indie

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

48 Hills Interview

48 Hills Interview

The 2000’s are back! (And that’s OK)

BY MARKE B.
Sep 24th

The great Last Nite party celebrates two glorious years of resurrecting a decade some people would rather forget.

Pop music critics salivate over how Taylor Swift and Carly Rae Jepsen are bringing the ’80s back to radio (despite “’80s retro nights” being a joke older than ’90s bachelorette pit Polly Esther’s, RIP). Dance music critics roll their eyes at yet one more sample from ’90s R&B on a “deep house” record. Someone recently wore an Abercrombie and Fitch tee ironically to a gay party and I almost passed out. “Please, please don’t let the 2000’s be coming back,” I silently pleaded, paralyzed among a forest of perilous drag queen stilettos on the club floor. “Or at least if they are coming back, let them come back like the Last Nite party.”

Tiffany Ishihara and Josh Compton Wedding

Tiffany Ishihara and Josh Compton Wedding

"Jamie was the DJ at my wedding and I cannot recommend him enough. I should mention that the music at my wedding was the the most important element to my husband and I; Jamie did not disappoint. He has a very extensive knowledge of all types of music and was able to curate a playlist for our very specific request - 1970’s Power Pop. Not only was he able to create a playlist we really loved, but he was super excited about it and made the process very easy. There was never a moment that we had to worry about what was playing. If you want a DJ that will put a lot of thought and energy into your big day, Jamie is the way to go!" - Tiffany Ishihara

Kate Garklavs and Micah Saul Wedding

Kate Garklavs and Micah Saul Wedding

"If you’re looking for a top-notch wedding DJ, look no further: Jamie is capital-A awesome. For years, Jamie hosted Debaser (excellent 90s dance party), and it was through Debaser that I got to know Jamie and his work. When my now-husband and I started planning our wedding, we aligned on what we were looking for in a DJ — someone with impeccable (and broad) musical taste; someone with the emotional IQ to cater to not just the bride/groom’s preferences, but also to honor both extended families’ wishes; and someone who can bring a rockin’ dance party. Jamie exemplifies all of these qualities. He spent several hours with us discussing the sort of mood we wanted to create and how we wanted our reception to evolve; he then translated this vision into a playlist that kept our guests on the dance floor all night (and into the morning). What’s more, he was extremely professional, handling all the tiny details that no bride or groom wants to deal with. You’d be hard pressed to find a better, more intuitive DJ than Jamie. " - Kate Garklavs

"Jamie kicked ass at our wedding ceremony and reception. We'd both known him for years through Debaser and other parties he'd DJ in the Mission, so when we decided we wanted someone for our wedding that'd get our guests to dance their faces off, we knew who to go to. Jamie was amazing to work with. We talked through the general them we were hoping for, he worked with us to come up with our lists of must haves, as well as some secret requests, and was just generally super attentive and responsive. The party, of course, was amazing! Jamie is incredibly good at reading the energy of a room and adapting his set to both feed on and feed that energy. We didn't have an emcee or a day-of planner or anything like that, and Jamie was able to direct the flow of the night using the music he was playing. And yes, we all danced our damn faces off!" - Micah Saul

Jessica Taich and Josh Levitz Wedding

Jessica Taich and Josh Levitz Wedding

"When planning our wedding we knew that we wanted to have a reception with music we actually loved. But finding a wedding DJ that got our taste was a challenge. We had attended a few of Jamie's Debaser nights at the Knockout and always had so much fun. On a whim we contacted Jamie to see if he would DJ our wedding - and luckily he was interested! We met for drinks and talked about the kind of music and vibe we hoped to have at our wedding reception. Jamie was extremely responsive and very excited to give us our dream party. On the day of the event Jamie was timely and professional and the dance party was incredible. Our friends 3 years later still talk about how Jamie was the best wedding DJ and love to reminisce about the playlist. Jamie and team are hands-on, passionate, and genuinely want you to have the best time at your wedding. We would highly recommend hiring Ceremony DJ's!" - Jess & Josh Levitz

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.

Last Nite in SFBG

Last Nite in SFBG

Nice booking

SF-based talent agency Liaison Artists is behind most of the techno you dance to. Plus: Last Nite, Rare Bits, FGAG, James Blake, and more parties this week
04.09.13 - 5:18 pm | Marke B.

LAST NITE: 2000S INDIE DANCE PART

Oh gawd it's here: let the retro-00s (retr00s?) commence! Jamie Jams and Emdee, the fiendish minds behind seminal '90s revival party Debaser, kick it into the Interpol-Shins-Strokes-White Stripes era and take you slightly back to "a time when punks suddenly remembered how to dance" — you could still hear guitars on the radio.

Fri/12, 10pm, $5 before 11pm, $10 after. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.facebook.com/lastnite00s

The Bold Italic Profile

The Bold Italic Profile

Spin City

Abby Wilcox / Apr. 20, 2012 / The Bold Italic

Jamie Guzzi (a.k.a. Jamie Jams) of Debaser takes us back to our roots with his ’90s parties at the Knockout. He scours local record stores for popping ’90s LPs, which run the gamut from baggy beat to shoegaze, grunge, alternative, Britpop, indie pop, post-rock, post-hardcore, and emo. Jamie spins mostly ’90s alternative at his parties, though he’ll periodically mix in some hip-hop and r&b.

The parties feel like a community, with lots of epic rock T-shirts in the house, though he would love to see more baby-doll dresses. “We're doing this year-by-year theme, so we'll be slicing it sort of horizontally instead of vertically for a little bit. Probably throwing in a bit more of the other genres we've missed too as we go. We even played a little industrial at the last one! We're definitely putting the ’90s on rinse, that's for sure.”

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.

SFBG, Best of the Bay

SFBG, Best of the Bay

BEST FLANNEL REVIVAL

In this age of continual retro, it comes as a surprise that listening to mainstream '90s alternative rock can give you, under the right inebriated circumstances, the kind of pleasure not experienced since heroin went out of vogue. Debaser at the Knockout has become one of the best monthly parties in San Francisco, largely because it gives '80s babies, who were stuck playing Oregon Trail in computer class while Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland were rocking it out in Portland, the chance to live out their Nirvana-era dreams. Debaser promoter Jamie Jams is the only DJ in San Francisco who will spin the Cranberries after a Pavement song, and his inspired mixology is empirically proven to induce moshing en masse until last call, an enticingly dangerous sport now that lead-footed Doc Martens are back in style. Sporting flannel gets you comped, so for those still hung up over Jordan Catalano and the way he leans, Debaser is rife with contemporary, albeit less angsty, equivalents.

First Saturdays, 9 p.m., Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. (415) 550-6994, www.myspace.com/debaser90s

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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