Named after a toilet, sounding like they grew up listening to The New York Dolls, The Ramones, Iggy and everyone else from Detroit, along with the Xanadu soundtrack (The ELO side more than the Olivia Newton-John side), and playing gigs at places close to our heart like NYC leather bar The Eagle, how can we NOT share The johns with you? Somewhere between playing the CMJ Music Marathon, and releasing their latest EP, we talked The johns front man off of the stripper pole, and got him to ask the other boys in the band a few questions.
How to avoid an interview? Ask the questions. But here’s “Unplug” for you to listen to.
What is your favorite out night out with ME?
I like the time you and me got into a bar fight with bottles being thrown everywhere that resulted in our first bass player quitting. I also liked the time we were at a party and, unbeknown to myself, you and Kate challenged me and Crazy-tits to a make-off.
Cock size and contentment with it?
Bigger than yours.
Fav music to play sexy to?
Anything that drowns out the bloodcurdling screams… and Led Zeppelin.
What do you bring to The johns?
Hotness. My guitar playing and general hotness… and the dick factor.
Care to expand?
No.
What is your favorite night out with ME?
Well, that would be a tie. The night of our first CD release gig comes to mind. Johnny, you have lots of attractive female friends, and luckily they often bring attractive male friends with them. After the gig, a bunch of us ended up in a karaoke restaurant in Chinatown. After some unsuccessful attempts at singing Bon Jovi, I ended up in the bathroom making out with one of your friend’s friends. The other time that comes to mind was the gig we had at the Eagle and you ended up, uncharacteristically, going home early, and I ended up, again, making out with one of your best friend’s friends. What can I say, I love that you are my sometimes-pimp.
What is your favorite music to play sexy to?
I really don’t have a favorite sexy tune. In general, when going at it, music tends to distract me. Being a musician, I hear it as technical stuff - something to analyze and study, which is something I LOVE to do, but I don’t necessarily want my brain doing that when I’ve got my tongue down some guy’s throat.
Cock size and contentment with it?
I should have a set answer for this question, as it seems to be a part of the standard gay vernacular, but truth be told, I’ve never put a ruler to it. I will tell you that I have never once had a complaint, and it usually elicits a big smile from the guys who are lucky enough to get a viewing.
What is your favorite song on our new EP?
“Punch my Face”. I like the way the the chorus builds up to that layered sound and the atmosphere of the whole song. It feels reminiscent and fresh at the same time.
Jamie isn’t allowed to give interviews. Let’s leave it at that.
What is your favorite music to play sexy to?
Anything with electro beats and a punk vibe - Hellogoodbye, Hot Hot Heat, The johns.
Favorite show?
The Viper Room in LA. We sound-checked behind this soundproof curtain and then the curtain opened to a packed house of sexy LA faces.
What are you thinking about when you’re banging on your drums?
All the heads bobbing up and down out there in the crowd and all the heads that will be bobbing up and down later that night.
Currently, the CMJ Music Marathon is gracing New York with the sounds of hot new bands, some of whom I featured in my previous EVB mix. So with the festival introducing their take on the next wave of upcoming artists, I thought I would curate my own roster of emerging bands, coincidentally, none of whom are appearing at CMJ this year. For the people at home making tea and doing what you do to get through the increasingly cold weather, this mix is suitably darker - starting off with a chorus of “you should’ve died that very night”, but luckily the voice and slight electro sound will keep you warm enough. All right then, I don’t want anyone to get depressed - and why should you, with such good music all over the place.
Fryars - The Ides / James Yuill - This Sweet Love / GoodBooks - Leni / Lo-Fi-Fnk - Louder / O Children - Who Killed The Disco Dancer? / The Domino State - Iron Mask / I Concur - Lucky Jack / Kid Captain - A Contrast In Winter / Bombay Bicycle Club - Evening, Morning / Kid Harpoon - Riverside / Mystery Jets - Half In Love With Elizabeth / Portugal The Man - Lay Me Back Down / Eugene McGuinness - Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder / Yeti - Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder
DJ, Bear trainee, Videographer, Gallerist and key player in Honey Soundsystem Jacob Sperber, aka DJ PeePlay, is one busy bee. One of San Francisco’s most interesting and challenging queer DJs, we chatted with him about the rise, fall and resurgence of disco (which some are calling Cosmic Disco, whatever that means), his thoughts on the past and his plans for the future.
Richard Welch: Jacob, how would/do you describe yourself in an online hook-up ad?
Jacob Sperber: Honest 18yo 6′3″ bear, training into muscle bear. UB2.
RW: You’re a DJ based in San Francisco, what kind of discs do you most like to jockey?
JS: I have two favorite kinds of discs, 12 inches that make me freak out so much that I have serious doubts about my sanity and then 12 inches that that make the crowd freak similarly. I get down with African and Latin rhythms wherever they may be. I love a minimal shuffle and a 4/4 pound in general. I also love any weird post punk song that mixes perfectly into a dance music set, like Antibodies by Poni Hoax.
JS: Honey Soundsystem is a collective of DJs that is the bastard love child of both myself and my good friend and mentor Ken Woodard, aka DJ Ken Vulsion. Almost two years ago Ken and I decided to start collaborating on projects that were inspired by our mutual love of old school rave and disco history, our hunger to design, and our obsession over legendary gay icons. What started as a party idea became a collective group of some of our favorite local San Francisco DJs (and friends) bonding with our love of timeless music (both new and old). Over the past year we’ve been the only roaming gay party in the city, using different venues to showcase international and local musicians and performers, and our unique style of events. Two major milestones in the past year - one was our Mineshaft party, which was a special tribute to the San Francisco label Megatone Records, and our trip to London to play the future legendary party Horsemeat Disco.
Our Mineshaft party in the basement of 1015 Folsom, the previous home to an infamous 1970s bisexual bathhouse, came about when owner and producer for Megatone Records, John Hedges, decided to give away the basement archives of his now defunct label. Select local DJs got their stab at stacks and stacks of rare and often untouched music from the golden age of San Fran-disco. Honey Soundsystem took a large portion of the collection to preserve, archive, and reintroduce to our dancefloors. The Mineshaft disco was not only a tribute to the label and an evening filled with the wide-reaching sounds of the archive and a multimedia adventure of video and installation.
In August of the this summer Honey Soundsystem took a trip to visit our sisters in London, Horsemeat Disco. After meeting and throwing a party for the divas last October, an unstoppable transcontinental kinship was born. Ask anyone who knows anything about dance music culture these days and they will have something to say about Sundays at the Eagle Tavern in Vauxhall London. Its shady decks and beer-busting queens have been witness to some of the world’s most talented lineups, put together by the Horsemeat boys. It’s hard to explain how special this whole experience was to us without getting stary-eyed and a bit choked-up.
RW: Are you known as the queen bee?
JS: I’ve been known to sting… wait are you calling me fat?
RW: Often it is very hard to hear emerging/alternative/innovative music in gay bars and clubs. Why do you think this is?
JS: Wow, this question is loaded and I don’t think I have enough poppers and Red Bull to answer it in one fell swoop.
For one, there will always be a lot of crap and a lot of people making money off of people eating it up. So when you go into a gay bar and it’s a bunch of LCD screens playing Rhianna remixed by Deborah Cox you are seeing the byproduct of a clusterfuck of issues with American culture, gay culture and the business food-chain. Honestly, venue owners are ultimately the most responsible for what’s going on in their club so it starts with them. These owners are rarely young, especially in this economy, and with the AIDS crisis in 80s and 90s so many of our most innovative and daring “elders” were abruptly taken from us. Many of the promoters, club kids, and DJs who were lost would have nurtured upcoming talent and underground music for the new generation. It seems like a jump to blame the AIDS crisis for bad music in clubs but there is a reality to how much of a toll that holocaust made on our community’s current nightlife. The new generation of promoters, musicians, and DJs have a very exciting time ahead of them and a great responsibility to shape the void that was left for us. The state of the economy is going to force venues to resort to new tactics to stay open, which will, in turn, open some doors to young “trouble-makers” and innovators. As obsessed as I am with the glory days of gay disco and bathhouse DJ culture, I know that they called them clones for a reason. There has always been a ‘top 40′ and ‘anthem’ mentality to music and there always will be, its just a matter of variety and accessibility that’s an issue.
RW: What are you up to at the moment with Honey Soundsystem… plug away my dear!
JS: We’re currently working on a permanent home for our next season. We’ve been a roaming party and we’re ready to move in the furniture and get cozy in a new space. We’ll be announcing that move over the next coming weeks! In the meantime, we are DJing at Lovefest on October 4th, and doing a big Halloween party on the 31st. I’ll also be coming to New York for a couple of parties on October 9th to represent our honey bees! All the other good stuff can be found on our website.
RW: What’s the weirdest request you’ve ever had while spinning?
JS: The weirdest requests really just have to do with my DJ name, but to be honest, the weirdest requests have come from me! This past Burning Man at our Comfort and Joy party, I juggled a turntable, headphones, beatmatching, a dick, and a tongue. It didn’t go over very well with the crowd but I was having a great time!
RW: Other than DJing what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?
JS: This week in particular I’m working on a music video for my drag house “The House of Salad”, and a video flyer for a Homochic party. I also help run the Gray Area Gallery which is a multimedia/installation exhibition space that is currently securing its Foundation for the Arts status. In this town a creative person is never at a loss for something to do, help, or collaborate on.
RW: Tell us about the mix you’ve done, what was your inspiration?
JS: This mix has been in the works since I got back from my trip to Europe in August. I found so much inspiration for music and DJing there and it was very hard to communicate it through one session. There is a record with significance for each place I went and the mix really goes from white to red in just over an hour. When I sit down to make a mix, I always try to go for a ’sound’ like so many of the mixes I love that stay within a specific genre, but never feel trite or bland. Alas, it is in my blood, I will be a pogo dancer for life and I just can’t help but jump around.
RW: What do you smoke in that pipe?
JS: DMT
PeePlay’s Bottomscoul Mix
Shreikback - Hapax Legomena / Psychic TV - No Go Go / The Alan Parsons Project - Voyager / Eine Kleine Nacht Musik - Phantasie / Caribou - Niobe / Jean-Luc Ponty - No Strings Attached / Candidate - Anticipation / John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - The Duke Arrives / The Barricade - The President At The Train / Cosmo V. - Straight My Time / Five Letters - Got Got Money (as I moo) / Aphrohead - Mornin’ In Mexico / Disco Sister - Like It Is (Sisters Mix) / Organic Audio - Nurega (Chicken Lips Remix) / Llija Rudman - You Got / Gui.tar - Love Started To Shine / Marc Romboy Vs. Booka Shade - Everyday In My Life (Martin Landsky Remix) / Baby Ford - Beach Bump (Wildflower Mix) / Janet Jackson - Pleasure Principle (12″ Dub) / The Last Discosuperstars - True Experience / Dave Clarke - The Compass (Wink South Philly Pass) / Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory / The Doors - The Changeling
GRAB OUR FEED
RW: Tell us about 
