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SF Weekly Mix

SF Weekly Mix

Giving Reality Bites the Soundtrack It Deserves

For Debaser's 9th anniversary party this Saturday, DJ Jamie Jams has put together a booming alt-rock mix.

Jessie Schiewe Fri. May 26, 2017 12:17pm, All Shook Down

This year, Debaser — a monthly party at the Knockout dedicated to early ’90s alt-rock and led by DJ Jamie Jams — turns 9. For the party’s third anniversary in 2011, Jams concocted a mixtape of “odes to love and love lost” themed around Cameron Crowe’s film Singles, replete with vocal cuts from the movie. For its fifth anniversary, Debaser created a mix themed around Boyz n the Hood, with tracks by Cyprus Hill, EPMD, Grand Puba, Public Enemy, and more, and jokes from Ice Cube littered throughout.

In keeping with that tradition, Jams has just released Debaser’s third official mixtape, this time based on the iconic ’90s film Reality Bites, with songs by Yo La Tengo, Fugazi, R.E.M., The Lemonheads, My Bloody Valentine, and more.

“I wanted to take another stab at the ’90s rock era,” Jams says. “How can we distill it into its most distilled form? How can we get a concentrated dose of whatever je ne sais quoi there was about the ’90s?”

He’ll be playing the mix — along with an assortment of records, from the 12 crates of vinyl he’ll be bringing to the party — at the Knockout on Saturday, May 27.

“The idea is to create the feeling of being at the craziest rock show, but made out of all records,” he says.
We chatted with Jams about the mix, the particular songs he simply had to include on it, and why he chose Reality Bites in the first place.

Catch Debaser’s 9th Anniversary Party from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., on Saturday, May 27, at The Knockout.

SF Weekly Interview

SF Weekly Interview

Hey, DJ: Jamie Jams

The San Francisco DJ talks about Last Nite, his Y2K indie dance party.
Christina Li / Thu. Oct. 13th, 2016 12:14pm / All Shook Down

There’s no question that the ‘90s are back and have been for the past few years, whether it’s clothing trends, TV remakes, or musical styles. When All Shook Down first interviewed DJ Jamie Jams over eight years ago, the indie music connoisseur was already foreshadowing the future by wondering, “When is everyone going to realize this ’90s business is the shit?”

To date, Jams is still running his ‘90s night Debaser, but he has also added a party celebrating the last decade of indie called Last Nite. We got a chance to catch up with Jamie Jams about the changing SF scene, his favorite ‘90s outfit, and what a good time means to him.

Last Nite SF Weekly Feature

Last Nite SF Weekly Feature

Top Five Parties This Week Plus Notable Local Records

Chris Zaldua / Wed .Aug. 17, 2016 5:30pm / Some Thoughts of a Certain Sound

One interesting side effect of the unprecedented speed of life in our information age is that society’s nostalgia cycles have been compressed substantially. It used to be that what came 20-25 years before was fun, hip, and cool (in an ironic way) again; now, it’s more like 10 years and change.

Enter Last Nite, a party unabashed in its barely there nostalgia, which harks back to that early-mid aughts period when legions of punks discovered the wonders of disco, house, and dance music — nevermind that many of them scorned it in decades prior — and began trading guitars for synthesizers.

Friday marks Last Nite’s third anniversary, and they’re hosting L.A.’s Moving Units to celebrate. Moving Units have the look and the sound of 2005 down pat — their songs are short, bright, dancy, and catchy. A slew of DJs — Last Nite’s Jamie Jams and Rocky, Popscene’s Omar, 120 Minutes’ Marco, and The Queen Is Dead’s Mario — will be spinning tunes, retro and otherwise, to make you wistful for the days of George Dubya’s presidency.

Last Nite’s Third Anniversary featuring Moving Units at Mezzanine, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday, Aug. 19. $10-$15; mezzaninesf.com

Last Nite SF Weekly Review

Last Nite SF Weekly Review

Lost in the Night

Debaser's New Last Nite Party Takes Nostalgia Back to the 2000s

Posted By Derek Opperman on Mon., Apr. 15, 2013 at 9:06 AM

Growing up in the veritable golden age of cultural nostalgia that was the '00s, it never really occured to me that my own decade might eventually be revisited. Even now, it's surprising that anyone would care to go back and try to relive much of those days. If you'll recall, it was a pretty dark time under George H.W. Bush's presidency. The bleakness of the American situation created a kind of nihilism that seemed to seep into the club culture and music. In San Francisco, this found its expression via the emerging scenester clubs that first began popping up in weird places like the basement at LiPo Lounge and the loft at Edinburgh Castle, then later at bigger parties like Frisco Disco, Club i-D, and Popscene.

Last Nite SF Weekly Intro

Last Nite SF Weekly Intro

Weekend Party Preview

The Top Five Parties in San Francisco This Weekend

Posted By Derek Opperman on Thu., Apr. 11, 2013 at 9:56 AM

Last Nite at Elbo Room
Friday, April 12. 10 p.m. $5-$10

Well, folks, the snake has officially reached its tail. The crew behind the '90s-themed Debaser party has gotten together to create "Last Nite," a brand new event that, much like its parent, is dedicated to reviving a specific moment in time. In this case, it's all about that brief period in the early-'00s when garage rock, dance punk, and electroclash all emerged and combined to form the soundtrack to the-then nascent hipster lifestyle. Resident DJs Jamie Jams and Em Dee will be on hand to take you back to the days when "deck" was almost an adjective.

San Francisco Chronicle, 96 Hours Interview

San Francisco Chronicle, 96 Hours Interview

Debaser: DJ night parties to all things '90s

Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, March 23, 2011

DJ Jamie Jams, born James Guzzi (shown), explains the origins for the party, which begins in 2001: "We wanted to do something that reflected our own experience of growing up, and figured the '90s would eventually come into style demographically speaking. The only problem was, at the time, no one really knew what 'the '90s' was. So, we spent the next four years talking to our friends, going through old mix tapes and testing the records out at parties."

SF Weekly, Best of San Francisco

SF Weekly, Best of San Francisco

Best Club Night to Wear Flannel

Tue. May 18th, 2010 4:00am
Bars and Clubs / Best of San Francisco

The first Saturday of every month, divey hipster watering hole the Knockout becomes a time machine that transports all those people who were teenagers in the '90s back to their childhood bedrooms. But you can check your angst at the door (just don't forget your flannel before 11 p.m., otherwise you pay $5 cover) because this is a full-out eardrum-busting party where kids who never got the chance to live out their alternative music fantasies (or maybe they did, and never got over it) can bump chests and grind privates to Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, and, yes, Neutral Milk Hotel. You will be lathered in the sweat of strangers, there will be mosh pits and stage diving, and if you're on the prowl, the throb of sex at this party is palpable, just like it was in high school.

SF Weekly Review of Debaser

SF Weekly Review of Debaser

DJs dig into '90s nostalgia

By Jennifer Maerz
Wednesday, Sep. 24, 2008

It was one of those balmy September weekends when San Franciscans can actually go sleeveless after 10 p.m. And yet in the line snaking outside Mission bar the Knockout for the club night Debaser, partiers were bundled in flannels. One dude kept a nest of dark hair tucked under a black ski cap. Were we in the same climate zone here? Yup. These folks weren't dressing for the weather; they were working an era. This particular Saturday night was all about the '90s, so no matter what the thermometer displayed, the look required plaid Pendletons — or, I should say, the admission discount required it. If you show up at Debaser before 11 p.m. in flannel or a babydoll dress, you bypass the $5 cover.

Jamie Jams SF Weekly Interview

Jamie Jams SF Weekly Interview

Hey DJ! Friday Q&A: DJ Jamie Jams

Posted By Ian S. Port on Fri., Jul. 11, 2008 at 7:00 AM

This week's Friday DJ Q&A is with Jamie Jams, a dude who loves his '90s icons, from Nirvana to the Pixies and R.E.M. What with Sub Pop turning 20, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" showing up on DJ playlists again, there's a big old flannel flashback going down. Crystal Akins interviews Jamie, who rock 'n' rolls all night and fights the power every day.

 

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