As You Like It & Fault Radio Present: Coast To Coast Los Angeles
Coast to Coast
In Focus: Los Angeles
September 18, 2020
This month’s installment of Coast to Coast we bring you a kaleidoscope of what you’d find on a weekend out in Los Angeles. Delivering some unforgettable performances from the city of angels we have Dave Aju, Force Placement, Jeniluv, Juliet Mendoza and LA via SF-based Chuck Gunn.
The Los Angeles underground is deep. There’s something for everyone. Every niche imaginable has an audience, regular venues, local cutting edge artists and promoters pushing the sounds years before they make it across most of the States. We could host a year’s worth of Coast to Coast broadcasts in Los Angeles alone and it’d still be impossible to tell the full story of LA’s underground. We did our best. However, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge our intent to showcase the symbiotic relationship with San Francisco and our sister city to the south.
San Francisco has lost more than our fair share of artists that cut their teeth in the Bay Area before moving to the City of Angeles. Dave Aju and Jeniluv are two such artists. Both were big players in the City, integral to the fabric that helped defined SF nightlife throughout the ‘00s. Jeni’s been active the last decade putting her own fingerprints on an array of projects. Dave Aju made a stopover in Berlin before settling into LA. San Francisco’s Chuck Gunn spent half his life, coming of age in LA before moving to Bay Area and has quickly begun creating his own niche influenced by his earlier years in SoCal. A general outlier amongst most of their peers, Force Placement and Juliet Mendoza are both born and raised in LA. They come from worlds across the spectrum of Los Angeles diverse nightlife. Force Placement pushes mutant sounds alongside his Black Lodge cohorts, while Juliet taps into the soulful beats that finds their roots in the 90s house scene.
For this month’s edition of AYLI Coast to Coast, the artists will be donating their tips to GWORL’S Rent and Gender Reaffirming Fund & SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. All tips can be made directly on venmo to @jeniluv.
Dave Aju
Bay Area-born Marc David Barrite aka Dave Aju is a reliable name for fresh and inimitable electronic music, a balancing act of deep knowledge and passion for dance music history of the past, with a fearless, forward-thinking approach to production and performance. A diverse range of influences can be heard in Aju’s unique sound - from an immersive jazz upbringing via his father, a peer of Pharaoh Sanders early on, his dedicated underground hip-hop MC years, dance floor origins at South Bay latino house clubs, techno leanings of the SF rave scene in the 90s, to even contemporary R&B/neo-soul and the outer realms of experimental post-rock and musique concrète, always imbued with a warm, handmade sonic twist and solid sense of rhythm owed to his roots as a dancer.
Interview:
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
While my sound tends to gravitate toward the more psychedelic end of the House spectrum, I love a wide range of music and have always preferred taking chances at connecting cultural dots and bridging styles, eras, and scenes rather than playing it safe as a DJ. Jazz, Funk, Disco, Acid, Techno, Electro, let go - as long as it’s genuine and has soul, feels somewhat raw, has that low-end roll, and breaks a rule or two along the way I’m in.
2. What local products (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
Looking back recently, I just finished remixes for the Warehouse Preservation Society, Shaboom, Culprit, and The Tourist on Resource Records. The first three are long term LA mainstays, and the latter a Bay-to-LA transplant like myself, which also happens to be the very first label to ever release my music almost 20 yrs ago, with my OG production partner ace gone solo to boot. Between my SF and LA homes over the years there are way too many crews, labels, and loving fam I’ve collaborated with to mention, but on the subject of current music and supporting local businesses: shouts out to Vinyl Dreams in SF and Stellar Remnant in LA - go buy some fresh wax and support these amazing shops!!
3. How did your experiences living and contributing to SF impact who you are today?
Being from the West Coast has had some pretty great creative privileges at the end of the day. Much like Q-bert once mentioned in his famous quote regarding hip-hop of being “bastards” out here, while many of us deeply respect and admire the roots of dance music and the well-known epicenters of its creation like Chicago, Detroit, New York etc., we also have more freedom and therefore almost an obligation in a sense to experiment with our expression of it. Between technology advancements, progressive media, and of course the ebb and flow of the mighty Mother Pacific, there is something about out West here that just can’t ever be fully contained or frozen in time, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. From my pops jamming at The Blackhawk (later to become 222 Hyde a few decades later) to us doing the only techno and acid nights around in the city pre-Y2K, there has always been an almost revolutionary level of inspiration from SF and right down the coast here to LA in me to this day. One Cali Love and then some.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I hope to see a continuation of the personal and cultural development that is already well under way as a silver-lining benefit of this wild ass year. More quality over quantity scenarios. More mindful expression, time and care put into our creative efforts, and for us to be an equally attentive audience who is really listening and absorbing with our whole being, allowing details in that would formerly be ignored or blocked by overt social structures and expectations. I feel that this year has allowed us, if not forced us in some ways, to get to know ourselves a bit better, which means more honesty and investment in what we actually believe in. We see examples of this in the increase of people buying music directly again via platforms like Bandcamp over corporate cheapening services like Spotify. The more we truly know ourselves, the better our connection to the music we are making, playing, and sharing will be with those around us - I hope we can all be on a dance floor together again soon!
Juliet Mendoza
Born In the City of Angels, California. Began her musical journey before she was even born. Daughter of a musically talented family, Juliet would genetically inherit the love of music. Fast forward to the mid 90’s, where Juliet's passion for music & dance, led her to LA's underground house scene. Attending legendary house clubs The Arena and Carnival, to name a few. Juliet quickly became a well known dancer in the LA underground house community. She soon found herself involved as a part of the promotions street team for one of the biggest event producers of it's time, Go Ventures, with their signature events Together as One, The Love Festival, and LA Coliseum’s Monster Massive. It is with this vast knowledge, influence, and drive, that Juliet undoubtedly took to the turntables by storm and never looked back.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I always tell people I am a dancer first DJ second. I love getting lost in the music and it has become a very therapeutic thing for me. I get inspired by the people that keep pushing and are not afraid of taking me on a journey. Music has always been my playground.
2. What local products (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
At the moment, I have been working on my project Jill's House and rebranding it with my new team of power house females aka Jackin Jill's. Labels affiliated with are : Shaboom Records, 3rd Venture, Secret Angels, Creative Limit Recordings. Crews: Jackin Jill's , Open House LA
3. What makes your local scene so special?
I think every place has its special people that help create special moments. The underground scene here in LA is definitely family in so many ways. You can find anything out here, you just have to know the right people. Disco, House, Techno, Deep House, Happy Core, Hiphop, you name it. There are undergrounds for everything you can think of in LA.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I hope we can have a big massive gathering with all the locals in one space. It could be a weekend festival type of thing. I would love to see everyone together having a good time. I can't wait.
Force Placement
Jason James aka Force Placement is a DJ/producer from Los Angeles, CA. He is a resident DJ and founding member of The Black Lodge, an LA based event collective and record label that has been pushing mutant strains of underground dance music to the masses since 2015. Known for his versatility as a DJ and live PA artist, Jason’s performances run the gamut from soulful and cerebral house music to mind-bending acid techno. He has released music on 100% Silk, Clave House, Material Image, Tigerbeat6, and Lost Soul Enterprises
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
Force Placement is my primary alias for DJing and production that incorporates elements of deep house, techno, acid and electro.
2. What local projects (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
I am a resident DJ and founding member of The Black Lodge crew alongside Vikas Malhotra aka kOsMik and Matt Johnson aka Simonowsky.
3. What makes your local scene special?
Before COVID-19 the music scene in Los Angeles was really fun. I miss seeing my friends and going to warehouse parties every week.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I'd like to continue to see more booking opportunities for Black artists.
Jeniluv
Jeni grew up in Los Angeles, surrounded by the rich tapestry of the 90s rave scene, which propelled her into the underground of electronic music at the age of 14. In 1997, She made her way up the coast to San Francisco to pursue an art degree. She played disco scenarios of San Francisco for the next decade notably co-founding the party Fistfight, which featured all female line-ups for the clubs and warehouse parties. In 2007, Jeni made her way back down to the city of angels and her contributions to nightlife and underground culture continued. She had a hand in co--founding the now notorious events Dusk, Surround, and Making Shapes.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
I’m a dancer at heart, and a DJ in the mind ~ I like taking risks with complicated mixes and playing psychedelic booty techno and house. I’m inspired by other artist’s kindness, vibes, dedication to the work, and personal style in their selections as the art of DJing.
2. What local products (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
In LA, I’ve teamed up with two of my favorite movers and shakers for our scene- Heidi Lawden and Masha. We play together as Surround, we throw Surround after hours parties in a loft where we play together all night, we get booked together for LA events such as Factory93, A Club Called Rhonda. We produce a weekend campout together called 'Dusk" with an outstanding international and local line up -which also happens in the city 'From Dusk til Dawn' in a beautiful warehouse downtown. I’ve co-produced the 'Making Shapes' event in LA for 10 years with my partner SONNS (Alexander Mouracade), which is also after hours warehouse shenanigans. I work with Roam Recordings, SF and make music with my dear friend, Roam Recordings Founder, Jason Peters - we have a remix of Tevo Howard coming out on a Dusk compilation this year.
3. How did your experiences living and contributing to SF impact who you are today?
SF gave me a strong sense of freedom : to be myself (queer), to play whatever I want (DJ), and formed my freak - SF dance floors are liberating. I had the support of some of the greatest DJs and dancers. My earliest influence was Solar, he turned my head in 1991 the way he played Rolling Stones 'Heaven' into a soft drum n bass track into a cracking acid house beat - It was at that moment I understood that as a DJ you can play whatever you want, I had just started DJing so this was an important lesson - Being raised in the LA house music scene there was an "ideal" sound of house that was admired, as well as the technical impression that was intimidating for me as a beginner. I learned to let real loose in SF and I bring that wherever I go now.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I hope we can return to dancing together and traveling. I hope Trump is dumped and jailed. I hope Black Lives matter, being queer is universally embraced and wealth is distributed with humanities wellness as the focus.
Chuck Gunn
Recent Bay Area transplant by-way of Los Angeles, Chuck Gunn is a resident and co-founder of Joy Tactics, an underground warehouse party founded in LA. His take on house music is influenced by labels like Perlon, Pressure Traxx, and Mosaic.
Interview
1. Tell us about who you are as a DJ. What kind of music do you play and what inspires you?
My current aim as a DJ is to represent the genre of techno as a gay, Black person. I want to instill the fact that Black people largely created and innovated this genre, and still do to this day. As much as people in our community would like to direct ire at "corporate techno" for commodifying our artistic expression, we have to look at the very real fact that the scene has been whitewashed from the ground up. To the point that Black techno DJs are few and far between. The level of erasure is far too much.
I play music that calls attention to the uncertainty and dismay of the present political climate in the US. There was a time that I felt I was primarily moved by minimal genres, but I realized that pigeon-holing myself into this box was doing a disservice to the lineage of Black techno DJs and producers that preceded me. Speaking of, my inspirations are (in no particular conscious order):
Indy Nyles
Selim X
Force Placement
Huey Mnemonic
Carlos Souffrount
Steve Rachmad
Delano Smith
2. What local products (events, crews, labels, and beyond) are you involved with?
Pre-COVID, I was a resident of a party called That's So Raven with Chrissy Shively, an SF transplant from the Chicago scene and resident Stud staple, Siobhan Aluvalot. A crew that I wasn't involved with, but deeply appreciate, and one that I think deserves recognition for creating transformative spaces in pre-pandemic SF are the lovely people from Kosmetik.
3. How did your experiences living in and contributing to LA impact who you are today?
In LA, I briefly threw a party called Joy Tactics with my friend Nikhil, and we featured various left of center techno like John FM, Bruce Trail, and Ananan. It's a very big and competitive scene down there. At the time, it would have been great to see more collaboration and community organization between parties. I am glad to see that the current LA promoters were beginning to explore those avenues more, pre-shutdown.
4. What do you hope to see happen once we come out the other side of this crisis?
I am looking forward to seeing a resurgence of community. A trip back to the basics. People entranced with music, a bit of ambiance/atmosphere, and lots of dancing.
interviews by Chris Zaldua & Kylie-Ayn Kennedy
