The Noted Dallas DJ Talks Pivoting To Streaming, His Favorite Local Musicians, Getting A Box Of Baby Chicks In The Mail And So Much More.

Within the first 30 seconds of the latest installment of our ongoing Quarantine Q&A series, I had already made up my mind that this edition was my favorite entry yet. That’s because DJ Blake Ward greeted me from the other end of our chart with a baby chick waddling on his arm.

Things only got better from there.

Ward is a familiar face all over Dallas thanks to his weeklies at Deep Ellum hot spots like Beauty Bar and Double Wide, but while his newfound time off has given him the chance to dedicate time to others interests and hobbies outside of work, Ward hasn’t wallowed in the inability to spin a set in the same room full of people. Mostly, he’s pivoted: Between throwing drive-in parties headlined by the likes of Ishi and working with the Double Wide on their collaborative QuaranTV streaming series, he’s very much proven himself a local leader in adaptive entertainment in a pandemic-dominated world.

In addition to discussion about all that, we also discussed some ongoing issues with racism in Dallas’ nightlife scene — something that has reared its ugly head here in town of late, and that Ward says he’s observed often throughout his career in clubs.

For all of that and more, watch our full conversation below.

Like so many small businesses, we at Central Track face an uncertain future due to the effects of COVID-19. In eight years of operations, we’ve never locked our content from you through subscriptions or paywalls — but, in order to make it out through the other side of all this, we need your help. If you can, please consider supporting our coverage of all things Dallas culture by supporting us on Patreon in exchange for exclusive perks or by donating directly through PayPal or Zelle to [email protected].

No more articles