"I put SF in my name for a reason." Interview with sfcowboy & b0nitababy of Program
Conversation with new beloved promoters about their life-long love for the Bay, how they developed and expanded Program, and… thoughts about throwing a party in a skyscraper
Like most music scenes here, the club scene is seeing a huge resurgence, and one of the newest partymakers on the block is Program. We sat down with Program’s founders—Arthur aka sfcowboy and Erika aka b0nitababy—two DJs and producers born and raised in the Bay Area, to hear about how they’ve created a late night event series that focuses on deeper connections to people and music.
Read on for the full interview.
What did you grow up listening to?
Erika: I definitely grew up listening to mainstream pop music, but my parents’ taste also definitely influenced me. They're both born and raised in Oakland and my dad plays Latin jazz. Growing up, I was listening to a lot of Santana and Sheila E. My mom loved Prince and Madonna and she also went clubbing when she was younger, but her 80s and 90s club music is what I grew up listening to.
Arthur: I played saxophone for eight years. That was the only instrument I played. I would compete in national competitions, so it got pretty serious. I still have a saxophone, but I'd say towards the end of high school was a real musical exploration phase for me. I had some influences from my parents. They're both young, so I heard a lot of radio hits, Gwen Stefani and things like that, but a lot of it was just me digging through the years and at some point in college liking Neil Young and liking some early house music.
How did you get into producing, DJing, and throwing parties?
Arthur: I moved here, found a listing on Craigslist, and had a couple roommates, including Wyatt from Vitamin1000. He had done one or two events before COVID and towards the end of COVID we were doing renegades. And during that time I met Erika who was teaching herself how to DJ as well. And through those renegades there was momentum, and with the previous experience we had with social media marketing we tied it together with video editing from our warehouse shows. And it grew really quickly and we made that really become something great that we had a lot of fun with.
At a certain point, I feel like our taste started to develop in a different direction musically, and we wanted something that was a little bit more us. So just over a year ago, I expressed wanting to start something and it was a big leap starting from nothing again, but we did it and we found a name and I created the logo and then the two of us worked through the year making it this whole thing.
What makes a Program event unique?
Erika: We do like to make every venue our own. So we bring a lot of our own gear, and we do live visuals of the DJ that we have projected on a wall at every show where we’re able to do that. We like to take our own photos. We have a certain way that we edit and present ourselves. So it is just taking advantage of having the space and doing whatever we can with it and going above and beyond. Not just showing up and DJing.
Arthur: Almost treating it like every show is a warehouse show where you're left with a blank canvas and you bring everything you possibly can. For that first year it was just us two carrying things up and down four flights of stairs from my room and we'd be dripping in sweat going to Arcana for our residency. But I wasn't going to settle for anything less than what we normally do. And if anything we wanted to do more. And audiences have expressed gratitude for the extra mile we go for our events.
What’s next for Program?
Arthur: Right now it's at such a good spot. We proved a lot after this first year. We've finally really been accepted in the city and we're getting opportunities to show what we can do at these venues. We did so much just the two of us. It was so stressful. We learned a lot of new things. We had to figure out things. It was make or break and “no” wasn't really ever an option. We were just going to have to do it.
Our actual first two shows were in this room in my house. And it was on Resident Advisor. And by the second one I was like, okay, this is a little too crazy. I have roommates, I have personal belongings in here, but we just needed to do something. We needed to actually follow through with the plans that we were making. So we did that within a couple weeks of making Program. There was a point where Baalti was playing my favorite song and it was a remix that they hadn't played yet. And I was just losing my mind that this is something that I could potentially do.
The biggest growth right now is the fact that we now have new members on our team: Lethargy, Mothbot (now Moth), and Evy. They're all so talented and they help us out with a new thing that we're doing, which is merch. I have the heat press, we do it all in my room. We had to learn screen printing and we did that in about a week. I watched every video. We went through every Reddit thread. We're just planning so much for this next year and we finally have great help and new DJs on our roster. So we're super excited for the next couple of months.
Erika: These members are not just DJs for us, they also have their own roles within Program and goals, things they want to contribute to. We don't just want to be a party series. It's a lot more than that. We just put out our first issue of a zine as well. There are only 30 copies available at each of our shows.
How does Program fit into the larger Bay Area music scene / club music scene?
Erika: Pretty much all of us are born and raised in the Bay Area. There are old Bay Area music influences that you definitely hear in our DJ sets. And Arthur loves old SF club culture and is really inspired by all of those old flyers. He designs all of our flyers. So you can definitely see all of that in just everything we put out. Even the videos that we put out, we don't really use super high quality HD videos. We really like the look and feel of the camcorder and things like that.
Arthur: Before we started with Vitamin1000, we had respect and we admired all these groups. Groups like No Bias, we love everything that they do. We're very close with them and we respect them so much. You don’t need to move to New York to find a great party. If you give us some time, you'll see a huge change by even the next year. I put SF in my name for a reason. I didn't take that lightly. Even when I sat down and designed the logo, I was very intentional with what I wanted. It's a flower. I chose a flower because of the Summer of Love. I wanted to tie it into everything. I wanted you to feel like this is something that is a part of here and will be a part of here and leave an impact in this place.
Erika: I moved here right towards the end of COVID and all of my first club shows were No Bias shows. I literally remember watching a Bastiengoat and Bored Lord B2B within my first couple months of living here in the Public Works loft. And that being one of the moments where I'm like, I want to learn how to DJ.
Arthur: Yeah, there's almost always a Bored Lord song in every other one of my sets, or RITCHRD, they're just so great. It’s just respect - and we can be critical, but it's only because we care so much and we know there's so much room for growth. I think what happened in the 90s and then what drastically changed from the tech boom, we're still dealing with. So it's just really beginning. For the longest time, the only thing you would hear about SF was criticism. But we can change that easily. A lot of the things we do are all one big awareness campaign, not just for Program, but about the city itself as a location to party and to visit.
What would you like to see change or improve in the Bay Area music scene?
Arthur: One thing I love about the Bay Area so much is that we always run into people that work in this industry. You can feel that we're all trying to do something in this space that has so much room for us to grow and so much support from the people in this city. Because there’s not enough. There's not enough venues, there's not enough shows, there could always be way more.
Erika: Even with trying to throw warehouse shows, it's so difficult to find a space, but then to also find a space where people can actually get to it. Usually you have to drive an hour to get to a warehouse space. It's not always the safest for everyone. It's also not always the most accessible for everyone. So it’s nice to see Amor Digital opening a space in the Mission. It’s nice that Fault Radio also had that space for pop-ups. There definitely needs to be more here in the city and also more that allow newer groups to throw things because it helps bring a fresh sound.
Arthur: We don't give up. We find a way and we still throw events. But yeah, we could use 30 more. If anything, I want a skyscraper venue. It doesn't have to just be New York. We have it here. Salesforce wants to throw a little money at a park, they could throw it at a little club. There's so many empty buildings. We look at a place and we always say, that's a perfect party spot, that looks like it could have a good rave. This is empty. It's all over the city.
In another way, you could also say that due to lack of venues, it pushes us and other groups to make use of the spaces and see how we can make them different and change them up. Say we do the next three shows at Underground SF: We want to make it look different every time, but feel like a Program event. You have to make it interesting.
Are there any local artists you're excited about?
Erika: I've been extremely excited about Bored Lord doing live sets. I know she's only done, I think, one here in the Bay Area, and she did a couple in Europe. I definitely think that's going to influence more DJs. I already know a lot of DJs toy around with making music and live sets in their rooms, but I'm excited for it to be something that they feel more comfortable doing in clubs. It’s more experimental when you are doing a live set, so I'm excited to see how we adapt to that.
PROGRAM @ PUBLIC WORKS
To experience a Program party for yourself, head over to Public Works this Friday night for the As You Like It 14-Year Anniversary Party featuring Palestinian techno DJ and music producer Sama' Abdulhadi. Program will be holding down the Loft with performers Crystalmess, b0nitababy, Espurr, and Infection.
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[experimental] Demonsleeper, Only Now, Mind Mirage — Oct 10 at the Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room
[experimental] Olivia Block, Danny Paul Grody Duo — Oct 10 at the Lab
[experimental] Kamra, Flung, Beast Nest — Oct 10 at El Rio
[club] Sam Binga, Bastiengoat, Farsight — Oct 10 at 1015 Folsom
[alternative] Cardboard People, Jane The Message, DJ Nobe — Oct 11 at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell
[hip hop] Ovrkast (EP release), DAGHE, Drew Banga, GULU, DJ Mousetwat, MYMY — Oct 11 at 3319 Lakeshore Ave in Oakland
[indie] The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Cindy — Oct 11 at the 4 Star Theater
[punk] Baus (record release), Healers, Juicebumps — Oct 11 at Thee Stork Club
[club] AS YOU LIKE IT 14-Year Anniversary ft. Sama' Abdulhadi, Crystallmess, Program SF — Oct 11 at Public Works
[club] NO BIAS ft. Dj Nico b2b Discnogirl, Soeneido, Agropol, KKINGBOO — Oct 11 at Underground SF
[club] FREQSHOW ft. Golem, Soulox, Sánlo, Wee Willy, iPad Baby — Oct 11 at Bissap Baobab
[club] Justin Martin, DJ M3, Anthony Mansfield, Soulfunky & Fusion of Groovewell — Oct 12 at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell
[punk] Fentanyl (LP release), Mexican Coke, Techie Blood, Asbestos, False Flag — Oct 12 at Neck of the Woods
[electronic] Rival Consoles Live A/V, Christopher Willits, isorhythmics — Oct 12 at Gray Area
[experimental] Postcommodity, Mirrored Fatality — Oct 12 at the Lab
[jazz] Diego Gaeta plays Monk — Oct 12 at SFJAZZ
[club] FLUX AETERNA ft. Oscat, Discnogirl, Tastemaker, 40split, Moonpie — Oct 12 at Mothership
[experimental] Simple Actions: The Music of Larry Polansky — Oct 16 at the Lab
SUPPORT BAY AREA MUSIC! Get access to our full Bay Area concert calendar, featuring specially curated recommendations for upcoming shows in SF and Oakland.
