THE SOUND OF SAN FRANCISCO

OPEN-MINDED AND EVER-EVOLVING

For a compact city with fewer than one million residents, San Francisco has an outsized influence on global dance music. From the peak days of disco at clubs like Trocadero Transfer, Dreamland and City Disco, the city’s proud LGBTQ heritage has fostered a unique nightlife culture. Today, with San Francisco booming as a tech hub, its dancefloors remain diverse, inclusive and open to new sounds.

San Franciscans have a long-running love affair with house music, exploding in the ‘90s with the distinctive Bay Area sound of DJ/producers Mark Farina, Jay-J and Miguel Migs. Over the decades, the city’s creative spirit has given rise to renowned labels like Om, Dirtybird and Honey Soundsystem Records.

San Francisco’s musical identity is now more varied than ever, with techno, bass music and house thriving at venues like F8, The Stud, The Midway and Monarch. A new class of electronic talent has also bubbled up from the tight-knit city, including Matrixxman, Avalon Emerson and Solar. In this edition of Monitor, we explore the sights and sounds keeping San Francisco’s legendary vibe alive.