30.09.2020
This week’s guest mix is by Key Mitch, head of Key 2 The City Promotions and who recently moved to downtown Detroit from Flint, where he began his career over ten years ago throwing events and DJing the likes of Hip-Hop, House, and Trap music. He has a unique perspective on life and knows how to bring people together through his curated events. He also is the host of a podcast called “Other People’s Conversations“.
You can catch him frequently at the Magic Stick Alley Deck, The Grasshopper Underground, Elektricity, and on Twitch doing livestreams with the Key 2 The City crew.
In his interview, we talk about things like his inspirations, how he got his start in Flint throwing events and how COVID has affected this, his plants, his plans for Key 2 The City Promotions, what keeps him going every day, his podcast, and more.
I hope you enjoy his mix, on SoundCloud now!
detroit.dance: So, “Key 2 The City Promotions” — How did you come up with the name and what made you start throwing events?
Key Mitch: So the name dates back all the way to high school. In HS my friends and I started to see that kids in bands were kind of popular, so we wanted to start a band but we didn’t play any instruments or anything, and we pretty much talked our way to saying that we were dropping an album named “Key 2 The City”. And then Key 2 The City kind of stuck for a long time. Once I got a little bit older in my senior year and then after HS, I started throwing house parties or I had friends throwing house parties, and I would be the promoter. I was also into social media super early. When MySpace came out, I was on it in the first month. I had Facebook, Twitter… everything as soon as I could get on there, always talking about parties going on. I used to send mass texts to everyone about parties every weekend. So, throwing events kind of stuck. I also started doing parties at this random hall, I got a contact that I could rent it from for $250 and a friend that was able to front all the money. We’d buy kegs, half gallons of vodka, juice, and a lot of fruit to make jungle juice…we did that maybe four or five times. I did the last party there on New Year’s Eve, and it was the biggest one. There were about 300 people trying to fit into a hall that fit only 100 people, and the party was SO successful. After that, someone came up to me and told me that I should start doing this at bars, and it kind of all clicked to me. My friends were all starting to be 21, and these parties were really excuses for us to drink. So then I branded myself as the Key 2 The City man and started doing events at bars. I mostly did College Nights on Thursdays, holiday parties… this club let me do a party on the day after Thanksgiving. They had a party on the day before Thanksgiving already and I told them I could bring them 200 people on the day after. It turned out to be a banging ass party and then they kept letting me throw events there starting with the Thursdays, and it just grew from there.
detroit.dance: When did you start doing this officially?
Key Mitch: 2009. I should have had a 10 year anniversary event recently, but we will worry about that when it hits the 20 year anniversary.
detroit.dance: Do you have any event memories that stand out to you so far?
Key Mitch: There was an event that I did with a rapper in Flint, he ended up getting pretty big and building up his own brand outside of Flint which is kind of amazing. He ended up getting signed to Dr. Dre’s label, Aftermath Entertainment. He put out some records with Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, and had a couple songs on the NWA movie. He supposedly had a million dollar deal, but he was on the label for six years, put out some things, never did a full album or anything, but he was successful even before he got signed to Aftermath. We worked together on doing a show at a venue that probably holds 500 people. We sold it out really quick. I built this makeshift stage out of panels, I had graffiti artists do some cool graffiti on it, I had a friend who was a lighting technician come out, and the performance was top-notch. I look back on photos of that event and it’s a full crowd of people…I’ll never forget that night. It was a big moment for me in my career, knowing I could do events like that.
detroit.dance: What do you think draws people to your events and keeps them coming back?
Key Mitch: I think that my events always have a mix of everything — people, crowd, music… I feel like people like that mixture, not just an event with one style or one genre. I’ve always worked at a lot of different venues with two stages where I would have Hip-Hop on one stage and EDM on the other. I think that people like the variety. Plus, hanging out and partying with me is kind of fun *laughs*.
detroit.dance: You started doing events in Flint – in your view how was the electronic music scene there looking before you started and how does it compare now?
Key Mitch: The electronic scene before I started was non-existent in Flint. If there was electronic music being played, it was super low-key, or someone playing it at their house. My friend who got me into electronic music in Flint was actually going to college at Full Sail in Florida. He told me about some parties going on while I was still doing the College Night/Hip-Hop parties. He told me how big it was in Florida, and talked to me about bringing it up here. I didn’t know shit about it. I remember the track by Flux Pavillion – “I Can’t Stop” – it was sampled on a Kanye/Jay-Z track, I thought it was the same song. I told him to “Play the Kanye/Jay-Z song without the lyrics.” and he was like, “What?”.
People in Flint were already going to shows elsewhere though – they were travelling to Detroit to go to The Works, Movement, etc. I remember a couple people from my senior class going to Movement and coming back and telling me about how amazing it was. I knew about the techno roots, I just didn’t listen to it at the time. So, we started throwing combination Hip-Hop/Techno shows and it started to pop off. People started bringing their hula hoops and rave gloves — circa 2011-2012 when gloves were popular — and they were able to be themselves inside the local bar. It started to get big, and then we started to name events, one of them being Winter Bliss.
Now, there’s a music festival in Flint that’s centered around electronic music called Drop Fest which spawned off of us doing events, a friend of mine started that. Now there’s more music venues there in general, lots of local Michigan headlining acts have come through, artists like Jantsen have come through, Steve Aoki came to perform at High Times… since 2009/10 there has been a big turnaround. There’s a lot more DJs like anywhere else, but there’s A LOT more DJs in Flint as compared to ten years ago. A lot more people are interested in the genre. The only thing that sucks is that there’s no real strictly electronic music venue. Hopefully, someone will start it. Shit, even I might. EDM is still a young genre that’s growing. There’s a Rock N Roll venue in Flint that’s kind of in a shitty area that’s been there for the last 25 years, they’ve had artists from all across the world go there. They’ve had some of the biggest tours come through there, and it’s only a 300-person venue. They’ve been able to build themselves up and have a worldwide status. That’s all it takes.
detroit.dance: Do you have any events coming up you’d like to mention?
Key Mitch: We are going to be starting a Thursday Night Takeover at The Grasshopper Underground in Ferndale, starting on October 15th.
detroit.dance: How has COVID-19 affected you and what you do?
Key Mitch: COVID has given me the opportunity to learn more things for my business. It gave me time, first off. It gave me the opportunity to learn how to build my website without having the person who built it for me do it, like how to add certain things. I learned how to live stream and how to do graphics so I’ve gotten better at my graphic design… more technical things like with Twitch and the streaming world. It’s helped me build a new audience online.
detroit.dance: I checked out your website and I noticed that you also advertise event planning, promotion, and booking on your website, did that stem from the experience you learned by doing your own events?
Key Mitch: Yes. I’m always willing to help people. A lot of people want cool birthday parties, or someone might not know what venue to have something at… I just kind of take that stuff into consideration and put that offer out there. I honestly have to get more on top of that and promote that aspect of what I do.
detroit.dance: It seems like you’re always thinking of the bigger picture and your next move, going back to your start in Flint and your expansion through the metro area and Detroit – is there another state or city you have your eyes on where you’d like to start the Key 2 The City imprint?
Key Mitch: I want to be able to go everywhere. I want to be able to build my brand up and have my people throughout the country that follow what I do or link up with me, people to bounce events off of, connect with. It’s more of a community thing. Before you know how there would be festivals and things all going on in one area and so many things happening off of one event, for example Miami Music Week, pre-parties, after-parties, side events… I want to do things all around the country with the network of people I have. The active music scene is divided into groups – the people that just go to festivals, just go to concerts, just are on Twitter, etc. Some of them tie together, it’s just one big community. The people that travel to different events around the country are the ones that I want to connect with. My plan is also to be bi-coastal, have a presence in the PNW/Seattle area. My girlfriend lives out there, so I’m more than likely headed out there to see what’s happening and what I can do there, but also keeping my base in Detroit.
detroit.dance: You as a DJ — how have you evolved since you first started to spin? What genres do you enjoy the most?
Key Mitch: When I first started, I was into Trap. It was the closest thing to Hip-Hop for me so I was super into that. I was into all the Flosstradamus, old school Diplo, Jack U. I progressively went harder into dubstep. I was also a big fan of Skrillex, and his “Recess” album. I’ve also always had a natural feel for House music, and I started enjoying it more as I went to more live shows where the DJs were playing House. Spending the right time with the right friends and the right DJs, feeling those vibes. I also went to Holy Ship in 2016 which got me completely hooked into House music. I wanted to start doing more shows like that, and then I kind of turned into the House music guy and was getting booked as that. Over the past two years I’ve done a lot of House shows. I’m still down to switch it up and play a variety though. For example I’ve played a show with Boogie T, and I’ve played a show with AC Slater. I like not having a genre and playing a little bit of everything.
detroit.dance: When you’re searching for new music, what makes a track, label, or artist speak to you?
Key Mitch: The bassline. I gotta hear that bassline. If it’s poppin’, I’m on it. Also, I fuck with remixes. I’m a remix lover. So if I see a song that I like, and it says “remix” or “edit”, I always click on it to see what it’s like.
detroit.dance: What do you do outside of music and events?
Key Mitch: Outside of music, I do gig working or side hustles to make money. Right now I’ve been doing grocery deliveries, before I have done Uber and Lyft. It helps bring in the money when you’re not working or DJing or doing events. And it’s able to free up my time too, I can do it whenever I want to.
detroit.dance: That’s what I used to do as well, all the gig work like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. It definitely is convenient.
Key Mitch: Hell yeah, get all that gig money!
detroit.dance: What are some of your hobbies, and how did you get into them?
Key Mitch: Sports is one of my big hobbies, I’m really into sports and I grew up playing them. I’ve always been about it. I love football and played it in high school. One of my favorite teams is not the Detroit Lions but the Minnesota Vikings, I’m kind of a die-hard fan of theirs. I’ve watched every game for the past ten years. Over the past three years I’ve been getting more into personal development, reading books and listening to podcasts, things like that.
detroit.dance: Do you have a favorite type of podcast? Because there’s a lot of them out there.
Key Mitch: I have three podcasts that I listen to regularly every week. One of them is a sports podcast called “Pardon My Take”. It comes on a network called Barstool Sports, they’ve got a really popular social media presence. But they also have different social media and sports themed podcasts. Then another one I listen to is called “Brilliant Idiots”, there are two hosts on that one, one being a comedian and the other a radio show host. They together are pretty funny, they talk about a little bit of current events, some comedy, really everything that’s going on in the world. The last one is GaryVee’s podcast. He’s a businessman but he’s also got a big social media presence, he’s kind of a personal development guy.
detroit.dance: Something I find interesting are your podcasts… I listened to a few of them and I like your concept of having it be a casual conversation. So, about your podcasts — talk about how those came to be.
Key Mitch: The podcasts come from me listening to podcasts all day, especially while doing gig jobs. You can have your headphones in and just kind of choose your own vibe and music can get old after a while. Topics and conversations make you feel like you’re sitting on a couch while you’re out. I’m a talker, so I felt like I could do something and create a podcast that people would want to listen to. I came up with the name “Other People’s Conversations” from the times that you hear someone else having a conversation, but you’re eavesdropping and in tune with their dialogue… that’s what I wanted my podcast to be like, me and the guests having an interesting conversation and you as the listener are eavesdropping.
detroit.dance: I remember there were times where you would post topics or ideas on Facebook for your podcast and you would try to get people to join in with comments as well.
Key Mitch: Yeah, I’d try to pull people in. A lot of things are current topics, some things are things people think about in their head or are too scared to talk about. I’m not afraid to ask those questions. Make it real.
detroit.dance: You mentioned in a conversation we had previously that you would be bringing the podcast back for another season?
Key Mitch: Yes, season two is coming soon. It’s been on a hiatus due to COVID, but now that I’m in a new spot in downtown Detroit, I can put things together again. It’s going to be more music/events/culture focused with the guests. Before I was just kind of picking anybody, a friend who had just gone on vacation or someone doing something cool. Being able to travel back and forth to Seattle will contribute to my guests as well, with the music/events/culture there.
detroit.dance: Who are your inspirations? (Can be music related, in general, or both)
Key Mitch: I have a crew of mentors. I know them but they don’t know me, I look at it from the outside looking in. GaryVee I mentioned earlier, he’s one of them. Jay-Z is someone I look up to, I try to take a lot of his knowledge…he represents so much. A sports guy, Pat McAfee, he was just a kicker in the NFL but he quit because he didn’t want to kick anymore and pursued his dreams of being a media guy. He started his own YouTube channel and a media company and he’s making way more money now than he did playing for the NFL and brought his best friends with him. And recently – listen to this – he signed a deal a few months ago and filled book bags with $50,000 and delivered it to each of his co-producers throughout the night to celebrate. I love that guy. Next one is Charlamagne tha God, co-host of the radio show The Breakfast Club, a media personality. He recently started his own podcast network called The Black Effect where he is 50% owner with iHeartRadio. He’s in the Radio Hall of Fame. Really big mentor of mine. Lastly, I’d say my dad. He gave me the hustle I have to not be scared to do things that I love.
detroit.dance: Are there any TV shows you’ve been into lately?
Key Mitch: Two shows, Snowfall and Power.
detroit.dance: Are you a plant guy?
Key Mitch: Yes I am! I’ve got seven of them. My girlfriend is a plant mama and she got me into it. She’s got an Instagram called houseplant_hotties, so go give her a follow there. Plants keep it fresh, I can feel the good energies. Just give them some water and some love, and catch the good vibes. I just moved to a new place so I’ve only had them for three weeks, but it’s going well.
detroit.dance: Out of the 50 states, how many have you been to?
Key Mitch: I think 22 or 23. I don’t count the ones that I have driven through or had a layover on a plane in. Pretty much all of the east coast and like five on the west coast.
detroit.dance: Do you have any states that you would like to travel to next?
Key Mitch: I haven’t been to California in a long time, the last time I was there I was a little kid. So I definitely want to go back there and go to San Diego, San Francisco, and I wouldn’t mind hitting up Los Angeles. I’m not really that concerned with LA but I would like to visit those three cities. I also want to go to Arizona. That’s the one place I haven’t been to that I also know a lot of people in, also in the EDM community. I want to go there very very soon.
detroit.dance: Liquor vs Beer?
Key Mitch: Liquor. Titos and Cranberry Juice.
detroit.dance: If you were on Legends of the Hidden Temple, what color team would you be on?
Key Mitch: Purple Parrots.
detroit.dance: If you had an exotic animal as a pet, which would you choose?
Key Mitch: A tiger cub.
detroit.dance: Sunrise vs. Sunset?
Key Mitch: Sunset.
detroit.dance: What keeps you going every day?
Key Mitch: The thought of failing and not being the best that I could be. I think that I know exactly where I can be at, and I know how to get there. It keeps changing once I pass each level, but I have to keep leveling up.
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Make sure you check out Key Mitch’s Destination Detroit (Lafayette Coney), and his Recipe by Request (Salmon and Asparagus) that will be posted Friday.
Keep up with Key and Key 2 The City Promotions via socials: