Today we’d like to introduce you to Frisky Hug.
Hi Frisky, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My name is Manny Palacios, I am 31 years old from San Luis Obispo, California but many years ago I created a festival alter ego, rave personality, or you could even call it an EDM icon persona, and I like to call him Frisky Hug. Before we begin the story of Frisky Hug and what this personality has turned into, I need to talk about how I got the name Frisky Hug and I got started as a content creator. My first EDC Las Vegas was in 2013, it was one of my favorite weekends that I have ever had to this date.
I’m not sure if this is still a thing, but in those times, rave names were 100% a thing, it’s where friends or even random ravers would give each other cool or unique names. My friend Michael hits me up after our amazing adventures at EDC and he asked me if I have ever been given a rave name, I responded no, and he proceeded to give me the name Frisky. I thought that was such a weird name to give someone, but I have never been the type to refuse an offer, so I accepted the name as my own. Years following, I started creating content on YouTube/Instagram for a gaming channel called CTS (clutch to survive) which was a Call of Duty clan that I was the founder of.
This gamer team consisted of over 18 members, and everyone had a made-up gamer name aka a nickname we would call each other that followed after the three letters C T S. As you would guess, my name was CTS Frisky. We played in Major League Gaming, played at tournaments, posted YouTube gaming commentaries and montages. The gaming community was cool, but I felt like I was at my happiest when I was at music festivals. I made up my mind and decided that I wanted to create a persona in the EDM community.
One thing I loved about the rave culture was all the free hugs, I had an idea to create a personality called Frisky Hug, almost as if I was combing two different worlds. Over the years, I have been criticized for making the word “Frisky: so popular but when I created the name, I was just calling myself that as some kind of joke if I’m being honest. At this point, my name is well known and I feel like if I rebranded, I would remove part of the history and the story that comes with the name and how I got started creating music festival content. I have been told by random ravers that I have an “I’m going to just do me” attitude and they love it!
Years of creating content on Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and now Spotify have led me to be a public figure in the festival space. I have been using my platform to promote men’s rave fashion, I don’t think that there are many male role models that guy ravers can look at for rave outfit inspiration and I thought… what a concept… I want to be that male role model for guy ravers that are looking to expand their fashion sense at music festivals. I go to 12-16 music festivals every year and every year I have an arsenal of amazing outfits that I showcase on my Instagram page and YouTube videos.
In recent years I have been feeling like I should be doing more, and I woke up one day with the motivation I needed to be more for the community that I love so much. I have been hosting meetups at festivals to give ravers a safe space to come meet other ravers, take pictures, trade Kandi bracelets, and share a DJ set together. My idea behind getting solo ravers together was to make people feel like they belong regardless of if they came solo or came with a group, we are all friends we just haven’t met yet. My meetups have been small at times and sometimes they reach around 100 people, regardless of the outcome, I am happy that I host meetups. The stories I hear from my followers and fellow ravers motivate me, seeing their smiles and hearing them tell me how much I mean to this community makes everything I have been working towards… worth it.
For some reason all this still didn’t feel like I was reaching my potential and that I could still do more, so I decided to start a podcast that I call the Festy Hub Podcast. I bring in guests that have contributed to the EDM Community in some way or form and I give them my platform to tell their stories, help guide other ravers, answer questions, and honestly, just show the public that we all had a path that we have to journey through in order to get where we are now. My podcast is available on all major streaming platforms such as SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and the video version is on YouTube…. and a couple of clips make it onto TikTok and IG Reels. This podcast has been such a positive experience, for some reason I have been feeling blessed to have a way to give other people a voice.
Skipping forward to the end of 2021, I had been serving the United States Army under a Special Forces unit for the last 7 years until recently, not only was I an EDM content creator all these years but I was also a Soldier (which I kept my job a secret from the public). I have finally gotten out of the military in November 2021 and have been transitioning as a civilian, this transition has taken a toll on me, and I needed to take a break from creating content. I moved to Orlando after getting out of the Army, looking for a job, trying to figure my life out in a new state, new city and I realized that my personal life needs to take priority for a bit.
Lately, I went to a New Year’s festival in Orlando called Countdown Orlando Invasion, I didn’t have a meetup because of the mental exhaustion I have been feeling. Something else happened though, I was constantly bumping into individuals who recognized me, ravers that saw me from a distance and chased me down to tell me how much they love my videos and how much of an impact I have not only made in the community but them individually. Having someone cry on my shoulders as they told me that my videos got them through some rough times sparked something in me that I hadn’t felt in a while.
I finally got my motivation again; I was blinded by the idea that I was going nowhere with my content, and it crept in the shadows as every festival went by. Sometimes I just have to tell myself that I mean more than I think to people, I provide a safe space for people to gather at festivals, a streaming platform for people to have a voice, and my dm’s have always been open for anyone and everyone.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, I have had to balance being in the military while also being a rave personality. The military made it so I would have to keep moving homes every 2 years, so establishing myself in the local community got difficult at times.
Another struggle has been making real friends, it took me a while to find friends that weren’t trying to use me to get closer to the people I know or have networked with.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I just started working this week for a dental corporation as an Oral Surgery Tech. I am proficient in assistant in the operating room for many different types of services which include OMS, ENT, General, Ortho, and Plastic surgery.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
My podcast is seeing growth every month, I plan on bringing bigger and more influential names onto the podcast.
I think it’s important to bring in as many different types of people in the festival industry because I am also trying to learn from them because in the next 5-10 years I want to help coordinate a big music festival.
Contact Info:
- Email: friskyhug@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/friskyhug
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/friskyhug
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/friskyhug
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/festyhubpodcast
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/festyhubpodcast/
Image Credits
1000WordMirrors
