WERD. 10 Year Anniversary With The Gang

WERD. and Monarch present...
WERD. 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH THE GANG

Nick Williams
His roots stem began in Seattle, where he began DJing. With a fair helping of all things house, dub, minimal, funk, techno, breakbeat, and jazz, Nick always knew just the right combination of key ingredients to whip up gourmet delicacies. After moving to San Francisco, he seasoned his abilities and started producing parties, undergrounds, and podcasts with his WERD. project. On the flipside, his passion for food and wine has taken him throughout the world as a sommelier, fine dining server, and into restaurant management.

Beginning in early 2007, he co-created WERD., a collective of like-minded individuals that love dance music more than girls love chocolate with a side of Crème Brûlée. As the sounds of electronic dance music changed over the years, together the WERD. crew has built one of the most promising Sunday night parties in San Francisco at Monarch, now in their eighth year rocking out every week. You will be pleased to know that he has been concocting up his own flavors in the musical kitchen as well. One thing is for sure; once the technique has been perfected in the studio, watch out, he will be coming to a serve a main course near you. You will find that Nick's true calling is the creation of a total experience; substance, precision and presentation are part of the total package. Sit back, have an aperitif, and enjoy!

Brandon Wade
WERD. original resident DJ and co-founder. Originally from Seattle Washington transplanted to San Francisco in 2005 along with Nick Williams where they started their weekly focusing on underground house and techno.

JTL
Time spent living in the UK, Australia, San Francisco, Ibiza, and Berlin has created a style of a sharp, precise, but always deep sound. This is supported by thought out, purposeful track selection and an ability to read not only the crowd but the time, place and atmosphere, presenting the listener with a rich smooth sound that is always right for the moment.

Kevin Knapp
Equally adept in the studio, on the decks and behind the mic, Austin-bred, San Francisco-schooled producer, DJ and vocalist, Kevin Knapp, has emerged from the bustling Bay Area dance music scene to the international spotlight. Previously popping up on a diverse selection of serious dance floor slayers with artists such as Richy Ahmed and Audiojack, his 2015 Ibiza summer hit, “Heft”, on Hot Creations, became the catalyst for Kevin’s newfound global success as a solo producer. Since then, the world has seen him prosper on this path through celebrated productions and remixes on labels like Dirtybird, Poker Flat, Sanity, Lost, and Truesoul.

But jacking house music swing is just one element in Knapp’s musical mixture. Kevin discovered his vocal proclivity at a young age in various choral and classical school groups. By adolescents, he was bumping hip-hop along with the rest of his peers, an influence that still looms large in Knapp’s productions today. No wonder fellow hip-hop-influenced ravers like Claude VonStroke, Heidi, Jamie Jones and The Martinez Brothers are among the DJs caning his tracks on the global stage, along with Seth Troxler, Magda and Eats Everything.

Kevin made his first steps towards his musical mission in San Francisco, becoming a fixture behind the decks at infamous soirees like Satellite, Werd, As You Like It and Housepitality, eventually unveiling his early production efforts at the start of the decade, including his debut release, “Like This”, on Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom label. From there, it was only a matter of time before Knapp heard the clarion call of the global techno capital Berlin, relocating in early 2013 and quickly fielding calls from new neighbors like Pan-Pot, Tiefschwarz, and Sacha Robotti. His move west inspired a change of focus, delving deep into solo production work with releases on labels such as Hot Creations, Material, and his upcoming EP on VIVa Music. Since his move to Berlin, Kevin has firmly established himself as a heavyweight in the international club scene, becoming a fixture on the global circuit, gigging across the globe, from Detroit to New Dehli, London to Seoul, and appearing at industry-leading events like Paradise, Movement (DEMF), ADE and Off-Sonar Week.

Big in build, talent and heart, Kevin’s fierce love of music and ferocious appetite for life continues to drive his quest for aural rapture. With these sturdy roots to hold him high, it is certain he will succeed.

Kimmy Le Funk
Kimmy aka Kimmy Le Funk is San Francisco's Kimmy Needham. A music lover, fun, cool chic and vinyl junky. Kimmy learned how to DJ from San Francisco's finest House and Disco / Funk DJs. Within no time Kimmy caught the vinyl bug and began digging for records daily in her neighborhood , Haight St San Francisco. Sure enough the energetic funk-tress began picking up gigs throughout SF and within a relative short amount of time has become one of SF favorite vinyl selectors. Her style ranges from classic funk, disco, house music, psycadelic and cosmic.

Zoz
Evan McDonnell prefers the Zoz approach to DJing. His sound is unbeholden to genre or tempo, with attention to detail while embracing formlessness. Zoz is known as a resident and promoter of the long running WERD parties in San Francisco. With Renzo Gorrio, he creates discoid mutations hinting at a submerged funk under the moniker Soft and Crispy. On his own, Zoz crafts shipwrecked sounds found over the dunes after beaching your sailboat on a faraway island. Always bringing unique concepts to a set, Zoz delivers equal parts depth and elevation.

Jimmy B
Jimmy B has been acclaimed amongst the finest DJs in the everlasting underground scene of the Bay Area. As a Bay Area resident growing up in the 80s, Jimmy was fortunate to be influenced by a diverse array of culture, especially In the late 90s when he was introduced to various forms of underground music around the post west coast rave scene.

As years went by the massive rave culture diminished, politics and new regulations pushed things underground into warehouses, lofts and intimate outdoor gatherings. This is when Jimmy and his creative friends really became intrigued and manifested their own party crew under the name RXFX. They spent much of their time organizing events catering to vibe-driven underground house music.

Between throwing warehouse parties in Santa Cruz, he and his friends would travel up to San Francisco and frequent the Green Gorilla Lounge, Sunset Soundsystem, DHP and Slide undergrounds. They would also hit up The Velvet Shop on Thursdays in San Jose. It was during these formative years and events that led to Jimmy’s first gigs at small gatherings and later moving into nights at local Santa Cruz venues including The Blue Lagoon, Margaritaville, 418 Project and The Catalyst.

During college, while attending the Green Gorilla and Velvet Shop parties, Jimmy befriended DJ M3 and Anthony Mansfield and they shortly took the SF newbie under their wings, getting him involved as a resident with the legendary Green Gorilla Crew. The nights of quality house music and morning grooves continued mostly in the form of Green Gorilla loft and warehouse parties. Later DJ M3 acquired The Triple Crown where the Green Gorilla Crew DJ'd frequently for three years before its close and subsequently led to the opening of Monarch where the crew continues to share magical evenings of solid house music.

Jimmy continues to be a strong supporter of the SF Bay underground, his events and DJ sets continue to hit the ears of hungry underground house fans. He has co-founded System and his own event VOX. He tours several times a year spreading the good word of west coast underground house, all while continuing to contribute to Green Gorilla Lounge and their Burning Man travels with the Disco Knights. Jimmy’s recent WERD residency at Monarch showcases weekly vibe-laden guest alongside co-residents DJ Kimmy Le Funk, Zoz, Nick Williams, Rachel Torro and Woo. It's no secret that Jimmy has his finger on the pulse of SF underground dance music.

Woo
WERD. / Outpost / AYLI

Rachel Torro
Rachel Torro is a San Francisco essential in 2017. Her assertive blend of deep house to techno is one that is popular at festivals as well as at home here in the Bay. Its her out of town work that’s landed her a recent residency Zero NY and continued gigs as far away as Switzerland. She has a hand in the sound that this city hears from behind the decks and beyond — to her tastes a sound that is often minimal, deep, and pulsing with a melodic get-on-the-floor vibe.

Jesse Sizmo
1 half of Birds & Rhythm studio production, Radio host for Lips & Rhythm on Radio Valencia, Founder of Lips & Rhythm Records.