Fresh off tour, Oakland-based DJ discnogirl will be DJ'ing at Marika Christine's album release show on Thursday, June 4, co-presented by Total Accord and BFF.fm as part of Total Accord Fest! I recently sat down with discnogirl over Zoom to talk about his new EP, dream venues, and current music faves. Check out some highlights below!

ON HIS NEW EP:

J: Can you talk about your new EP a little bit?

D: Sure, it's it's out via program audio, which is a local SF label. It's called It'll Pass, and it has four tracks and a remix by Tom Marsi. It's my first EP, like my first release solo-wise for music. I've done collabs before, but this is my first solo project.

How did that process go for you?

It was honestly pretty quick. I think I started producing solo in October of last year, and I got all of the tracks together for the EP in maybe like a month or two, so it was really fast. It went really well. I used a lot of, like, sampling in it, which I think is helpful.

ON INFLUENCES AND FAVORITE ARTISTS:

How does being from Atlanta or DJ'ing in Oakland influence your music?

I feel like I definitely draw inspiration from both places. Like, all of my friends make music in the Bay, and I feel like we all kind of just pick up on each other's stuff, so I'm very influenced by my community and feel very uplifted by them as well. Some of my sampling for this EP specifically draws on some music in Atlanta there. Before I left, I sampled this one song by this duo called Danger Incorporated, and they're Atlanta-based. [There's] definitely a direct inspiration from them for sure.

Speaking on that, I want to know who some of your favorite artists are!

As far as like producers, right now, definitely Bastiengoat, Tom Marsi, WTCHCRFT, Ritchrd, Bored Lord, Honey B, and NextDimensional. I would say those are like my top favorite producers right now, and they're all my friends too. I feel like that plays a part in it.

ON DREAM VENUES:

Do you have a dream venue you'd love to play?

I'm actually playing at it next week in New York. I'm playing at Nowadays for Body Hack, and that is probably like, I think, my favorite venue in the world that I've ever been to. So I'm really stoked to be able to play there.

What's special about it?

It's kind of hard to describe. I mean, it has like all of the things that you would look for in a venue. It has great sound, great atmosphere. They stress really heavily that the dance floor's for dancing and not for, like, phones or talking or anything. But I also just kind of like the ambience and the vibe there. They have plants everywhere, and they have a really good light system. I don't drink, and they have lots of non-alcoholic options at the bar. They have a huge patio and outside area to hang out...so I think it just checks all of the boxes for me. I think that it's a lot of DJs' favorite venue, so I feel like a lot of people feel like that.

ON HIS CAREER AND WHAT'S NEXT:

Do you have an idea of where you want your music career to go?

I'm just kind of figuring it out as I go. I'm just doing what feels right in the moment. Like a shorter term goal, I'll kind of work towards that, but as far as long-term goals with music, I don't really have anything super specific.

I think that's good. I feel like that doesn't create so much stress, too.

Yeah, that's also what I try to avoid because it's already pretty stressful. Being in nightlife can get really stressful, especially when you don't drink and a lot of people in the environments are drinking or doing drugs and stuff, which I like fully support, but it's just definitely a different headspace to be in compared to what everyone else is in, and I feel like I have like a lot of responsibility to keep the party going, if that makes sense.

What do you love about DJ'ing?

I love getting to play my favorite music, and having other people get to hear it and love it as much as I do. I think that's the best part: sharing music.

ON LOCAL MUSIC TO CHECK OUT:

I wanted to come back to any other, like, local DJs that you'd want people to be checking out if they read this.

As far as local DJs go, I'm in a collective called Strapt, so I would definitely recommend anyone in the collective. That includes Buck Wilson, DJ Caro, 40 Split, Quetzal, and DJ Ari B -- those are my first top five. And then also like anyone like affiliated with NO BIAS, like Tom Marsi, Ritchrd, Bored Lord -- those are the producers that I mentioned as well -- bastiengoat. program audio also has really good curation of both local and, like, out of town talent, and that's run by Erika and SF Cowboy, and they put on a lot of local DJs in the scene. So I think if anyone's ever looking to find like local DJs to follow, looking at program audio's support lineups is a good way to go.

How can the BFF.fm community find your music and support you?

I'm discnogirl on everything: Instagram, SoundCloud, RA.

How'd you come up with your stage name?

Honestly, it was about six years ago. I have no idea. The more that I think about it, it seems kind of like a reference to Everything but the Girl, which I really love, but honestly I couldn't tell you what made me decide on it in the first place. It just feels like me.

Come see discnogirl at the show on June 4, starting at 9pm at El Rio! Details below: