Editorial++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2015.4.4:
Like turning on an old computer you forgot about, everything in there is just like you left it.. pictures left on the desktop, joke meant to send to a friend, -to do list left unfinished.
To everyone still here, DEFSF.com is clearing out the cobwebs, putting on a new layer of paint and looking to start the hard drives whirring once again. It’s taken a good many years to have technology catch up to what I wanted to do with the site (to make things easy to process) and maybe a good many years trying to get up to speed with how I could approach it, but I think the original idea for DEFSF and the passion for techno in this scene is still with me, which is what’s driving me to write this here today.
It’s the idea that if we could come together, trying to find new music and gaining mutual support would be that much easier.. even if it were done on a virtual scale in the form of a website.. One could argue,
“Well that’s what Beatport, social media and magazines are all about.”
True, but they don’t make it easy. Trying to find someone outside your regular circle of friends is near impossible on Facebook and keeping tabs on all of them has been trimmed infuriatingly by edgerank. Trying to find new music that doesn’t suck at beatport takes hours, and due to corporate takeover, most people are over that site by now. Getting reviews on musicians via one person’s word or a person who’s supposed to be all that in the eyes of a magazine, sometimes might leave you puzzled, saying,
“I guess this artist is forward thinking..[scratching head].”
That’s the direction I think DEFSF is going in. Basically it’s a site that sits outside magazines, Beatport, soundcloud, personal webpages, and the like, to function as a click through function on the web. Oh you’re interested to know who’s doing things and what’s happening in Oakland, Portland, or Vancouver? Just click a category, a few tags and listen to some tunes. If you find someone who’s doing what you like, follow their Soundcloud, be their Facebook friend, check their charts on Beatport or see their resident advisor page… -get their page more likes and make them feel pozzy about putting in the long hours to create music that they love. Basically that’s the sum and substance of DEFSF.com to date. To share in the passion for creating and loving some ill bangin’ tunes.
Over the last few years there’s been a dramatic shift in the scene.. from being a DJ centric culture to a studio centric culture. Seems everyone out here has holed up and poured out their tracks from ableton and amassed stockpiles of gear (apparently waiting to make some serious noise), and on top of that, more and more parties are happening in the scene .. Now fueled by that co-creative drive, DEFSF is here (for better or worse) to give an option to people looking for new music, to see what’s here on the West Coast and give people who live here and share the love of techno a level playing field, and more importantly, share good music, easily and freely.
DEFSF still has a lot of work to put in on the site. I hope you can be there as it continues to grow.
Disconnect
DEFSF
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2023.04.06 The DEFSF site seems a little quiet. There’s a recent WP update that has blasted the site with syntax errors and running through them is difficult to track down. There’s some edits tot he links page and to people who have moved away. Slight improvements here and there on site.
Covid is on it’s tail end. There might be some future where DEFSF does a series of one offs, or a club monthly. But in past promises, or desires sometimes are left unfulfilled. Instead, we’ll just say, We’ll see.
The scene is picking up in total. There’s a lot of techno events, especially in LA. Techno has surpassed house in many areas of the world and that is very true in the West Coast. Not like we didn’t say we told you so, though DEFSF the effort to continue being a rallying call for scene unity and bringing up techno in general seems to have happened. Whether that’s with or without our help, but the locals only ethic has become stronger over time.
2022.09.15 Some things you can’t hide some things you wish to be true but we evolve and we grow. The pandemic really put an end to wishing to start a label or throw events. As such, the DEFSF field has remained fallow. The desire to do events that could literally kill people was never something we’ve been about. DEFSF is about Peace, Love, and techno music. And that’s a core effort of the crew.
Speaking of which, some crew members have left to pursue other passions. Ripley has become a nomad in search of the perfect waterall to dive off of, Sean Ocean is hermitting on releasing music more consistently and Kieran has left the Bay area as his base of Ops. We’re sad to see the crew change. But time marches on and we’ve approaching a new milestone by doing our second only event in Vancouver this weekend as a collab with Vantech with Kieran Leading the charge and our faithful visualist crew Pixel Pusher in tow. Maybe in time we’ll see more underground events take shape over the west coast inder the DEFSF flag. However it seems other people have taken up the cause and DEFSF is in full support. Direct To Earth has started their label Peer, which has an emphasis on local talent on the west coast, for the time being, and Dirty Epic in LA has set its sights on doing more double header weekends in SF and LA. So maybe we’re seeing the spark of the west coast slowly coming to life? Who knows..?
2020.04.12 The year is 2020 and amid the COVID-19 outbreak where people are wondering what is going to happen next? In regards to DEFSF it’s a matter of postponing our most recent event Aurora.. and regrouping for what could be next. While some people are sitting around pushing through Netflix, a lot of producers and DJs are holing up and grinding on their craft. No different is DEFSF in this where we’ve been planning a few new updates to the site.
We’re looking to launch a pure West Coast techno label under the DEFSF monikker.. the likes of which have yet to be seen. Other labels have made regional attempts, but some have been too successful and their artists poached by touring and other labels, while others have not found the groundswell in the amount of music to keep the motor running for very long. There’s been the major problem in the scene for a very long time, not enough music to actually make a worldwide impact.. but with so many people who have moved here and started making music in the last few years. West Coast techno has actually taken off. Those who have not felt confident enough in their music to release already are well on their way to soon releasing quality world, changing music. We’re glad to be able to be apart of that and if you’re making dope af techno out here on the West Coast, you’ll have a home with our label.
Since it’s Resurrection Sunday a lot of links in the Nav have been hidden to make room for our Label and Shop pages as Easter eggs in the form of hyperlinks. If you see a link, try clicking on it you might find something cool.
Our Soundcloud page and IG is lurking hard and looking for techno. Follow us or see who we’re following to get a sense of who’s doing what out here. We’re always looking for new music and techno people to follow.
2019.02.23 Our new online shop is now in beta testing so that we may sell cult-like icons and sacred relics [read: t-shirts/swag] and look forward to selling digital downloads directly to our fanbase in the near future.
2019.02.09 Resonance, our first event in 2019 is a test of DEFSF’s methodologies and proves that our momentum is strong and our ideas sound. The event went off better than hoped and it looks as if our plans for the year will hold true. Goals for the coming year remain.. A label release, more outdoor events as with our newest collab with Thought Society, End Means Beginning.. and we’re on track for a summer PNW Tour.
2019.01.15 Instagram integration is up and running. please follow us there if you’re a west coast techno artist or interested in the West Coast techno happenings.. as an added tidbit of info, we’ll only be following West Coast Techno people there, so if you also want to know what people are doing what in the West, check our following list and hook up with the people making it happen out there.
2018.12.01 Gamma Waves marks a significant return to business as usual for DEFSF. And adds a new modus operandi for adding content profiles for the site. We’ve definitely upped our game as our core members Ripley, Kieran and Sean have fully hit their stride with this event. This event has a mark of bittersweet success to it as it not only marks our return to the underground in earnest, but it also marks night of the Ghostship fire.. 2 years prior. It was with this event.. we’ve taken what we’ve learned and head forth with no holds barred and wound up vindicated with fresh spirit and new ideas.
2018.06.02 Since the death of our co-founder the same night as our event in December of 2016, we’ve been asleep. We’ve made busy but it’s not exactly been easy to pick up the pieces at the pace we’d have liked. Projects going forward: West Coast Touring, Record Label, a Video VJ Podcast series, as well as renegade events and more 1-offs. Currently swapping out all audio content to our SoundCloud account. Our former audio content provider got greedy and we decided to kill that noise. As such, the site may look a bit more dodgy with external links but it’s still us muscling our way forward by any means necessary. Stick with us, big changes are still to come.
2016.10.30 New content profile for Subversive up and running.. others underway. New event forthcoming Featuring Kafka and Subversive continuing our mission to unite the West Coast under one soundsystem. DEFSF partner Society Sound to enlist a massive upgrade to their system as Sabina Lu aka VJ Pixelpusher joins the DEFSF team as the visual component.
2015.5.17 Content profiles creeping onward. In recent news, Roman Zawodny due to move to Portland. Midwest Promoter Tanya Leigh Norman has made the jump from Minneapolis to LA. DEFSF’s first multicity party is coming on strong in June thanks to a collab with 7th Sun Vancouver.
2015.12.14 Recent party Integrated 12.12.15 has been a resounding smash success. DEFSF will be on a minor hiatus from throwing events in the near future but will be continue to update the site as usual with more profiles from the many talented people here on the West Coast. In addition, DEFSF is pleased to announce that our original designer Node One will be returning to add his particular flavor back into our visual aesthetic.
2015.7.18 More SEO functionality added to the site. Site Submitted to DMOZ and awaiting confirmation.
2015.7.14 More SEO ranking mysticism flung towards Google’s bots.
2015.7.13 More profiles added and interview content in the last few months. New G+ page added.. if you’re into that kind of thing.
2015.5.26 Full mobile and tablet support enabled.
2015.5.25 Player added and updated to all profiles.
2015.5.22 New player rolled out on select profiles at present. Audio content conversion, including updated id3 tags and album art to be implemented in coming weeks. New profile added for E.B.E.
2015.5.17 FAQ page updated. Contact page updated and form initiated. Audio player still in testing.
2015.5.14 New audio player testing. CDN added. New links added and updated. Labels page in progress.
2015.4.25 New artist content continues to grow. Links page revamped, updated and working.
2015.4.6 New artist content added to front page.
2015.4.5 Social media updated.
2015.4.3 New site design implemented.
2015.3.26 Media server now initiated. Ready for streaming Audio.
2011.5.5 Milkplant gets interviewed. Catch the article here:: Milkplant
2011. 2.25 New design added to site. Clean, MNML and text-based.
2010.12.10 META::: party goes off as a major success. Adam Beyer is right. Techno does “sound best in a warehouse”
2010.8.3: New directions of change. Smaller one-off parties (http://www.defsf.com/events/kaos-8-7-10/) and podcasts are in the works as well as interviews with your local scene heads.
2010.4.2: Twitter page is live: http://twitter.com/defsf in addition as http://www.myspace.com/defsf keeps chugging along.
2010.3.24: Forth coming event: ||5.14.10 | DEF presents Integrated | feat. Joey Beltram|| I think if you like techno, you should at least stop by. Or better yet, buy a presale and we’ll see you there!