San Francisco Music Blog

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Mission-based indie rock band Upstairs Downstairs juxtaposes dark, atmospheric lyrics with lush folk-pop melodies, crafting the perfect soundtrack for foggy, rainy days in the city. The year-old act will be recording its first EP this December. Title pending, the disc will be a collection of current demos, plus new material to be released early next year. Upstairs Downstairs is Tory Ford (vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriting); James Levis (electric guitar); Brad Robertson (Rhodes piano); Dana Goldberg (vocal harmonies, shakers); and Doug Saenz (drums).

All Shook Down's local band column Local Frequency caught up with Upstairs Downstairs at Grooves record store on Upper Market. The group was getting its press photos taken and the conversation turned to classic underwear, giant Tecates, and British dramas.

If you could describe your sound as a San Francisco neighborhood, which one would it be and why?

Tory Ford: Wow, that's a stumper. I'd say a mixture of things, kind of like the Inner Richmond-- that's where we started, but we live in the Mission now. Well, except for Doug, who lives in the East Bay. I'd definitely go with the Inner Richmond--kinda foggy, a bit dreamy.

What's the last book you guys read?

TF: Zorro by Isabel Allende. I also just got finished reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
Dana Goldberg: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
Brad Robertson: Lush Life by Richard Price.
James Levis: The Stranger by Albert Camus.

​Mason Bates is probably the only DJ who gets props from both the downtown dance community and ritzy classical society. The San Franciscan has an impressive resume fit for both worlds.

He's performed with the San Francisco Symphony and is the current composer-in-residence for the California Symphony (he'll soon be the composer-in-residence for the Chicago Symphony next). But he's also hit the decks with San Francisco DJs in SOMA clubs. In the last couple years he's merged classical and beat culture at Mezzanine and 111 Minna, spreading his Mercury Soul vision across the city.

Mercury Soul hits 111 Minna tonight, Nov. 13, with Mason blending jazzy downtempo with classical music from 20 different musicians (performing live). It's a sonic style cocktail of unusually complimentary tastes, and it goes down at happy hour (5-9 p.m.). Get better acquainted with this high- and low-brow'r below.

Name: Masonic (aka Mason Bates)

Club night(s): The Mercury Lounge at 111 Minna

Style(s) of music you spin: Groovy downtempo & classical music

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? Symphonic composer by day, DJ by night, I found my schizophrenic musical state begging for resolution when I moved to SF in 2001. So I began incorporating live electromica into my orchestral works, as well as adding classical musicians to my DJ sets.

How did you start merging electronic and classical music? A piece called "Omnivorours Furniture," commissioned by the LA Philharmonic, was my first attempt at bringing these two worlds together. The piece exists at the interaction of morphing electronica beats and symphonic textures, a kind of head-banger's portal into the concert hall. But I soon found that the ambient possibilities of electronica offered musical opportunities equally powerful as beats.

What's something the two styles have in common that you wouldn't expect? Despite the gulf between the spaces where these musics exist - concert hall vs club - the ears of both audiences are well-primed for experiencing the other. Electronica's absence of a vocal line requires the music to bump-up other elements to maintain musical interest - intricate rhythms, beautiful sonorities, gems of harmony. This makes electronica heads pretty tolerant of the intense listening experience of classical music.

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Lisbon-based Buraka Som Sistema headlines Mezzanine Saturday night, bringing its mashup of vocal percussion with zombified, broken-legged dance contortions. The foursome who leapt into global view with 2008's Black Diamond is now making its second SF visit. The group will batter crowds with dissonant siren-thumps and crawling Portuguese slang, fitting within the same seismic frame as sometime-collaborator M.I.A. and African soukous giant Koffi Olomide.

Buraka are today's leading practitioners of Kuduro--Angolan beat patterns peculiarly named after a scene in Kickboxer when Jean-Claude Van Damme tries to dance drunk! We don't have to explain Kuduro to you, just watch this video.

As the band readied for a tour stop in L.A., All Shook Down chatted with BSS's Rui Pité aka RIOTDJ:

You just got back from Mexico! What was that like?
Mexico was awesome. There was a lot of people there waiting for us....and a lot of people knew the lyrics. Buraka is funny because people don't really listen to the lyrics; Portuguese isn't well understood around the world so it's just about dance-your-ass-off.

You're in a rare group of artists that addresses your music to favela culture, slum culture, and yet tours internationally playing for affluent kids. How do you manage that divide?
I don't have a secret for you regarding the perfect performance to please everyone. We kind of live in the middle of them. We don't live in slums but we live pretty much near them. It's like Baile funk. You don't have to live in favelas to know Baile funk, but you can get close to it by listening and you pick up the community that way.

For us it's the Kuduro rhythm. There's a lot of Angolans living in Portugal so we just picked up Kuduro rhythm and do our own thing. There's a couple of [similar groups] around the world doing our thing: Sri Lanka, Brazil, even in Baltimore you can hear people doing these things. It's just music, man. Either you like it or you don't.

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Bernal Heights singer/songwriter Eric Maskol bills his music as echoey acoustic rock with an apocalyptic swing. Playing around the city for years, Maskol has remained largely unknown, scoring music for independent films and making home recorded EPs.

This past July, he released his first full-length studio album, The Year Before the War. Drawing the best aspects of the Beatles, The Pixies, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen, Maskol's songs offer well-crafted pop hooks and witty lyricisms that one can't help but sing along to. Maskol sat down with Local Frequency (All Shook Down's new local musician profile series) prior to his set at the Beale Street Bar & Grill to chat about his sound, embarrassing songs, and where he likes to drink.

If your sound was a neighborhood in the city, what would it be and why?
I'd say Bernal Heights. I live there, and it's like a small town with the same San Francisco-ness but there are also aspects of the big city as well. It's like this little section of wilderness amongst the city.

Last thing you've read?
The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham, it's about the life of the painter Paul Gauguin

Favorite venue in the city?
I have so many, my favorites are the ones I haven't played in yet -- Great American Music Hall and the Fillmore. Great American Music Hall has this intimate feeling and history that I love. The Bottom of the Hill is also my favorite, which I've played.

​Andy Caldwell is a skilled pianist and trumpeter, but his classical training takes a back seat to his rep in the clubs. The Om Records staple and Uno Recordings owner has spent the past decade and a half touring the world (hitting all the big dance meccas: Ibiza, Berlin, Australia) with his turntables and recording tastemaking mixes. His latest album, Obsession is a departure from the San Francisco house scene he's synonymous with; here he collaborates on electro bangers with Mr. V, Storm Lee, Femke, Mr. J. Madeiros, and more. It's fitting that he's sonically departed the Bay Area, as he also moved down to Los Angeles, looking for better weather and a change of creative scene.

Caldwell is back in town on Saturday, Nov. 14, with a show at Vessel and, most likely, a stop at his favorite bakery. 

Name: Andy Caldwell

Style(s) of music you spin: house, house, HOUSE!

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? Just a kid who fell in love with house music, dedicated my life to it, and never looked back.

When and why did you leave San Francisco? I moved to LA not too long ago because I was feeling creatively stagnant and was looking for a place with warmer weather. Also many of my closest friends live here so I had a nice social network already. I like visiting SF though! I spent 12 years there.

What do you miss most about living here? One word... Tartine.

​Over Halloween weekend there's no shortage of options for the costumed club-goer. But if you're into supporting a local celeb behind the decks, it's hard to beat a gig where Miguel Migs is the main attraction.

The founder of Salted Music has spent most of this decade making a name for house music both here and abroad. The in-demand DJ has gigs around the world, but also makes time to give his Salted club series a local home.

He's one of the headliners (along with Mark Farina) at the Regency's big Halloween party, "A Nightmare on Van Ness" on Saturday night.
 
We decided to check in with Migs to  hear more about his new Salted comp, his favorite peak-of-the-set song, and his fears for 2012.

Name: Miguel Migs

Club night(s): All over the globe

Style(s) of music you spin: Mostly deep, soulful, funky electronic dance music... sometimes downtempo grooves, dub, rock, classics.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I've been involved with music my whole life... started out playing guitar in bands when I was a kid and then got inspired by writing and creating electronic music in the early 90's.... been touring the globe for the past 10 years non-stop and continuing to experiment in the studio creating electronic dance music... and I love fish tacos.

What was the main idea behind your new record, Get Salted Volume 2? It's just a DJ mix compilation... not a big deal. It's simply a selection of various underground deep, soulful and tech house tracks mixed together in a smooth continuous flow. I try and stay away from choosing any commercial club music on my mix comps and choose more interesting and unknown tracks that I enjoy at the moment.

 

Rick Symonds

​This week we chat with The Worker, a member of the Fiction crew who's always on the lookout for the dark, the strange, and the flat out mutant strains of techno and disco. The dude has one hand on the turntables, and the other inside the local music industry, working at esteemed international label Six Degrees, among other gigs.

The Worker lives up to his name in S.F., swinging with the Extra Action Marching Band during DJ sets, digging up new underground techno gems for recommendation (see below, he has many suggestions) and daydreaming about partying in a zeppelin (don't we all).

Get the scoop on the Worker below. He'll bring the deep funk to Supperclub later tonight...

Name:  Michael Kelly aka The Worker  

Club night(s): Techno electro mutant disco with Fiction @ 222 Hyde on fourth Thursdays, with   occasional one-offs at various S.F. clubs. Tonight I'm @ Supperclub with Lee Foss ; Gritty global beats with Stateless @ Underground SF on first Fridays starting November 6th (w/ guest Kid Kameleon).

Style(s) of music you spin: The deep, dark and funkier side of techno, tech house, and "mutant" disco for Fiction.  Various tempos and genres of global beats for Stateless - running from smokey global hip-hop, downtempo, and funk to dubby techno and house.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I've been methodically making my way in music and the "music industry" for the last eight years since moving to S.F. Taking the thorough route, I guess. One half has been my personal projects (DJing, events, and promotions) and the other half has been a more formal work in the "industry," as a head of marketing for S.F. based  
label Six Degrees Records, and independent projects involving music publishing.  I've always had a pretty wide scope and eclectic tastes and it's led to having my foot in a number of different scenes - from putting together "world music" showcases in L.A. to DJing dirty dingy techno undergrounds here in S.F. I'm working to bring these different backgrounds, skills, and  
influences together in novel ways within the next couple years.

Joseph Schell

Israel Nebeker of Blind Pilot.

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Israel Nebeker is the lead singer and guitarist for Portland's own Blind Pilot, whose debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, has quickly launched the band into indie folk pop stardom. SF Weekly sat down with Nebeker yesterday to chat about the benefits and detriments of touring via bike versus touring via van, what it's like to return to San Francisco with a huge crop of new fans, and why a near miss meeting Snoop Dogg at Lollapalooza left Nebeker heartbroken.

Also, check out our review of Blind Pilot's show last night at The Great American Music Hall.

Welcome back to San Francisco - did you guys come down here on your bike tour?

Yeah, in fact, this was our unexpected final destination. We were trying to get into Mexico but we got our bikes stolen when we went to the MOMA. So ... this was the end. That was the very first tour, and then the second bike tour we came through San Francisco too and we played at the Mojo Bike Café -- that was a really fun show.

This time you came by van, right? Having any regrets about that?

Just that it's so boring and sucks all of the soul out of you. Our van did really well until Eugene. Everything started falling apart and nobody could figure it out. We went to all of these dealerships and mechanics and nobody could fix it. So we ended up driving here overnight. But apparently it fixed itself. A mechanic just told us, 'I can't fix it because it's not broken.' We'll see. Cars kind of suck that way.

The last time you were here you played at the Outside Lands festival - what was that like? Who were some of your favorite performers there?

It was really fun -- there was tons of good music there. There was this one reggae band from around here that I was not expecting to really like -- I mean, it's not my favorite kind of music -- but they were maybe the greatest show of the whole thing. I can't remember the name of the band, but it was awesome. I wish remembered their name. Also, Conor Oberst put on a really good show, Band of Horses ... there was lots of good stuff.

​If you've ever packed it into the Make-Out Room on a Saturday night, you have El Kool Kyle to thank for making you sweat. The El Superrritmo DJ goes crate digging across continents to bring back the best the barrios have to offer (and over Halloween weekend, you can take advantage of his sonic travels by grabbing a free El Kool Kyle mix at his club night).

Kyle tells his story better than we can sum it up, though--especially if you flip to page two of this interview, where the dude tells his tale in rhyme.

DJ Name:  El Kool Kyle

Club Nights: El Superrritmo @ The Makeout Room, Soul Fyah @ Lukas, Baylando! "Your Bay Area Latin SoundSystem", and a whole bunch of underground parties.

Styles of music you spin: funky ghetto, dance music from the past and present that simmers out of  the many barrios of Planet Earth (especially Colombia, Jamaica, Africa, The Balkans & The USA)

​You might know this week's Q&A star, B. Bravo, from one of a couple different guises. He busts out the sax for Bayonics, has worked as a DJ both over the airwaves and in clubs, and has recorded a couple solo releases--the latest of which is his Computa Love  EP. Bravo opens for Chromeo at Mezzanine on Saturday night; get to know the guy behind the turntables below.

Name: Adam Mori aka B. Bravo

Club night(s): Disco vs Dubstep, Lush Life @ Royale, 4th Tuesdays @ Eve Lounge

Style(s) of music you spin: Cosmic soul, future funk, that feel good dance music

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? Started with music playing saxophone in 6th grade in Seaside, CA.  Got heavy into Jazz. Started collecting funk records in college and DJing on my SF State radio show - The Funkiness Continues.  Gigs at bars and clubs followed,  justifying my newly found vinyl addiction. Started playing sax with Bayonics in 2002 and composing/producing around that time as well. Met Salva a couple years ago, when he was starting Frite Nite Records and put out my first solo release, Analog Starship EP, earlier this year.  

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It's always entertaining hearing about a DJ's worst request. Usually they remember a poor song choice, or some dumbshit asking for "something I can dance to." But DJ White Mike's tale takes the cake: some chick wanting him to stop his set so she can get a photo of herself pretending to be on deck. Did the club promoter have Mike's back? Read below to find out...

Name: Mike Holmes, aka White Mike

Club night(s): Get Loose! 1st Saturdays @ Beauty Bar (and a few irregular weekend nights each month at Beauty Bar, as well) Forties Night (1st Wednesdays @ Etiquette Lounge), founding member of The Projects.

Style(s) of music you spin: Anything I can get away with. Hip-Hop. House. Disco. Electro. Indiepop. Classic rock. B-more club. Funk. Soul. Reggae. Britpop. Dubstep? Not so much.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? There's only two types of people in the world. The ones that entertain and the ones that observe. (And perhaps a third type, talent show judges, whose observations are a form of entertainment.) Anyhow, I've belonged to the first group since I was young, first as a writer and now as a DJ. I've been obsessively collecting music of all kinds and making mix tapes since I was very young and that led me naturally to DJing, which I've been doing professionally for the past few years. Presently, I'm holding down multiple residencies, learning to produce, and working with The Projects to bring some big acts to town this winter.

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.

​Who in this city doesn't love Donuts? We're talking, of course, about both the sugary fried dough confections and the name of the club night where those breakfast treats become party favors. DJ Pickpocket is one of the DJs/hostesses behind the popular dance collective that pulls all kinds of cool stuff into its orbit--everything from designers to underground disco and live music.

Pickpocket has a ton of unusual events on her calendar coming up. You could hit a different Donut event practically every week between tonight and the middle of October and never hear the same song--or have the same club experience--twice. With her passion for a wide span of '70s output, this is a DJ after my own heart, so I took a minute to get to know Pickpocket a little better...

Name: Kat Matutina, aka DJ Pickpocket

Club night(s): Donuts

Style(s) of music you spin: left-field old school disco, boogie and funk, Italo disco, acid house, dutch electro, post punk, minimal wave, '70s synth and kraut.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I have always been involved in music in one way or another. I started DJing in San Francisco not long after I moved here. It started at house parties and then weekly and monthly parties at small clubs. I have been going to shows since I was a young teen, and throughout the years I realized how boring some shows would be with all the waiting and standing around. I wanted to combine the aspects of a fun dance party with DJs and a unique show where live bands play energetic sets. This is how Club Donuts was born.

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One of the things that makes art so exciting is that artist who is able to create something beyond what you could have imagined - especially when it's a whole new world for you to get lost in.

Oakland-based artist Scott Hove has done just that with his "Cakeland" installation. Regardless of whether or not you are a fan of sweets, this world Scott has created is sure to draw you in. But be careful, for while you might have the urge to take a bite, the cakes on display may just bite you first.

Scott will open his Cakeland exhibition tomorrow, September 4th. The opening reception runs from 6-10 p.m. at Cakeland Gallery, 5600 Shattuck Avenue in Oakland. And now, onto the interview...

​Look Out Weekend (L.O.W.) has spent the summer throwing free Friday happy hour pool parties, waiting for the weather to catch up with their event. Well this weekend it seems like the sunshine's gonna throw them a favor. Head over to the Bambuddha Lounge tonight between 4 and 9 p.m. and you can catch L.O.W. fave/ Montana native DJ Pony P, who delivers hot party jams all over the city no matter the nighttime temperature. 

Name: Pony P

Club night(s): West Addy-Wednesdays at Underground SF. Get down, Get down-4thThursdays at Double Dutch. L.O.W. happy hour-Fridays at Bambuddha Lounge.

Styles of music you spin: Party jams! Rap, electro, Miami bass, Bmore, disco, R&B, funk/soul, old school and "golden era" hip-hop.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less: I'm from Montana. My pops was a local jazz great and we had a wall of vinyl in our living room. I got really into hip-hop in college and began collecting vinyl. In '04, a friend gave me a crate of his rejected drum and bass records, soon after I bought Numark belt drive decks and a mixer. I moved to Chicago where I scratched vinyl in favor of making friends. In the beginning, it was more about turntablism, but unfortunately it's hard to rock a party with a beat juggle. Evolution of the DJ, I suppose. I always enjoyed trapping people and making them listen to songs, turns out I wanted to do that for rooms of people.

​DJ Salva is such a busy dude he had to invent multiple pseudonyms just to keep track of the music he's producing. The Chicago native runs the Frite Nite label, helping folks in the experimental hiphop and bass-heavy dance genres get their tunes licensed, and that's when he's not DJing or crafting tracks of his own that'll make you trip or make you sweat, depending on the moniker he's working under.

Salva spins this weekend at the Redwood Room, and next week he helps kick off a brand new club night for bass heads, Disco vs. Dubstep at Poleng on Wednesday. 

Name: DJ Salva

Club night(s): Disco vs. Dubstep @ Poleng Lounge, every Wednesday.
Redwood Room // Clift Hotel, every other Saturday

Style(s) of music you spin: Forward-thinking pop music, soulful dubstep, nu disco, experimental hip-hop (the BLAP!), electro, juke and house.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I spent my early years in Chicago where I formed my love for house, juke and freestyle. When I was 18 I moved to Miami Beach where I fell in love with Miami Bass culture and started DJing electro bass and IDM. Meanwhile I honed my craft of production and turntablism as well as formally studying music business and marketing strategies. I traveled back to the Midwest and was a part of several hip hop groups and crossover indie bands and started remixing high-profile artists. While on tour I visited San Francisco, and a few months later I was living here, now with a new hustle, a new company, and a new palette of sounds.

​DJ Pee Play possesses the sort of mentality that keeps San Francisco's club--and cultural--scene vital. When he saw a nightlife void, instead of bitching about it, he went after filling it. And when one bar told him no, he started up a whole collective of likeminded DJs to do forward-thinking events at other clubs, pulling likeminded music lovers into his hive.

Pee Play is a co-founder of Honey Soundsystem, a crew of party pros wanting to instigate an edgy alternative to the Castro scene. They've spread their vinyl across SOMA, the Tenderloin, and beyond, and this weekend they're in charge of the after-parties for the city's big queer punk/indie/garage/dance party, Homo a Go Go. Catch the buzz below.

Name: DJ Pee Play

Club night(s): Honey Soundsystem, Honey Sundays at Paradise Lounge, Deep Dickin' at Deco Lounge, Bearracuda, etc...

Style(s) of music you spin: A friend once told me to answer techno to this question because "a techno DJ can seamlessly work his/her way through genres while still keeping his floor like a magician." I would answer techno because any way I answer this question people will get the wrong impression, so might as well make 90% of people get turned off right away!

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? Gay boy moves to San Francsico, gay boy hates music in gay bars, gay boy finds other gay boys who agree, gay boys start to make a change in their direction, gay boy becomes man who loves bears but still can't grow a beard.

What's the idea behind Honey Soundsystem? Honey Soundsystem was originally supposed to be a simple party idea that Ken Woodard and I proposed to the old "Daddies" bar in the Castro back in 2006. After the idea got canned by the bar, we decided that our vision for a different sub sect of gay nightlife in San Francisco was too edgy for the Castro and began working our way back in history for a blueprint.

Originally, Ken and I bonded on our shared love for sleek and forward-thinking design, techno music, and trouble making gay icons. There wasn't anything driving us to be where we are today except for an unspoken male appreciation for the arts and hard partying (which often go hand in hand and really are something the gays do best). Little did we know that over a year of ruffing it as a duo that one by one other members would come along and make our hive that much more full of nectar. The beautiful thing about San Francisco is that even though it is considered a major city, anyone who lives here knows it's quite a small town. There really is no way to hide from the obvious here, and thanks to that our family of bees put itself together almost virtually. Honey Soundsystem is a family, just like Wicked was a family, just like Paradise Garage was a family, just like the Trocadero was a family. We're not trying to do anything new; we're just trying to do it right now.

​While most of us live on the outskirts of the social media landscape, tweeting the occasional brain fart and using facebook to update our relationship status, there are a select few who choose to take their engagement with the networks that be to a whole new level. For those special people who throw a fit when Twitter is down for five minutes, who get most of their news from the front page of fark or reddit or digg (and obsessively watch their "digg status" rise on the Top 1000 list), there is now a new place to rub virtual elbows with like-minded folk and maybe learn a thing or three.

We speak of the Social Blade Show, which, as of tonight, will be in its fifth week. The show is loosely divvied up into sections in which social media stories of the week are dissected and knowledge is gleaned from the guest of the week. It's largely interactive, with visitors and hosts dropping comments into a chat room below the live stream.

California resident and show host JD Rucker (also a social media powerhouse - just check out the links on his profile) took some time to chat with us about the Social Blade Show - which runs Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. Pacific.

Whose idea was the Social Blade Show? How did that get started? (And for the digg n00bs in the house, where did the name come from?)

JD: Patrick Parise wanted to do a show. We talked about it and decided that the best niche for our "skills and opinions" was social media. Patricks' a killer Digg user three times over and I dangle my own wares on Digg, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon - basically anywhere that people listen (or at least pretend to listen) to what we have to offer.

The name was one that Urgo and I came up with almost two years ago. The idea is that the site "slices through" the data flowing through the front pages of social news sites. Digg is the primary (well, only) site that it focuses on for now, but I'm sure it will eventually cover every social media site in existence. There's three or four, last time I checked.

Is the show too inside-baseball? Will a regular Joe who diggs or stumbles the occasional story and uses facebook now and then feel lost watching it?
 
JD: The show definitely caters to the heavy users of social media, but the topics can have a general appeal. Viewers who know nothing about social media other than "I've heard of that tweeter and facespace thing, but I don't know much about them" will still be able to benefit from the "insider knowledge" they can gain. We don't discuss advanced strategies or topics, as those discussions are saved for those of us in the "Evil Social Media Power User Fraternity." I can't say much beyond that until the FBI investigation is concluded.

​VAMPS may well be the world's most unassuming supergroup. They consist of L'Arc En Ciel singer Hyde and guitarist K.A.Z, formerly of the (awesome, in my opinion) late 90s/early 2000s rockers Oblivion Dust. A superstar in Asia whose distinctive voice you'll certainly know if you're in the habit of watching anime or Japanese movies, Hyde is also an actor, having also starred in a pair of Japanese movies (as a slightly homoerotic vampire with yakuza buddies in "Moonchild" and a mysterious musician in "Kagen no tsuki" - noticing a theme here?). K.A.Z is less of a prominent personality in the Japanese entertainment industry, but there's no question the man is talented (did I mention how great Oblivion Dust were?). The band they've come together to form is both fun and deliciously campy, with the vampire theme being utilized in a way that's more comical than scary.

Hyde remains oddly elusive for someone who's been a star for years, so I was a little surprised to find him to be so open and willing to answer questions. K.A.Z was a little quieter, but charmingly appreciative of the reception that VAMPS have been getting in the US so far.

I sat down with the two of them backstage at the Regency Center on a recent Saturday afternoon, a few hours before their show, to ask them what the whole VAMPS project is about and how they feel about touring the US.

(Random side note - VAMPS should be congratulated for coming up with just about the best promotional idea ever for a fanbase full of women - VAMPS themed makeup. I've been presented with some interesting freebies over the years, but lip-gloss and a cute little tub of sparkly eyeshadow? Now that's a new one.)

​There are DJs who log a lotta miles, and then there's Nisus. While other vinyl slingers rack up passenger time on airlines, this guy has spent the summer getting between gigs in Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland by bike. Overall he  traveled, (two wheel-style), across 1,300 miles, and still had the energy to spin at various gigs in little discos along the way.

Tonight marks this homecoming for this Blasthaus/Solid Gold Jacuzzi/Look Out Weekend regular, and he'll be spinning as one of the openers for Jack Beats over at the Paradise. Welcome back the man for whom the ultimate club night would entail "bass so big that it would separate peoples' dense physical bodies from their souls."Seriously. 

Name: Nisus

Club night(s): Residencies with Blasthaus, Solid Gold Jacuzzi, Nexus, OMGLOL!!! Look Out Weekend

Style(s) of music you spin: Big room bassline and electro house hop with glitchy elements, anchored by nu rave and fidget.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I've been DJing for 10 years, worked as a graphic designer and photographer in NYC, and decided to ride a fixed gear bike across the country. Along the way decided that I loved DJing more than design and committed to doing it successfully. Moved to SF 2 years ago, played out as much as possible, and secured a residency at Blasthaus. I started producing tracks, bought part of Pink Floyd's sound system, played Lovefest and Coachella, and now I'm working on booking more international festivals.

 
​As you'll learn from today's DJ Q&A, Kool Karlo & Haightin' Clayton are quite fond of skate mags, plastic watering cans, and making Tuesdays into the new Fridays. (But they can also keep Fridays as the new Fridays, if you check Clayton out tonight.)

The pair pull San Franciscans out of those tall booths and on to the dance floor at the Ambassador, drowning out polite conversation with "butt-tickling bass" of the rap and electro varieties. They may not make enough bank to realize their dreams of crashing fancy sports cars, but these two have plenty of tips for old and new acts you should give an ear to real soon.   
 
Names: Kool Karlo, Haightin' Clayton

Club night(s): Kool Karlo: Damn Gina! $2 Tuesdays at Ambassador and Hi-Fi every Saturday. Also, you can catch me at Butter, Laszlo and Mr. Smith's a couple of times a month.

Haightin' Clayton: Damn Gina! every Tuesday at Ambassador and Hardly Strictly Hip-Hop, 3rd and 5th Fridays at Laszlo.

Style(s) of music you spin: KK: Progressive folk step. But seriously, I'm quite fond of rap, funk, electro (as in real electro not fake electro) and all types of house music.

HC: Yeah, we generally play rap and house music from the past three decades, and sometimes I blow it by playing Cat Power or some shit. Whatever it is, we mix it.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less?KK: I grew up in Seattle and started making beats and collecting records in 1995, then I purchased my first set of decks in 2000. I pissed off several ex-girlfriends learning how to scratch. I played out in Seattle for a few years and quickly realized that the only way I could come up in the music game was by leaving my hometown so I packed up all my records and recording gear and moved to San Francisco in 2005. Started passing out mix-CDs and eventually I got connected with Maximum Productions, who operates Mr. Smith's & HI-FI.

HC: I'm From Boise originally, but I lived in Florida for a year and that's where I figured out what a DJ did. Afterwards I moved here and made friends with degenerates like Karlo. At one point we lived together and would stay up all night skating and playing records and talking really loudly on the bus and we pretty much still do, I guess.

 San Francisco's got nothin' but soul--lots and lots of soul nights, soul record stores, and plain ol' soul aficionados.

New York's also got a lotta soul--thanks, in part, to DJ Jonathan Toubin, who believes all good tunes can be traced back to punk and soul. He's the conductor of New York Night Train, a traveling showcase of classic 45s that's pulling into San Francisco for the weekend. He'll be DJing a house/bus party in Oakland on Friday, hitting the turntables between acts for Quintron and Miss Pussycat/Ty Segall show at Thee Parkside on Sunday, and then on Monday hosting the Soul Clap and Dance Off at Elbo Room.

The Soul Clap and Dance Off requires lots of audience participation--all those weekends you've been cutting it up at Saturday Night Soul Party? Time to put those moves into competition. The dance off is a special soul-based battle, where you'll be judged by a panel of dancing fools highly trained judges: artist Jay Howell, David Katznelson of Birdman Records, Jello Biafra, Cinnamon of the Lusty Lady, Paul Costuros of Saturday Night Soul Party, DJ Primo, Kimberly Chun of the Guardian, and yours truly. If you win, you'll earn more than our lavish praise: the prize is $100.

And without further ado, we introduce you to soul man Jonathan Toubin...

Name: New York Night Train Conductor and Soul Proprietor Mr. Jonathan Toubin

Club night(s): WORLDWIDE: Soul Clap and Dance-Off (which is coming to Elbo Room Monday w/some very prestigious and discriminating judges!) and New York Night Train Happening. NYC: New York Night Train Wednesday, Boogaloo Shampoo, Shakin' All Over Under Sideways Down!. FORMERLY: Animal Train Happening, Secret Santo/DECLASSIFIED!, Loose Caboose, Ants In Your Pants Dance Party, etc.

Style(s) of music you spin: Exclusively the good and the ugly - from primarily punk and soul lineages

DJ and promoter Nathan Rapport's ears have been spoiled. He lived in Detroit long enough to enjoy the riches of techno's epicenter, and now when he hits a gay club, the dude does not want to hear ten million variations on the Kylie remix. Back in the Motor City he threw queer parties called SASS with the head of Ghostly, and he still needs a hearty dose of Detroit grit when he's on the dancefloor. 

Now Rapport lives in San Francisco and is looking to turn out a night of "super dirty, nasty, dark and 'smacky' house and techno" called SMACK with help from Detroiters, locals (co-promoter Juanita MORE!), and Detroiters-turned locals Honey Soundsystem's Jason Kendig).

SMACK goes down tonight (Friday, July 17) at Underground SF starting at 10 p.m. Before you hand over those five bones to get in, do a little nightlife research on our man Nathan below.

Name: Nathan Rapport

Club night(s): SMACK! An evening of dirty dancing, Detroit style.

Style(s) of music you spin: Rock, new wave, dance jams,  punk, house, techno.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? Well, I'm simply a huge music nerd.  I threw and was a resident DJ for SASS back in Detroit with my musical partner in crime, Mike Servito (Ghostly). We started this night together as a response to the total lack of alternative queer nightlife options in the city, and we were blessed with years of amazing support and enthusiasm from our crowds.  Since ending SASS (as a monthly), I have relocated to San Francisco and have been focusing on other creative endeavors and re-gaining my focus on painting.

Jeffrey Paradise is a DJ synonymous with San Francisco's young, hip, and ready to party scenes. If you ever crammed into the dancefloor when he hit the decks at Arrow Bar, or lost a weekend after Blow(ing) Up on a Friday at Rickshaw Stop,  Mr. Paradise is the man to blame. He's an intrepid promoter on the razor's edge of the newest electro and the craziest club nights, with a finger on what's hot long before it hits big (see his early band, the Calculators, which went on to become the Rapture).

Instead of moving forward, Paradise wants to spend one night a month moving back--to 1992, to be exact. Unlike the other '90s nights in town, though, there won't be any grunge or indie tunes here. Club 1992 is sticking to mainstream pop and hip-hop, and the team behind this new bash expects folks to show up and sing along. One thing to note: Paradise's background is in fashion design, and he says to leave those ragged flannels at home, kids.

Name: Jeffrey Paradise

Club night(s): Blow Up, Frisco Disco, Club 1992

Style(s) of music you spin: I'm known for electro, but I've been playing a lot of hip-hop lately and '90s Euro dance pop.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I moved to San Francisco in 1998, to escape the suburbs of San Diego's east county and make a name for myself as a fashion designer. . . shortly after arriving I abandoned fashion to be the front man for new wave/hardcore band The Calculators. "Always a step ahead... they wore uniforms and modernized the sound of groups like Gary Numan and The Tubeway Army, long before anyone had heard of electroclash," to quote ID magazine. Two years, two records, and too many tours later, we split, allowing me to finish a degree in fashion at SFSU and the others to form The Rapture, the now acclaimed dance-punk originators.

Who doesn't love sunsets, right? Especially in San Francisco, where things take on a pastel hue no matter the season. DJ Galen seems to dig sunsets a little more than most: he's planned huge parties for the past 15 years aimed, in part, at watching the sun go down and the dancefloor temperature rise. Whether he's promoting parties on hills, boats, or at regular old clubs, his Pacificsound crew's gained lots of Sunset worshipers over the years.

For 4th of July, Galen helps host Sunset Independance, a waterfront party at Jelly's with Detroit super duo Octave One.  Festivities start at 4 p.m. and last long after the stars and fireworks shoot across the sky.

Name: DJ Galen (Galen Abbott)

Club night(s): Pacificsound Events/Sunset Parties

Style(s) of music you spin: Free-Form, Underground, Deep, Tech, Moody, Soulful, Acidic House

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I founded the SUNSET party and the Pacific Sound System (now Pacificsound) in the Spring of 1994 with a vision of a free party with a down to earth vibe while also developing my burgeoning DJ career. Now with two partners, Solar & J-Bird, we produce many differing events, including the SUNSET Boat Party on the San Francisco Bay.

I have DJ'd around the world and alongside countless renowned artists. In 2004, I graduated from San Francisco State University, with an Electronic Music/Business Management degree. I have been producing dance music since 2000, and in 2007 I partnered with then rising star Claude VonStroke of Dirtybird Records to remix  'Jam on It' by 80's sensation Nucleus. I also released my first debut solo EP, Playing Games on Utensil Recordings, with remixes by Claude VonStroke and Rob Mello.

Nigerian born producer / promoter /label owner DJ Said came into this world from the same corner of the globe as Fela Kuti, and he's just as addicted to spreading Afro Beat to the masses--although he blends those sounds into myriad dancefloor styles. After a stint in England, Said settled in the Bay Area and has built a following through his DJ sets, his Atmosfere parties, and his Afro House label, Fatsouls Records.

His events combine turntables with live musicians performing on an array of African instruments: tonight's party at Otis includes a set by Nigerian talking drum player Rasaki Aladokun, who spent over two decades in King Sunny Ade's band. It promises to be a special evening, as it also marks the release of Mr. Raoul K's single, "Sun Of Gao." Promise not to bring up any Milli Vanilli requests (see below) and Said has a whole lotta excellent suggestions for further listening below. He already made an Ofege fan out of us.

Name: Said Adelekan (DJ Said)

Club night(s): I present Afro Joint from time to time at rotating venues and I also present various Fatsouls Records one-offs.

Style(s) of music you spin:  Afro Beat, Disco, House, Techno.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less?  I grew up in the very same community in Lagos, Nigeria that produced the legendary Fela Kuti. From a very young age I have been passionate about music, absorbing and collecting music and mixes. With my strong musical foundation, I moved in 1984 from Lagos to pursue academics in England. While in England,  I was exposed to the London underground club scene. Upon moving to the U.S. in 1988, I became more fascinated with the music scene and soon started to DJ in clubs in San
Francisco and New York. I later founded Fatsouls, a music outlet, as well as my monthly "Atmosfere" events. I have since produced house music for different labels and currently run Fatsouls Records.

DJ Beto is the perfect subject for a DJ Q&A. He's a Latin Musicologist who digs through bug-filled crates in Central and South America in order to find the choice cuts from Costa Rica, Columbia, Cuba, and beyond. When Beto gets retro, he's feeling mambo jazz and classic salsa, and he's busy on a book about Latin jazz and dance music spanning a period in history long before he was born.

This DJ doubles as a writer, a compiler (he's released a couple excellent comps for the Soundway label), and a man about town who can give you tips on great Latin acts in the Bay Area (see below; he's DJing for one this Saturday ). He's giving us A's to our Q's today, though, first and foremost because he gets the dancefloors going at places like Elbo Room, Slim's, and Skylark.

Name: Beto (Roberto Ernesto Gyemant)

Club night(s): Colombia! Classic Cumbia - Salsa Descarga - Funk Tropical - Latin Boogaloo (@ Elbo Room, various venues around the city) with Vinnie Esparza (Groove Merchant/Dis-Joint) and Guillermo (The Better Half); Slim's; Guest spots at Hella Tight (Amnesia) and Free Funk Friday (Elbo Room).

Style(s) of music you spin: Latin dance music from the 1940s to '70s: Mambo Jazz and Classic Salsa from NYC, from Cuba, Puerto Rico and DR; Hard '60s Salsa from Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama; Classic Colombian Cumbias, Gaitas and Porros. Panamanian música típica, Afro-Colombian Funk & Musica del Lítoral Pacifico Colombiano. Some Panamanian dancehall, Colombian hip hop, Regueton.

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I was born and raised in S.F., took my chips and left to live and write in Costa Rica in 2002 where my father's family lives. I traveled a lot in Central America and lucked upon a radio station with a bodega full of records in Panama. I started to research, doing interviews and meeting musicians and rumberos from the '40s thru '60s in Panama and Colombia, and asking lots of questions. That led to a series of compilations (Panama!, Colombia! and Panama! 2) on Miles Cleret's Soundway Records (UK) label, and articles on the history of Panamanian and Colombian dance music in Wax Poetics. Through Miles I met a brilliant musician and producer named Will Holland (Quantic) and we've been traveling around a bit in Latin America learning about and documenting the music that we love.

Primo is one of San Francisco's preeminent soul men (with a feminist heart). He's one of the city's main DJs for slow jams, oldies, and other bits of Motown magic that get folks crowding the dive bar dance floors in the Mission and the Tenderloin. Just to keep it interesting, though, Primo also gets the disco ball spinning for Ferrari Party at Triple Crown. He's a backwards looking record collector with a drool-worthy stack of vinyl and a knack for throwing unpretentious parties that get real popular real quick.

Tonight brings another edition of his Oldies gig to the Knockout. In addition to donning your best '50s/'60s attire for the evening, you can get ready for a night of retro fabulousness by digging into a bit of your host's history.

Name: Primo

Club night(s): Oldies Night -(soul doo-wop, girl group, R&B) at The Knockout every first and third Fridays. Ferrari Party- (Italodisco, dance music, acid, party jams,) second Thursdays at The Triple Crown. Lost and Found -(slowjam soul 45s)  every Tuesday at the Make-Out Room. Nightbeat- ("Northern soul and Motown magic") fourth Saturdays at the Edinburgh Castle. Primo & Jordan- (not genre specific) third Saturdays at The Attic.

Style(s) of music you spin: 50's RnB, 60's RnB, 70's RnB, 80's RnB, 90's RnB, and anything halfway decent I can find on record...

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I was obsessed with ESG, the Slits, Liliput and The Fall and I worked in a record store called Wowsville in New York and had given up graffiti because jail was no fun. The store owners were punk/sixties garage fanatics named Alberto and Sonya-- they introduce me to Joey Ramone (R.I.P.) and a record called My Baby Likes To Boo-Ga-Loo by Don Gardner. On my own I found a song called "Little Girl Blue," by the Marvellettes. I decided to start DJing oldies and soul. Everything else is the same old boring sex and drugs and brushes with death story

DJ Roger Más goes for the Latin flavor whether you're talking records or restaurants. The KALX DJ turned Mission turntable master lists off his favorite taco trucks unprompted, and he keeps the vinyl bilingual on both sides of the Bay.

Every Saturday, you can ask for mucho Más at the Make-Out Room, where his ¡El Superritmo! evenings swing from cumbia to reggae to salsa and beyond. Later in June he'll be dragging the record trunk down to Skylark, schooling the 16th St. crowd on classic cumbia and the like. And for those in Berkeley, his Latin parties hit the Missouri Lounge on certain Fridays. Below, he gives a shout-out to local Latin music urbanite Santero and explains his passion for myriad genres en Español.

Name: DJ Roger Más

Club night(s): ¡Oyelo! Thursdays @ Skylark; Hellamundo -The Spanish Channel @ Missouri Lounge Every 4th Friday; ¡El Superritmo! -Saturdays @ Make-Out Room.

Style(s) of music you spin: Cumbia, reggae Español, 80s and 90s dancehall, salsa, rumba, guaguanco, rock en Español, electro, 80s en Español, 80s en Ingles, hip-hop en Ingles y Español y mucho mas.

Cumbia seems to have really taken hold in the San Francisco DJ world. What is it about the music that makes it so popular here do you think? Classic Cumbia has a comfortable 4/4 time signature and heavy bass which mix easily into any other 4/4 dance music. Monterrey's (Mexico) Sonidero Nacional really struck a perfect balance of heavy dancefloor production with classic flavor, creating the new modern sound of Cumbia with the Toy Hernandez production of Celso Piña's "Cumbia Sobre El Rio" back in 2001. New Cumbia has become a recent fad, but little of the neo sound is as danceable as the true sound of the classics.

DJ Stanley Frank's club nights are the sort that can't be written without exclamation points: Chilidog! Go Bang! You know what that means, right? He doesn't play no scratch-yer-chin, intellectual dance music. The dude lugs the vinyl into the club so you can work up a sweat and work out...the meaning of life and stuff. San Francisco's connoisseur of "martian discotheque" beams up Italo disco and bionic boogie that forces drag queens to do their aerobics in public. Don't believe me? Ask Stanley below. But don't ask Stanley to change his set for you...as he says, "This is my kitchen, just eat what I'm serving you!" Chow down below.

Name: Stanley Frank

Club night(s): Chilidog! (every Tuesday @ the Triple Crown--beautiful, fun-loving and MIXED crowd); Truck (every Saturday except for the 4th); Go Bang! (4th Saturdays @ the Deco lounge.)

Style(s) of music you spin: Italo disco, electro house, galactic funk, bionic boogie, and a heaping serving of randoms. I like to think of my sound as "martian discotheque".

So what's your story, in 100 words or less? I grew up in San Diego, raised on 91X's "Resurrection Sundays." I was too young to go to raves, so lots of time was spent making dance parties at home. I moved up here 11 years ago and started playing music in a DJ booth the size of a broom closet at the Moby Dick bar.