When a DJ says he’s a part of a crew, that usually means he has some friends who are also DJs, and that’s all. Jocks group up as a way to set themselves apart from the headphone-wearing herd and as a way of feeling less alone in clubland, where goofs in skinny jeans claiming deck skills are as common as depressives in hoodies at a coffee shop howling that they’re the next Ginsberg. In short: A DJ crew is an empty promise.
The Trashy Trash DJs are the exception to the rule. This Ballard-based quartet—Same DNA, Introcut, Claude Balzac, and Mad Max—stages themed events that are equal parts morning zoo–style stunts and house parties. The Olympics, the high-school dance at the end of Back to the Future, and the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books are some of the unlikely thematic fodder for these merry pranksters. And lest you think they’re all style and no substance, consider: Most of the guys have about 10 years of DJ experience, with opening credits that include DJ Jazzy Jeff, Talib Kweli, and Amon Tobin.
The Trashy Trash DJs formed about two and a half years ago in Ballard after some friends got evicted from their homes. That sparked a DIY eureka moment: “Hey, we can throw parties in bars,” says Daniel Ames, aka Same DNA, noting that most of the crew had been working the circuit as soloists. “We started making money off it, and we all went from there.”
For the past five years, the gang has held down a weekly residency at Lo-Fi titled Stop Biting. More recently they started Snap, a collaboration with a Portland-based crew, which will bring the latter to Lo-Fi on Oct. 23 and send the Trashy Trash DJs to a Halloween gig at the Portland club Holocene.
But first there’s their REVERB set. Since the crew started in Ballard, they know what that dive-bar-banked neighborhood wants: a noisy cocktail of putatively incongruous tunes that make even the most reluctant drunks dance.
Translation: “Definitely lots of, like, garage rock, a little metal, and a little funk and soul,” says Ames of what he plans to spin. “We’re totally devoted to trashy dance music in all of its forms.”
