Our guest DJ on Beat Soup, and the focus of this week's interview, is Focus OC resident and deep, sexy house aficionado Wobs!  We first met Wobs in 2007 when we booked a DJ duo called Joplin & Wobs to play on The Woogie Stage, which was composed, as you might guess, of both Joplin and Wobs.  (We realize that can be tricky math, so we wanted to break it down for you.)  In addition to delivering a fantastic set, one of the more stand-out memories was Wobs wearing what can only be described as a DJ headphone helmet.  If only I had photos.

Then we had Wobs back on The Woogie Stage this past year (2011), and, like a cheesy romance novel, we fell in love with him all over again.  It was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, as they always are at LIB, and Wobs was dropping the PERFECT set for a perfect day, delivering track after track of amazing beats, ranging from mid-tempo deep house to didjeridu infused booty tech, with the precision of a master.  And on top of all that, he's also a really great guy.  So join us as we raise our double no-foam Kahlua lattes in a toast to the man, the myth, and possibly the real father of Jesse Wright's kid . . . WOBS!

Check out Wobs live at Woogie Nights LA on Beat Soup!!

POCKET: Hey man, thanks for chatting with us!  So, right off the bat, I know all your fans are dying to know . . . How did you end up with the name Wobs?

WOBS: The name Wobs comes from my last name, which is Wahlberg. When I was about 10 years old there were about 4 of us named Brian so we got called by our last names. And my friend and his Mom just started calling me Wobs and it sort of stuck.

POCKET: What’s your home town and where were you brought up?

WOBS: Pretty much born and raised in the O.C. and went to Long Beach state and Cal State Fullerton with a major in advertising.

Wobs rockin' King King at the very first Woogie Nights LA!

POCKET: How’d you discover house music?

WOBS: It all kinda started with a friend of mine who needed a place to keep his turntables, because he managed to annoy his neighbors after he got ‘em. So he brought them over to my house and I started playing with them and buying some vinyl here and there. But it wasn’t ‘till I went to a party put on by a local record shop called Higher Source over in Hunnington Beach that everything kinda clicked for me.

POCKET: And how would you define their sound?

WOBS: It was pretty much deep ”west coast” house with hints of Chicago and New York influences.  It was right around the time that Hipp-E and Halo were releasing their super dubby, kinda tribal deep house, maybe ’99 or 2000 and they had a big influence on what we were playing.  But that record store was “the” place back in the day.

On The Woogie Stage at LIB 2011!!

POCKET: Right now, considering all the new changes in production, and considering the influences of techno in house music, what are you playing?

WOBS: Well, I often find myself flip flopping between house and techno.  When I first started playing I was playing a lot of techno as well.  Been really into Joel Mull and Cari Leikebush, but it all depends on where and when I’m playing.  Though I generally stay within the deep house realm, you will absolutely hear some tech house and techno vibes coming through in most of my sets.

POCKET: Any other influential artists out right now that you want to mention?

WOBS: Yeah, Maya Jane Coles has been putting out some seriously amazing music.  Saban is doing some great stuff, actually got to play with him recently.  On the harder end I dig most of the dirtybird crew.  I get my tunes from all over the place but it seems to work for me.

Wobs bringing the sexy funk to the Neoroweapon at Burning Man 2011!

POCKET: Out of all the gigs you’ve played, do you have one that really stands out?

WOBS: Definitely.  I was playing at the Hollywood Athletic Club for a night called “Zero 1” and we were hosting Giant.  There were about 3500 people in the place and I was on right before Jim Masters and Christian Smith.  The place was packed, the booth was vibrating like mad, and it was so loud in there I had no idea how I was mixing anything.  The whole set was a blur but people were loving it, it was a very surreal experience.  Definitely Lightning in a Bottle is one of the more amazing gigs.  It’s really hard for me to put my finger on it but something about the combination of the place, the sound, the people and the art makes it really unlike any other gig that I’ve played.

POCKET: Yeah, LIB's alright I guess . . . if you're into AWESOME!  What's the weirdest or funniest experience you’ve had at a gig?

WOBS: I was playing this club, or really more of a bar, in the OC and this girl decided to come up and dance behind the booth, in between me and the mixer.  So I decided to see if I could just play around her.  I went about mixing tracks, trying to act like this was normal, and everything was fine until one of the bass lines was about to drop in a track, she flailed and hit the tone arm knocking the needle across the record which made, as I'm sure you know, the most horrible sound I’ve ever heard.  That wasn’t good, but memorable for sure.

Wobs crushing it on The Woogie Stage at LIB!

POCKET: What’s your response to top 40 requests?

WOBS: Ha!  Well, I try to be as nice as I can about it and let them know that I’m a house DJ and that I don’t really play that. I have some friends that would say “yeah, sure, I’ll play that next” but that’s not really my style.

POCKET: You’re also, in my opinion, a pretty amazing photographer, would you like to plug your website?

WOBS: Yeah sure, you know I fell back in love with photography just a couple years ago, quit the corporate job and gave into it full time.  My website is Wobsarazzi.com where you can check out my work.

POCKET: Good for you.  And you started something called the 365 project, tell us about that:

WOBS: The 365 project is where I try to make 1 great photo every day this year. I knew that it would be a challenge but I had no idea what I was getting myself in to. Trying to find the subject matter to do it can be challenging and requires a lot of travel and time.

POCKET: Yeah, I bet.  Well, anything else you want to let us know about?

WOBS: Yes, I have a residency at Focus  (Focus-OC.com); we’ve been doing it every Tuesday for about 8 and a half years now. We had no idea it would go that long there and it’s been great. I play about twice a month and I’ll be headlining there on the 13^th of this month if anyone wants to come out and say hi. It’s a fun night and a good EAW system so I can spread out a little and get dirty.

POCKET: Ewww, gross, do that kinda stuff on your own time Wobs.  Seriously though, thanks so much for taking the time to share with us and letting us get to know you a little better.  I expect we'll be seeing and hearing a lot from you in the not too distant future!  Thanks Wobs!

Wobs: You Betch'ya!

If you haven't already, take a listen to Wobs' live set on The Woogie Stage at LIghtning in a Bottle 2011 RIGHT HERE!!  It's a whole lotta awesome.
For more info on Focus OC click HERE!