The dance floor was packed, hands flew in the air and hips swung with ecstatic energy in—a coffee shop full of kids? Yep, welcome to the burgeoning all-ages dance community of Sonoma County.
The back room of My Friend Joe’s was cleared out, then repacked with dancers; high school aged to mid-20s. The dance floor often erupted into spontaneous shouts, cheers or clapping to the music and when DJ Broken Record faded out the music, the crowd filled in the lyrics and kept dancing without missing a beat. You’d sweat just standing in the room with a tee shirt on.
Sonoma County native DJ Broken Record is the central booker and performer for these all ages dance shows. “Any night at a bar, this would have been a good turn out,” said DJ Broken Record.
Although the show at My Friend Joe’s on Feb. 24 was a birthday party for a friend, it felt like a typical DJ Broken Record show.
“It’s pure fun, almost like innocence,” said Michelle Brewer between songs. “If it wasn’t for Joe’s, this wouldn’t be possible.” She is right, Unity Music off of Piner Road used to hold the all ages shows in Santa Rosa but they recently closed their doors.
DJ Loopeater, aka Lupita CA, opened the show and said, “It was awesome because [the crowd] were my peers; they’re the reason I want to DJ.”
CA appreciates how safe the all ages dance crowd feels, “21 and over shows can get kind of grotesque,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of safe places. When there are, I cherish them.”
“I feel like when you’re not 21 and can’t go out to clubs, this is a great alternative,” said Paige Picard, SRJC student. “Plus, [DJ Broken Record] has a very eclectic repertoire.”
DJ Broken Record has been involved with the youth music scene in Sonoma County for a long time, from metal/hardcore with his old band Fall Is Here, to his current main project; DJ Broken Record has morphed from dubstep heavy beats to a current blend of dubstep, moombahton and top 40 and ‘80s pop mixes.
He also booked shows for a while but recently upped his number of shows after the dubstep crews stopped booking all ages dubstep shows.
“There are no more all ages dance shows because you can’t sell alcohol and the dance night-life industry is driven by alcohol sales,” DJ Broken Record said.
At the end of his set, DJ Broken Record plugged the 21-plus show at Aubergine’s in Sebastopol he was going to play the following night, then told the crowd, “If you are not 21 you can’t listen to dance music; I don’t know why that works,” with a perplexed shrug. “You get punished for not being dependent on the alcohol industry.”
DJ Broken Record (as Brokenface) and a few friends, murrlight, ScissorFiend and Darkfoot, played at the My Friend Joe’s Thursday open mic a few weeks ago. “[They] don’t discriminate against electronic music here, so anyone who wants to flex their skills can,” DJ Broken Record said. From that show he decided to book the all-ages show.
“Hopefully, we can keep doing this and not get shut down because we don’t sell alcohol,” DJ Broken Record said.
The only other two places that hold all-age shows are the Arlene Francis Theater in Railroad Square and the Transient Lounge off of Todd Road, a venue that mainly caters to punk rock. The Transient Lounge, however, has had a few dance parties. “I haven’t played there yet, but maybe I will some day,” DJ Broken Record said.
DJ Kudjo has also been important in the youth electronic scene in Sonoma County. He has been actively seeking out youth sample-based and electronic artists, and booked DJ Broken Record for his first show, before his music got popular. DJ Kudjo also introduced DJ Broken Record to ScissorFiend, who often plays with DJ Broken Record.
To find out about upcoming all ages dance shows or contact DJ Broken Record, find him on Facebook or Twitter.
To check out DJ Broken Record’s Music, go to http://soundcloud.com/djbrokenrecord.
“Sonoma County has always had a vibrant youth music scene,” DJ Broken Record said. “We want a vibrant youth dance scene.”
