Chicago Music People: A Conversation with Jameson Ghalioungui (dietpooch)

A few weeks ago, I was lying in bed scrolling TikTok when a video stopped me. A guy was sitting in a cubicle wearing a button-down shirt and company lanyard while blasting wubby EDM. The account was called dietpooch. I was intrigued.

After digging, I realized the account belonged to a local Chicago DJ, Jameson Ghalioungui, better known as dietpooch. There was a level of energy and authenticity about Jameson's content that immediately drew me in.

Born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago, Jameson picked up the electric guitar at age nine.

“Music was just always something I was into and good at… I was never into sports.” Jameson recalls his motivation to start learning guitar at such a young age. His parents enrolled him at Rock Academy with his older brother and he attended for many years up until he went to high school.

“Back then Green Day was my favorite band… my taste was largely that of 2010's stuff like Two Door Cinema Club and Phoenix,” he tells me about some of his first influences. As Jameson got a little older, his music interests started to include electronic music.

“I got really into EDM music in high school… Flume and Louis the Child. I think I was the only 16-year-old kid at some of those concerts.” Jameson shares as he reminisces.

Jameson attended Beloit College and was mostly focused on embracing the college experience, which of course included learning how to DJ at frat parties. One of his friends owned a DJ controller, which became Jameson's practice setup. He remembers trying to bust out niche EDM tracks at the parties but they wouldn’t go over super well since all anyone wanted to hear was Fetty Wap.

Jameson and his brother started a Midwest indie emo band called Camp Edwards while they were in college. The band was playing regularly before COVID, but slowed down after his brother moved to New York to pursue a graduate degree in music composition.

After undergrad, Jameson started working part-time at a library during COVID. He enjoyed the work and decided to go back to school for a master’s degree in library science so he could move up, eventually landing a full-time position at the Glenview Public Library, where the TikTok that first caught my attention was filmed

Jameson's primary focus these days is his solo project, producing and DJing under the name dietpooch. Once we started diving deeper into the current day, I had to ask, “What’s with the name?” We both started to laugh.

“I don’t mean to offend anyone, but you know when you eat too much food sometimes and your belly sort of just blossoms out a little bit… It's like a pooch. Sometimes when I’d eat too much McDonald’s or something my Dad would tell me I had a pooch. At the time I really liked this band Diet Cig so I thought to myself ‘put diet in front of your joke name.’”

As goofy as the name is, Jameson is gaining legit traction landing gigs at some of Chicago’s most notable venues, thanks in large part to his persistence and willingness to reach out to talent buyers. He recently opened for Angry Baby at Smoke and Mirrors and plans to start releasing some of his own music this year.

I asked Jameson what the process looked like as he tried to get booked around the city

“Well it starts with the ‘info at’ email address… eventually you get a list of the talent buyers and a lot of the time, it just starts there. I email a lot. I’m not ashamed to do it.” Jameson explains. Some of his friends ask how he keeps landing opening slots at venues around the city.

“Well, I’m sending like 20 emails a day. Are they annoyed? Probably…but I think showing interest is better than not.” Jameson shares about being persistent but all from a place of genuine interest. Many of the artists he reaches out to aren't random opportunities. They're artists he already loves.

“You as the promoter may not think that I’m trying to emulate this sound. You see a list or roster of local people just trying to open for the guy…I might actually be the only one listening to the guy.” Jameson shares about how his persistence is usually motivated by his genuine interest in opening for acts that he himself is a fan of. Sometimes he’s even gone direct to the headliner himself. He believes some of these tactics have helped him land a lot of his opening gigs.

Jameson and I discussed the current state of the Chicago music scene for folks like him who are just getting started with booking shows and gaining a following.

“I just wish there was more love sometimes.” Jameson shares that there’s sometimes a level of unwillingness to connect or hang within the community.

“We’re all on the same page here… we’re all people. Here to have a fun time!” As Jameson shares this with me he pauses to find the right words. You can feel his genuine desire to connect and support others working hard to play their music and have fun as he talks with me.

I asked if there was anyone who had helped him along the way.

He specifically mentioned Auris employees Garrett Birch and Phil Kruger, along with members of the Collectiv team, as people who took a chance on him early. His appreciation radiated as he double checked the spelling of names in an effort to properly give credit.

To wrap up our conversation, and in true hp’s picks fashion, I asked Jameson for some music recs. He told me he still listens to Louis the Child and has more recently been into jigitz and Daniel Allan - two up and coming electronic DJs who Jameson admires for their ability to dip into various different electronic genres when they play live.

After talking with Jameson, it became obvious that his momentum isn't accidental. Behind the funny TikToks and self-deprecating humor is someone relentlessly sending emails, building relationships, and putting himself out there. Whether it's opening for artists he genuinely loves or making videos from a library cubicle, everything feels rooted in the same thing: genuine enthusiasm. That's probably why it's working.

You can find dietpooch on Instagram and TikTok and be sure to check out one of his shows this summer.