DJ Dice:
I did my recording, I did my interview, and it was good, whatever. It wasn’t anything I would be like, “Oh my gosh, that’s the best clip ever.” But as soon as I was done, I got into this really interesting conversation with the musician I was interviewing. And when I left, I was like, “Why didn’t I record that? Why didn’t I keep the recorder on?” Because it was way better than the interview that I actually took, and it made me so angry afterwards.

Alec Patton:
This is High Tech High Unboxed, I’m Alec Patton. And that was the voice of Oscar, aka DJ Dice. Oscar’s in sixth grade, and he DJs on a local New Orleans radio station as part of an afterschool program called Be Loud Studios.
Be Loud started as a program at New Orleans’s Bricolage Academy, founded by two of the teachers at the academy, Alex Owens and Diana Turner. Oscar started DJing when he was a student there in second grade. At that point, they didn’t have their radio show yet, so they were making podcasts. In 2019 Be Loud Studios became its own thing, and in fall 2020 they got onto the airwaves. If you’re in New Orleans, you can hear the show by tuning your radio to WHIV at 102.3 FM on Saturday mornings at 9:00 AM. The rest of us can stream the show at whivfm.org and listen to old episodes on SoundCloud, there’s a link in the show notes. I sat down with Oscar, with his fellow DJ, Ella, aka DJ Rose, and with Be Loud co-founder Alex Owens, to listen to some of their favorite clips. We’ll start with Oscar’s first clip. Here’s what he had to say about it, by way of introduction.

DJ Dice:
Yeah, so this was when it was like a deep pandemic here and everybody was locked down and I was on a virtual program over Zoom with Be Loud, and I recorded it, about how the pandemic had an impact on me and what I was learning from it. So yeah, that’s pretty much what it’s about.

Alec Patton:
Now, here’s DJ Dice’s clip about quarantining in the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Audio:
Hey, this is DJ Dice. One thing that I learned during the Coronavirus Pandemic is not to take the little things in life for granted, such as hanging out with grandparents or going to the movies. During the lockdown a lot of things that used to be normal are not doable anymore because of the restrictions. For example, I used to go to the park or my friend’s houses all of the time, and when the pandemic came along I couldn’t see my friends anymore and it made me realize how valuable it is to do these things, and how you can be impacted when you can’t do them anymore. Anyway, I think that the biggest thing that I have learned during the quarantine is how important it is not to take the little things for granted. Thank you for listening and remember to be loud.

Alex Owens:
I want to say something about this COVID piece.

Alec Patton:
This Is Alex Owens, Be Loud co-founder.

Alex Owens:
Oscar’s not doing our virtual this year, so he picked things from last year because that’s what he had most access to. So he’s done a lot in the last year. He’s interviewed Tank and The Bangas, a major band, he just interviewed a bunch of people at Preservation Hall, he’s done some really cool stuff, but he picked these two pieces. And at first I was like, “I don’t know why Oscar would pick these pieces.” But listening to them, they’re really personal, and at that time, and I’m talking to you now Oscar, at that time I remember, “Oh, you went from just a kid doing some radio stuff to actually being a DJ.” You know what I mean? Your COVID piece was the first time I was like, “Whoa, Oscar’s really good at this.”

DJ Dice:
Yeah.

Alex Owens:
Do you remember feeling that at that moment?

DJ Dice:
I do. I feel like it was, a lot of things were really hard then, and that the piece is mostly about the little things in life and how it’s important to appreciate them. And back then I was really feeling that because I hadn’t done much, I was mostly sitting around the house, all of my school was on the computer, and it was really, I just didn’t get to do much, and it was not fun. So yeah, that piece is mostly about that.

Alex Owens:
Yeah, it definitely came out. And it’s like perfect Oscar, things are hard but you’re trying to be optimistic. But something for you to know too, Alec, is just like it’s sort of like, un-High Tech High, what we do. We don’t have long projects, every week the kids write and record something new. We call it, it’s not Gray’s Anatomy, it’s Law and Order, it’s like a new challenge every week. So the pieces are really short, and sometimes they’re a little underdeveloped, sometimes there could be more, sometimes there’s like fruit left on the tree. But what’s cool with these two DJs, and this is when I first heard it, is it’s just like their identity, they’re really working it out, their voice, their script writing. And it’s just, again, both of them are just good examples of kids who have found this tone of what they want to say every week. And again, this was the first time, Oscar, where I was like, “Whoa, cool. This is what DJ Dice sounds like. This is cool.”

Alec Patton:
Our second clip is from Ella, aka DJ Rose, and it comes from New Orleans musical landmark, Preservation Hall. Here’s how she remembers what the space is like.

Audio:
It’s an old, really, really old place that, I don’t want to say this, but back in the days, they used to, black and white people wanted to come together to play music, and so they found a safe space to play music and just celebrate and be happy.

Alex Owens:
Yeah. Now, it’s one of the oldest and most popular venues in the city. You walk in and you feel like… Or Ella, what does it feel like when you walk in?

DJ Rose:
Honestly, as soon as I walked in, it looked really old, the benches on the walls. And even when my mom walked in, she was very, very impressed by everything that was still there. I don’t think they had the same instruments, but it was old instruments.

DJ Dice:
I just want to build onto Ella. When I first walked in, it seemed like dimly lit, it seemed very old, but as soon as the musicians started playing, they did a little performance for us. As soon as the musicians started playing, the atmosphere totally changed. It was just really, it had tons of character as soon as the music started.

Alec Patton:
Now here’s DJ Rose’s interview with musician Greg Stafford at Preservation Hall.

Audio:
Hey, it’s DJ Rose, and today I am interviewing Mr. Stafford. So why did you choose to play the trumpet?
Actually, I didn’t choose to play the trumpet. My band instructor suggested that, well, he didn’t suggest, he mandated that I played the trumpet. What actually happened, I started school late when I was in my sophomore year of high school, and so by the time I was able to get into school, the elective that I had chose was industrial arts, and so that class was closed out because we had such a highly populated school. And so the principal said to me, he said, “Young man, I’m sorry, industrials arts class is closed out, so you have to select one of three other subjects, vocal music, home economics, or instrumental music.” It just so happened the band instructor was in office at the time he was telling me this. And so I said to the principal, I says, “Oh, well, I have to go home and ask my mother which one I should choose.”
And so as I was walking out the door, the band instructor came behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. He says, “Take instrumental music. I’m the band instructor.” So I said to him, I says, “Well, I don’t have an instrument.” He says, “Don’t worry about that, I’ll provide you with one.” I said, “Well, I have to go home and ask my mother.” So my mother was reluctant to sign in the consent form, and after three days she finally decided to sign it, and then I brought it back to school.
And I actually wanted to play the trombone, either the tenor saxophone, in fact, the tenor saxophone was my first choice. And so I said to the band instructor that I wanted to play the tenor saxophone. He said, “Oh, no, no, no, no, it doesn’t work like that. I need trumpet players in my band. All my senior trumpet players are graduating, so I’m trying to recruit trumpet players. I’m going to put you on trumpet.” So that’s how that happened. And actually I was only going to take that instrumental music class for that one semester and try to get back into the industrial arts class, but I kind of fell in love with it, and so here I am today, still playing the trumpet.
How long have you been playing your instrument?
Oh well, if you add it up, let me see, since 1960… Am I calculating right? Since ’68, okay. ’78, ’88, ’98, 2008, 2018, so 53 years. 53 years I’ve been playing trumpet and I started playing professionally maybe a year and a half after I started playing the trumpet. So I’ve been playing professionally for 51 and a half years.
Do you and your band have a band name? If so, what is it?
Oh, I am a leader of my own band, I have two bands that I lead. One is called the Greg Stafford’s Jazz Hounds and one is also called the Greg Stafford’s Young Tuxedo Brass Band, and in fact, I inherited both of those bands. And the Young Tuxedo Brass Band is a very historical band, it’s been around since way back in the early 1900s. In fact, Louis Armstrong was a member of the Tuxedo Brass Band, and before he departed to go to Chicago to play with King Oliver, his last performance in the city of New Orleans was a jazz funeral where he played with the Tuxedo Brass Band. And so throughout the years, as generations changed, band leaders die out and they pass the band on the next individual, and I’m fortunate enough to have been the person that was selected by the last band leader before he met his demise, to be the leader of the Tuxedo Brass Band.
And then also the same situation with the Jazz House. There’s a great banjoist by the name of Danny Barker, I was his trumpet player in his band, and when he took ill he handed the band over to me before he passed away. So I pretty much inherited those two groups, Greg Stafford’s Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Greg Stafford’s Jazz Hounds. And then I also play around the city with different other groups, and I work here at Preservation Hall as well, so very active.
Thank you so much, Mr. Stafford. Listen to this interview and also check out Preservation Hall.

Alec Patton:
Alex, what are your thoughts on this one?

Alex Owens:
I was really proud of these two and all the DJs. You have a group of sixth graders who… There was no prep, you know what I mean? Basically, we had gone roller skating the weekend before, if y’all remember that. And I was just like, “Show up.” And there was a performance, and I was like, “All right, you have 10 minutes to come up with three questions.” I was so impressed, everyone was nervous, the kids were nervous, the musicians were nervous, and I just pushed them into a weird old backroom, and I have pictures of these two just rocking it out, talking to these legend musicians in their 70s and 80s, and being not just really professional and doing sound checks and making sure their mic is held right, but also just being really intent on listening, trying to connect with what that person was saying it. I just was blown away by these two just because it was like, whoa, they’re really doing it, with very poor teaching structure to support them.

DJ Dice:
And one more point, I want to just quickly say, I have a lot of regret about that trip because I did my recording, I did my interview, and it was good, whatever. It wasn’t anything I would be like, oh my gosh, that’s the best clip ever. But as soon as I was done I got into this really interesting conversation with the musician I was interviewing, and when I left, I was like, “Why didn’t I record that? Why didn’t I keep the recorder on?” Because it was way better than the interview that I actually took, and it just made me so angry afterwards.

Alec Patton:
What was it about that conversation? What did the musician say?

DJ Dice:
We were talking about the places he had been. We started talking about music in general, because I play the cello myself, and we connected in many ways. But it was just a really magical almost, conversation, and it made me just so enraged that I hadn’t captured that, because it was incredible. Yeah, it’s just a big lesson that I learned from that, is always keep the recorder on, you might catch something afterwards that’s just really, really interesting and captivating.

Alex Owens:
Yeah, I tell that story. I’ve been telling that story Oscar, because I see it as such a win, right? It’s just like you learned a real lesson in storytelling, in recording. And actually, you and Ella, you remember this too. We had an NPR reporter with us two weeks earlier, kind of talking about interviewing, and we were doing some mock interviews, and Ella did an amazing interview. Remember Rosie, Ella? And that was Rosie’s number one piece of advice, was like, “Always be rolling. From the moment you come in to the moment you leave, because you never know what you’re going to get.” And I was at Preservation Hall, taking kids, and I was like, “All right, Oscar, how you do doing?” And you just looked so disappointed, you were like, “Always be rolling.” And it’s just like now you’re always going to remember that, right? So it was cool. It was a cool moment.

DJ Dice:
Yeah.

Alec Patton:
Okay. Oscar, what’s your second clip?

DJ Dice:
So my second clip, I did a recording about my spot in the city, or the place that I really like hanging out at. So the place I chose was a bookstore, and it was from my childhood since I was like, I guess I would’ve been three or so, I was going to this bookstore. It’s kind of shaped how I view stories and books up to this day. So I feel like it has a lot of personality in it for that reason.

Alec Patton:
Now, here’s DJ Dice’s clip about his spot in the city.

Audio:
Hey, this is DJ Dice. One place in New Orleans that I love is Blue Cypress Books. It is a small bookstore in the neighborhood that I used to live in, with lots of character. It has a great variety of books for all ages. Also, there are really good deals on the books there. Every day, when I was younger, I used to walk down the street and stop at the coffee shop, Zotz, then we would go to Blue Cypress Books and sit in there for hours, reading, and sometimes we wouldn’t buy anything at all. It has been with me for a long time, and I really suggest that you go there and look at their selection of books. Thanks for listening, and remember to stay loud.

Alec Patton:
Alex, what’s on your mind listening to this one?

Alex Owens:
We took a lot of these pieces and we sent them to the local businesses that we knew were being affected during COVID. I don’t think we heard back from this bookstore, but there’s a pizza store, and then this other food truck that does these waffle trucks, she sets up little waffle stations, and this other DJ, DJ Big Time, did this whole thing about how he loves this waffle shop. And then six months later, our first experience out in the field was, she came and we made waffles together, and Ella and Oscar were there. So it was really cool, right? It’s like the power of the radio, it’s the power of stories, of just being able to connect to not just things like Preservation Hall, but also things like Crazy Waffles, which is just a local black-owned, amazing small food truck in the city that does awesome work. So yeah, it was just cool to see the potential of that. Really, eye opening for me.

DJ Dice:
That piece that DJ Big Time did, was probably one of my favorites of the whole pandemic, that I heard. I must have listened to that like five times.

Alex Owens:
Yeah, you always shout out big time for it, I love that.

Alec Patton:
We might have to include that one too.

Alex Owens:
Yeah, I’ll pull it up.

DJ Dice:
It was really, really nice.

Alec Patton:
Now here’s DJ Big Times clip about Crazy Waffle. And just to clarify, at the time that he made this, he was calling himself DJ Loud.

Audio:
Yo, this is Dez, aka DJ Loud.
Some of my favorite local spots in a the Big Easy are Crazy Waffle. Crazy Waffle is basically a waffle place with all types of toppings and other things, kind of like, whatever you want. But certain days they have certain things on the specific menu. What makes Crazy Waffle, Crazy Waffle, is all of the different types of waffles they have. Once they had a cornbread waffle with jalapenos in, that was super delicious. I kind of had my doubts about it, but it wasn’t bad. It tasted like cornbread a little bit, but it also taste like a waffle, then it had a kick of spice in it, and then you got to get greens on it and other types of southern sides. So basically it was just kind of soulful, with a waffle. Remember to stay loud, stay blessed, and stay safe. Peace.

Alec Patton:
DJ Rose, do you want to shout out another clip of yours?

DJ Rose:
I have two to shout out.

Alex Owens:
Yeah.

DJ Rose:
Okay. So my first one would be with Jerome Morgan, who has, I forgot how many years, but was incarcerated at a young age, and it was a great story. He was really good. I mean, he was a really good person. I mean, not was, I’m sorry. He is a really great person. And then everything that he’s done with the Innocence Project too, and everything that the Innocence Project has done, was amazing, and he had great stories and great advice for us. Me and DJ DJ.

Alec Patton:
Now here’s DJ Rose and DJ DJ’s interview with Jerome Morgan.

Audio:
Last week, Be Loud interviewed entrepreneur, educator and social justice activist, Jerome Morgan. After spending 25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Mr. Morgan was freed in 2017. Since then, he’s dedicated his life to helping others. Most recently leading Ngombo Cafe and Sanctuary, a cafe and healing space created by exonerees, artists and activists and led by New Orleans youth. Listen up to this interview, and thank you Mr. Morgan for joining us on the Be Loud hot seat.
What was prison like?
Prison and slavery is a surefire way to know how our ancestors felt when they were more in physical bondage than we are now.
That makes me feel really… Really sad.
If you were in prison in New Orleans, why would you decide to stay here?
Oh, that’s a good question. Well, I decided to stay because I didn’t want to abandon my community, the area that I identify with and the area that I was victimized by. But at the same time, during that victimization, I learned a lot about the solutions that we need. And so when I talk to the youth, I always encourage them to learn to lead and not learn to leave, and so I wanted to practice what I preach.
To be honest, if it was me, my mom always says how she really doesn’t like the way the New Orleans court system is set up and the jail system, I wouldn’t really stay. I mean, I love my family and all that, but the New Orleans system and court system is just all messed up in whole.
I would like to respond to that by saying, after I was freed, I was removed from prison, I was faced with the question of how freedom seems to me, or what it means to me. After thinking long and hard about it, I realized that it didn’t feel any different because a lot of the laws were still the same. With that being said, then I would only be free when everybody else is free. And so I say that to your comment to say that you would leave, but you would leave to the same problems.
The problem is not, is ground zero here, but the problem is in this country. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world, we’re the top as far as having these failing systems that draw people into the legal criminal system. So I say that to you, because I don’t want you to feel that if you leave New Orleans then you are going to leave the issues that New Orleans suffer from, but you’re going to be in a area where you don’t have any roots and when you face these same issues, you have less support because you don’t have your community with you. And a lot of people end up lonely in that sense. Even if you are successful, you still don’t have your family and you still feel at a loss.
How did you feel when you got out of prison?
Oh man, that was my point in which I knew that all the things that people can’t touch, like faith, prayer, just positive vibes, does work. So I just felt successful in that sense that the way I went about achieving my freedom really works, because I depended on the things that money can’t buy, and it was such a exhilarating feeling to be successful, taking that path.
I’m speechless.
Can I say it again?
In your whole entire life, how do you think your life has changed?
When I talk about prison and people say, well damn, did prison make you, change you? I say, “Well, prison didn’t make me, prison didn’t change me.” And that was the victory for me. But of course I grew, every day you’re not going to be the same person because you learn something new. So when you learn something new, a person that didn’t know, dies, so you change, but you change in an onward and upward way instead of regressing and going backwards. And not knowing things or doing things different from what you knew, you can find yourself going backwards. But the object is to not change, but to grow, not change that good part of you, that individual part of you that is purposed to be in this world, to make everything better, and growing from those bad things that make you inconsiderate of other people and other life forms. Didn’t make me, but it didn’t change me.
That was beautiful. What are you doing now to help people who are coming out of prison?
Oh, well, with the cafe and sanctuary, everywhere we could bridge the gap between our former incarcerated and the youth that are suffering from those members being expelled from their homes. And so I wanted to create an opportunity where the youth can get the wisdom from the people that haven’t been in their communities, that’s been missing, and also for the youth to teach them about today’s society. And it’ll bridge the gap that’s needed because people coming home from prison, from other adults are always treated like they are inadequate or they are children. On the flip side of that, children need these individuals to be positive figures, to encourage them, pass whatever struggles they’re going through, since they’ve already overcame a struggle by being in prison. I want to ask you, what’s the one thing that you respect regardless of anything?
My parents. My parents, because they keep a roof over my head and they feed me and they give me an education.
Yeah. Well, I deeply, deeply appreciate the honor and privilege to be here, to be interviewed by you guys who be called on the radio show, and for you to be interested in knowing who I am and what I represent. It is all about you guys, and you rock, and I hope to be invited on the show again.
Have a good day. Make sure to be brave, be strong. No matter what happens, people will always be there for you.

Alec Patton:
Alex, do you want to add anything about that?

Alex Owens:
Yeah, man, I got so much. First of all, Jerome had a baby that day. I don’t know if you, Ella, I think we’ve talked about that, and took this Zoom call from the hospital, basically. So he looked so tired and there was all this background noise. I was like, “Oh my gosh.” And we started this in the middle of COVID, it was like, why can’t kids be interviewing people over Zoom? Let’s just record the call and then chop it up. And so we started something called the Hot Seat. Oscar actually did, maybe not the first one, but he did one of my favorite ones with Tank and the Bangas, a Grammy nominated band. And so we do one every month now, and Ella is really awesome on them, just interviewing people over Zoom. And Jerome Morgan was powerful, man, he just went right into his story of 23 years incarcerated and coming out. And it was sort of like, “Whoa, deep.”

Alec Patton:
All right. And then you had one more, right?

DJ Rose:
Yeah. Another one was we were doing an interview, I mean not an interview, a segment about back to school. And I was talking about how it was with COVID and everything and teachers not reminding students to keep their mask up, and students are not old enough or just choose not to get the vaccine. It was honestly a long time ago, but now students are, they’re basically being forced to get the vaccine.

Alec Patton:
Now here’s DJ Rose’s clip about going back to school.

Audio:
Hey, this is DJ Rose, and today I will be talking about how I feel on in-person school. First, I want to say that teachers should push students to keep their mask on and wear it correctly. I mean, it’s still COVID, and students either choose not to get the vaccine or are too young. My second reason is that, after Hurricane Ida we went on virtual for a little while and then had three days of school and then just went back on fall break for two weeks. I mean, it actually might have not been two weeks, but it felt like it. We are just not getting enough education. Thank you for listening to my thoughts and complaints about in-person school, and always stay tuned to Be Loud Radio.

Alec Patton:
Alex, what are your thoughts hearing that?

Alex Owens:
Yeah, what I said with Ella, I think that was the first time, Ella, because you weren’t with me during the summer, I heard some stuff, I knew you were good, but that was one of the first things I was like, “Oh, DJ Rose is legit.” I think I started calling you BBC around then. I like to call her BBC or NPR, she’s just really serious and she takes it seriously and she produces good stuff. And so this was one of the first times I was like, “Oh man, she is… This is legit. This is cool.”

Alec Patton:
That’s cool. A lot of people who listen to our show are teachers, and I know they’re going to be thinking, okay, how can I do this with my students?

Alex Owens:
We actually started a teacher fellowship in the city just because we recognize that there’s so many teachers that want to do storytelling, and just from my experience, there’s not a lot of support, you’re swimming on stuff on Google, you’re trying to find it. And so we call it Pass the Mic, and we give teachers $500 worth of gear, we give them coaching, I was on three coaching calls today. I go to their school, I try to get them set up, but we also give them $1000 worth of a personal stipend, just recognizing that you don’t get paid above and beyond, specifically in New Orleans charter schools, to take on these projects, so I think that’s first.
The advice I’d give everyone though, and this is where we started, was just like, “You have to start small.” I think when teachers try to do a podcasting project, they think about the things we listen to, these 45 minute grand stories, multi stories, that have all these sounds, and they have all this weaving of interviews. And it’s like, “Yeah, that’s the ideal and that’s what we want to push kids to.” But ultimately to me is, if Oscar can make, if Ella can make something that sounds really good in 45 seconds, then that’s just the bridge to making more long form stuff. So that’s the pressure I put on them is just, get this practice, find your voice. And I think it’s really, really important to think about it in small ways, so that’s the first tip I always give teachers.
And then the second is, you’re already doing the majority of radio work, the writing, the reflection. Radio and podcasting is just another way of pressing print. Instead of updating, putting it on Seesaw, instead of printing it out, instead of putting it on the wall, all you’re doing is just getting kids to press record.
And that’s the thing about now, especially because of COVID, there’s thousands of ways to do it, whether it’s on Zoom, whether it’s on a Seesaw, whether it’s setting up a Google Voice. That was the first thing we did in the middle of COVID, two weeks after COVID hit, we set up a Google Voice number and we just encouraged kids to call in, and we called it The Community Hotline, and it was just like, how are you feeling right now? And we would get 20, 25 kids who called every week.
And so there’s millions of ways for you to collect voices, and I think it’s just keeping really simple prompts that allow for students to be authentically themselves. Taking those prompts, then collecting them and putting them together, that takes a little work on the teacher’s part. But then it’s about finding audience, and that’s something that we’re still trying to get a lot better at, is just like, how do we make sure that Dice and Rose aren’t just talking, but they’re being listened to? So the radio show, 102.3 FM, we have a Saturday morning radio show that we hear every week. We’re redoing our website, y’all, we’re just trying to build that audience out because we just know that especially big picture kids just aren’t listened to enough.

Alec Patton:
And so taking say, just as an example, the Jerome interview, so was that set up by the adults initially?

Alex Owens:
Yeah.

Alec Patton:
So you found a kind of person who were like, this would be a good person to interview?

Alex Owens:
Yeah. Me and him were in a fellowship together, and I was just like, “You have an amazing story.” And it wasn’t themed or anything, and I would say 95% of the stuff right now is me setting up experiences. But again, we’re just getting started, and where are we moving to? To when Dice or Rose have done this for a couple years and then they start seeking these stories and they start seeking the interviews out, and that’s kind of the big plan.
But for example, we’re going to be interviewing some people at the zoo, virtually, in a couple weeks. And that just came from me last week asking kids, what are you curious about? And Ella was actually part of this group. There was a kid who’s been rocking with us for a while, and she was just like, she wanted to learn more about animals, behind the scenes.

Alec Patton:
Cool.

Alex Owens:
And I was like, “Cool.” So I just called the zoo and I was like, “Would anyone be willing to talk?” And they’re like, well, you’re not allowed to be at the zoo right now, behind the scenes. I was like, “Well jump on a Zoom call.” And so COVID has made things a lot harder, especially in education. But there are some things, like me getting a group of fourth graders on a Zoom call before COVID would’ve been impossible, but now it’s common practice.

Alec Patton:
So DJ Rose, how much time did you have between finding out you’re interviewing Jerome and doing the interview?

DJ Rose:
Well, since I do virtual, it’s on Tuesdays usually. So they said, we’re going to do an interview with Jerome Morgan on Thursday if you want to come. And so it was only me and DJ DJ who showed up. And honestly, I wasn’t really ready, I just wanted to come because I was interested. But after we went over questions and after all of preparing and stuff, I was honestly ready.

Alec Patton:
So you do the interview and what happens next? Who edits that tape? What happens after the interview?

DJ Rose:
After the interview, I just leave the call. But I’m pretty sure Mr. Alex, he usually records the Zoom calls and then he edits them.

Alec Patton:
And Alex, what do you use to do that? What software? Let’s get into it, what software?

Alex Owens:
Yeah. Cool. So the stuff that, these little scripts that Oscar was talking about, that Ella talked about the back to school, here’s another tip is, once teacher’s get going, I’ve also found, and I’ve worked with a few teachers in New Orleans, that the more you front load the editing, so if you’re doing a collection of pieces, and the more that the kids can add their own music and clip and make sure it’s all right, the less work you have to do to compile. And so they do everything in Soundtrack, virtually.
So we have a virtual program, it actually just started back up, Dice was in it last year. It’s definitely an imperfect program, but the best thing about it is kids can set up their own recording studios at home, and they use Soundtrack, which is a really cool tool, it’s free, there’s premium education accounts. And kids can, it’s like editing training wheels, you can put music under it, you can do multi-tracks, you can trim, you can cut, all this stuff. So when you listen to Dice’s pieces, that’s a hundred percent him. And then what I do with those, is I basically take Dice and I take Ella’s and I take the five best out of the 15, and I’ll put them together for our four minute radio segment. Right?

Alec Patton:
Got it. Yeah.

Alex Owens:
For the interviews, like at Preservation Hall, these guys in person, they’re starting to learn now how to edit their interviews. So they’ll press record and have it, and then they’ve learned to where to split the sections and then how to put music in and out. So that’s been really cool and I’m really excited about them owning it. They used GarageBand for that, just cause we bought a bunch of iPads last year.

Alec Patton:
Sure.

Alex Owens:
The virtual interviews are a little tricky. Those, they’ve been edited post by me, or we have someone that works for us now, but last year we had high school interns, we had two of them, and they’re all virtual, I’ve never met this guy. I don’t know if you remember him Dice, his name was Emery.

Alec Patton:
Yeah, I remember him.

Alex Owens:
He was just an amazing kid who loved editing audio. So I would send him stuff and he would cut down a 60 or a 30 minute conversation into the best 10 minutes, and then I would kind of fiddle from there. We are going to start a high school internship next year with a local school giving five kids a stipend to help us produce and edit these shows every week.

Alec Patton:
Cool. Okay. Final question, DJ Dice, DJ Rose, where do those names come from?

DJ Dice:
I play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, and just in general I really love playing board games and really any game. So I figure one of the key components in any of that is DJ Dice, or I mean, is dice. Well, okay. Dice are really important in most games. And also I’m pretty sure DJ Dice just sounds pretty cool, in my opinion.

Alec Patton:
Yes, it sounds cool.

DJ Dice:
So that is where that name came from.

Alec Patton:
And DJ Rose?

DJ Rose:
Well mine came from my great-grandmother. Her name is Rose, so I just call her Grandma Rose. Well, she passed, but we were really close. And then also after I created my DJ name, we got our dog and now her name is Bella Rose, so I guess it’s dedicated to both of them.

Alec Patton:
Cool. Okay. Thank you all so much. I think that I’ll keep rolling just in case anything happens, and I’ll learn here, like we all have.

Alex Owens:
Hey, let’s take some of our own medicine, y’all want to do a last word? It’s been a while for you Dice, but Ella, we always kind of end on, we make guests do a little last word, so do you want to give a last word to this?

DJ Rose:
Sure. A tip for recording would be, oh, I guess, never give up. Because you can give up when things are hard and you don’t understand and it’s confusing, but just never give up.

Alex Owens:
Yes, that’s true with recording and true in life. Yes.

DJ Dice:
So first of all, thank you so much. Also, a little tip I guess, whenever you’re talking to someone, interviewing or whatever, a while ago I recorded something and I was listening to it recently when I was trying to find some of my favorite pieces, and it was dull and monotonous and I was just like, “No way I am putting this in my top three segments. This is not good at all.” But I think the main reason for that was because it was just dull. So yeah, give pieces flavor, when you’re talking in general, I guess, just flavor and spicing it up with emotion, putting emotion into your words and yeah, that I guess, last word.

Alec Patton:
Great. Thank you all so much. Thanks for taking the time. This has been an absolute pleasure.

Alex Owens:
Yeah, I appreciate it. And while I’m on this, I want to save this on tape too, Ella and Oscar, you are the reason Be Loud exists. You are amazing kids who have grown so much in and out of this program, and I’m just really grateful. If I don’t say that enough, I love doing this work, and it’s because I get to work with you two. So you’re awesome. Even if you’re not with Be Loud, keep doing storytelling, keep recording, keep being curious, keep putting a mic in front of things, because y’all are really gifted and I’m really excited to see where it takes you.

Alec Patton:
High Tech High Unboxed is hosted and edited by me, Alec Patton. Our theme music is by brother Herschel. Huge thanks to Ella, Oscar and Alex for taking the time to share their clips with us. Check the show notes to find everything you need to listen to more from the Be Loud DJs, including a link directly to that interview with Tank and the Bangas. Thanks for listening.