DJ Pause
In a city called home by some of the biggest names in turntablism, DJ Pause is relatively unknown. But that's not from lack of skill. While his contemporaries boost their names by playing in crossover alternahop outfits or waging war at turntablist tournaments, Pause has chosen the comparatively quiet, anonymous life of a club DJ. Pause, who's more comfortable dropping a Tribe Called Quest or Gang Starr track than scratching over beats, gets his DJ name not from the "pause" button on CD players but from the underground pause -- or battle -- tapes that circulated in hip hop's early years. As an artist, Pause came up in the mid-'80s scene alongside luminaries like Function8 label owner Gadget and local skateboarding legend Tommy Guerrero. After building his reputation as a house DJ at the now-legendary hip hop mecca Club Deco, Pause has performed just about everywhere in town, from his weekly slot at the Justice League to "Beat Sauce" at Storyville to "Supastar" and "Wax" at Sacrifice. Recently Pause has started spending more time in the studio working on his first LP, Predators of the Wild. Maybe with a full-length on the shelves, this artist will finally receive the recognition he deserves.
Q-Bert
In the past year, Q-Bert has grown from being the universally recognized leading talent in turntablism to the genre's very public ambassador. As if on a crusade to prove to the world that the turntable is a valid musical instrument, he's taken the heaps of sponsorship opportunities thrown at him to hold clinics on scratch technique, as well as putting a face on the genre through a series of prime-time TV ads for a downloadable music site. All this comes to pass, ironically enough, at the same time that the DJ crew he came up with, the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, decided to call it quits. So as the individual Piklz move on to a variety of side projects, Q-Bert has used the opportunity to put the finishing touches on the animated film version of his 1998 album Wave Twisters, still the gold standard for what the wise (acre) DJ can do with a crate full of vinyl, a sampler, and a facile wrist. As the film starts making the festival circuit, it should establish Q-Bert's name even further. And if turntablism ever gets recognized as nothing less than the next stage of a free-jazz movement that started with bebop -- and it should -- Q-Bert has cemented his reputation as the most ferocious composer and improviser going.
Paul Trapani
Details
Saturday, October 7, 8 p.m.
Our Master of Ceremonies: Mr. Lucky
Our Presenters:
Beni B., president of ABB Records
Anthony Bonet, booker for Bottom of the Hill
Karen Dere, founder of GiantPeach.com and DJ for KALX-FM (90.7)
Dirk Dirksen, co-founder of Dirksen-Malloy Productions and booker for legendary Mabuhay Gardens
Paul Kopf, organizer of Baypop Festival
Dennis Mitchell, founder of Future Farmer Records
Don Stroud, organizer of Baypop Festival
Our Performers:
Phantom Surfers
Fisherman’s Old Time Burlesque Revue with Cantankerous Lollies
Persephone’s Bees
Devil-Ettes
Eddie Dane’s Dames
Also Featuring:
DJ the Now Sound
Stinky’s Peep Show Large and Lovely Go-Go Girls
Will the Thrill and Monica Tiki Goddess
SF Weekly Wammies 2000 Staff:
Executive Producer: Troy Larkin
Co-Producers: Alan Parowski of Liftoff! SpaceCapades and Silke Tudor
Assistant Producer: Lani Stackel
Advertising Director: Todd Korab
Program Editor: Dan Strachota
Program Contributors: Mark Athitakis, Chris Baty, Vanessa Bee, David Cook, Glenn Donaldson, Ezra Gale, Fred Medick, Mike Rowell, Dan Strachota, Denise Sullivan
Copy Editor: Deborah Lewis
Art Director: Darrick Rainey
Art Designer: Tristin Handley
Original Photography: Paul Trapani
Layout: Jenny McElhiney
Award Design: Chase of American Custom
Great American Music Hall
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