David Hale III was the DJ for the Women's Pro Baseball League. He shared his excitement of inaugural season, which wrapped with the Los Angeles Queens winning the first crown. The games were played in Springfield, Illinois.
Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Jeff Williams. Today we'll be hearing from David Hale III, artist, DJ. As a matter of fact, most recently, he was a DJ during the inaugural season of the Women's Professional Baseball League. I wanted to talk to him about how the season went. David.
David Hale III:
Yes, sir.
Jeff Williams:
How's it going, man?
David Hale III:
I'm good. I'm absolutely honored to be here.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, man!
David Hale III:
Thank you for having me.
Jeff Williams:
And I reached out and asked, “Do you want to come in?” And you got back and you're like, dude, I'm busy, man. I got this new thing I'm about to do. And so, I can't come in for a while. And I was like, you know… it’s better (to wait until after you’re done). So it'll be cool to hear about this. I'll let you kind of talk about it some. But yeah, David Hale III, artist, DJ. Are you originally from Springfield?
David Hale III:
I am born and raised here in Springfield.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, right on. Where'd you go to high school at?
David Hale III:
Springfield High.
Jeff Williams:
I thought you went to SHS. I wasn't 100% sure. I went to Lanphier (High School), man. So most recently, along with the art thing that you've done, and you've shown at Dim Art House before, the DJ thing that you were just doing, I mean, because you've done that for a while.
David Hale III:
I have.
Jeff Williams:
Do you want to start with history or the most recent thing that you've done?
David Hale III:
Okay, let's start with history.
Jeff Williams:
History, sure, I like it.
David Hale III:
So, before DJing, I was with Gypsy Collabo. Yes, so we had a blast. We essentially took two different bands and put them together into one. So, it was a group called The Tipsy Gypsies, and they were a classic rock band.
Jeff Williams:
And then I don't think I've really heard of them then.
David Hale III:
Okay, go ahead. And so, me and my buddies had a rap group called Collabo. We took the Tipsy Gypsies and Collabo, merged them together and created Gypsy Collabo. And that was kind of my big introduction to the local music scene. That was really me getting out there and seeing what I could do artistically with my friends, and We had a wonderful time. Wonderful time. And really, you've inspired me a lot. And in so many ways, bro. Because I feel like there's so many correlations between our interests and the way we're positioned within the community. nil8's been just, you know, such a staple. I mean, you guys are just amazing. And then what you've done in the art world, I admire you. I absolutely admire you.
Jeff Williams:
Good to know, like an inspiration, man. It makes me feel really good.
David Hale III:
I'll tell you, I was getting ready to go to bed the other night. And how we're all kind of addicted to our phones. So, I pulled up social media, and I saw you scattering rocks around the city. And I am like; I got to get up and get dressed and go find one of these things because I need one. They were awesome. I love the brick with the teeth.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yeah, the teeth, the big gap tooth. Yeah, Love it. One of my favorites for sure. So but with Gypsy Collabo, I mean, I remember Gypsy Collabo playing Down Home Fest. And you guys, did you get signed? I kind of heard stuff. I wasn't 100% sure.
David Hale III:
We were really close to getting signed. We never signed a deal. We started working with a guy named Carl Napa down in St. Louis. And he's kind of like Nelly's right hand man. And they had a studio down there. And we were making a lot of progress doing a lot of things down there. But we had some tragedy strike the band. Our bass player, John Peterson, passed away. way untimely and our band kind of never really recovered from that we never really did I mean we had a couple other bass players kind of come in and try to fill those shoes but they were too big of shoes to fill.
Jeff Williams:
It's tough sometimes the magic the whatever happens to be and this is no fault of anybody else's and also a reminder kind of too you know so that's kind of that can be tough for sure.
David Hale III:
After a while the band ended up kind of going their separate ways and we pretty much broke up. And I was kind of at a crossroads trying to figure out, what's next for me? Because I have this like artistic energy that I feel like I have to express in some way. And without the band, I was kind of left with a void there.
Jeff Williams:
And that, sorry to interrupt, that was around, was that about? 10 years ago, now or a little bit?
David Hale III:
Probably closer to 15.
Jeff Williams:
Isn't that crazy? Yeah, it's crazy, man. So anyhow.
David Hale III:
And I've really been lucky to be able to use social media for a lot of wonderful opportunities in my life. So I was scrolling one day and one of my buddies was working out at WQNA. They were doing their show, their student radio kind of, you know.
Jeff Williams:
I'm glad that's coming back too.
David Hale III:
Yeah, they're bringing it back. It's a beautiful thing. And I got an opportunity to co-host a show called Hip Hop Hump Day. Every Wednesday, just playing hip hop, all the stuff I wanted. And I had a blast with that. And one day on my way out to record the show, I ran into Bonzi from (radio station W)DBR. I knew him because he had us in with the band, with Gypsy Collabo. And so we were able to play some music on air, do some interviews. Yeah, So I was familiar with him. And then I'm just like, you know what? I told him I'm doing this local show. I absolutely love it. If you have some availability, let's talk. Let me see what I can do. Let me be an asset to you. And it worked out. I ended up sending in some recordings and it was 99.7 Kiss FM then.
Jeff Williams:
Oh yeah.
David Hale III:
It's no longer alive. And then transitioned to 99.7 the mix. who's now (W)CVS. So once again, that was quite a while ago, but it really provided me with a wonderful outlet to be artistic, to be close to the music and to make sure that when the community went throughout their day and they were listening to their favorite songs, I was also associated with that experience. And that was just perfect.
Jeff Williams:
It's cool when you look back how step by step things unfold and then all of a sudden, this door opens and then that door opens and then all of a sudden it's like, well, because of these couple of things, this other thing.
David Hale III:
And on that note, I've really lately been into manifestation and how the mind affects physical reality and how you can really materialize the things that you conceive. And so that's been an interesting journey for me, a lifelong journey that I assume that I'll be on until this ride is finished. But I'm having fun with it and figuring out the best ways to manifest things I won in my life and why certain things took longer and the power of affirmation and all that stuff. I'm just having a blast trying to learn what life can do for me and how I can make the world better. Yeah.
Jeff Williams:
It's a roller coaster, but you just keep doing it and going along and these positive things happen along the way. I don't know if you want to jump to the most recent thing now.
David Hale III:
Sure, yeah. So most recently, I've been DJing for It's crazy, man. Robin Roberts Stadium.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, When I just happened to contact you, you're like, sorry, you know, I'm about to get busy with this project. And then you said that, I was like, oh my God, that's perfect. It'll be good to hear afterwards. So here it again.
David Hale III:
Yeah, no, it's been amazing. My schedule has been crazy because I do work, I work a day job, Secretary of State, so I'm there Monday through Friday. Luckily for me, that's normally the time where no one really needs a DJ or is throwing huge parties and things of that nature. But it kind of goes back to some of the opportunities that I've been able to extract from my social media pages. I've been doing Bloomington Bison hockey and Springfield Lucky Horseshoes baseball. And so with my affiliation with the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, it was almost like a no-brainer. I met a lot of the organizers from the Women's Professional Baseball League towards the end of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoe season. And once I realized what they were doing, I couldn't wait to be a part of it.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah.
David Hale III:
I mean, it's historic.
Jeff Williams:
Oh man. I remember when I first heard about it and I was like, is that really going to happen? Because it seems like it'd be super cool. But man, that was so cool. Anyhow, go ahead.
David Hale III:
Yeah, no, it's absolutely amazing. One of my favorite parts is hearing the stories because I think a lot of people underestimate what representation means to a lot of other people in the community. Because a lot of times if you don't see certain things as a possibility, you don't realize that they are a possibility for you. And it spans throughout so many generations. So, there's grandmothers at the baseball diamond who have been in love with baseball their whole lives. And they've never had the opportunity to play with women or play at all. They've been pigeonholed into softball. Or if they were to play, they had to play while also being expected to wear a skirt and be attractive. So it's been really, there's so many stories that are just moving, that'll almost move you to tears when people talk about their love for the sport and now, they have a young daughter and now they realize that their daughter actually has a path forward in the sport that their family loves so much. Yes, schedule's been crazy. Baseball's been amazing. Four teams, none of them from this area. New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. There are folks driving from all over the country, flying in. I mean, it's absolutely wonderful. And I'm super grateful to have the opportunity to entertain fans again at Rob and Roberts Stadium. So it's special.
Jeff Williams:
We had, I didn't do it, but Randy had met with one of the players. I believe the last name was Apgar.
David Hale III:
Yeah. Brittany.
Jeff Williams:
Anyhow, I remember when she was just waiting outside with her and I believe it was one of the managers to talk to Randy and saw that they were there and I was like, hey, thanks for doing what you're doing. She was so fired up. She's like, oh my God, thank you. It was just really cool to see the excitement.
David Hale III:
And she specifically has recently received that prosthetic. So she's in a position right now where just recently she's feeling she actually has a similar sensation to the other their ladies when she's up to bat, when that ball strikes that bat. I don't think she was able to follow through in the same way without the prosthetic. And I think it's amazing that with the proper medical professionals that they've been able to craft her prosthetic that allows her to compete with women who don't have that same disability. So, it's absolutely amazing. That's just like another example of one of those moving stories that's just so awesome that our community is able to host an environment that brings so many opportunities to so many people. Not only so much representation within the league, but also the diversity and embrace of the LGBTQ plus community. I mean, it's all together and it's a huge family environment. I mean, I've met parents of the athletes to local folks in the community, from people who have driven. I met a girl who flew in from California, sang the anthem. She was a vocalist and a pop singer. And she did not want to leave Springfield after the game she performed. She was like, I'm trying to figure out how I can change my flights, how we can stay another week because we need more of this women's pro baseball. So hats off to the WPBL. They put an amazing product out on the field and just grateful to contribute to the organization.
Jeff Williams:
Did you, from your position, were you able to kind of get a sense of how, kind of from the outside in a way, they landed on Springfield?
David Hale III:
Yeah, so I think it was a combination of reasons. I think one of them was because of its central location. So, they were able to have folks from the east and the west kind of converge in the middle. Also, Robin Roberts does have a history of women's pro baseball. So I believe it was about 70 years ago. I could be butchering the numbers a little bit. But the Springfield Sally's were actually a historic women's baseball team here in Springfield.
Jeff Williams:
Did not know that.
David Hale III:
Yeah. And so, the interesting thing is, you know, I've been DJing for the horseshoes and they have, they sell a lot of merch, and they sell these jerseys from historic jerseys from past teams. We’ve had the Springfield Cardinals. There's been lots, The (Springfield) Sliders. There's been lots of different teams play at the stadium. I would look through those jerseys to see which one I wanted to acquire. And I would see these Springfield Sally's jerseys. And I never really put it together. And then once the WPBL came and the action started and the conversations began to increase, I realized that Springfield does have a rich history of women's baseball Yeah, I didn't know about that.
Jeff Williams:
I'm gonna have to dig into that some more.
David Hale III:
So that also is part of the reason that they wanted to bring women's baseball back to a place where it already had some roots.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, I can see, okay, that makes sense. I remember when I was really, really, this is way, way, way back. I mean, I was a little kid. My grandfather would take my brother and I to Robin Roberts (Stadium) and we would watch at that point… I think it was the Division 2 Baseball World Series. I think that it was here for a few years. I'm going to kind of look to make sure that I'm saying that right. But I remember one of the promo nights. I mean, like I said, I was really, really small, but Ernie Banks, who was like a Cub legend like that, he was a pretty old dude, but he was there. And I had like, all I had was like one of those little malt, chocolate cups, you know, you pull the top off with a little wooden spoon… way back. And so, I had that. And I cleaned it off real good and gave it to him and Ernie Banks signed it! So signed that little thing. Problem is it's floating… I'm assuming someplace at my mom's house. I got to try to find it because I'm a little kid and I got it and I'm running around outside with it and everything. (laughter)
David Hale III:
I got a similar story to that. So, when I was a young kid, my dad somehow ended up playing a round of golf with Ozzie Smith. What? Yeah! So, I was probably about 8 years old or something, and he comes home with this ball cap and it's got an Ozzie Smith autograph on it. And of course, in my young age, I wore it out somewhere. I lost it. But full circle moment, Ozzie Smith came to host a Dinner in the Diamond is what they call it at Robin Roberts Stadium this past year. And yeah, I was fortunate enough to be called on to DJ that event and to be right there next to the stage helping with sound and everything. So I didn't have anything for him to sign. And I didn't want to give him something random. But yeah, full circle moment that your story reminded me of mine as well. So yeah, having lots of fun at Robin Roberts. It's a wonderful place. They're doing great things for the northeast side of town.
Jeff Williams:
Oh man, for sure.
David Hale III:
Yeah, lots of development going on over there. So yeah, I'm grateful, grateful.
Jeff Williams:
Love it. Well, once again, wow, great conversation, man. We're in the studio with David Hale, the third artist, DJ, women's pro baseball league DJ, as a matter of fact, specifically. Well, thanks for coming in and having a great conversation with me.
David Hale III:
Absolutely, my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Jeff Williams:
Until next time. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois.
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