As You Like It & Fault Radio Present: Coast To Coast Pittsburgh
Coast to Coast
In Focus: Pittsburgh
June 17, 2020
For the second installment of the As You Like It & Fault Radio Coast to Coast residency, we’re excited to shine light on a vibrant underground community of Pittsburgh, PA. The rustbelt Pittsburgh has a long history of contributions to the domestic underground and abroad.
In recent years, the events and community around Hot Mass have provided a new avenue for local dance music artists of all backgrounds to thrive. For this installment, we’re hosting Pittsburgh’s Boo Lean, adab, Ali Berger B2B Davis Galvin and San Francisco’s David Siska, Pittsburgh born and bred. We hope to contribute to maintaining a domestic network, connecting us now and building toward a post isolation world. Take a moment and learn about each of the of our guests and join us June 28, on Fault Radio.
All donations to this month’s show will be split evenly among funds selected by the artists & AYLI. Thanks for spreading the word about this month’s show, Pittsburgh Buckit Bail Fund and Black Trans Travel Fund, and your positive energy and support. Please send your donation to As You Like It.
Boo Lean
Boo Lean (Lauren Goshinski) is a DJ and audio-visual curator who has pioneered & programmed festivals (VIA & New Forms), collectives (gFx), and spaces (Hot Mass) that carve vital pathways forward in electronic music. Over the past decade her work has made space for boundary-pushing artists across sound, technology, and performance, who often become the visionary voices of our time.
Interview:
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I’m inspired by people who come out and are ready to throw their whole body at something - I do not care what the genre is - I live for that human energy. Please get weird. Musically, my aperture has always been wide. I’m the kind of DJ who won’t play the same set twice, often to my own detriment. But I definitely cycle through phases. In quarantine I’ve been rolling through sludgy DnB, new and reissues. I try to make a point of including tracks by peers and emerging midwest artists to amplify “family”. In the club, I like to work your body with a lot of acceleration, twists and turns offered up by breaks and jungle. I like throwing in goofy shit where you “can’t tell if serious”. In short, I just say I play Ren & Stimpy Techno.
.2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
In Pittsburgh, the 2 main projects I’ve worked on for the past decade are co-founding and directing the VIA Festival and curating audio-visual programs from 2010-2019; co-founding the gFx collective; and being a resident at Hot Mass. I was Co-Director of the 2019 New Forms Festival in Vancouver alongside CCL and JS Aurelius. I’m really proud of that program and believe it is a genuine reflection of us as curators/artists, and the communities we are inspired by and work with to support. I made a concerted effort to ensure Pittsburgh was represented in that festival by connecting crews (Honcho & Public Disco) with the goal of linking scenes and opening discourse. That is what underscores the way I work - from how I curate to what I DJ. Connections. I am not here to appease people who have a narrow vision of what electronic music or club culture is. I ride for Pittsburgh, the midwest In general, and for more female and non-binary leadership by volunteering on committees like the International Electronic Forum, International Cities of Advanced Sound, SheSaidSo, and local nightlife economy groups.
3. What makes your local scene special?
We are small, but dense in talent and heart. There is a core of crews and individuals who work hard, and balance local with touring acts to deliver their own unique flavor while contributing to a broader momentum of culture. In the past 5 years, I think Pittsburgh nightlife has become more intersectional (even if slow), and there was a new baseline for growth that I felt hopeful about before COVID hit. From my perspective, everyone that’s been doing this work is essential, so HOW we work together going forward is what will ultimately define us.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
You’re catching me on a day where it’s hard for me to see past the next few days. I don’t even know where I will end up. The crisis of COVID exists inside a turducken of broken systems, undeniable inequality, and ongoing violence exacerbated by recent murders of black lives by police. This compounded crisis also lives within music and nightlife. As we move through this, I want there to be tangible systemic change in the areas of racism, sexism, and homophobia. I want there to be physical spaces for nightlife that we can come back so music culture and revolutionary culture can continue. And I want to see very clear $$$upport for BIPOC, LGBTQ, and female and non-binary ownership in the process.
ADAB
As 1/2 of Cleveland party Heaven is in You, adab puts heavy emphasis on seeking the unifying elements in the world and themselves through djing. Characterized often by their palette of sounds, they made a name for themselves in Cleveland spinning a variety of genres (house/techno/beats etc.) and venues alike. Having started djing dance music heavily as a result of finding Cleveland's queer run techno party In Training and being a non binary black youth raised across a few states in the Rustbelt (IL/MICH/OH), they seek to unabashedly open up new understandings for both themselves and others.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I think of myself as a conjurer for the spirit of being that is "adab". As a concept "adab" is partly marked by one's exploration and appreciation for the world amongst other things and that informs the music I play as well. A large part of the sonic palette for "adab" is based within sounds of Pan African/POC Diasporas. Along these same lines, you can find what inspires this being of mine because so much of what I do is based in collectively exploring ancestry, ancestral trauma, afrofuturism, etc as a means to a future FOR US.
2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
In general, I'd say my more known involvement is with the queer and once Cleveland based Party In Training (which is now just more of abstract concept then a recurring party) and with the Motherbeat Rites established by my dear friend/collegue Eris Drew. The latter I think stands right now as one of my most important focal points of my creative life because it speaks to large foundational sections of my personal being and that of "adab".
3. What makes your local scene special?
I'm not extremely versed on the scene here but I can say that there's a variety of individuals who contribute to adding vibrancy to it as a whole. From djs to artists to writers to activists and the list goes on. I think it's special because of this variety and that such a mixture of talent creates fertile ground for REAL community.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
In truth there's a very big list of things I want fixed for me as an amab black enby and has been long before this crisis. To keep it simple I hope the world comes out of this understanding that we can't go back to "normal" because it never existed for some of us. I hope people come out of this no longer pretending and that we can seek a real, sustainable path to the future...
Ali Berger
Ali Berger has been quietly percolating in various corners of the US dance music scene for the last decade. His productions explore the spaces between distorted drum machine improvisations, synth-heavy techno trips, and warm mechanized funk. As a DJ he creates narratives from a wide range of music, moving from contemporary house and techno to timeless dance classics to jazz and R&B, all connected with precise mixing and ease that comes from countless hours behind the decks.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I mostly play warm, loving house & techno, tracks that feel alive, deep and emotional. I love vocals, I love being able to hear the process in the final product, I love the way they used samplers in New York in the early '90s. In terms of mixing style, I learned a lot from going to Dope Jams parties in Brooklyn, and those guys were inspired by Body & Soul, the Paradise Garage, the Loft (David Mancuso's but also the club in Boston, good history to look up there), Ron Hardy, the legends basically. My music taste, my DJing and productions are all deeply inspired by black musicians, producers and DJs--that's who built this music and it's their stuff I've connected with most.
2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
I moved to Pittsburgh about a year ago and it feels like I'm still getting settled and getting involved. I have a project with Davis Galvin called Hits Only, we have a track out on Tony Fairchild's label is/was, and I have a track out on TerraFirm (another one of Tony's labels) under the name Sky Crew. I'm also mastering a compilation for a new local label called Encaustic which will benefit Bukit Bail Fund.
3. What makes your local scene special?
I think a lot of people would characterize the scene here as "small" but even after a year I feel like I have so much more to learn and experience before I speak on it. I can definitely say there's a strong DIY element here, a lot of great DJs and a wonderful core of earnest and kind people who just love to listen and dance to this music.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I hope to see a radical shift in the way the world functions, top to bottom. Coronavirus is a crisis but, thanks to the loud and clear response in Minneapolis to the murder of George Floyd, I (and I hope lots of other people) now finally understand that racism is an even more pressing crisis and has been for a very long time. The response to the recent protests is proving that beyond these two crises, we also have an illegitimate government and economic system that exists to extract wealth from the vast majority of people by any means necessary and give it to an extremely small elite.
I would like to see the end of this in my lifetime and have the chance to live in a society that actually values and protects human life. That means the ability to pursue interests, to sleep and wake up feeling whole and loved and safe, to move through the world without fear or shame. No prisons, no police, no military, no billionaires, no colonial exploitation, no massive corporations. Universal healthcare & housing, reparations for black and indigenous people. It's a lot to hope for, to work for and to stay conscious of every day but that's the dream and the commitment from here out.
Davis Galvin
If you're into newer strains of American dance music, chances are you've heard the name Davis Galvin. The Pittsburgh producer embodies an exciting musical style currently coming out of the Midwest, a sound that blends American house and techno with influences from garage and modern UK bass music.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I play everything! Ambient to house, techno to pop, jungle to jazz. If it's moved me at one point or another you might hear it in a set. Likewise, I take inspiration from everything around me - my peers are constant sources, as well things I encounter in my day to day.
2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
I'm not associated with anything in particular by name, but the closeness of the scene means you could see me popping up any number of places. Working a door shift at Hot Mass or helping cook up some food before a set at a house party...I like helping out, so I get around.
3. What makes your local scene special?
Gotta be that same closeness I mentioned above.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
Wealth redistribution and social reform!
David Siska
Siska’s not a household name, but he’s no stranger to DJing, having spent a long stint in the crucible of American DJ culture, Chicago, and helmed his own radio show, Sonic Sunset (more on both below). His record collection is meticulously selected, spanning a range of deep, melodic sounds hailing chiefly from the American and British traditions.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I try to thread different styles and time periods in electronic-based dance music together - from disco, funk, Italo, boogie, through to Chicago house & Detroit techno, New York house and techno, to UK bleep and deep electronics, Dutch electro, German dub techno, and onward - in a way that hopefully draws some enjoyable lines between them.
2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
I've been doing an infrequent event series with DJ CZ called Time Tourists (named after the classic B12 album) at a low-key natural wine bar in Potrero Hill called Ruby Wine. We're playing all over the map genre-wise and I've been drawing these rough sketches for the event flyers showing the label & collection parallels between wine and records, and also bringing both wine & record labels of importance to me into the visual mix.
3. How did your experiences living in and contributing to Pittsburgh impact who you are today?
I grew up in the Pittsburgh area and I spent a lot of time in my formative years listening to radio - starting with top 40 sounds in the 1980s that had just a remarkable amount of synth-driven music like Newcleus, Midnight Star, Shannon, along with a bit of new wave like Depeche Mode and Human League. This ended up forming a rediscovered musical pillar for me once I teamed up with Matt MacQueen to start our long-running Sonic Sunset radio show in Chicago a decade later. Once I started listening to alternative radio via WXXP and others, my friends and I became infatuated with the dance side of the new wave genre, and started hunting for 12"s (with those remix versions you wouldn't hear on the radio) as high school seniors, making trips to Eide's, Collectors 12-Inch, Record-Rama Sound Archives, Jerry's (on Forbes), and other stores that were around at that time. This fed my desire to get behind the turntables and surprise & entertain the dance floor. Through alternative radio, we started branching out to Pittsburgh college radio - and I still remember the first time I heard The Normal's "Warm Leatherette". I was flipping through the FM dial, and came across this song - it was the most alien-sounding music I had heard up until that point...the coldness, the dispassionate vocals, the repetitiveness - it turned the pop music formula on its head for me, and opened the mental door to a lot of experimental music we would discover later.
Then, the early traces of rave music hit stateside while I was in college out of state, so when I would come back to Pittsburgh for the summers, I'd do what I could to find it in those nascent days of the internet. I was lucky enough to glimpse this exciting melting pot of alternative cultures in Pittsburgh - before there was such an identity as a "raver". And the music that was fed into this scene was decidedly not club music, but UK hardcore / jungle, and what would now be called hard techno. There's three DJ mixtapes I've listened to the most - and two come from Pittsburgh DJs who spearheaded those genres. I bought Dieselboy's "Early May" by mailing him a blank cassette after hearing about it on alt.rave (I also tuned in to his radio show on WRCT), and I timidly purchased Deadly Buda's early hard techno mixtape "Hyper Tone Rivetation" at his tiny record shop Turbo Zen in Oakland in 1993 - after not being able to decipher the 10 white label 12"s he had on his wall. Both of these tapes have been touchstones for me, forming the basis for some of the stylistic forces that continue to drive what I play. I still buy records from those mixtapes when I find them. (In case you're curious, the third mixtape is DJ Sho - Pandora's Box, a true masterpiece, and a journey that is designed for / best understood in cassette format.)
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I hope for the place of refuge this community represents to so many people to return in a physical sense again, for social structures to begin to shift in the larger picture, and for music to form a cornerstone that rallies and unifies us through the turning points to come.
interviews by Chris Zaldua and Jeremy Bispo.
