It’s been a beautiful day on the hill. You lean your skis against the rack and head into the Village at Squaw Valley for a latte or a beer. At Coffeebar, the electronic beats of a DJ’s sound system draw you inside. There is the unmistakable desire to shake your booty. You’ve arrived at the newest hip event in Olympic Valley.
“It’s a time of moving from coffee and work and people getting off the mountain to shifting the energy into a club-like scene with lighting and higher tempo sounds.”
– Isaac Freed
The Après Ski Music Series at Coffeebar is hosted by Drop Theory’s Isaac Freed, aka Funksalot, co-owner and musical director of Music in Tahoe, a company that provides DJ, live music and sound engineering services. Freed has curated a lineup of well-known local and regional DJs – Disco Terrorist, micah j, ZEBUEL and Rusty B – to kick off the ski season. DJs play their unique style and electronic remixes – funk, rock, house, hip-hop and break beat These dance parties are free and fun.
Saturdays | 3-7 p.m. | Coffeebar Squaw Valley
Jan. 27 | DJ Crispylicious
Feb. 3 | DJ Dubfyah
Feb. 10 | DJ ∆UX
Feb. 17 | DJ Mancub and Disco Terrorist
“During the first hour, we [musically] warm the room. It’s a time of moving from coffee and work and people getting off the mountain to shifting the energy into a club-like scene with lighting and higher tempo sounds. Some people come dressed up and look like they are going to a Rambo Productions party,” says Freed.
LISTEN: to the sounds of Disco Terrorist & Crispylicious
According to Freed, he caters his DJ sets to the artists he’s playing with: “The DJs play back-to-back, which keeps the artists guessing, keeps it fresh, new and different. It’s like playing a game of catch with the music. The music changes every week.”
Tahoma’s DJ Rusty B, half of the infamous All Good Funk Alliance, turns up the break beats, funk and disco.
“Break beats offer syncopated, bouncy up-tempos that originated in the U.K. It’s a huge genre in electronic music,” Freed says. “Dubfyah mixes dance hall and reggae sounds that are really fun. He brings a Jamaican vibe and remixes island sounds with samples of popular music.”
Truckee’s Disco Terrorist, Andrew Browning, plays a dance mix of funk, bass, breaks, house and hip-hop. “I love playing things that make you want to dance, with lots of horns, brass and funky guitar riffs. It’s a mix that’s busy with lots of sounds and vocal samples, lots of change in tempo and genres,” he says. “When I DJ, it’s to make other people dance and because I love dancing. I play what makes me lose it on the dance floor.”
On Jan. 27, DJ Crispylicious, Christie Callaghan, will be featured. She offers up remixes with a diverse set list. “She plays the dopiest remixes of feel-good music, like Joe Cocker mixed with Michael Jackson and heavy bass,” according to Freed.
Callaghan found her way as a DJ when she moved to Tahoe and connected with the DJ scene. She met Little Miss Mixer, Samantha Rawlings, who took Callaghan under her wing and became her mentor. Callaghan eventually found her niche; she describes her sound as ghetto funk.
“I play funk, hip-hop, disco and pop and feel-good remixes with recognizable songs that have upbeat tempos and are very energetic,” says Callaghan.
The upcoming lineup includes DJ Dubfyah on Feb. 3, Kings Beach’s DJ ∆UX on Feb 10 and DJ Mancub from Space Cowboys and Disco Terrorist on Feb. 17. The Après Ski Music Series invites everyone to drop in and get down every Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. until April. | squawalpine.com/events
