[part one] [part two] [part three]

My introduction to spinning at clubs came about while I was still working at KFJC. My first dance club gig was a 1989 guest spot at Zone Six, in the subterranean Underground. Over the next few years I did occasional spots at the Edge, opening for live bands like Nine Inch Nails and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and even started my own short-lived industrial club in San Jose. But my true beginning as a club DJ was at House of Usher.

Filling in for one of the DJs who was going to be out of town for several months, I spun in Usher's industrial music room from approximately July 1993 through the beginning of 1994. It was quite exciting - not only working for what was probably the largest goth/industrial club in the area to date, but also DJing for a live audience. Sure, in radio you are playing live, but your listeners are elsewhere. You can't see them or judge their mood, you don't even know exactly how many listeners you have. In addition, there is a very different emphasis in radio where you often change momentum and break for announcements without concern for losing your audience. As a club DJ you have your audience in front of you. You can tell what they want to dance to, and if you don't play it, or if you lose the tempo you'll lose your audience. It's high-pressure but at the same time, you get instant gratification; throw on the right song and you have a roomful of people cheering!

In April 1994 I became the DJ at Death Guild and worked there for three years, through DG's incarnation at the Trocadero. Sure, some aspects of Death Guild were a lot of fun - it was great having my own weekly gig, I met a lot of people, and I was able to do silly things like playing cheesy songs at Midnight (stuff like "YMCA", "Copacabana", "The Bear Necessities", and "Fish Heads") just to see how many people I could get to dance. But when the Troc closed, I took that opportunity to leave DG behind. Frankly, I was tired of working every week, often for no money and never receiving a thank you, for people who treated me poorly.

So What!, on the other hand, was much more pleasant for me. For four years I was able to spin a mix of mostly industrial music, often stuff other DJs never played; I got a reputation for playing hard, heavy, stompy music, and I was quite alright with that. Since So What! was on Saturday nights I was usually surrounded by friends and it was like I was getting paid to go out and play with them - a tough job, but someone had to do it!

I was involved with several other clubs as a DJ and sometimes also a promoter. For a couple of years I was spinning two and three times a week and my name was plastered across countless ads and flyers. I suppose I was popular in some sense of the word, but I was really doing it because I loved the music. I had a lot of great music that I wanted people to hear, and there were a lot of great bands I wanted to help make popular. I'd like to think I was able to accomplish both those goals.

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and that it did. By mid-1999 attendance at So What! had slacked off, my friends were often finding other things to do with their Saturday nights, and I had finally satiated my DJ bug. I quit So What! in June of that year but continued working with Dekonstrukt for another six months. I've done a smattering of other gigs since, most notably at the DNA, but I am currently happily retired.