Shawna didn’t follow a typical path to becoming one of the most in-demand live entertainers in sports. In the last few years alone, she has been one of four DJs in the NBA Bubble, has opened for Lizzo and Shaq, was the official DJ of the Ryder Cup, and much more. It wasn’t long ago that the now 40-year-old was cold-calling bars and clubs in Milwaukee, “begging” to spin on a random weeknight. In fact, Shawna didn’t even get into DJing until she had to stop playing basketball (she played for UW-Madison and professionally overseas). So, how did all of this happen? Listen to this week’s episode to find out and get inspired by one of our most beloved Milwaukeeans, DJ Shawna.
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Produced by Story Mark Studios: https://milwaukeeuncut.com/
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Transcript
Richie Burke:
Hey everyone. Welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut, sponsored by Central Standard Distillery and produced by Story. Mark Studios. Got an amazing guest here today, DJ Shauna. She is the Bucks dj. She was the 2020 Rider Cub dj. She’s still in the Women’s Final Four Open for Lizzo. Thank you. Like Shaq, maybe one of the four DJs in the N B A bubble. Absolutely. Might get into that a little bit. Has her dare to be clothing line. Really interesting basketball career too. A three time high school state champ and state player of the year. Pius,
Dj Shawna:
You always hit me with that. Not a lot of people still hit me with it, but I appreciate that. Thank you.
Richie Burke:
That’s an accomplishment. Thank you. Played a couple years on the Badgers, then had some issues. Went to Bellarmine University. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Bellarmine in Louisville. Yeah. I’ll give you all the Southern, you got to say Louisville, it got
Richie Burke:
Swallowing Louisville. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Louisville, Beman all
Richie Burke:
Played in Louisville, Bella, Louisville, then overseas a little bit. Yeah, and just one of the nicest people in Milwaukee.
Dj Shawna:
Oh, Richie. I don’t pay you enough to say that, but thank you. Thanks. I
Richie Burke:
Didn’t get paid anything from you, but I still believe you or one of the nice people for Milwaukee. Welcome to the show. It’s good to see you again. Thank you. Been a little while.
Dj Shawna:
Thanks for having me. Thanks everybody for being here today too. Appreciate the audience.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, we got a whole gallery. Oakley shot you down though. He was going to come on the couch and then went back to his mom as he always does, but
Dj Shawna:
I’m convinced he’ll warm up.
Richie Burke:
He might. I hope so. Could Duke the ratings up. She’s good on camera. I throw him into a lot of our ads and stuff. You got to throw the puppy in there.
Dj Shawna:
Absolutely.
Richie Burke:
Anyway, your basketball career. Let’s start there. You love basketball. I know you’re just a basketball nut. Thank you. It’s hard for you to eventually give up, but you have a very interesting story from high school to college and some of the struggles you went through and then going pro and ultimately having to give that up. Can you
Dj Shawna:
I never knew life without basketball. I never had a basketball hoop. I grew up literally dribbling constantly. I just would dribble all the time. I grew up on 45th and Volite dribble outside my house constantly. My dad would take me to parks, so I grew up playing on playgrounds across the city, whether it was at Washington Park or at Dowing or Juno Park.
There’s so many parks that I would just go, kept a ball in the car and would just shoot, but found my way to Pius where I was grateful to play for I think the legendary Joel Clawson. There we go. That’s what I’m talking about. You like basketball too? Yeah, and so I’m convinced it’s one of the best dynasties in basketball in the high school level from a state championship standpoint. I don’t want to be quoted on the exact number, but I know it’s at least 20 state championships and to be a part of something like that was just absolutely amazing.
So we won three stage championships while I was at Pius. I was lucky to get a full ride to Madison, so I’m a proud badger where I competed for my first two years and my third year, my junior year, I was medically redshirted due to too many concussions and so I was really tiny actually in the big 10, which was just a crazy thing to just learn. I’m a point guard. I’m five nine and I walked in my freshman year maybe if I was lucky, weighing about 125 pounds just soaking wind.
This is too perfect. And I was taking charges and hitting my head too much and so I go back to that little kid with the basketball in their hand and it always kind of chokes me up a little bit, but it got ripped away from me and that was, I kind of still joke that it’s like the hardest breakup I’ve ever gone through and so finished my undergrad as a junior and a senior at Madison and graduated, was in the real world for two years and that was when I realized I just missed basketball.
Richie Burke:
How hard was it to be at UW for two years and not be able to suit up and play and then what were you doing in the real world at that point in time? That’s
Dj Shawna:
A great question. That’s when I started DJing. It was really tough and I think part of the story that I’m really proud of is I have never, I don’t know what you call it, but I’ve always been sober. I’ve never drank alcohol, I’ve never tried drugs. I’ve never done anything other than tattoos maybe, but so dealing with that and I’m not that old, but it also was during a time where mental health and talking about these things, it wasn’t a thing.
Richie Burke:
This is like mid two thousands.
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, so I’m 40 and yeah, I graduated Wisconsin in 2005, so it was like oh 3 0 4 and then oh five oh or oh 4, 0 5, excuse me. Yeah, so it just wasn’t, mental health wasn’t something that we talked about. We didn’t prioritize therapy, we didn’t prioritize that stuff and so it literally was all I knew and I didn’t know who I was. I’ll be honest, when I didn’t have that jersey anymore, I identified so much as number 40 for University of Wisconsin Madison and that was hard.
That was tricky. I think though, as with anything, there’s always the blessing in disguise. I got to really sort of dive into other stuff that I love, which at the time I got made fun of and I’m not ashamed of it anymore. I joined the juggling club. I like being creative. I think I’m playful, and so that was something that I had a lot of fun with. I started playing the djembe drum. Madison has a bunch of drum circles. I joined there. I got my own djembe drum. I joined the break dancing club. I don’t tell a lot of people that, but I learned how to break dance a little bit. I’m enamored with
Richie Burke:
You couldn’t play due to concussions and then you just started break dancing instead.
Dj Shawna:
It was about a year after I got released, so for a whole calendar year I wasn’t able to do any physical activity and then I wasn’t doing head spins or anything on year one. I appreciate
Richie Burke:
That. I can’t normal dance, so I don’t, yeah, hopefully
Dj Shawna:
Things you’re crazy, but it was just, I realized in hindsight how much I reached out from a creative standpoint and that was when I started DJing too, to just hang out with my peers. I didn’t drink alcohol and a lot of my peers were in bars and clubs and when you look at, I think any basketball player you just kind of like is the epitome of what hip hop is. Oakley’s amazing by the way. Oakley
Richie Burke:
Should be, yeah. Oakley’s just sitting there. Oakley, you want to hop up on the couch?
Dj Shawna:
You want to come up? I think we’re fine right now.
Richie Burke:
Okay, okay. Sounds good.
Dj Shawna:
And so it was just, that’s when I realized how much I missed sometimes life outside of basketball, but I did find my way back and so I had a doctor release me and I moved down south and I graduated from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky with my master’s in communication and I finished out as a 26 year old senior and I loved it. I loved every second, so it was a change.
I went from Power five school in the Big 10 division one to a division two school where we traveled on the same bus as our Maddens team and it was the epitome also of the movie Hoosiers. It was the same game. It didn’t matter what uniform I had on, it didn’t matter where we played, what kind of gyms, how we got there. I just wanted to play and then I made my way overseas.
Richie Burke:
What was overseas like
Dj Shawna:
Amazing. Where’d you play mostly? I was in Holland. I spent a lot of my time in Holland and then a little bit in England and Germany.
Richie Burke:
How did that fizzle out?
Dj Shawna:
I got too old. I think I had,
Richie Burke:
I guess if you’re a 27 year old rookie, your Tom wa condensed a little bit.
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, it was and I just tried to soak every minute of it as I could. I had a contract for what would’ve been my next professional season to Australia fall through I think they picked a W N B A point guard over me and I set then after that a timeline for myself on how long I was going to hold onto that dream, keep working out in that capacity until I figured out I was going to have to. I hate saying let it go, but you have to at some point in that regard. Yeah, so yeah,
Richie Burke:
You’re 40 now. That all happened when you’re 27. You brought it up first. I know.
Dj Shawna:
I didn’t want it. I know
Richie Burke:
I just hit 35. I saw Ian just hit 40. Ian just hit 40. Oh, we got it. We’ll get into Ella later. I just more so want to know what it’s like working with him. He was my roommate for six years or so,
Dj Shawna:
So it’s the most amazing, incredible experience.
Richie Burke:
I don’t know if I’d labeled it as that. We could talk about that later, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Exactly. But okay, so that happens when you’re in your mid to late twenties, like 27, you’re 40 now. You probably picked the two hardest professions to actually make money at and make a living at some of the two. I feel like just looking from the outside your career trajectory, you’ve really popped off in the last five years or so. Thank you. What was it like from maybe 27 to 35? Who knows before you were this,
Dj Shawna:
Who knows what’s the last 10 years? You don’t know what you’re doing. That’s crazy. That’s honestly the thing. I was trained in basketball players, so still involved in the game with a local AAU program, one-on-one Milwaukee and that was life-changing, career changing for me basketball wise and I was DJing and I never thought DJing was going to be the thing that popped off. I was kind of setting stuff up to figure out how to become, make training elite athletes, my shtick, my thing, and I don’t know, it was one of those things like being in the right place at the right time because it was crazy when I learned about live entertainment and that’s what I’m in now.
When you take somebody out of bars and clubs and you put a DJ at a sporting venue, which now we’re everywhere and there’s massive names as DJs in sports making incredible impacts in my opinion.
And I learned about it through honestly Instagram and I saw somehow the algorithm showed me DJ and I didn’t know how to say this man’s name. I didn’t know who he was, but I think I remember seeing, he was DJing beach volleyball and so I go down this rabbit hole of following DJ and I learn Chet is the A v P Pro volleyball tour dj, he’s the Lakers dj and this man has DJ’ed at the Olympics.
And I was like, that’s what I want to do. And he tells the story way better after that. Now he’s my best friend and mentor and I don’t remember what I said to him. I don’t remember what I shot in a message. I remember just being like, this is amazing. Would love to learn. And that was it. I remember I didn’t ask for anything. What is he going to do for me in LA and I’m in Milwaukee. I wanted to be in Milwaukee and try to find my own lane in that regards. And coincidentally, that was the year the Bucks called. So I think we’re now at, I want to say 2017 and I don’t even know how old I am, honestly. You can do the math, but
Richie Burke:
35
Dj Shawna:
Ish. Yeah, yeah, 34, 35 and that’s the first year the bucks called and I had four or five games at the Bradley Center as support. It was like when you scan your tickets, when you walk into the Bradley Center, we were just DJing
Richie Burke:
Right by the windows. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Exactly. Yeah, just our mission was to set the vibe for what you were coming into. Giannis was a part of the team at the time. He wasn’t Giannis that he is today, but he was still Giannis and so there was a handful of us that worked pretty consistently, but I think that first year there was 15 to 20 DJs that worked as support and ironically, that same year was the first year that I became Marquette women’s basketball official DJ and host, and then it just snowballed from there. For me. I cold called the N C A A and that’s how that year I became the Women’s Final four dj. They didn’t have a DJ that they used consistently. They would just use local DJs wherever they were that year. And just for me, that was crazy and there was no looking back.
Richie Burke:
It seems like in those earlier years you were doing a lot of hustling. I know you were playing at Walker’s Pint all time, which isn’t far from here,
Dj Shawna:
I’m saying was not that long
Richie Burke:
Ago. You still go back there, right? Yeah, which is awesome. It seems like in those early years it was like you were just kind of playing wherever you could and doing a lot of cold reach outs and hustling and trying to do that with you’re not raw credit. A lot of your success to that.
Dj Shawna:
Thank you. You’re not wrong. I remember honestly, and Betsy at Walker’s Pint is amazing. I wouldn’t be the DJ I am, I wouldn’t be the person I am without her or that place and it’s special and you can go down your own rabbit hole at looking that.
I think it’s under 20 lesbian bars in the whole entire country and we have one here down the block and that was a documentary that came out again during Covid and it is crazy to know that it’s a special place where anybody can go in, but it’s very special. And so yeah, I just at Walker’s Pint not that long ago for a random Saturday afternoon, that was one that made my heart so happy, but I was literally, I would cold call places and I wasn’t trying to take anybody’s job at all. I wasn’t trying to headline on Saturday night at Dick’s. I just seven 20
Richie Burke:
I that would be big time headlining at Dick’s. I remember
Dj Shawna:
I got there eventually, but I was just like, I just want to be a part of it and I would beg, I beg Wednesday nights, do you need a dj? Do you have a dj? I just want to get in and learn and try. I was at Hybrid, I DJ’ed a lot. You can probably name places and I probably DJ there and that was like five or six years until I realized what live entertainment was and I just really haven’t looked back then.
Richie Burke:
That’s awesome. Thank you. Was there ever a point where you considered giving up or getting a normal job?
Dj Shawna:
Yeah. And what is normal too? Yeah, I mean last year you just don’t know. I am lucky and I mean this is marketing and branding. I didn’t go to school for any of this. I just am learning as I go and we will talk about it and normally I don’t. I’m 40. I’m always learning every single day because I want to keep doing this until it doesn’t make sense. I feel grateful, eternally grateful because you complimented me greatly in the last five years. I think, like you said, you’re not wrong. I think I’ve just been given a bigger platform and I’ve learned that through sports is that working for the Bucks?
People look at you differently and as an athlete we wear that jersey. People look at you differently and they have different expectations for you and that’s something that sports always taught me. And so it is crazy that the two careers I’ve had are probably incredibly difficult to make a profession out of, but the blueprints are so synonymous and that’s all I’ve did in my basketball careers.
I’m really trying to replicate in my DJ career and continue to use the platform in those eyes as good as I possibly can to try to make this world a little bit of a better place. So I’m just grateful for the Bucks winning a championship too because it’s so special. We were talking about it before we started having cameras rolling, what it did for the city and even selfishly for me what it did for my career and it’s just a huge honor to have been a part of that.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. All right. Speaking of the Bucks, let’s get into you being the Bucks dj. Okay. What is something about being the Bucks DJ that would surprise most people about your job That they may not My specific
Dj Shawna:
Job? Yeah. It differs from every team and that’s a whole probably other podcast, but I do two jobs and so I think the prep work, honestly, I spend four to five hours per game every home game preparing four to five hours before I even step into the arena really?
And that’s just for that specific game. So I mean this is nerdy stuff, but then that doesn’t even count everything that has happened already before those four or five hours, which I think experience and organization, but four to five hours for that specific game step into the arena at noon, I think for a 7:00 PM game I set up both of, I have two DJ booths I set up go into our pre-production meeting and then hit the ground running with rehearsals. And then when we’re done with rehearsals, Chris and Giannis are out on the court for their pre pregame warmup and shoot around. And
Richie Burke:
Are you playing the music for those two? Yep. So are those specific playlists they want or do you curate ’em? It
Dj Shawna:
Depends on how they’re feeling. I usually curate ’em off the top. Some of ’em have opinions and some of ’em don’t. And that’s one of my favorite things about that job is, and now I’m going into my fifth season with them and it’s so humbling and I just had a meeting earlier this week about, it’s just one of my favorite things is the guys knowing the music comes from me and kind of being that person not only in game, but then they invite, I DJ all their private family stuff too, and to be a part of their world is such a gift because the way we look at them and who they are as athletes is amazing, but at the end of the day, they’re really, really great humans, and so I don’t take that for granted.
Richie Burke:
That’s cool. So you’re putting four hours and then you’re arriving at noon and then you’re doing setup and pre-production meetings and you’re actually DJing before the game, and then you DJ the whole game and
Dj Shawna:
Go home at 1130.
Richie Burke:
It’s a long day.
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, it is a long day longer than any game I ever played in. It’s crazy. And it gave me a huge appreciation for the game. Obviously playing women’s basketball and being a part also of the Women’s Final Four and the people that long before women’s sports is where it was now, the people that showed up and put these kind of hours in, it made me just appreciate it so much more. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
Question. You spoke about having a very hard time letting go of basketball. You just aged out of it essentially. Do you get a similar rush DJing those games or DJing concerts that you did on the basketball court? Is that just unreplicable going from an athlete to a dj? You’re still kind of physically out there?
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, I think it’s a fun question. The rush I’ve been chasing, it’s like I loved who I was. Like I said as number 40, kind of that alter ego. I was confident and not cocky I don’t think, but I liked who I was as a basketball player. That was my comfort zone. I just felt at home. Some people, it might be the golf course, some people might be behind the mic. We all have that sweet spot. I’m like, the best of us kind of comes out, and so that’s what I’ve been chasing.
I wouldn’t say that I get that high that Bucks games because I’m there to add value. When you come, you’re there to see the Bucks play. You’re not there to hear me. I’m here to add value, not only to the players’ day, to the coaching staff, to the other team, but also everybody that’s paying to come into those doors. I’m here to try to make this experience as great as it possibly can be in the way that I can. But when I’m grateful for Summer Fest, I’m grateful for Milwaukee Pride Fest and those things that’s crazy
Richie Burke:
More
Dj Shawna:
Similar, that’s on a different level. And that’s the stuff in those sort of fleeting moments when it happens, you hold on to, because that stuff, that’s the juice right there. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. So you play the songs right after everyone scores? Yes. How do you come up with those? Do the players request? Do you come up with them? Is it a collaborative effort?
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, so Giannis and Chris’s were kind of handed down. Yani has had two in his. That’s a fun bucks little trivia if you want to deep dive into that. He’s had two songs and then the other ones are collaborative. Sometimes we pick ’em and then they ask us to change them and sometimes they suggest, so I’ll give you a fun story.
When we signed Jay last year, I got to kind of link up with him and his manager and I told him, I was like, whatever you need. I was like, when you’re warming up, I want to make sure if it matters that you’re in the right space, so tell me what you like. And so Jay wanted a bad bunny, so we had some bad bunny when he was playing, and that stuff’s fun. Like I said, it’s cool when Drake dropped, why did I just forget it? 21, but it was 20 holidays.
Richie Burke:
Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Exactly. So Drew text me and I was like, I already got it, dude. It was pretty great. So that was one of my favorites too. I was kind of preemptively on that and Drew was like, can you do this? I was like, yeah, it’s ready already.
Richie Burke:
Who’s the biggest diva on the team when it comes to their music?
Dj Shawna:
Me. Yeah, definitely me. I can’t throw nobody. Yeah,
Richie Burke:
Not throwing anyone under the bus. Nope. You better throw Ian under the bus a little bit for me later. What would your stinger be right now if you were out there?
Dj Shawna:
Ooh, I’m going to pick my song. I have my second signal. Single is called Hire of a Fighter.
Richie Burke:
I listened to it last night. You did?
Dj Shawna:
Yeah. What do you think? I
Richie Burke:
Like it. You
Dj Shawna:
Do? Yeah. Do you want to know why I wrote it? Why? Do you know why?
Richie Burke:
No, I don’t.
Dj Shawna:
Can I tell you? Do you all want to know why they’re laughing back here? I wish we
Richie Burke:
Could. I was going to ask you about your songs later, but let’s dive right now. Why don’t you
Dj Shawna:
Write it all? This is intertwined, Richie. There’s no linear thing here, right? So women’s basketball doesn’t have a championship anthem.
Richie Burke:
I did. I do remember I watched your YouTube video,
Dj Shawna:
So that’s the goal. I’m hoping, and I keep saying it out loud, which is scary. Makes me want to poop my pants Right now. I have no control over this, but I’m hoping that it becomes Women’s basketball championship Anthem ala men’s basketball has a championship.
Richie Burke:
If you’re the final four dj, you can just pump that there, right?
Dj Shawna:
I played it. I’ve already played it, but I want it on tv. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
You have any pull with the N C A for that? What angle is you
Dj Shawna:
Working? We’re we’re trying.
Richie Burke:
You’re a hustler. I think you can get it. I’m trying
Dj Shawna:
Waiting on an email back right now, Richie, for the last two weeks, I haven’t emailed me back, but we’ve been in conversation, so like I said, that’s the legit truth. I don’t ever bss. I can’t fake it. But yeah, the honest truth is that I’m hoping because I’ve had conversation with E S P N and so I’m hoping that’s
Richie Burke:
Love
Dj Shawna:
It. Yeah,
Richie Burke:
Thanks. Going back to being the Bucks dj, if one of the bucks had to fill in for you as the dj, who would you pick?
Dj Shawna:
Ooh. Finesses. Yeah. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
Thought dope. That was just a great hype, man.
Dj Shawna:
The best. Yeah. Are you kidding me? The best. That was the best day of my summer when we resigned Finess.
Richie Burke:
That was it. You have to,
Dj Shawna:
Yeah,
Richie Burke:
Team morale guy. I know he is Gianni’s brother, but he can throw down too.
Dj Shawna:
Did you see the steel and the dunk he had in, what are they playing overseas for Greece right
Richie Burke:
Now. I didn’t see that. Think he stole it. He’s an animal out
Dj Shawna:
There though. Yeah, but every successful, every championship team,
Richie Burke:
You need a guy like that. You
Dj Shawna:
Do. And he’s amazing. And he could DJ a bet. He loves music.
Richie Burke:
Who is the one guy on the team you definitely would not let take over DJing for you?
Dj Shawna:
Giannis. Giannis.
Richie Burke:
Just bad taste in music or the
Dj Shawna:
Salt? No, he’s got great taste in music. His hands are just too big. I don’t think the button, you
Richie Burke:
Threw someone under the bus in the most kind way possible. That was amazing. I’m trying to get you to throw someone under the bus and you just basically say his hands are
Dj Shawna:
Too big. He can’t, it’d be like Shaq shooting a free throw. It’s just difficult for him. He could do it, but we got to make bigger gear for him.
Richie Burke:
What’s your coolest moment ever as an N b A DJ won of those moments where you’re just like, oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.
Dj Shawna:
Witnessing the bucks, win a championship.
Richie Burke:
Other than that, other than that, maybe something that people would not expect hearing from you. You’ve done a lot. You were in the bubble. You, you’ve been with the team for a while. You do an all-star game.
Dj Shawna:
I’ve done three or four. Yeah. Yeah. I’m B all-star dj. Oh man. I mean, we could go down. I don’t know if I can pick
Richie Burke:
One. Have you met LeBron at all? Talked to him. I have. What was that? You know
Dj Shawna:
That? Yeah, I have no, you don’t know that? Oh, yeah. I didn’t know if you’re messing with me. It was in the, I
Richie Burke:
Assumed you might’ve, but Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
In the bubble. Yeah, we lived in the same neighborhood. All of us walking to breakfast in the morning, LeBron and AD would bike by and you’re like, morning LeBron. Morning ad. What’s up dj? I’m like, Hey guys. It is weird. It’s just they’re humans, but then we don’t get those interactions.
Richie Burke:
Well, you grow up watching ’em on TV for so long. I feel like someone like Giannis, you almost came up with a little bit and you’ve been in that organization before. He really made it big, so probably not starstruck at all when you see him, but a LeBron or something like that, biking right by you. That must’ve been, it
Dj Shawna:
Took a little while to get used to that stuff, but no, I got to meet him in the bubble. I have just goofy stories because the guys are humans, like I said, and that really brought me down to earth. We watch them and they’re superstars without a doubt. But to reiterate what I said, they’re humans. I had some funny Jimmy interactions in the bubble, and I think the world of that guy, even if he whooped up on us, it’s like I said,
Richie Burke:
What was he doing in the bubble?
Dj Shawna:
Pushing his coffee. Big face coffee. I forgot about that. Yeah, yeah. But he’s just fun. And I enjoyed DJing for Jimmy in the bubble because he has such an eclectic taste in music and whether or not he knows it, he just inspired me to play different music. And then I got some love from T N T, Brian Anderson and c Webb gave me a shout out when the Lakers beat the Trailblazers in the first round of playoffs that year, and I got some love on t n t and I attribute it to Jimmy inspiring me to play different music. Yeah,
Richie Burke:
I read something recently. Didn’t Jimmy get really into country music to piss his teammates off or something? And then he just stuck.
Dj Shawna:
I don’t know what the reasoning was, but he does love country. Yeah. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
Hola. Yes. So up with that. Amazing.
Dj Shawna:
Has
Richie Burke:
Ian ever showed up on time to a meeting?
Dj Shawna:
Absolutely.
Richie Burke:
You’re such a nice person. I don’t think that guy’s been on time for anything in his life. What is H Shell tell everyone listening.
Dj Shawna:
I think it’s going to be an incredible experience on the Milwaukee River.
Richie Burke:
What’s happening?
Dj Shawna:
Everything. It’s something. It’s a brainchild. So Ian works for Light The Home. Ian is Light the Home. Ian is light,
Richie Burke:
The
Dj Shawna:
Ian is light the home.
Richie Burke:
Hey everyone, it’s your host, Richie Burke, and I wanted to mention a couple things real quick. One, I want to thank our sponsor, central Standard Distillery for their support of the show. We’ve still got a few weeks, maybe a month, maybe a couple months left to summer, who really knows in Wisconsin. But if you have not checked out the rooftop at the Craft House yet, I’m not sure if there’s a better place to grab a cocktail in Milwaukee. And if you’re just looking to enjoy a cocktail, look out for their products. They got their Dockside whiskey, my personal favorite, their Door county cherry vodka, and they’ve also got some really good ready poor mixers.
I had the Moscow Mule over the weekend. Really good. So thank you to Central Standard Distillery. Second thing is that we appreciate Apple reviews. So if you do leave a review in the month of August and drop your email address or Instagram handle just at the end of that review, we monitor those, we’ll reach out directly and send you something to show our appreciation. Helping get this show off the ground doesn’t take long, so feel free to pause right now and go do that. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Let’s get back to the show with DJ Shauna. What date is it?
Dj Shawna:
August 17th. It’s a Thursday and there’s a couple different ways people really can honestly get involved. One, it can be on my boat and we’re throwing a huge party on my boat. Tickets are 175. This is a fundraiser to help start to light the east side of the home so we can balance out the bridge.
Richie Burke:
It would be nice to light both sides of the bridge.
Dj Shawna:
I think it’d be amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. It’s like started the group project. Now we got to finish it.
Richie Burke:
I agree. If people want, is it just ella.com or what?
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, ella.com. And then if you have a boat and you want to be involved, you can essentially Allah Gala or Gala, I don’t know, which I’ve heard twice pronounced differently today. You can get your boat in and put whatever you want on the boat, whomever you want on the boat and be a part of it. But we’re going to literally have a boat parade down the river and I think it’s going to be a really great experience. And that’s something we were kind of pushing for. This idea came from Nate. I refer to him.
Richie Burke:
Oh yeah, six photographer Drone Nate. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Drone Nate. And so Drone, Nate and I have very similar tastes in music and what we like as humans. I say that because I’m a dj, he’s not a drone.
Richie Burke:
He’s a human being who was very good at flying a drone around.
Dj Shawna:
Amazing. Yes. And so one day he shared with me a YouTube video of Tiesto during Covid in New York at the Edge, DJing a full production amazing set. And Nate’s like, we should do this in Milwaukee. I was like, that’s a great idea, Nate. And so I called Ian, I said, Ian, I’m a crazy idea. We want to DJ a full production on a rooftop on a boat. Doesn’t matter.
We want to do this. And he’s like crazy because tomorrow we’re going to start talking about our light to hone yearly event, and that’s how this all came to fruition. Nice. And now Ella 2023 is on August 17th. That’s it. I’m hoping we can get people involved, get people out. It’s also Milwaukee Downtown’s Employee Appreciation Week. There’s going to be a lot happening on the Riverwalk. There are places that have views of the home that are having watch parties.
Some are ticketed. I think one might be free, but there’s so many ways to kind of get involved and be a part of this. We’re throwing a huge party throughout the whole city and they want to know the best part what This is what Nate and I are really excited about, so this is not on the website, but so Nate’s going to drone video, the whole thing.
I’m going to have my guy, Jose Castillo on the boat doing video, and then Jose’s going to edit it to about what we’re hoping is a 30 to 45 minute set so that we can have our own version on YouTube to music that we have the copyright to use. So it’ll be all independent artists from a vibe that we’re trying to create to show off the city that we really genuinely love. So it’s going to be, I think pretty great. I don’t want to say Epic because everyone uses Epic and I don’t use Epic. I think Epic is you got to have it and I’m hoping that it’s epic. I can’t. I want it to be epic.
Richie Burke:
Sounds pretty epic.
Dj Shawna:
Thanks. Are you coming?
Richie Burke:
I’d love to. Really?
Dj Shawna:
Yes.
Richie Burke:
Okay, thanks.
Dj Shawna:
Can you invite your friends?
Richie Burke:
We’ll be there. Ill get August 17th. Yeah, yeah. To support you and Ian. Thank you. And Drone. Nate and Nate. You drone? Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be there.
Dj Shawna:
Nate’s like, so you call me Drone Nate now. I was like, what? I’m DJ Shauna and you’re drone Nate. Why
Richie Burke:
Wouldn’t he want to be called Drone Nate? No, he likes it. He’s good at it. He
Dj Shawna:
Is great at it. Yeah. He’s a pharmacist full-time by day.
Richie Burke:
That’s a rare combo I feel.
Dj Shawna:
And pharmacist Nate doesn’t flow like drone Nate.
Richie Burke:
No. Sounds much less exciting. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Exactly.
Richie Burke:
I don’t know if I’d want to hang out with Pharmacist Nate, drone Nate on the other hand, right?
Dj Shawna:
You don’t know what you’re going to get.
Richie Burke:
Don’t know what you’re going to get. Could
Dj Shawna:
He be a robot? I don’t know.
Richie Burke:
Maybe. All right, let’s move to the standard five. Five quick questions. Boom. Sponsored by Central Standard Distillery. You got it. If you could spend a day with one person, you dead or alive. I know that’s not the answer. You know much cooler people than me. Dead or alive, who would it be?
Dj Shawna:
Oh, my grandma. Lillian, my great grandma. I’m picking her because I got more questions I didn’t get to ask enough.
Richie Burke:
Did you ever get to meet her? Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
I had three great grandparents in my lifetime. Really? Isn’t that crazy?
Richie Burke:
That’s cool. Yeah,
Dj Shawna:
Thanks. I’m enamored with learning stories and sharing stories and where I come from and who made me. I think it’s cool. So my great grandmama, Lillian, that’s why I have lilies all over me.
Richie Burke:
Oh, that’s cool.
Dj Shawna:
Thanks. Thank you.
Richie Burke:
Who’s your favorite Milwaukee buck of all time? Who hasn’t been on the roster in the last five years?
Dj Shawna:
It’s got to be Brandon Jennings.
Richie Burke:
Oh, I love that answer.
Dj Shawna:
Bucks and six. Are you kidding me? How do you tell a prophecy like that? Let’s get him on the pod.
Richie Burke:
I was probably more excited when he got drafted than I ever been when anyone got drafted. Yeah. Yeah. And then he dropped 55 as eighth, ninth game out, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Dj Shawna:
And he was just laying the foundation.
Richie Burke:
He did. I loved when they brought him back a few years ago. It was like a sendoff.
Dj Shawna:
Well, he came. He was there for championship stuff.
Richie Burke:
Well, he was there. He was actually on the team two years before that though. Oh, you’re right. For a quick stint. You’re right.
Dj Shawna:
Yep.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, I love how they brought him back for the championship stuff too.
Dj Shawna:
Yeah, he was banging on the drum as Tipoff was going. Bucks and six.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, I think he was going to come on here if they didn’t get knocked out early. Yeah. Yeah. Brandon Williams, I don’t know if you know him. B will. Yeah, those two are going to come on, so I’m hopeful to get B Jennings on here someday. There you
Dj Shawna:
Go. He’s
Richie Burke:
The best big fan of that guy. Great answer. Thank you. Two good answers in a row. Number three, who is the most famous person in your contacts?
Dj Shawna:
Richie
Richie Burke:
Burke’s. Sucking up to everyone today.
Dj Shawna:
My mom
Richie Burke:
Go with Giannis.
Dj Shawna:
I actually don’t have Gianni’s number fan
Richie Burke:
Fanasis. You got the hype man there. I’d like to get him on here some talk too. What’s your dream DJing gig?
Dj Shawna:
Oh, Ella 2023. I’m too PR trained. I’m sorry, Richie. I’m
Richie Burke:
Sorry. I’m trying to get you off track a little bit. It
Dj Shawna:
I’ve dream
Richie Burke:
Gig. Is there one stage you’d love to be on or one event that you would love to? Yeah.
Dj Shawna:
You want to know a dream? Yeah. Stevia Yoki has a really cool documentary and he shut down the city streets in New York and it’s where he’s lived. He’s kept an apartment there. I know we have the night market, we have all these amazing festivals, but I want to do that, whether it’s branded DJ Shauna or Dare to Be, I want to do that. I want to do it in my way, whether that’s some sort of branded, thoughtful, musically curated, what do I embody when you think of me? What do you hear? How my brain works? Does that make sense? Yeah,
Richie Burke:
That’d be really
Dj Shawna:
Cool. Thanks. That’s my dream. Love it. I’ve never shared that with anybody. Please take good care of that.
Richie Burke:
We’ll chop up a nice clip. Thanks of it. So we could get, I’m very serious. We can manifest that out there.
Dj Shawna:
I haven’t shared that, but I mean that, but that is
Richie Burke:
Really cool. I think you can pull it off.
Dj Shawna:
Thanks. I hope so.
Richie Burke:
What else you got? You got, you want your song to be the theme song, the one shining moment of women’s basketball? Yeah, but shut down the allowed to say
Dj Shawna:
That. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
You want to shut down Milwaukee. What other big things?
Dj Shawna:
I think if you want to get real, I would love to find a way to continue to grow my brand, to keep expanding outside of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as a dj, but also from a Dare to be standpoint in what I try to embody, to continue to sort of not only tell my story, but I think Share the city that I love in the way that I want to, I don’t know, do it, whether that’s through music or speaking, but that’s always been the next piece in my DJ career was basketball.
I figured out how to travel. I didn’t figure it out. It was kind of a byproduct. You got to. Yes. And so that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. And I’m grateful I get to travel right now throughout the country, women’s Final Four and other really great events. So I’d like to DJ in Olympics, but how can I start doing stuff? Does that help do this with my hands? Yeah.
Richie Burke:
Okay. Very good demonstration of where you want to go on a map all over the place. So your clothing line. Yeah. Dare to be. Your two singles are titled, I Won’t Give Up In Heart of a Fighter. Yes. Very inspirational. Where does all that come from?
Dj Shawna:
Thanks. My gut reaction right now I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that is I want to be somebody that I think I needed and wanted as a kid. And even right now, I just want to be a good person. I want to leave this world a little bit of a better place, and I know I’m not for everybody. I get that and I’ve learned that and I’ve come to terms with that. I’m not perfect. I’m not always happy. I have bad days, but I think, again, being an athlete taught me so much, and we have a choice every day on how we show up and who we show up as.
And so I just want to keep inspiring and people that might look at me and identify with something that I am or how I look or who I am or feel something. Maybe they’re a basketball player and trying to find the next chapter. I don’t know, former athlete, but I think stories matter. Otherwise, your job wouldn’t matter, and it matters a lot, and I think that’s the part is music tells a lot of really good stories, and so I just want to be a good person.
Richie Burke:
You’re doing a great job of that.
Dj Shawna:
Thanks, Richie. Thanks for thinking it means a lot. I’m not trying to be stupid.
Richie Burke:
I mean, you make a huge impact on the city, and I know you’ve brightened up a lot of people’s days through your work and what you do, so thank
Dj Shawna:
You. Yeah,
Richie Burke:
I appreciate it and appreciate you coming on today.
Dj Shawna:
Anytime. Thanks for having me. It’s nice to see you and I’m proud of you, and congratulations on the new studio and everything, and I’m excited to follow your adventure, so thank you.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, thanks for coming on. Of course. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. If you enjoyed this episode, please do us a huge favor in subscribe to the show and write a review that helps us get more ears on these episodes and these great Milwaukee stories. Also, just a reminder that this podcast is sponsored by Central Standard Distillery in its partnership with On Milwaukee and produced by Story Mark Studios.