How to Twonk Sober with Brillz (Exclusive Interview)

Sobriety in the Crowd & Behind the Decks

It may seem contradictory to turning up, but the king of twonk has himself been sober for a few years now, and it’s really affected his relationship with music in the best way. “It’s strengthened my relationship 100% because I’m just really present 100% of the time. Everything that I write now, everything that I listen to, everything that I feel from a song is completely authentic, because I don’t have anything that’s making me wile out for no reason.”

If you were at the Showbox Sodo or any of the other Twonk Di Nation Tour stops, you know firsthand that this man doesn’t need anything extra to get himself or the crowd hyped. In addition to experiencing music in an honest way, you could say that the music itself has become a drug.

“I’ve started escaping and having that turn up through the music, so I almost appreciate it more now because it kind of takes me to that place.” We talked a lot about sobriety both in the crowd and behind the decks, and about potential solutions, but it’s hard to pin down.

[pullquote align=”right”]”I don’t know what the solution is. The solution is to tell the homies ‘watch your homies’ backs.'”[/pullquote]

When it comes to the crowd, Brillz just wants you to be safe and have a good time. “I think that there’s a misconception, and it’s not a new misconception … a lot of these kids think they have to get fucked up to be accepted, and that’s the part that I think causes a lot of harm.” You can get as twonked as you want, but you can do it in your own way, and that means that you can even do it sober. (Okay, now we really get the spirit of twonk.)

“My message is: It’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s not bad, it’s not good. It’s what you want to do. And if you feel peer pressured to do something and you don’t want to do it, just know that you don’t have to, it’s still dope no matter what. And if you want to, that’s cool too. Just take care of yourself, that’s it. It’s all good either way.”

Where Do We Twonk From Here?

We were lucky to be able to have such an insightful conversation with Brillz about his tour, educating, unplugging, and sobriety. It’s nice to hear a DJ be honest about their opinions without fear of what it will do to their reputation. And hearing Brillz talk about sobriety and safety was really eye-opening.

We can honestly say that we like him just the way he is, and we’ll be twonking with him at every PNW tour stop he makes. This is a guy who’s passionate about music and the people who follow him, and we can’t wait to see where he goes next.

“Hell yeah, that was hard. 100%”