Meet our musical director DJ Phatt Phingers

We used AI because DJ PP sounds better than he photographs. The guitar is a prop. The music taste is real. Stage and bandmates imagined with AI.

The man in charge of the Distill My Heart Adventures soundtrack got his DJ nickname by accidentally stopping the music.

During the early COVID days, he and friends spent time in his basement bar. He played songs from his phone, hunting for the next fun track while the current one was still going. Sometimes his fingers got ahead of the plan. One accidental tap, and the song everybody was enjoying gave way to the next selection.

His daughters called him DJ Fat Fingers. Around here, that’s DJ Phatt Phingers, or DJ PP for short: our musical director, country music enthusiast, and a man whose taste in songs has always been better than his aim on a touchscreen.

We asked him about the music that shaped him, the playlist he keeps fresh, and what makes a room come alive. The answer kept coming back to something wonderfully uncomplicated: people ought to be having a good time.

Country music from childhood

He likes rock and roll, jazz, classical, and plenty more. Country, though, has followed him through childhood, good times, hard times, and everything between.

“Country music has kind of been the soundtrack of my life,” he says.

The music that takes him back most quickly comes from the 1970s: Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard. He remembers fishing with his grandfather and spending time at a cabin his grandfather built himself. While his grandfather worked, a crackly radio station from a small Utah town kept the music going.

That radio didn’t need perfect reception to leave a lasting impression. Apparently, a little static is no match for Dolly.

Those memories help explain his affection for the classics. But when he puts together music for DMHA, he’s thinking about the good time happening right now.

Music that gets the room moving

He wants finger snaps, tapping toes, singing along, and people getting up to join in. A whiskey tasting, a beach outing, and a day spent looking at fall leaves each call for their own soundtrack.

He likes sad country, too. It has a place, and a good evening needs a slow dance somewhere along the way. He just doesn’t want every gathering to sound as though everybody’s truck, dog, and relationship disappeared in the same afternoon.

That approach fits what drew him to Distill My Heart Adventures: taking the good stuff, leaving the negativity behind, and helping people enjoy being together.

“Good songs, good drinks, good people,” he says. “That’s a recipe for a good time.”

He knows the music is working when people move around, talk to each other while staying with the rhythm, sing along, and participate. That’s the moment he can think, “I’ve got the room.”

A room full of people enjoying themselves is a better review than a spreadsheet of skips.

What belongs on Snapbacks and Stetsons

Snapbacks & Stetsons is his way of getting different country crowds into the same room: younger listeners, older listeners, fans of contemporary hits, devotees of ’90s country, and people who came for old school and outlaw country.

The playlist leans toward contemporary country, with new artists and recent releases alongside familiar hits and classics.

“You’re going to hear songs you know, and songs that you’re just going to learn about, and songs that you’ve loved forever,” he says.

A song can earn its place through popularity, an established artist, a charted hit, or its standing as a classic. Sometimes there’s a story behind it. Sometimes he hears something he likes and thinks other people deserve to discover it.

That last part matters. He listens to music all the time, and the list leaves room for his own finds. A song doesn’t have to arrive carrying a trophy before he’ll give it a chance.

Older artists get a seat at the table, too. He mentions Brooks & Dunn, Shenandoah, Restless Heart, Garth Brooks, and George Strait, then reaches back to Waylon, Merle, Barbara Mandrell, and the other classics he grew up with.

He rotates the older selections as well. Familiar artists can stay part of the mix without the same songs settling in forever. Even nostalgia gets asked to freshen up.

Friday mornings and the order of the songs

He aims to refresh Snapbacks & Stetsons on Friday mornings, barring a problem or something else getting in the way. Newly released songs go in, other songs move around, and some come off.

He also thinks about what happens when you press play.

Early in the list, particularly through the first ten or twenty songs, he intersperses new releases with familiar chart favorites. You get something to discover, then something you’re more likely to know. More classics work their way in as the playlist continues.

There’s a practical reason for that: every new release won’t become a hit, and every listener won’t love every new song. A familiar favorite nearby keeps people listening long enough to find the next discovery.

It’s easier to try something new when you know an old friend is coming up behind it.

Shuffle will work, but DJ PP recommends listening in the order he designed. He has put thought into the sequence. Let the man finish his sentence before you rearrange all the words.

A new song with an old connection

His interview pick for a song worth discovering is Dylan Scott’s “Girl From Louisiana”.

He loves the way it plays off Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” bringing that familiar connection into a fun new song. For him, it’s a good toe-tapper and a satisfying example of newer country reaching back to something listeners already love.

He compared the appeal to a movie sequel while briefly searching for the word. The point came through just fine: sometimes you’re happy to revisit a familiar world, especially when the next installment gives you something fresh.

Three musical turns for a whiskey tasting

Ask him to sketch a tasting soundtrack, and he thinks in terms of pace.

Start with something fun and easy to settle into, such as Miranda Lambert’s “Crisco”, with its country and disco flavor. Then make room for a slower turn, such as ERNEST’s “Flower Shops,” featuring Morgan Wallen. To finish, he’d reach for an upbeat Kenny Chesney selection.

Those are examples of the shape he’s after, rather than a fixed three-song requirement: a welcoming start, room for a slow dance, and a lively finish.

The whiskey gets a flight. The music gets an itinerary.

A little privacy and plenty of music

DJ PP prefers to keep his face out of the media. He values his privacy and likes the mystique.

For this portrait, we gave that mystique an AI-assisted stage. The stage and band are imagined. He’s a DJ and MC; the guitar is a prop, not evidence of a surprise solo career.

His playlist choices are his own, but listeners are welcome to contact him at DJPhattPhingers@DMHAdventures.com. He hopes people enjoy what he puts together.

Find Snapbacks & Stetsons on the DMHA Sounds page, or listen on Spotify. Start at the top, give a new song a chance, and stick around for an old favorite.

Good songs, good drinks, good people. And, with any luck, no accidental skips.