Recommending music to somebody can be hard. Yet, Nostalgia Radio does this every week.

We talk to Beltran, the Host of Nostalgia Radio, about how he makes mixes filled with music that he feels will stand the test of time, how to take mood into the creative process, and how Nostalgia Radio got started.

Read a summary of our interview below.

HOW DID NOSTALGIA RADIO GET STARTED?

I started DJing back in 2015. I didn't know anything about it, I knew a lot about music in terms of what music I liked. But I never really played an instrument or anything. So I got into DJing after one night of seeing a Soulection Show. I thought to myself, Oh, I can do this, you know, how hard could it be right? That was my whole, naive thinking about it. And the next day, I buy a whole bunch of equipment, not even knowing how to use it or anything like that.

Everything that I've ever tried in the past, I would give up on it if I wasn't just naturally good at it. So when I got into DJing, I know that I really vibed with it, because I kept pushing myself even though I was trash when I started. Everyone starts off trash, and they work their way up.

I started doing mixes, and would only share it with close homies. People would say that this is pretty dope, you should post it. I would shrug it off since I didn’t have that confidence. I kept going back and forth in terms of what I wanted to do with it, and that’s when I came up with Nostalgia.

There isn’t a full description of what it is yet, but I made it around a feeling, this idea that music brings you back to a place. Music triggering that memory.

Whether it's like a certain synth or it's the kick drum pattern or something, it's a nostalgic feeling, internally, because it reminds you of something you were doing with who you were with, or what you were going through in life.

I play a lot of music that I think is nostalgic, that captures that feeling. Even futuristic sounds that one day will be nostalgic to whoever the listener is. Like how it was to me.

WHO IS ON NOSTALGIA RADIO?

Personally, at the moment, it's kind of just me. And I have a friend of mine, who's also a DJ and a music producer. He would help me engineer my edits and everything, or my mixes and everything like that. Then I just kind of started learning on my own. I started engineering my own work, using GarageBand, or whatnot.

I definitely have a lot of friends who are also DJs, and producers who I associate with in terms of Nostalgia Radio. I also have my sister, Chloe. I'm the host, right, but I have friends who are producers and stuff. I say they're just as much as a part of this project as I am, I’m just the one who pretty much curates it.

I've been starting to collab with a bunch of other artists from different parts of the world to even my own backyard. For the most part, I'm the Running Man, but eventually I want to build it to a point where it includes friends who are photographers, musicians, artists, models, kind of the whole works.

I wouldn’t feel content if it was just me by myself. The best part about having a successful label or brand, or whatever you want to call it, is being able to share that happiness with other people. Doing it by yourself feels boring.

WHAT DOES THE CREATIVE PROCESS LOOK LIKE BEHIND A MIX

I curate my mixes toward what I’ve been feeling that whole week. I really try to make a mix every week. When I start off every mix, my creative process starts with that I'll hear one song, and that one song will be, oh, it's the perfect start.

In this generation and time, people’s attention spans are crazy short. And so I gotta get a good song that really hooks. I find a good track that reflects the kind of the mood that I'm in right now. I'll basically just start going with that vibe. So depending on how I start the song, I'll kind of continue that vibe. But halfway through the mix, I’ll try switching it up a bit.

I try to curate a mood that I've been in throughout the week. I just put things out that I feel like I'm going through and hope that other people can listen and kind of feel what I feel. It’s cool, because not every week is the same as some weeks. Some weeks I’ll be on a good vibe, some weeks will be outgoing, some weeks will be in my feels type thing.

The other thing too, is that I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I might scrap everything if my mood changes for the week. Let's say I'll have like 10 songs or something. And I'm like, Okay, this is how I was feeling. But then I'm not feeling that anymore, I'll either try to like, mix it into a way where it sounds melodically integrated. Or I'll just scrap it and start again from new. If I run out of time, then I’ll say on the show, “I’m gonna switch it up here on Nostalgia radio”, and then go on to a different mood.

HAVE YOU IMPROVED? HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR BEGINNING MIXES COMPARE TO YOUR MIXES NOW?

My transitions have absolutely gotten better. Before, I was playing stuff that I sounded was kind of cool, but maybe they didn’t match on the beats per minute. Now what I like to do the most is match the keys. Every song that’s made has a certain key, like a B minor or a G flat. I’ll try and mix in a similar key, so when it transitions, it really flows.

Whereas, if you mix in BPMs, the track can be in the same BPM range like 120 or 60, but the keys are completely different. It will be in the same timeframe and beat, but it won’t sound seamless, it’ll sound a little bit off.

SAY YOU’RE PROCRASTINATING ON MAKING YOUR MIX FOR THE WEEK, WHAT DO YOU DO?

I actually still struggle with that to this day, man. Especially since my primary focus right now is my radio show.

It is pretty tough for me at times, because I actually have a little two and a half year old, I co parent him. Being a new father, working a full time job Monday through Friday, it takes a lot of time management. It's pretty tough, because then I obviously have to balance it out, spend time with my son and find time to be able to do my own stuff.

One thing that’s important is that I've gotten listeners now. Case in point, you [the interviewer] found me and, you know, you've been hearing it too. I actually got listeners from all over the world now, which is amazing, and I'm grateful. People actually are starting to really look forward to it.

I kind of have to tell myself it's not about me anymore. I got other people that want to hear and want to listen and are actually giving me their time and day to pretty much listen to something that I curate. Time is everything, you know, you can't get that back. So the fact that someone is taking an hour out of your day to listen, who am I to waste this person's time? I try to kind of push myself in terms of mental, with this on my head.

Another thing is consistency. I struggle with motivation. Maybe this week I won't find that spark, or some music just really isn't moving me as much as last week. So I just try to be consistent, because it’s the consistency that will breed motivation.

I have definitely struggled with that, especially because for the most part it's kind of me doing everything. But that's why I'm trying to build more of a group and a community. Having people behind you helps relieve the stress of it. My little sister is there, my friend Yachty, Mondo, Justin aka Rude Boy, there’s also this venue out in Alhambra called Goodmood that’s there, other good people there.

So overall, the procrastination thing is finding it inside of myself to just push myself, even if I don’t want to, and realizing that other people are taking time out of their day to listen, and I shouldn’t waste their time.

It's definitely tough, man. I'm not gonna lie. I still deal with it. But I'm trying to just get better obviously. And I will, you know,