Elevated Frequencies

If you're sitting on a merch idea until you hit some follower number, this one's for you. I go through a record label whose logo got bootlegged across the UK before people there had heard a single release, a Chicago club that moves more shirts off one inside joke than most artists do off their own name, and the artist whose fans started turning up to his shows dressed as clowns without buy...

After three years and 160-something weekly episodes, Elevated Frequencies is evolving, and this episode is Olivia walking you through exactly why, what's coming, and why the change means you get more out of her, not less. Starting October 1st, the show becomes a monthly newsletter (first Thursday of every month) plus a monthly YouTube video essay and the occasional interview, all built to hand you...

Josh Baker has built an actual empire around his music. He's a DJ and producer who's also built a whole world of businesses around his artistry — the You & Me party series, the Hide & Seek festival, and his artist education platform Synto — and each one feeds the others. In this episode, Olivia Mancuso sits down with Josh to break down how he built multiple income streams, learned to buy b...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

This episode is sponsored by Trackstack: the operating system built for music professionals who invest in each other. Trackstack Pro gives you access to a network of labels, curators, and artists where every connection you make is yours to keep. No algorithms, no platform holding your contacts hostage. Just real professional relationships that can turn into collaborations, bookings, and opportunit...

Mark Knight went from freezing on a construction roof to running Beatport's number one selling label. Host Olivia Mancuso sits down with the Toolroom founder. He explains why making a record is like managing a construction project, and why he never took a single day off building the company. Inside Toolroom: 24 staff, 45 plus releases a year, fully self-funded with no investors, surviving on integ...

At 38, Bontan still looks 23. He quit school at 17 to DJ pubs five nights a week, took a 6-month pay cut to chase the Bontan project from his parents' house, and just launched his own label North Drum at Fabrik London. He's signed to Hot Creations, releases on No Art, and his latest track just went viral overnight after a major pop star used it on a reel. In this episode, Olivia sits down with Bon...

From a perfect SAT math score to a residency at Hï Ibiza, Francis Mercier built his career on networking, not luck. Olivia Mancuso sits down with Francis Mercier, the Haitian DJ, producer, and Deep Root Records founder. He breaks down spinning $300 frat parties at Brown and throwing his own New York parties when no club would book him yet. Francis also shares the seven-year grind to earn a major a...

What does it really take to get signed to a respected electronic label? Hint: it has nothing to do with your follower count. Olivia Mancuso sits down with DJ Tennis, founder of Life and Death, who didn't earn his first real DJ recognition until he was 40. He traces his path from Italy's punk and DIY scene into Italo disco, house, and techno, and explains why wedding DJ work is underrated training....

Most of what you call career work isn't actually moving your career forward. In this one, I'm breaking down the four habits quietly stalling most DJ careers right now. I get personal about why I'm giving up my studio over a $1,100 rent hike, and why "knowing your worth" can be a costume for ego. I cover Instagram hack culture, the prerequisites you invent for yourself, and the feedback habit that...

What happens when one hate comment almost ends a 30-year career? Olivia Mancuso sits down with Laidback Luke, the Dutch DJ behind Mixmash Records and mentor to a generation of EDM giants. He opens up about losing the underground scene after his first hit, and the silent year that followed his MTV breakthrough. But he's still here. Still hungry. Still winning. This conversation goes deep on what it...

Going viral takes the same time as making the song. That's the mindset shift Tres Mortimer credits for breaking out of the Chicago local DJ scene. Olivia Mancuso sits down with Tres Mortimer, the producer behind Optics Records and the new party brand Slavic House Society. They unpack the local to touring jump, why content has to be funded like studio time, and how hate comments means your content...

AJ Christou went from hanging out at Sankys with a fake ID to becoming a resident at the same club, signing with The Martinez Brothers, and playing his first official Miami Music Week set at Wynwood Studios. In this episode, Olivia Mancuso sits down with AJ to break down how a Manchester teenager who hated electronic music the first time he heard it built a career in the global house and tech hous...

Laylo is the drop platform and CRM used by artists and promoters like Fisher, Chris Lake, James Hype, Mochakk, Whethan, and TekSupport to create hype around big moments and build a direct line to fans. With Laylo, you can capture phone numbers from social media and message your biggest supporters when tickets or merch go live, plus reward them with exclusives. It works across SMS, email, WhatsApp,...

What happens when billions of streams stop meaning anything? In this episode of Elevated Frequencies, Olivia Mancuso sits down with multi-platinum artist Jonas Blue to talk about the moment commercial success stopped being enough. Jonas opens up about the summer of 2024, when years of touring and making EDM left him feeling creatively empty and personally unhappy in London. Instead of staying comf...

Ever wonder what happens when two brothers make 500 tracks before one finally breaks through? In this episode, Olivia Mancuso sits down with Murphy's Law, the UK brother duo taking the US dance music scene by storm. From growing up in a studio at the end of their garden (their dad played with Stevie Wonder) to making rap music as teenagers, Sonny and his brother Finn built their careers through re...