A DJ among Santa Barbarians: life of a party starter in the land of the party hungry

As the sun begins its gradual descent into the ocean, Isla Vista readies itself for another round of wild weekend activities. The scene is like a reverse Isaac Newton: when the sun goes down we must turn up. There is much to be taken care of: distributing Kirkland vodka, enforcing the guy-girl ratio, or making sure no one applies a fresh coat of vomit to your bathroom tiles.

The most important job, however, is to keep the party bumpin’ – and no one is better at transforming lifeless snoozefests into raging bangers than the DJs here at Santa Barbara.

One of the most prolific DJs to perform in the Santa Barbara area is Tyler Fish, who goes by the stage name DJ T-Fresh. “I came to Santa Barbara on vacation and never left,” the Toronto native said.

He started performing at IV parties in 2010, going door to door on DP with “little shitty business cards,” offering his services for free.

His first gig was during Deltopia. “That was back in the day when you could set up on the balcony facing towards DP. So I had like a wall of speakers and had no idea what the fuck I was doing. It turned out to be the biggest party in IV that day. It was like 600 people. We went from ten in the morning to midnight.”

From humble beginnings, Fish’s career has expanded to frat houses and downtown clubs. He now has residency at EOS Lounge, meaning he performs weekly for the venue on Thursday evenings. He’s even opened for big names like Diplo, Flosstradamus, and Carnage.

Despite these opportunities, nothing can replicate the energy and vibe of his IV parties.

Did they often smell like the combination of hormone-fueled thirst and regurgitated Fireball? Yeah, they did. Did he have to worry about his turntables suffering the onslaught of “can’t hang” freshmen? Yeah, probably.

However, playing in front of hundreds, with the ocean as your sidekick, “I don’t care if you’re fifty, you’re gonna love that,” Fish professed.

Fish prepares for performances by combing through Soundcloud and major artists’ setlists for songs he can add into his mixes. “I never have set tracks that I’m going to play,” he said with confidence. “I think that’s so boring and so superficial.”

And just like that – after a brief song search, it’s show time.

What can you expect from one of DJ T-Fresh’s sets apart from a completely original mix of house/trap bangers?

Throwbacks. “The more drunk I get, the more throwbacks I play,” he laughed.

Fish regularly mixes in Blink-182 and Smash Mouth into his performances for the nostalgia factor. Unfortunately, he’s starting to notice recently that younger college students aren’t as familiar with their songs – resulting in the change of the DJ’s stage name “T-Fresh” into “T-Stale” for those few short moments.

That’s the evolution of music, I suppose.

Occasionally, his performances are accompanied by mild intoxication. “There’s definitely some times where I’ll wake up and be like ‘I don’t remember DJing at all,” Fish said. Although DJ-ing under the influence sometimes leads to choppier transitions and minor mess-ups, Fish noted that the typically-inebriated folks of IV are pretty forgiving.

If there is anything IV is guilty of, it might be lack of gratitude.

Our reputation as the number one “fuck shit up” destination is not possible without the helping hand of our hardworking DJs. Although T-Fresh has already moved on from his frequent IV gigs, it’s important to remember him along with the other DJs that put up with rowdy crowds, spilled liquids, and shitty song requests.

These DJs are the ones who provide us with our temporary escape from the burdens of life. They are the guardians of our weekend and they are the protectors of our sanity.

“The cops are gonna do what they can to shut us down,” Fish said, “but no one’s gonna be able to stop UCSB from partying.”