childhood memories I’ve listened to that. I grew up. My dad would either play classical music or country music on sundays when we clean the house You know, so grew up with that But um, do you become a different person when you get on stage or are you different off stage or is Rob Gee?

Rob Gee 100 of the time.

[Rob Gee]
I mean, I think you’re kind of seeing it now, you know, like so this is me This isn’t like some fake persona, but you know when i’m like speaking to people uh, whether it’s on an interview or just if we were like, you know, whatever at a bar I don’t know who lands again, you know, I you know, uh I I it’s still me. It’s just a different part of me, you know that comes out but You know Depending on like the kind of song I like i’m doing. Well, I shouldn’t even say in the kind of song I just think when I get on stage to perform I definitely have that moment where it’s like, okay, we’re gonna do this and then I just let it out like like like no holds no holds bar.

It’s just like, you know, it’s like I Put my rocky face on and it’s like it’s it’s time and then and I am so in the zone And you know putting the vibes out there getting them back from the people and putting them back and we have like this constant Energetic ping-pong going back and forth Okay, and how much do I hope I say this correctly?

[Raphaella]
Do the positivian vibes influence you okay, you said it correctly So, yeah positive me and vibes.

[Rob Gee]
This is like a term which actually have trademark by the way You go to the trademark office and type it. You’ll say rob. G owns this shit.

Nice. Um This goes back to the social media. This was I want to say around 2011 or so I was really, you know, facebook was starting to become more and more popular I don’t think there even was an instagram yet.

Maybe there was a twitter. Uh, but facebook was definitely a thing I started to see all this hate and it goes back to what I was saying before I was like, you know Why are people spending so much time on this negativity? I’m, not saying you can’t have a difference of opinion But when it gets to that that that that emotion of hate I was like, you know, um It takes it takes so much energy So I think at the end of the day we all would like to live a nice and happy life.

That does not mean It’s all rainbows and pixie dust and a bluebird on your shoulder We’re all gonna have these ups and downs. We’re all gonna have a need to vent but You know another part of the positive me and vibes, you know was like I think We all want to get back to that happy place As soon as we can with you know, while you know after we’ve gone through the process of letting some of these things go Because some people like they really set sit and let things fester and you know, no fuck that fucking like they’re never open You know for a conversation to try to even get themselves back to the happy place and i’m just saying You know Hey, if you could do something to fix it Then do it if you Cannot do something to fix it.

We’ll accept that also and and move on and Even though this is not why positive me and vibes was started I um, april 13th. I’ll be celebrating 11 years of total sobriety And there’s something to be said about the serenity para for life in general, you know, except the things I cannot You know change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference That’s not just about sobriety. That should be about that is about life in general and um, it’s kind of weird I started the positive me and vibes before I got sober because my sober date is April 13 2012 But it’s and again and for the first 10 years.

I didn’t um Uh attend one aa or ca meeting or anything. It wasn’t till my 10-year anniversary that I got invited by a bunch of Very big djs from around the world. I’m not going to mention their names on protect our anonymity But we have our own group that meets, uh every 3 p.m. New York time Which you know just figure out the time zones from the rest of the world And you know, and we’re all you know, uh alcoholics, you know, yeah cocaine addicts, whatever, you know And I was asked to speak at their meeting on uh, the 10-year anniversary and it came at a time in my life where I really felt I needed to like Just let some of my you know Energy at what I was feeling out because for years like i’m the guy that you could come to for help and i’m cool with that sometimes it takes a lot for me to actually ask for help, you know, because I kind of want to be like the father and and take care of you and like I feel like sometimes My problems aren’t worth someone’s, you know time So this came at a very special time in my life and you know If you guys are you know and gals are listening and watching I love you all um It really came at a time that I needed to express myself and I was you know Lucky and honored they asked me like would you like to continue? And I was like, yeah, so i’ve you know, I I attended every wednesday And this is when I started learning more about you know, um, you know the big book and sobriety and I was like shit Like these are things that I didn’t even know about but I was already practicing in my last 10 years of my life Which I kind of found on my own path And they they remember like saying are you sure you haven’t read this thing?

Like, you know because everything you’re saying is like it’s in here. I’m like no I swear Like this is just just you know are things I figured out on my own so Again, I think there’s you know, something divine happening that you know made all that come together That’s awesome.

[Raphaella]
Congratulations on that by the way. Thank you, my brother. I’m very proud a lot being in the industry, you know you quickly I’ve been there you get backstage you’re hanging out.

It goes to the after party Next thing you start you start living for the party in a sense and it’s and then it becomes okay I’m out every tuesday. I’m out every wednesday. I’m out every thursday.

I’m out every friday. I’m out every saturday You’re kind of resting on sundays and mondays you’re gonna like gotta pick myself back up but I Gotta be out there because I gotta be in the mix and I want to be cool and the society pressure and the pure pressure You know, I want to be in that right room at that right place to make that right connection And it was years ago that I started realizing, you know Probably like 2017 I started realizing that I didn’t like that nightlife scene. I didn’t like the toxicity that what was going on there what it Perpetrated i’m not trying to knock it if that’s somebody’s flavor and they want to go party You can’t get that we were I was talking with somebody recently about how do you take that element of partying out of the scene? Somebody’s gonna come and somebody’s gonna bring something and it’s right, you know, something’s gonna go on but uh, I started doing my own events and uh realized very quickly that Um, you know, I should not even if i’m running the bar or my bar is being run by my company I should not get behind it Very quickly so but then I started throwing more um Daytime events and uh, we do silent concerts silent discos during the day and we drive our mobile studio around so obviously can’t involve Any substances there but I found that I like doing events where people our age they have kids now Yeah, they can come out during the day and they’re not out till two in the morning or Four in the morning waiting to see their favorite artists They can come see their favorite artists play And they can bring their kids with them and they can be out of the park in a sunny afternoon and that substance The substances aren’t there and they aren’t triggered or they might be trying to live another style of life as well exactly So totally commend that and you know, I found such a great satisfaction in doing Those events than doing the nighttime party let’s hang out at the nightclub Late night type stuff. Yeah Totally can understand that.

Um, you know if you knowing what you knew now knowing what you know now If you could go back 25 years in music history Or 50 years in forward in music future, which one would you pick and why?

[Rob Gee]
Huh So either go back 25 years in in music history knowing what you know now or No, I know and jump 50 years forward I know this isn’t one of the options, but I think i’m I’m happy right where I am because I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t change a thing And I really want to create my own future. I don’t want to like, you know, you know I mean listen if you had a time machine, I wouldn’t mind taking a peek and then coming back, you know I

[Raphaella]
Guess I guess yeah, I should I should amend that question say if we had a time machine And you know you could go back and be like, okay cool or go forward you know, I mean just seeing it through your eyes that you have now and I know if I went back and looked at myself at 18 years old and we’re dressing like the candy kids going to the raves And you know all that fun stuff i’d be like What the fuck am I doing?

Why did I what am I?

[Rob Gee]
But it’s a sign of the times, you know No, I hear you like here’s the thing with that like so like Let’s talk about like, you know the past like of course There’s some things that I don’t do today that I did a lot of in the past and this goes back to the sobriety thing and uh, just real quick doing because Rl 30 days, you know proud of you, bro. Keep going. I got this.

You got this. We got this Sorry, I gotta give a shout out to someone who’s trying to try that sobriety path, but you know here’s the thing like in the 90s like In fact not just the 90s everything up until this point has made me who I am today so I feel if I Change one little thing I probably wouldn’t be the person I am today and although I definitely made a lot of mistakes But that’s how you become who you are, you know, you have to trip and fall and pick yourself, you know back up um And honestly if we go back to like the drugs and the alcohol and again, i’m not condoning anything It wasn’t like It controlled my life right from the get-go. I was having a great time and partying and uh made all these amazing records And it’s touring the world and yeah, I was I was sloppy quite a bit at times But yeah, I was like, you know doing you know, I want to be like guns and roses and you know Break shit and everything but it kind of still got me to where I am now So, uh, yeah, I wouldn’t change a thing. I could only just like, you know do what I do now and uh, you know do better It is the first record you ever bought worth mentioning or is it embarrassing or do you remember That I bought, you know myself um I believe it was uh, adam and the ants kings of the wild frontier and Yeah in in 19.

I think I want to say that was like 1982 Uh, of course I had yeah, I was 11 years old then of course there was records in my house already My mother loved disco, you know, so, you know, of course we had the bgs and vicki sue robinson and you know And all that my father on the other hand big opera guys So like mario alonzo and luciano paparazzi if I was at my grandparents, you know my mother’s side Well, we had the frank sinatra and the dean martin I had uh the cool aunt who had the you know, the rolling stones and led zeppelin But as far as like I think the first artist that I really gravitated towards And felt something like I want to be like that dude and whose music uh, it was adam Adam and he was he did solo adam ant which was also cool But when it was adam and the ants like songs like stand and deliver and ant music I mean that shit was like, oh my god the percussion in it and like it was just The the you know, that’s like when mtv like dropped and you know, and the music videos were awesome So yeah, that was definitely the first uh, first first not purse first first piece first is person person First piece of vinyl that I ever bought and uh, definitely i’m proud to say that nice.

[Raphaella]
Nice. Nice. Nice now You know this guy probably you’ve probably met him in person a few times carl cox.

Oh, yeah Well, he’s born he’s he’s born in 19 july 1962 just turned 60 last year. God bless him 60 and a half And uh, you know and still rocking major festivals and shows.

[Rob Gee]
Hell.

[Raphaella]
Yeah Do you see yourself? DJing at his age still rocking it 60 70 years old i’ll even go further.

[Rob Gee]
Um, respect to carl cox. Love that dude. He’s a great dude Um, you know, we’ve uh played together several times, you know, we’re very cool with each other I respect the hell out of the man Uh for everything he’s done and for what he’s still doing But usually when i’m in interviews the term that I always say is like i’m gonna mcjagger the fuck out of this thing this guy’s 80 or about to be or is 80 is and is you know, he’s still doing his thing and sounds great on the mic his energy is there and uh, Yeah If people will have me that’s what i’ll be doing and even if they won’t have me i’ll be doing it in my house somewhere

[Raphaella]
It is so crazy. I love it when guests on the show By the way people that are watching right now The guests I have the people i’m interviewing rob did not see any of the questions that i’m asking him right now He sent me some information, but just let you know the other questions I actually just threw in that carl cox question because the original question I was gonna ask Was and I love the fact you said mcjagger You said I was gonna say you two and the rolling stones have been rocking stadiums forever in a day Would you see yourself dj’ing at the age of 70?

That was gonna be my original question. I decided to swap. That’s why you saw me looking over here I was gonna swap it out and go Let me ask the carl cox one rather than the u2 rolling stones one and then you drop mcjagger in there and i’m like I should have gone with the u2 I think it’s even cooler that this happened that we even like circled right back to that like yeah I didn’t even know like that was a piece of your question.

I threw mcjagger out there, you know, yeah, no I love it when people like they go into something i’m like i’m just about to ask that how did they know but um Have you made a lot of friends in the electronic music world or would you say most are just business contacts?

[Rob Gee]
No, I got I got some really good friends people that are If one of us was to stop making music tomorrow, we would still be good friends, you know people You know, I share my personal life with if you know, uh people would just you know Hang out and talk and we don’t have to make music. Well, you know, we hang out You know, like, you know, like I got this one friend. Uh, he’s in a group called the sickest squad His name’s uh, jacopo.

Step it up. What’s up? Today’s his birthday.

Happy birthday. Yeah Um, so yeah, we do some music. Yeah, we met through the music industry, but he’s like one of my best friends I mean, he you know like so when I go to italy I stay at his house for like a week and yeah, we might make some music Maybe we do maybe we don’t but it’s just more about you know, two friends chilling having a great time I got another dear friend in the netherlands of the mouth of man is sita.

What’s up that you’re watching? Yeah, we met through the scene, but this is one of my main homies.

[Raphaella]
I love that dude If you could take What if you could put one? Non-famous person in the spotlight who means a lot to you other than your direct family or friends Who would that be and why? non-famous person Somebody somebody who’s not in the spotlight not out there.

You can take them say this person decides to Should be launched should be out there. Who would that be?

[Rob Gee]
Oh, okay. Sorry. Okay, so someone who’s not so famous, but I feel Deserves to be out there.

Okay. Yeah, at first I was gonna say my mom because she’s so awesome But my mom’s not dropping her new mixtape for a while So So, um, honestly, there’s a guy i’ve been i’ve known for about 20 years he’s been like in and out of the music scene Uh, he used to go by perfect dark, but now he’s going by queen city hooligan Uh queen the name queen city comes from the part of new hampshire where he’s from with that’s like the nickname for the the town So hence queen city hooligan uh I put one of his Vinyls that well more than one like many years ago Uh when it was still vinyl and he he’s when I made this label back then called adam recordings I made it just for me to do my own music. I didn’t want any bullshit from anyone and I didn’t want any artists I I didn’t want to deal with any other labels. I also didn’t want to deal with any ours He he came to the limelight and showed me this thing I was like he really had something that you know He had the hardcore punk background and the metal background and using live instruments like I do.

So um I really felt he had something and like, you know, we drifted apart I think he got involved in some other kind of music and recently he’s come back into the circle and I really think that’s someone who Should be out there and people should pay attention to you know, queen city hooligan Nice queen city hooligan.

[Raphaella]
Awesome.

[Rob Gee]
Diddy hooligan straight out of new hampshire

[Raphaella]
And and you have some upcoming events I saw on your post Uh, one of the biggest ones looks like you’re really excited about this one Tell us about your involvement with base con wasteland

[Rob Gee]
so Base con, you know wasteland, which is part as it’s a base con is a uh part of insomniac events Who does you know electric jay-z carnival edc and beyond wonderland and you know all these things?

So I mean my history with them goes back also 30 years. In fact insomniac insomniac events is celebrating 30 years of insomniac events this year And in the 90s, I mean I was constantly playing edc and nocturnal wonderland like back then They had hardcore stages, you know, I remember even one year they did a thunderdome stage at I forgot if it was nocturnal or edc It was one or the other. Um and uh, they have this brand called base con, which is now 10 years old and uh It’s interesting.

So I just mentioned that I played for them You know in the 90s up until like the early 2000s, uh insomniac events edc’s nocturnals And then they kind of didn’t do any hard music for a while and then they start to do hard style, which is Its own genre, but it still originated originally from hardcore, but it was like just hard style And it wasn’t until like in the last I don’t want to say maybe six seven years like and I think that was like 2011 2012 Um before they had the base con brand.

I think they were doing it with q-dance from the netherlands. Uh, the one stage at edc Um, but now they have their own brand base con for obviously 10 years um And now there’s been some hardcore now Here’s the thing the guy who owns insomniac events pasqual rotella great guy love this dude He’s the guy who used to personally book me because you know insomniac events in the 90s was not what it is today Like, you know a big corporation stuff. So like he would be the dude like hey, you know You want to play abc and I would stop by his apartment in la and you know Get paid and drive to the show like it was very casual now.

It’s like a different thing So here’s the thing. I want to say around 2013 Is when I started to have a bit of a comeback moment and uh, you know, so I mean, I was always doing this for a living but I would say this is where I started to have You know this moment that i’m having now. I started getting higher and higher Well, I wasn’t playing any edc’s or any insomniac events, but pasqual and I had always remember remained friends And I remember I was with him in las vegas And uh, you know, we were having dinner and then we went back to his house afterwards, you know in fact the frankie bones was with me too and uh, of course, you’re gonna address the elephant in the room and you know, I kind of like You know casually, you know mentioned like hey, you know be cool to play edc again and all this stuff and He was very gracious and very cool. I gotta give him that But he said I really don’t do that. I don’t really put my finger on the scale.

I let my talent buyers do their thing They got their you know finger on the pulse and I was like listen if those guys ever want you I’m going to support them because I fucking love you, but I don’t try to let them do their job anymore And of course at the time I was like, oh I respected it, but I was like, oh however Fast forward a couple years later When their talent buyer, you know jasper reached out to my agent and actually asked me to start playing insomniac events Dude when pasqual said no And it was the best thing he ever did because now I know I earned it again Not because my friend put me on some stage. So thank you pasqual for saying no Thank you jasper for wanting to you know, book me on your events and thank you pasqual again for supporting me Back on your events, but it feels much better to know that you fucking earned it and not just because your your buddy threw you on So, uh, absolutely

[Raphaella]
I recently had an experience like that Um with my team down in uh, phoenix, arizona with the relentless beats team and we had done an event Uh pr for the event down there Our first time was a gold rush not too long ago We came back and we did decadence for for new year’s eve and the guy who runs all the uh, All the uh pr for relentless beats and other events like imagine festival and a ton of other stuff You know, he just came over to us after like our fourth interview there and he goes Hey, by the way, just want to let you know you have full media clearance to any event that i’m in charge of and I was like that just that honor of like You are approved. You earned it. You show up you do your job.

Your interviews are great You’re saying everything you’re supposed to be doing, you know, you’re you’re highly professional your team’s professional I want you involved in everything we do and I was like Thank you. You know, that was Really awesome to get that kind of accolade back. I can totally understand that you earn it um rather than it being gifted or right a String pulled and to go with that, you know, I mentioned i’m 51 now.

[Rob Gee]
So go back 10 years. I’m 41 When I would look at my analytics back then my biggest majority were people that were like my age like their late 30s early 40s and The younger kids was like the small little thing Fast forward to today now i’m 10 years older My biggest demographic is 18 to 22 The next one is 22 to 27 and then so on and so forth as you get a little older It’s a slightly less so like yeah, I see it too You know when I when I perform I got these kids like in their early 20s, you know Some of the records i’m playing are older than them and they’re like But it feels so good to like, you know, maybe 10 years ago some 20 something year old like They were like, oh man, like I remember like this is one I would get a lot and like they were being nice But it’s so oh i’ll say it I’ll get done on stage and I always want to go meet the crowd. I love the people And like I remember some girls saying, you know, you were so amazing.

That was such an amazing set You keep doing what you’re doing like as if I was like this, you know 40 something year old guy that just decided to start playing records and of course i’m not how can you get mad at that? It’s not their job to know that you’ve been around for whatever. They just weren’t exposed to you.

That’s there’s a You know, I hate when djs get all salty about that, you know, not everyone has to know who the fuck you are or whatever You know She wasn’t saying anything. She was being nice. She’s like, oh my god.

I think you’re amazing and but keep doing what you’re doing, you know, and but you know fast forward now like that that that you know that whole, uh, you know age group like like And um, it’s really cool that I now have a you know a fan base of you know You know this age to that age and everything in between

[Raphaella]
What you could say back when we were kids and we would go to the record store the cd store the tape store We had a small Selection for electronic music.

That’s another and so when something new came out on thursday You and you were there you’re like, oh this just came out or you’d ask that electronic music professional store. What’s new? What’s hot?

What’s what’s playing and there were usually a lot of compilations Nobody had their really I remember kiyoki had his disc came out. Oh, wow you know and it was just I can’t remember the name of but I just Interviewed him recently. We were talking about it but you know that was a huge thing to have an artist that had their own disc and it wasn’t till Till I came into 2000.

I bought my first double disc compilation paul oakenfolds global underground 007. Oh, wow and got into that and that kind of I’m okay. It really took me into to electronic music and then I got the sasha and the digweed, right?

and all those but um, you know Nowadays, there’s so much music selection Exactly.

[Rob Gee]
I mean there’s definitely something to be said about that. I mean you you said it perfectly I think I want to say in the early 90s you might If you thought hard enough could probably name every dj on the planet. Like i’m not even kidding Yeah As far as ones who have music out, I think it was definitely possible, you know You sorry.

Oh jeff mills joey beltram derrick carter carl kopp donald clauden like frankie bones and just like go on and on and kiyoki um Whereas now yes The music has exploded into all these subgenres on top of subgenres subgenres Everyone’s got a sound cloud and a youtube and this you don’t even need a record deal anymore to put your music out you could just you know upload it to tune core or this core or that core and Uh, so yeah, there’s a there’s a plethora of things uh that people need to choose from so the fact that you can even stand out In today’s standards like that. There’s something to be said about that.

[Raphaella]
Yeah Absolutely. He he did drop a name in there. Uh donald glaude Yes, first dj ever saw play in seattle in a nightclub at a club called the underground um Knowing very well awesome guy great personality hometown hero.

I just wanted to give a shout out to donald because he’s He kind of really changed my life in the nightclub scene before it was top 40 and i’d go to those kind of clubs It wasn’t until we drove down to seattle and went to this club called the underground and Saw him playing up in the booth and I would get to go up in the booth I would somehow sneak my way up into the booth and get up there and be able to chill and he’d like turn around Be like, okay, I guess if you’re here and security isn’t throwing you out You’re okay to be up in the booth and i’d be dancing just hanging out I actually have some old school video footage of him from 94.

I think oh, wow We’re going to include it in our dj sessions documentary when I finally get around to making it Kind of the history of the dj sessions but that club then led us into the the naf raves which led us into usc on insomniac and all the big events, but You know I want to give a shout out to everyone in the chat room being so active in there Thank you so much gonna gonna drop some i’m gonna try to get everyone’s names in there I’ll go from the top and start with josey kai omar sean gene aurel Sean, uh cedric patrick Darran brianna jesus setu michael richard marise gillian Michael another michael another richard dawn Uh marco Just trying to give a shout out to everyone because you’ve been so active. No Vin vincent vincenzo vincenzo probably vincenzo. Yeah vincenzo peter.

Um I just want to make sure I get everyone in here before we we drop out. I think i’ve got almost matt um, michael van denberg Uh, stefan Danuska uh Yeah, that’s about everyone that’s been in the chat room and to those have been watching. Thank you so much Rob, is there anything else you want to let our dj sessions fans know about before we let you go?

[Rob Gee]
Uh, yes So, yeah, you know this year 2023 is a very important year for me i’m celebrating 30 years of Rob Gee Uh, i’ll definitely be coming to a city near you if you haven’t heard anything definitely contact your local promoters And ask them to have rob motherfucking g out there. There’s gonna be a lot of new music coming out You know very soon, you know, there’s gonna be some stuff with the one gabber family vibe There’s gonna be some stuff with the sing-along song vibe uh Um, I think later this year, uh me and my boy shabba from system of a down are gonna be doing a little collaboration I believe me and my boy sid from slipknot are gonna be doing a little something. Uh in the hardcore gabber realm and uh, yeah, just uh Hit up my spotify Play my music And have a good time and spread the positive vibes.

[Raphaella]
Yeah. Awesome. Yeah Where’s the best place people can go to find out information about you though?

[Rob Gee]
I would say The best place even though it’s not updated as much but you’ll be able to find all my social media from there Is the my website the real Rob Gee.e.e.com the real Rob Gee.com Yes, the real Rob Gee.com because if you go there, there’s a link to the facebook. There’s a link to the instagram there’s a link to the youtube so and there’s some cool information on the website itself, but And I know and all my handles for every social media is also the real Rob Gee g h e r e a l r o b G e so that’s everything instagram youtube soundcloud, uh, everything everything which all that stuff Awesome.

[Raphaella]
Rob. Well, thank you for coming on the dj sessions. We’ll definitely be following up with you later in 2023 As we always promise to do And uh, you know, it’s an honor having you on the show and thank you so much Thank you so much for having me man.

[Rob Gee]
Uh, it was a pleasure. Uh, I love the energy love the vibes great questions Even the curveball questions love it Uh shout out to everyone in the chat room, uh, my man just named everybody so but I love you all and uh, Thank you so much.

[Raphaella]
And thank you, sir Absolutely On that note, don’t forget to go to our website the dj sessions.com find us on meta twitch twitter facebook Whatever you want to call that one. Um, we’re out there everywhere on our website the dj sessions.com Don’t forget to check out our new virtual reality nightclubs We’ll be launching soon and go to our website and download that mobile app We have over 600 news stories tons of live interviews exclusive mixes and more at the dj sessions.com I’m, Darran. That’s rob.

G coming in from jersey city. I’m coming to you from the virtual studios in seattle Washington for the dj sessions and remember on the dj sessions the music never stops