About

Getting Ahead of Ourselves started as a free-form internet radio broadcast coming out of Philadelphia, Pa. in the fall of 2007. Sleepy, OK and guests explore music on the fringes of indie, dub, jazz, hip-hop, found sound, funk and folk.

OK

DJ OK started off his career as an electric bassist, and sparked a therapeutic dance craze in his early years which resulted in his “Deejay Okay” moniker. He picked up a turntable from a flea market in 1991, when he was 13 years old, and played albums by The Smiths. He met John Pettit in college, while working as a botanist. After starting a nameless band with Pettit, and recording several aborted albums, he developed a keen ear for all sounds in the bass clef. He recorded a great number of songs on a four-track under his own name through the 2000s before eschewing music making for music listening. He now enjoys a contemplative life reading books thicker than his eyeglasses and broadcasting music to unseen listeners.

Sleepy

John Pettit and music go way back to lugging around trumpet, guitar, various cassette tapes and a walkman on Philly public transit to and from school. His life now largely resembles his life then though in the interim he’s picked up some bass and keyboard, and played live and on a bunch of records with folks. Although he sporadically picks up and puts down various instruments, he’s bound to still play here and there between his other gigs as an archivist and media maker. The ’sleepy’ moniker references the fits and starts of shut-eye he gets between projects and after the long trips between West Philadelphia and Germantown.