dj evan stone :: history

Ever since I set foot in my first club in 1987, I had a desire to get behind the console and the turntables. My initial interests were in the current dance-industrial offerings from England and Germany - most notably bands like Depeche Mode, Camouflage, and also American bands such as Information Society, who first gained popularity abroad and eventually gained much popularity in the US.

My first real club experience was at Das Klub in the SOMA district of San Francisco, and it had a very industrial feel for the time. I absolutely fell in love with it. The space which Das Klub occupied is now taken by 1015, one of the most popular clubs in the city (and the world). Honestly, I couldn't believe it. My wife and I went with some friends to check out Richie Hawtin at 1015, and I thought, "Man, this area looks familiar..." and sure enough it was in the exact same building as my onetime favorite club...

The club that I spent far too much of my messed-up youth in was One Step Beyond, which was a truly amazing place with the best music I had ever heard, and an atmosphere I just fell in love with. Many of my friends at the time were fellow students at De Anza Junior College, and we spent many weekdays and weekends paying homage to the mecca of dance.

In the meantime, I had been working on my DJ technique - literally every chance I got - through mixtapes for people and became proficient enough to inquire about a position at OSB. Fortunately, I was getting to be good friends with Kim and Franky, who were the resident DJs at the time. Kim was kind enough to pass on my demo tape to the management, and by some miracle I got the job.

Of course, being the new guy, I didn't get the top time slot. My scheduled gigs were on Sunday night, the most poorly-attended night. Additionally, I was following in the heels of another DJ ("Shawn," who was quite NIN fan for 1989-91) who had been moved to Saturday if my memory serves me correctly. His show, "The Shattered Mirror" was basically a Goth/Industrial showcase, and my format was a bit more happy than the Sunday crowd was used to. Needless to say, it was a bit of an adjustment. Fortunately, I had some loyal friends in the area who came and showed support, even if the floor was relatively empty. I did my best, but usually the club had to close up shop early at 2:00AM.

The irony of the situation was that I was now living up in Sonoma County in Petaluma going to Sonoma State University at the time, and was commuting the hour-and-a-half to get to my favorite club, which I really enjoyed working at. Regrettably, due to poor money management, the club had to shut down, and I was heartbroken when I heard the news, and later attended the closing night party/riot.

That experience was followed by other DJing experience at "The Bar None" in Petaluma, a sad excuse for a club, designed for minors. Additionally, since the time I started college at SSU, I had been doing a radio show called "The Trans - Europe Express" (honor of Kraftwerk) at KSUN, the university's radio station.

Thankfully I survived that time period in my life and concentrated more on the mobile DJ business, basically working for friends and others in my church and basically continue to work in that mode. Even with just word of mouth I still average about 5-7 gigs a year (about one every other month), which is not bad for not advertising.