Hey DJ! Friday Q&A: Señor Oz

Skyler Duganne

​DJ Señor Oz is part of the Afrolicious crew that brings a live/DJ hybrid to Elbo Room on a weekly basis. The club night is constructed to move bodies with drum beats from around the world and players performing funky music both on instruments and electronically.

Tonight Afrolicious hosts Austin's Latin psych funkateers Brownout, with Señor Oz taking to the turntables and warming up the dancefloor. Check out his artful collage philosophy below.

Name: Señor Oz

Club night(s): Afrolicious @ Elbo Room,

Style(s) of music you spin: Funky and soulful
 
So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I've always collected records and DJ'd but my other passion and background is visual art--where the work that's resonated with me the most is collage, especially expressionistic stuff like Rauschenberg and Romare Beardon. My DJ sets are collages of eras of soulful and funky music that create a vibe.  I love to bring new sounds to the people and make them dance! I have a love of live music and electronic music and they both influence how I play, which is mostly improvisatory and based on how the crowd is reacting, what time of night it is, how the room is feeling.

Sergio Fedasz

​What's the idea behind Afrolicious? The un-official moto of the party is that "It's a party, not a show!". At Afrolicious there is a synergy between DJs, dancers, and live musicians; it's a party with all those ingredients. My brother Pleasuremaker, who created the party, is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a DJ/producer and he brings out records, midi-controllers, keyboards and guitar. There is also a resident percussionist (B Lee) and drummer (Elrod) and myself. I play records, CDs, and Ableton Live with midi controllers. Format doesn't matter, it's all about the sounds.

There are also a lot of guests that come through. We book a lot of DJs whose productions and styles we admire, and also invite live musicians to sit in. But it's not a jam session. Everything played is for the dancers. It's all rhythmic more than solos and there's no ego involved. It's the same with the crowd--very respectful, very open ears. Two and  half years and no requests so far!

Stylistically the night is very eclectic. On the flyer we say Afro-Tropi-Electro-Samba-Disco-Funk-House, but that's not a third of the genres you might hear throughout the night depending on the guest. We play a lot of club-jazz and breaks and deep stuff; you might hear some cumbia and chicha; you'll probably hear someone's original production getting tested for the first time! All the music we play has a hybridity to it based on the mixing of cultures and always going back to the source of music, the drum. The drum came from Africa and then it went around the world and back and turned into drum kits and samplers and it will continue to do so. Finding the links and lineage of those sounds is important too. What is always consistent about the party is the vibe!
 
What can you tell us about Brownout, who's performing with you and Pleasuremaker? They sound like The JB's on mescaline! Their sound is analog and they put on a crazy good show.  They have a great new album out on Six Degrees Records, and they always have great remixes too. They are totally open to that side of DJ culture. One of the guitarist is Adrian Quesada and he's also in Ocote Soul Sounds; the band is also part of Grupo Fantasma. These guys can hang--they back up Prince when he wants to mix it up a bit!


Name of an artist you're currently championing in your DJ sets: Tal M. Klein seems to be on a hotstreak right now. He's based in SF and makes funky  nu-disco that is beautiful and organic and very danceable, but you could definitely listen to his stuff anytime, not just in a club. Many of the artists that I play out we book for events, and if you don't own any records or MP3s by DJ Said, Chief Boima, DJ Sabo, Midnight Lab Band, Nickodemus, J-Boogie, and DJ DRM then check them out!

Name of a current favorite track for the peak of your set: Afefe Iku - Mirror Dance (Yoruba Records). This song kind of captures the essence of the spectrum of club music I'll play, deep production with a simple hook made on an mbira; sometimes all you need is a drum machine and a thumb piano!

What other music-related projects are you currently working on? I'm working on loads of other music related projects, including constant promotion of shows, producing remixes of my own, and designing some album covers, but the one closest to my heart right now is promoting The Pleasuremaker Band. Their EP is coming out October 1st and we're going to celebrate at Afrolicious and have the entire 7-piece band out. The EP was recorded at Sound Arts, a great local studio with similar philosophies to us on making music now.  DJ Smash did a great dubby edit on it that sounds like a Compass Point/Grace Jones era at a house tempo.
 
Next time we can see you spin: Playing tonight, Friday, at Elbo with Brownout, this Sunday in Santa Cruz with Brownout, and every Thursday at Elbo Room for Afrolicious. Check the blog to find out about other parties and find out about Afrolicious DJ mixes/recordings here.