Gif animation by Nicolas Schuring

A new VA compilation documents the distinct sound of the early Californian rave scene. Out on September 15th through Above Board, The Beat by SPUN (West Coast Breakbeat Rave Electrofunk 1988​-​1994) Vol 1 captures what was referred to at the time as "The Beat," a unique amalgamation of genres such as hip-hop, freestyle, techno, industrial and Miami bass. Curated by DJ Spun, the LP features tracks from the likes of Single Cell Orchestra, D.J. Prince Ice and Trip Ta Funk. "In the late '80s, out here on the West Coast of California we developed our own DIY moment," DJ Spun told Resident Advisor. "Free from much of the corporate influence of the major labels and without pioneering DJs leading the way on radio, like in New York, Chicago and Detroit, we created our own sound and style of music. While still connected to disco, the West Coast rave scene found its own direction. Highly influenced by hip-hop, punk rock and the area's rich psychedelic history." This is the latest in a run of compilations released by Above Board. Earlier this year, the London-based label put out a '90s UK electronica VA (which, in a bizarre mix-up, was mispressed as a Taylor Swift vinyl) and Space, a compilation dedicated to the legendary London club night of the same name.

https://ra.co/news/79482

The moody “501 Reasons” campaign for Levi’s best-loved product splashed out-of-focus marbles, spirographs, tornadoes, DNA molecules, and more (everything but the jeans themselves) across America’s bus shelters and billboards

Our mission is to help clients imagine and bring to life their ideal home. We believe a home should marry form and function to beautifully meet each client’s individual personality and needs.

At CSD, we strive to create a home that is elevated yet approachable and one that balances neutral and statement pieces for a more timeless design aesthetic. Our design infuses California style with a touch of modern, while staying true to the home’s architecture and surroundings.

In the end, we believe good design can enhance the way you live, and we want to make the process of getting there as effortless as possible for you.

CARYN SLOAN, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER

Throughout her childhood on the East Coast, construction and design were ever-present as the daughter of a contractor. From a young age, Caryn spent countless hours flipping through the pages of Architectural Digest and visiting job sites with her father.

Her first love of design came in the form of branding and advertising where she worked for several renowned advertising agencies, developing the ability to uncover the most compelling stories and design for a brand. Caryn Sloan Design is her next chapter, and creating stories for brands has transcended into telling client’s stories through the design of their home. She believes every room tells a story and has the ability to transform the person who experiences it.

Caryn seeks inspiration from a myriad of influences - New York City fashion trends, the vibrant textures of Mexico, the serene colors of Greece, the diverse California coastline. Yet she never forgets that a home must be timeless and inspired as well as livable. With 3 daughters and 1 fur baby, she knows firsthand that beautiful interiors must serve both aesthetic form and approachable function.

https://www.carynsloandesign.com

"Amanda Moody is unforgettable, larger-than-life, versatile, agile, and brave. A master actor who commands every moment.” Main Stage West

"Intense, profound. Not to be missed! Amanda Moody is a virtuoso performer at the height of her powers." Curtain Call, KRCB Radio

“Her performance is riveting … suffused with aching poetry …” SF Bay Guardian

http://www.amandamoody.com

“Moody fuses poetry with religious ecstasy and the present-day travails of war and media misinformation.” SF Weekly

“A considerably more transgressive vision of what women want ... She's riveting." SF Bay Guardian

“When Amanda Moody takes the stage, she takes no prisoners. And when she takes the mic, she testifies.”

Joe Paulino, actor; musician

“The magic of great performance art is its ability to become legend in the bodies of those who witness it. Amanda Moody’s Serial Murderess is in my body as legend. Having seen it only once, it made such deep impression that when I speak of the work, I speak mythically. I see a tree. A woman. Venom. I see shafts of light. I hear a big voice, the ruffle of a long cloth, a whisper. I feel a shudder. I feel desire. I like work that captures me.”

Ellen Sebastian Chang, opera & theater director; writer

Welcome to Dirty Futon Girl™

Dirty Futon Girl wants everyone to find their pleasure. We create products and content to fuel your fantasies and sexual adventure.

We happen to identify as women who love dick, so that is the lens of the content we bring. We hope everyone feels welcome. 

https://dirtyfutongirl.com

Born, appropriately, in New York City, ACT UP now has chapters in two dozen cities and perhaps 5,000 adherents who regularly attend meetings and take part in its actions.

Trying to Change System

“We come from the system that we are trying to change,” explained Ken Woodard, an art director for DDB Needham Worldwide who designs advertisements for Volkswagen and Seagrams by day and for ACT UP by night.

Though of the system, ACT UP’s members work within and outside the system to achieve group goals. ACT UP’s initial goal was to increase availability of experimental treatments to people with AIDS and those infected with the virus. More recently, the group has sought better prevention and treatment services from cities like New York. - LA TIMES APRIL 4, 1989

Created in 2016 when shows like Twin Peaks, Welcome to Nightvale, and Gravity Falls were fashionable - OHAX NEWS is surrealist, narrative, and fully interactive. Copies were distributed worldwide anonymously, sometimes occupying abandoned newspaper boxes

As You Like It (AYLI) is the result of a shared taste for quality electronic music, late nights and experiences that focus on cutting-edge sounds by today’s most driven artists, while striving for and acknowledging timelessness.

https://www.ayli-sf.com/2024/04/16/ayli-ground-level-17-ken-vulsion/

Interview by Sean Ocean.

10 Quick Questions with Ken Vulsion.

Drawing on an East Coast punk past, Ken Vulsion picked up and set down roots as a mover and shaker within the San Francisco underground house disco and LGBTQ community. Not as just a DJ with aspirations, but a voice for the community and as its “Musical host.” As You Like It shared some questions with Ken about his past with the House music greats of SF, the Honeysoundsystem and the recent launch of his Sunday party, Club Übar, with Steve Johnson.

AYLI Nice to have you with us. Ken Vulsion is quite the name. There must be a story about how you picked up the Nom de Plume.

Ken Vulsion Terry from the Record Town at the mall gave me my “punk” name. This would have been around 1983 when I was jamming with different bands on lead vocals and mini Moog, and DJing 4-5 nights a week. Shout out to the 373 Contingent, the Bone Hunter, the Choice, the Think, Fright, RAP, X.Ø.X, Skulls TC and anyone who came to dance at Myhalyk’s. Some people are still surprised to see a different last name on my driving license.

AYLI You’re from the East Coast originally?

KV Yes, Elmira NY.

AYLI When did you come to SF and how did that shape you as a person and an artist ?

KV I road tripped to SF in 1989, loved it, and took a job here shortly after. Besides commercial work as an art director, I was also designing posters and graphics for ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) Queer Nation, Product at 1015 Folsom and Club Uranus at the End Up. As the saying goes it was anger in the streets, and love on the dance floor. There was raw, wild talent everywhere. To give an example : Drew from Matmos and Soft Pink Truth was Drew Macaroni and Cheese in those days, and go-go danced at Club Uranus in a makeshift rubber fish g-string. The head of the fish went over his cock and balls, and the tail was sticking out of his ass.

AYLI You designed the most recent posters and flyers for the Stud Fundraiser with The Carry Nation and later The Blessed Madonna. They were excellent. Rumor has it this is just one of your talents, how did you fall into graphic design for posters and how does it feel to be a part of the Stud’s resurrection?

KV The designers making the best record sleeves were always bigger stars to me than the bands. Peter Saville, Assorted Images / Malcolm Garrett, Tibor Kalman / M&Co., Vaughn Oliver / 23 Envelope, Jamie Reid, just to name a few. You cannot separate the impact of the visuals from the music. The Stud was my home since before I moved here. When Honeysoundsystem was ‘on the run’ the Stud generously hosted us for our Butt Magazine party, and an infamous Labor Day Sunday with Jeno. He got the full experience, dance floor blowjobs and all. Honey soon moved to 1535 Folsom Street which was the original Stud. Go Bang! is another party I was involved with that also moved to the Stud after losing a venue . The Stud is essential. The Stud must be rebuilt! The images for the AYLI Stud Fundraiser are inspired by my dear, departed sister The SteveLady(the first Miss Trannyshack.)

AYLI Do you see yourself as a visual arts representative for the queer community in the Bay Area?

KV  For sure ‘queer’ is part of my identity, I was around when ‘queer’ was a new thing. Not sure about ‘representative’, but I try to be the best Ken Vulsion I can be. If I’m making a giant billboard for the SF Giants the queer gaze will be there. They are some good looking boys.

AYLI You’re cited as the Co Founder of Honey Soundsystem. How did the Honey Soundsystem Collective come about and what were the goals behind the inception?

KV Honey Soundsystem was a collective of disc jockeys, musicians, performers and designers Co-founded by me and Jacob Sperber (AKA PeePlay, Jackie House) in January 2006 after seeing severe gaps in San Francisco nightlife. We were inspired by pivotal gay underground parties, and offered a take on dance music in direct opposition to what was being played in mainstream Gay clubs. Gradually we brought in other DJs with similar tastes: Jason Kendig, Robert Yang, Josh Cheon and Derek Bobus. The group bonded over a shared love of timeless sounds, iconic imagery, the complete look, indulgent behavior, and most of all, attractive men.

AYLI Over the years you’ve played many parts within the community. What part do you most identify with?

KV We are in the hospitality business. David Mancuso thought of himself as a musical host, not a DJ. I like that.

AYLI How important is it for you that the LGBTQ community have a voice and a representation within the dance community?

KV By most conventional standards Disco and House Music started in the queer / black underground. Ours is still an art form where knowledge is passed from peer to peer. The work leaders like Theaster Gates is doing is super important. It’s important to connect to the source.

AYLI If someone wasn’t too familiar with your work as a DJ, describe your sound and your history. What’s your most favorite mix that typifies your style and why do you feel it represents you?

KV Here’s what Marke B wrote about the sound and aesthetic “a genre-busting musical sweet spot in decades-spanning sets that could rightly be called ahistoric if it wasn’t so rooted in a conceptual sense of the gay past. Even playing host to such cutting-edge talents as Stefan Goldman, C.L.A.W.S, and Disco Dromo, the HNY collective foregrounded, in flyer art and party theme, an appreciation for AIDS-era icons like Keith Haring, Willi Ninja, Larry Levan, and Patrick Cowley, the local electronic music originator who was the subject of a brilliant art and music retrospective.” My favorite mix would be “I’ll See You After The Function” which was vogue/ Bitch tracks. It was an effortless, raw one take. All vinyl.

AYLI You’restarting a Sunday party  called Club Übar at Underground SF what was the main idea behind the launch?

KV There are situations in the world like Bar-Ton, Fréquence, Dirty Lemon, or getting an espresso at Panoramabar that inspired Steve Johnson and I to do something different :  a Sunday day-rave dedicated to our favorite things: great music, great drinks, and coffee.. As a result the back bar is stacked with records rather than bottles, Expect an eclectic open-to-close set, crafted as a heartfelt homage to San Francisco’s iconic spirit, paying tribute to the Lower Haight St. Players, cherished memories of The Top, Fiend, Viennetta Discotheque, Hardkiss Music, and the notorious Drunk & Horny. Classics and future classics only.

A collection of our latex looks all together in one place. Including catsuits, tank tops, full face masks, jock strap style trunk shorts, classic whitey tighty underwear inspired briefs, speedo style sport briefs, and our original Ikea surfsuit. We make fashion that isn’t afraid of color, and is fun to wear.