Meet Tony Galloway

Today we’d like to introduce you to DJ Standout (Tony Galloway).

Tony, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Honored to be a part of Voyage! My story is that I’m a DJ, Manager, and Music Producer who has been blessed to have some successful songs land on Radio, TV, and Billboard. I’m really about using positivity and upliftment through those means and whatever other channels I can. I’m originally from Virginia, where I picked up deejaying in college at the University of Virginia. My rise as a deejay landed me on a mixshow for a local radio station in Charlottesville and I continued to grow as a musician in Miami, learning the ropes of producing with producers such as Miguel Castro (credits with Mobb Deep, Monica, and more) and Cainon Lamb (Grammy-winning producer with credits for Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Monica, and more).

I rediscovered the purpose for my craft when I started deejaying for athletes across the country at Ultimate Training Camp, a camp that focuses on providing athletes with life skills for use both in and out of athletics. Deejaying in that environment gave me vision about using music as a successful tool to help people.

In the beginning of 2019, I started releasing original content under a series called #FirstFridays. It involves releases on the First Friday of the month and includes collabs with various artists to share messages of life through music. My single “Your Love” ft. Evan and Eris charted on Billboard’s Hot AC/CHR for more than ten weeks which was crazy. I also signed with Reflection Music Group after touring with label co-founder Derek Minor and building with the family environment that RMG has built. I was also a part of the McDonalds Black and Positively Golden campaign and a featured artist on the recently completed gospel Tour with Kierra Sheard, Tye Tribbett, Donald Lawrence, Keke Wyatt, Sir the Baptist, and Kirk Franklin.

I am looking forward to continue curating exciting music with a meaningful message and to help shine a light on other artists out there making a difference.

Has it been a smooth road?
The road to where I am at now has been a twisted journey. Coming out of high school, my main passion was sports, basketball in particular. I signed to play at a DI school in Pennsylvania but ended up choosing to go to the University of Virginia with full intentions of walking on. When I didn’t make the team that actually led to my getting some turntables and messing around but my main focus was always getting on the basketball court. It wasn’t till years later that I could look back and see how there was power in the journey that I had. At that time there was mostly disappointment and determination to prove that I should be on the team.

The djing thing took off on its own. I had friends that heard me and wanted to start throwing parties. Those went well so it just kept growing till eventually I was djing pretty much everything in the area and had a show on the radio. After I got my degree I started working in the DC area and djing at lounges and clubs out there but still had this strong desire to play ball. So it was really that which led to my moving down to Miami. It’s wild because my original intent was to go play ball and study music production secondly but it flipped on its head once I got down there. I became best friends with the lab manager, Miguel Castro, and he showed me so much on a daily basis of how to be a producer. He also connected me with Cainon Lamb and the songs they were working on were for Missy, Monica, Brianna Perry, so many dope artists.

My life journey took me back to Virginia and I started producing an R&B/Gospel Artist Nikea Marie. She ended up getting a record deal and songs we worked on were playing all over the world which was crazy. I had a lot of internal battles during this time of what kind of music I wanted to work on. DJing was going well but I didn’t want to just be a party DJ and I didn’t really have any other vision of what it could look like so I ended up quitting the DJing and focusing on production and playing keys.

A couple of years later, I visited Ultimate Training Camp in Colorado with my family. They had a band there (Run51) that was doing the music. They found out I use to DJ and encouraged me to think about coming back the next year and do that at the camp. It wasn’t until then that I started to catch a vision of how I could actually use DJing as a tool to push positivity. The next year when I DJ’d that camp it all made sense and it’s been game on since then.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
My work includes music production, artist management, and djing. I’ve produced songs that have landed TV placements on ESPN, landed on Billboard, etc. I would say my main focus is pushing positivity through music and sports. I get to travel the world and give hope to others through music sets and that’s an unbelievable blessing. I’ve also been able to help other artists level up towards their dreams and that has been a blessing. It has been amazing to push out original music this year as well and to create a platform that really shines a light on some amazing artists that are out here making a difference. My story has had a lot of twists and turns and those experiences have helped shape me into who I am as a DJ/Producer. They also have given me some wisdom on how to help others as well.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Denver Metro is an amazing city for creatives. It has such an awe-inspiring backdrop of the mountains as well as a bustling energy of growth and newness. It is not necessarily a known music city but it has a strong music scene and one that is more accessible than some other big cities. I would definitely recommend this city as a place to consider.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.djstandout.com
• Email: djstandout@gmail.com
• Instagram: djstandout
• Facebook: djstandout
• Twitter: djstandout

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