We got a chance to speak to San Francisco DJ Eric Sharp, founder of Rock It Science, about his music, the SF scene, and his upcoming party with Green Velvet & Designer Drugs @ The Mezzanine this Saturday (which, if you're in SF, you'd be sorry to miss).
How'd you get your start as a DJ?
I felt like part of the vibe when I used to go out dancing had been lost, and that the connection between the DJ and the crowd was out of focus. I bought a set of turntables and started collecting records and I couldn't tear myself away from them. The next thing I knew I started playing out and I haven't really looked back since; my DJ career has grown both organically and through extensive promotion work.
I think it's safe to say Green Velvet influenced you on your way up as a DJ - tell us a little bit about that.
I was very heavily influenced by Chicago House and Techno so of course Green Velvet was on my radar for a long time. I first saw him perform with his whole band at this massive rave called Boo 4 in New York City in 1999 (I grew up in Boston.) I have always liked how tough his music is and how creative he gets with his vocals, and his tracks and remixes have been in heavy rotation in my DJ sets since day one.
What's it like having him spin at your party @ Mezzanine?
It's very exciting. Last year I brought him out to Temple and the party was really great. I think this event has the potential to be even better because we've added Designer Drugs and it's Richie Panic's birthday party. Any time I get to produce an event with an artist who has really inspired me it is a great experience. I'm also incredibly stoked to work with Mezzanine; this is my first show there and it is a venue which I have great respect for.
What about the Designer Drugs?
Designer Drugs are more of a new school cutting edge act. I first found out about them when Frankie Chan put their remix of Protokoll's "Moving Forward" on his mix CD that was being given out in Miami at Winter Music Conference in 2008. I love that track and still play it a lot. I think that the big room electro sound is very exciting and has turned on a younger generation to dance music with its rock influences and high energy. Designer Drugs is one of the artists pushing the envelope of this sound so I am also looking forward to working with them.
What do you think about the San Francisco party scene?
I feel so thankful that I live in San Francisco because so many people love to go out. Dancers really support their local DJs and promoters which is awesome. SF has a culture of clubbing which a lot of American cities lack. If I could make one thing better it would be to educate people more about the music. Once in a while I'll go check out a show with one of the most cutting edge acts in the world and it is not well attended which is really disappointing. This makes it tough to take risks as an independent promoter and bring out fresh acts.
What's been your favorite party of the year so far?
Solid Gold Jacuzzi. No question. Unless New Years Eve counts... I got to play An-Ten-Nae's party at 1015 Folsom with Diplo, Jesse Rose, and some of the best up and coming dubstep acts. That was pretty epic.
Are there any other bands/DJs/musicians that you would want to bring in to the city at one of your parties? Who would it be?
My list is too long to name here, but I'm really liking a lot of new music being produced. The limitation I bump into is that many of the acts whom I would really love to work with are prohibitively expensive for me, or are too new to pull a big crowd. I hope to one day be in the position to take bigger risks with my events in order to bring fresh music to SF.
Tell us about Rock It Science?
Rock It Science started out as an event production company that focused on underground warehouse parties. Our first event was April 23, 2005 and had Roy Davis Jr headlining. We have always worked to bring out of town talent to headline our events.
Part of what inspired me to start throwing parties was that I was tired of hearing the same DJs week in and week out. We had a great run of warehouse parties, climaxing with the Tonal series which were color themed underground events that we produced with Prismatic. Our biggest event, Clockwork Orange, took place in October of 2007 and had over 1,000 attendees. At that point it seemed like things were getting too big for warehouses and since then we have focused on club events. Highlights over the past year have included working with Drop The Lime, Tittsworth, Stacey Pullen, and Spank Rock's Devlin & Darko.
Any thing new on the horizon?
I've been in the studio making music for the last 2 years and have gotten support on my tracks from some key players in dance music whom I have massive respect for. The next phase of Rock It Science is launching our label, Rock It Science Laboratories, in order to showcase our original music and grow our brand beyond San Francisco into an internationally respected entity.
DJ Fame from NYC, Native Intelligence, Bass Cadet, and my graphic designer Carrotknife are the key collaborators with me in this arm of the project. Creating a label has taken longer than anticipated, but we are very pumped to make it happen. We have some really great music to release and some cutting edge remixers that we are working with.
We recently launched our website, rockitscienceSF.com so that people can stay in touch with us and check out what we are doing. Fame, Native Intelligence, and myself also just got signed to a really exciting new booking agency based in SF called Symbiosis Artists. Also last year I got brought aboard Flavor Group, one of SF's most respected event production companies and creative agencies, as a resident DJ and have had a hand in some killer events through that channel. And as always I am sure we will cook up some great parties in the coming months for people to shake their asses at in the near future!
More info:
http://www.rockitscienceSF.com
http://www.myspace.com/djericsharp
http://www.facebook.com/djericsharp
http://www.twitter.com/ericsharp
http://www.symbiosisartists.com
