Sad Mag’s Family: The DJ’s

Pick up your jaws, ladies and gentlemen: these dap­per fel­lows sound just as good as they look behind their turnta­bles, not that they are mind­ful of appear­ances. Lazer­bomb! and DJ Jeff Lep­pard just want you to party like no one is watching.

Hail­ing from small towns around B.C., all three men found Van­cou­ver was not quite what they were antic­i­pat­ing. “When youfirst move out here it’s a shock because you’re expect­ing a lot more; then you get over that and you find out about the secret stuff—[the stuff] that you have to know peo­ple in order to find out about,” explains Dan Parker, who com­prises Lazer­bomb! along with Eric Cairns. “I went to the Mor­ris­sey because it was the only decent place to have a drink,” adds Cairns.

The Mor­ris­sey is just one of many down­town venues Cairns, Parker, and Jeff Lawrence list when dis­cussing the nightlife they first expe­ri­enced after arriv­ing in Van­cou­ver. Lawrence, known at the table as Jeff Lep­pard, talks about his happy dis­cov­ery of DJ Dickie Doo’s Sun­day nights at Shine—an oasis of hip hop that, unlike other queer nights, doesn’t limit their music to tra­di­tional disco glam.

This dis­re­gard for expec­ta­tions is the com­mon ground between Lep­pard and Lazer­bomb!, and its the qual­ity that sets them apart from the rest. “I love play­ing two songs that you would never think would go together: some gang­ster rap fol­lowed by Roy Orbi­son,” Parker says. Lazerbomb!’s Sun­day nights at the Narrow are host to many guest DJs who rel­ish the oppor­tu­nity to let loose and dust off beloved dor­mant tunes. “The nights that seem to flour­ish the most are those where the DJs play every­thing.” Cairns con­tin­ues, “We play shit that we think is awe­some… but also a vari­ety. There’s no point in lim­it­ing your­self to one genre.”

Lazerbomb!’s and Jeff Leppard’s organic sets reflect their transition from party-goers to party–mak­ers. Both Cairns and Parker have been inter­ested in DJing for some time. Cairns often filled the DJ role for friends’ par­ties and fundrais­ers, while Parker’s inter­est piqued when resid­ing in Brighton—England’s DJ cap­i­tal. After Brighton, Parker found Van­couver to be a dif­fi­cult scene to break into.

“You gotta be friends with peo­ple who throw par­ties, or throw par­ties your­self,” says Parker. The DJ scene requires an abun­dance of energy, a night owl nature, and the abil­ity to party all the time. “You have to show sup­port for every­one else so that they’ll show sup­port for you,” con­firms Cairns. The imper­a­tive for self-promotion is the one lack­lus­ter require­ment felt by all three. “I didn’t really pro­mote myself much. You feel dirty,” says Lawrence. “We do it shame­lessly now,” laughs Cairns.

Lawrence also expe­ri­enced some tough times when start­ing out. “A friend and I thought, ‘Let’s do a fundraiser and we’ll learn to DJ,’ and a lot of peo­ple showed up. It was at the Gecko Club, which was the shit­ti­est club that only lasted about six months… We thought it’d be cool but then the inte­rior was cov­ered with lizards.”

Lazer­bomb! first fused together when throw­ing a few back at the Nar­row one March. Cairns and Parker, who had been friends for three years, struck up a con­ver­sa­tion with some Irish folk and threw around the idea of DJing a St. Patty’s night. “We made some promises that night in an ine­bri­ated fash­ion and then fig­ured we should actu­ally fol­low through,” says Cairns. They made good on their promise and have been a reg­u­lar fix­ture at Nar­row since.

Lazer­bomb! was also the DJ for Sad Mag’s July 1^st fundraiser, dur­ing which they com­pleted an eight–hour DJ marathon. “We got shut down to Conga by Glo­ria Este­fan,” says Cairns. “The neigh­bour even came out on her porch [and com­mented], ‘You guys were great! Where else do you throw par­ties?’” adds Parker.

Lawrence now DJs every Fri­day at Junc­tion and although this upcom­ing Thurs­day is his sec­ond Sad Mag stint, he is a famil­iar fea­ture at the Anza Club. Lawrence delves into his love for the Anza Club and the way it forces atten­dees to com­mit to the party. “Peo­ple come to the Anza to party their faces off.” Cairns nods in agree­ment say­ing, “It reminds me of a teen dance. You’re there because you’re just hav­ing a good time and you don’t care who’s look­ing. You’re not at a night­club, so it doesn’t mat­ter since you’re not there for that vibe to begin with.”

This is one secret every­one should be in on. Come check out what Lazer­bomb! and DJ Jeff Lep­pard are bring­ing to Vancouver’s East­side at the Anza this Thurs­day at Sad Mag’s hol­i­day party! Details here.

Lazer­bomb! DJs Sun­day nights at the Narrow

DJ Jeff Lep­pard can be found every Fri­day night at Junction

–Rebecca Slaven for Sad Mag