Inaugural Post - Music & Friends 🌈
Ammon's "what's happening" update — July/August edition
Hi Friends,
Thanks for joining my new newsletter! As many of you know, for the past couple of years I’ve been trying to bring people together through my startup Joinable, which is still alive, but now focused on college campuses. Community has always been an important part of my life. With all the change and uncertainty in the world, I feel real community and connection is more important than ever.
Summer is in full swing and there are many sweet opportunities to connect! So let’s jump in. Here’s a quick summary so you don’t miss them (two are this week!):
Wednesday, July 24 (6-10pm): “Equity” False Profit happy hour in West Oakland (family-friendly) (free)
Thursday, July 25 (5-11pm): Love Bizarre happy hour in SF (free)
Saturday, August 3 (8pm - late): Ambient Mafia 25th Anniversary event in Oakland (family-friendly) (tickets - $25)
Thursdays at Shack15 (co-working, lunch, walk)
Read on for details.
This Wednesday, (7/24) I’ll be DJing with the False Profit crew for their community happy hour event. This is an outdoor, late afternoon, family-friendly, all-ages, sunset dance party. The venue, 7th West, serves food and drinks. I’m playing from 7:20-8:40pm, which will be sunset, and the forecast looks lovely. For this event, I’ll be playing trip hop, dancehall and drum & bass — genres I loved to play many moons ago and enjoying anew.
The last time I played with False Profit was about 20 years ago, so I’m excited to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones. I’ll be playing with Eklektik and Tones — both skilled DJs with eclectic (ha) taste. 7th West is one block South of the West Oakland BART stop for those on public transit.
7th West — 1255 7th Street, Oakland. FREE!
Invite your friends and RSVP on FB
Thursday, (7/25) we have our monthly End of Day / Love Bizarre happy hour. We’ve been hosting these community happy hours for the past few years and they’ve been a reunion spot for many longtime SF friends. The event is hosted at Hawthorn, a beautiful speakeasy-style venue in downtown SF at the Montgomery BART stop. It’s a cozy spot, with ample comfy seating, and an incredible Void sound system that’s not too loud. This is a perfect spot to meet up with friends, have a drink, dance, and get home in time for a good night sleep.
I’ll be tag-teaming (all vinyl) with Disco Dianna and Jim Hopkins between 5-8pm, playing old-school boogie and underground disco classics. Dianna has a treasure trove of amazing records from arguably one of the best eras of dance music (1978 - 1982), which birthed hip hop, house music, electro, and DJ culture. My long-time friend (since 16yo) Laron will also be on the decks, along with Jen and DJ Spun.
Hawthorn — 46 Geary Street, SF. FREE! 21+
Invite your friends and RSVP on FB
Saturday, August 3rd, you are invited to join the Ambient Mafia crew in celebration of their 25th anniversary. The Ambient Mafia is a DJ collective founded by Michael “Redstickman,” or Sticky as friends call him — a kindred spirit in downtempo, and fellow facilitator of community connection. As a collective, we celebrate the quieter side of electronic music. It’s the most open-minded and eclectic groups of DJs I’ve encountered, and I feel like I’ve finally found my music tribe.
This event will be held in a lovely church (no longer active) in Oakland. I’ll be opening the night with a two hour downtempo set from 8-10pm. I’m excited to dig into my music from the early 90s heyday of chillout room downtempo. The night will feature an all-star lineup of some of the finest chill/downtempo DJs in the Bay Area, plus a group of talented visual artist (VJs). This is a family friendly event for anyone who would like to bring younger family members.
Location TBA — please purchase tickets here ($25/kids free)
Thursdays are when I’m working out of Shack15, a social club and work space in the San Francisco Ferry Building. It’s a wonderful place to meet for coffee, grab lunch, or co-work for the day. If you’d like to meet up on a Thursday, please reach out.
That’s all for now! I’m not yet sure how often I’ll send these, but send me a nudge if you feel I’m slacking. I hope to see all of you at an upcoming event, over a coffee, or on a walk sometime very soon. And hoping this message finds you, family and friends happy and healthy.
Much love,
Ammon
P.S., Over the years I’ve made a number of re-edits and mashups for my mixes. I’ve been wanting to share them as tracks for other DJs to play. Here’s one I call “EPMoveD” — a mashup of EPMD’s “You Gots To Chill” and Move D’s “Computer Flop”. You can download the lossless file here.
And just in case you didn’t know, nearly all my recorded DJ mixes have been archived here.