Nick Gunz - House Music Promotion: What Most DJs Miss About Building a Real Crowd

📺 Watch the Video on Spotify & YouTube

“When you talk to someone that you’ve never met, that is feeling a way—that you’ve created a space for them to have an emotion or a feeling or a connection or whatever that word is that they didn’t have when they walked in—that’s cool,” says Nick Gunz, Minneapolis DJ, party promoter, and community builder, who joins Behind the Decks MPLS to share how his journey from a small town in Wisconsin to the heart of Minneapolis’s house scene has been fueled by the pursuit of music-driven connection.

With candor and humor, Nick Gunz traces his evolution from car-bound tape deck mixtape obsession and youthful dreams of hitting Chicago, to years spent throwing warehouse parties, promoting shows, and cultivating the city’s beloved Day Funk event series. He explains the high (and sometimes losses) of storytelling as party promotion, the philosophy behind curating inclusive, all-ages spaces, and why—after years of making a party about himself—he finds the lasting joy is in focusing on how people feel together in the moment. If you want house music with heart, vision, and a piece of Minneapolis history, you’ll want to hear Nick Gunz’s journey on Behind the Decks MPLS.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/PK5ZUyOrL5Q

CATCH THE B2B:

Nick Gunz + Harry Duran YouTube: https://youtu.be/RqCBz-mVlyY

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-344089927/nick-gunz-b2b-harry-duran

5 Key Takeaways

1. Make your events less about yourself and more about the experience you create—focus on the feeling your audience walks away with, not your personal spotlight.
2. Tell powerful stories when promoting—don’t just push DJs or lineups, craft a narrative that gets people emotionally invested before they even arrive.
3. Invest in infrastructure—own your gear, stay on top of maintenance, and be ready for the chaos and cable mishaps that nonstop event production brings.
4. Move with generosity—build a culture where people keep coming back because they feel seen, heard, and genuinely cared for.
5. Don’t wait—if you see what could work, take action; create the space, book the lineup, and bring your vision to life without overthinking.

Memorable Quotes

"When you talk to someone that you've never met who is feeling a way, and you've created a space for them to have an emotion or a connection they didn't have when they walked in, that's cool."

"The payoff now is this idea of creating something that didn't exist yesterday, that won't exist tomorrow, where people come in and experience something that's about them."

"If I was up and coming and trying to build an audience, I would figure out a way to make it less about me and more about the people I'm trying to make feel a certain way."

Connect with Nick

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsallhappeningrightnow

Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/WbhvNplhovfZp9mqKk

Connect with Us

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkPG6MJDADxPDad9Dkzg2ewN4Ry7BOnnL

Listen + Watch on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nuAdLB1RSemf51PCsTLba?si=ea696f6013d542ba

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-decks-mpls/id1868466897

MPLSHOUSE

Website: https://www.mplshouse.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/mplshouse

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mplshouse3333

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mplshouse

Angel Sandro on Instagram: http://instagram.com/angelmsandro

Credits

Podcast Track ID: (Feel For Yuh) - Jeff Swiff feat. MPLSHOUSE on Real Feel Records

https://itstherealfeel.bandcamp.com/album/jeff-swiff-mplshouse-six-won-two-ep-rfr004

Hosted by Harry Duran

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djhdbeats

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djhd

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Podcast Production & Marketing by FullCast - https://fullcast.co