{"id":532359,"date":"2026-01-21T14:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/532359\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:41:10","slug":"dj-sober-on-sobriety-dallas-nightlife-and-herbys-burgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/532359\/","title":{"rendered":"DJ Sober on Sobriety, Dallas Nightlife, and Herby\u2019s Burgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, we met Matt McCallister, a sober chef,<\/a> in the first of a series exploring the intersection of sobriety and the service industry. It\u2019s a messy intersection, but do we have any other kind in Dallas?<\/p>\n

Next up is Will Rhoten, aka. DJ Sober, one of the city\u2019s top DJs and the founder of Herby\u2019s Burgers in the Elmwood neighborhood of Oak Cliff. Though his story, like McCallister\u2019s, ties a sober lifestyle directly to the world of bars, restaurants and events, that\u2019s where the similarities end. But let\u2019s start at the beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started when I was 16 years old,\u201d says Rhoten of his first days as a DJ. \u201cI bought turntables and started buying records.\u201d This early vinyl fixation hinted at what would become a successful career, spinning Rhoten into one of the most popular DJs in the region and beyond (even on DART trains<\/a>). Today, his record collection numbers in the thousands, and he\u2019s headlined everywhere from AT&T Stadium to celebrity birthday bashes to the hottest clubs in the country. But first, his early experiences informed a decision that would define him both professionally and personally.<\/p>\n

\u2018Exposed to Everything\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hanging out with a much older crowd that was taking me to raves and illegal warehouse parties. I was exposed to everything in excess, and I witnessed a lot of things and was around a lot of things that I shouldn\u2019t have been,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The \u201990s rave culture he refers to is quickly fading from our cultural memory. It was an incubator for cutting-edge, genre-defining sounds created by young artists, but those epic all-night dance parties were also synonymous with certain substances and the havoc they could wreak.<\/p>\n

The actor Mena Suvari, another creative soul who came of age in the \u201990s, included a chapter entitled \u201cRave Daze\u201d in her memoir, The Great Peace. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy mind was blown by the combination of music, drugs, and dancing,\u201d she wrote, going on to describe an encounter at Enit, the one-night music festival series founded by Perry Farrell of Jane\u2019s Addiction, when she was in her mid-teens.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHis name was Sean and he was several years older than me. I walked up to him and asked if he had any pot. He had something better, he said. He showed me several small bags of powder that he said held methamphetamine \u2014 or \u2018meth,\u2019 as he said with a glint in his eye. \u2026 I walked back down the hill to my friends and we all got high one more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music was incredible, the energies were powerful, and we all slowly left our minds and our bodies that night\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The truth about raves is that the reality could be \u2014 and often was \u2014 much darker than the whimsical glow sticks and adult pacifiers might indicate. And Rhoten was there at the height of it all.<\/p>\n

Calling it at 16<\/p>\n

\u201cEven at 16, I already saw a lot of people kind of throwing their lives away and making really poor decisions,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI saw how substances affected a lot of people around me. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth and made me realize, You know what? I like aspects of this scene, but I think, for me, I just want to focus on the music, and learning to DJ, and perfecting my craft, and not get caught up in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, he just didn\u2019t think it was a lesson worth learning the hard way. April Murray-Bravo is a Dallas-based licensed marriage and family therapist and the founder of Vazier Counseling. With over a decade of clinical experience working with clients affected by substance use disorders, she is also our go-to expert for this series. She provides perspective on abstinence as a proactive choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many reasons people choose sobriety, whether to improve or maintain physical health, cognitive clarity, or avoid complications related to use,\u201d Murray-Bravo says. \u201cFor others, the distaste of the product, or mistrust in the environment, is enough to keep them from consuming. For many people, sobriety isn\u2019t about restriction. It\u2019s about freedom or control.\u201d<\/p>\n

That early choice to steer clear of booze and drugs netted him a stage name: Sober. Dovetailing with his typical look \u2014 glasses, ball cap, kind smile, nobody to impress \u2014 it stuck. \u201cThe name kind of came to be, and I was like, oh, that\u2019s cool,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd, then once I got to be 21, and I still didn\u2019t drink, my mentality was, Why would I start now? I never chose that path to be preachy or holier-than-thou. It was just what worked for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as to the aforementioned \u201cfreedom or control\u201d aspect of intentional sobriety? For Rhoten, we might venture a guess and say it\u2019s a little bit of both.. \u201cDJing to me is a craft, and I want to do my best, whether there\u2019s five people in the room or 500,\u201d Rhoten says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of people who are great DJs, and then they get some alcohol in them and they turn into monsters or they get sloppy.<\/p>\n

Self-Awareness and Boundaries<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think DJing is a really social job, but honestly, you show up before anyone\u2019s there, you set up, you\u2019re locked in while you\u2019re working the room, and then you\u2019re packing up while everyone else is partying. I just go in, do my thing, and try to be the best I can be. Sobriety lets me stay sharp and take my craft seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray-Bravo concurs that sobriety and bar culture can certainly co-exist \u2014 with an asterisk. \u201cMany sober professionals thrive in this field,\u201d she says. \u201cBut success often depends on self-awareness, boundaries and access to support.\u201d<\/p>\n

After about three decades, we\u2019d say that Rhoten seems to have found success. He\u2019s collaborated with top talents in the music industry, counts the likes of Erykah Badu and Dirk Nowitzki among his private party clientele, and he\u2019s won half a dozen (or so) awards from this publication alone. But something was still missing.<\/p>\n

\"aA window seat gives you a good view of Herby\u2019s mascot, the owner\u2019s dog.<\/p>\n

DJ Sober Walks Into a Bar \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to open a bar \u2014 even though I\u2019m DJ Sober,\u201d Rhoten jokes. \u201cI had studied the industry, and I\u2019ve had these legendary nights and made other people a ton of money. I thought I\u2019d love to put my touch on a space that could be mine.\u201d <\/p>\n

He envisioned a place where people could \u201ctalk and hang out and meet and create new relationships.\u201d What eventually materialized is just that. Marking its second anniversary this month, Herby\u2019s is Rhoten\u2019s pitch-perfect branded throwback burger joint on Edgefield Avenue in Oak Cliff. Serving smashburgers slathered in melted cheese and buttery onions, golden-fried tots and grilled hot dogs, its rotating calendar of theme parties and collabs echoes the owner\u2019s first job in many ways. And soon, he\u2019s even adding wine and beer to the mix (permit pending).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much to learn,\u201d he says. \u201cLooking back, there\u2019s so much that I know now, if I did it again, it would be 10 times smoother. Every day is a lesson. But there are still so many rewarding things. That\u2019s why I did it in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, at the end of one of his long days, whether party- or bar- or burger-centric, he unwinds by putting on a record and maybe even cracking open a \u201ccold, crisp Dr Pepper.\u201d It not a shot and a beer, but it works for DJ Sober.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recently, we met Matt McCallister, a sober chef, in the first of a series exploring the intersection of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":532360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,17925,1596,10429,235956,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-532359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-burgers","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-oak-cliff","12":"tag-sober-life","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115933615538512136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}