Interview
DJ Having Sex, known by name as Dani Loose, is a Seattle-based DJ, event organizer, and talent buyer. Over the years, Dani has been responsible for favorite parties at venues such as Kremwerk, and more recently Afterlife.
Dani's sets are characterized by high-energy selections with as much attitude as bass, and this hour-and-twenty-three minute excerpt from their closing all night set at the aforementioned Afterlife is no exception.
It's a pleasure to share more about Dani, their take on the hot and fast time at Afterlife, and their work as a talent buyer.
Can you tell us about your recent experience with Afterlife?
Yesssss so I joined afterlife in fall 2024 to help the club manage its bookings, I’ve worked previously as an agent and a talent buyer and saw immediately that this place was bristling with potential and could fill a very huge void in the club scene in Seattle and for the greater underground touring circuit.
My vision with the programming was to move away from parties and focus more on individual DJs and the club itself: in my mind a good club is consistent, the act of “going to the club” should be the draw not “what party is going on”. We got great feedback from local and touring DJs about the space and being given the opportunity to play longer form sets, the energy our dancefloor cultivated was feeling super symbiotic and every month things just got busier.
In May Devin and I got word that there was a potential buyer for the property (afterlife was renting) but our intel was that it wasn’t likely to happen unless they got a co-signer. Two weeks later we got word that the people who bought the building found a co-signer and that we had to vacate by June. I was super crushed by the news of our abrupt closure, but the outpouring of support we got was incredibly touching and showed me that people did not take the club for granted in the short time it was around.
The reasons for which Afterlife closed seem all too familiar to Seattle’s nightlife community. Can you share your perspective on this pattern?
Seattle is straight up losing venues at such an alarming rate and it’s mostly because of rising rents and costs of operation. Look at Cafe Racer: their rent was something around 15k a month(!!!), after labor and operational costs I have no clue how on earth they were supposed to stay open as a smaller venue that was mostly hosting local acts. Nightlife spaces have to own their property to have a fighting chance: we need permanent infrastructure. Renting is never dependable in a city where we have awful tenant laws and widening economic disparity. Multibillion dollar ticketing conglomerates like LiveNation are moving into our city to build 1k cap nightlife venues that are going to fucking steamroll smaller independent clubs. We are not going to survive unless we get serious about cultural longevity for the underground.
If you love a certain venue or club please go to it because they’re facing a seriously scary cultural crisis.
Having been so involved in facilitating nightlife in Seattle over the last several years, I’m curious what keeps things fresh for you?
Parties that have a humorous bend to them are really what excite me lately. Zero Chill is easily the most talked about party in America because of how little it takes itself seriously despite operating at such a high level of production. Oh my god and the door policy of “if you’re a (gay) man looking to come to this party you have to bring a woman if you expect to get in” is genius. There’s a degree of self importance that does create a disciplined DJ scene but I think people have to find more external ways to keep people entertained beyond just DJs playing lazy pop edits. Let’s take it down a notch guys it’s a fucking party.
What got you into booking in the first place? Amongst the parties you’ve had a hand in organizing, are there any that stand out as favorites?
I got into booking purely from shooting my shot: Nick Carroll announced that he was stepping down from his role as the Booker for Kremwerk in 2021 so I sent in my resume and made a strong case as the successor to the vision that he had for the club. I owe Nick entirely for getting my foot in the door and for that I’ll be eternally grateful to him.
I’d say at afterlife the shows we did with 2Lanes and Beige were my personal highlights, they both just played so fucking well. I’d also say when I got Ayesha at Kremwerk very few people knew who she was she absolutely tore the roof off and had people going crazy. Had sooo many proud bookings there but that one just stands out as one of my favorite nights working, wish I could have bottled the energy in that room.
What do you feel you offer to the scene through booking?
I’ve been referred to as a “tastemaker” booker meaning that I’m not playing the game of $5k+ fees and instead I focus on artists typically on their first/second North American tours in smaller spaces. I get the most satisfaction from exposing a curious and excited crowd to acts they’ve never heard of because they trust my taste and enthusiasm. Playing the big-dog ticket numbers game is rewarding and fun don’t get me wrong, but putting people onto music I care about is why I love doing smaller events and why I love DJing.
Every famous DJ has to start somewhere small before getting to play bigger clubs and festivals, there is a degree of trust that those artists have to have that they’re being put in front of the right audience who actually get their music. Today there are a lot fewer steps to becoming “a successful DJ” but quantifiably those who have worked hard in this emerging circuit have more career longevity than those who are immediately catapulted to fame via internet virality.
Is there anything that you’re particularly looking forward to right now, musically or otherwise?
Truthfully, I’m not looking forward to much of what’s happening in the immediate American DJ scene right now, shits getting pretty watered down and I hope that this emboldens the underground to defy the ways social media’s kind of wrecked the culture. Despite that though the growing boycott of Boiler Room and other KKR events gives me some faith that nightlife isn’t headed in a totally forgone and complicit direction.
Musically I have been really fucking with the MARICXS collective in Berlin who just put out another great compilation on bandcamp, they’ve got an excellent mix series that I seriously cannot get enough of and I heard their party is a fun sexy lil time.
If this mix could transport the listener some place or places, where would you have it take them?
This mix is a taste of what I played during my 7 hour set on Memorial Day at afterlife (which the recording sadly came out sounding like total dogshit… sorry yall) I’ve been really on a 2000s progressive house kick, it’s undeniably fun music that has some really punchy sound design.
So imagine you’re five cynar negronis in with your chicas on a Friday night dancing on a bass cabinet in a very small dark club full of very sweaty friends. No intellectualism here! Just pure fun ass shaking for those who are seeking an uncomplicated good time.
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