DJ Sober. Photo by Emily Ronnenberg.
Whether you recognize him from his restaurant Herby’s Burgers or passing him by at the last State Fair of Texas, Will Rhoten has been in Oak Cliff’s Elmwood for decades.
Since 2007, Rhoten has been floating among the neighborhood scene as an avid nightlife enjoyer, but primarily as performer DJ Sober.
“The first time I saw a DJ at a house party playing on turntables and playing records, I just watched them the whole night,” he said. “ I was glued to what he was doing, and I knew that this was something that I wanted to pursue.”
Growing up, Rhoten spent many nights out attending warehouse raves and parties in north Texas, and with a passion for music he started DJing at age 16. Living a dream from your youth is hard to achieve, but for years DJ Sober has been doing just that.
“It’s wild to know that it’s taken me all over and I’ve traveled and done all of these things and opened up for groups and artists that I looked up to as a kid,” he said, “I never would’ve thought that that would’ve been the outcome (of DJing) but happy to be here.”
With the name DJ Sober, many people speculate about his journey to sobriety, but that is far from the name’s origin.
“I was introduced to DJ culture in Dallas at an early age and I was around a lot of debauchery activities and put in situations that I definitely shouldn’t have been in as a 16-year-old,” he said. “I saw a lot of things really quick and was introduced to a pretty wild lifestyle.”
But, rather than partaking in that “wild lifestyle” of the scene, Rhoten decided that it wasn’t for him.
“I think some of the things that I was subjected to I just decided you know what, I don’t think I wanna even dabble and that I wanna just focus on the music,” he said, “I just went full force in that direction.”
Instead of giving into those vices, Rhoten said he spent his money building up his record collection and eventually a connection hosting a party called him up requesting him to his first gig. The first thought he had was “Sober,” as the nickname was commonly thrown his way for his avoidance of drugs and alcohol.
Starting at the end of September, DJ Sober is returning to what he calls “the most iconic Dallas gig” — the State Fair of Texas.
For this year’s set, DJ Sober is planning to expand from what he learned working last year when he played the stage just outside the Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners game.
“I remember some Cumbia stuff really popping off and then some 70s rock stuff, like Fleetwood Mac and some things like Rolling Stones,” he said. “I just wanted to kind of lean into some of that history and play some artists that tied into the space itself.”
DJ Sober is just one of the many local artists included in the State Fair of Texas lineup, a focus of the Fair that Rhoten says he is grateful for.
