LUPE is a Los Angeles-based DJ and audio enthusiast who has contributed to dublab as a guest for some time (aka Paul Loops, aka Paul Lupario) and now hosts a monthly show called RECENTS. Catch him spinning at the likes of Gold Line and Tabula Rasa Bar, or slinging drinks at the legendary Silverlake Lounge.

From LUPE:
If you asked me 15 years ago to define ‘DJ,’ I’d have said, “that person in the back of the bar who plays the same songs you always hear at a bar” — the first minute of Bell Biv DeVoe’s ‘Poison,’ and then onto the next one. Growing up in New York, birthplace of the DJ, I feel dumb for having completely missed out on genuine nightlife culture. It was probably because I was afraid of dancing.

Still, I was obsessed with music. Like other 90s kids, I’d listen to the radio for hours, waiting for my favorite songs to play so I could record them to tape. Then I’d play the tape so much, I’d even memorize the radio DJ banter that happened to spill over onto the song’s intro, as if they were lyrics themselves. NYC cab drivers would tell me I had “a voice for radio” on more than one occasion, but I never took the hint.

Moving to LA, the music obsession turned up a notch. I discovered real DJs. I started dancing. I’d sell a rare emo record from my teens and buy funk, ambient, and electronic ones with the money. People started calling me LUPE. Still, I only started DJing out of necessity. Friends in the bar business would call and tell me their DJ is sick, and ask if I could fill in. “What do you mean you don’t know how to DJ?”

Something I’m always struggling to accept is that no matter how hard we try, we’ll never be able to hear all the good music that’s ever been recorded. Even if you quit your job and dedicated every last waking moment to it — even just the good stuff — you’d never come close. The best we can do is chip away at it, and savor all the other little occupations that come with it: hifi audio enthusiast; music production-dabbler; contributor to Dublab as a guest for some time (as Paul Loops, aka Paul Lupario), and now host of the monthly show RECENTS.