may 19.2000 -
Twistin’ and twirlin’ at Crystal’s Queer Country Jam
N
ine years ago, the sound of country music
made Crystal Encinas’ face curdle up like
rancid milk.
Boys— the bubble gum-type stuff,” she says.
One of DJ Lauren’s trademarks is to bring
her golden retriever, Josie, to her jobs. When
she worked as the DJ for the Millennium
Magic dance last New Year’s Eve, Josie’s “life of
the party” status manifested in hanging out and
drooling by the food table.
Aside from Josie’s loving company, DJ Lau
ren enjoys her work because of its sheer func
tion. “I just love music— I love all kinds,” she
says.
“1 wasn’t into country— I hated it, in
fact," she says. “I just couldn’t stand the twang
of it.”
Encinas says she was more of an R&.B soul,
with a flair for dance music. But when one of
her friends took her to a line-dancing event at
C .C . Slaughter’s, the twang began to tickle her
toes.
“1 picked it up really quickly; 1 started to
like the music because I could dance to it,” she
recalls.
After the fateful night at Slaughter’s, End-
nas dug line dancing so much that she became
an instructor every Tuesday night at the East
Side Tavern, which is now the Egyptian Club.
The event became so popular after a while that
she had to divide the class in two.
When the tavern changed hands, Encinas
was asked to he a DJ and teach line dancing at
the lesbian club Choices. It was at this point
that she decided to purchase her own DJ equip
ment— and multiply her C D collection 20
times.
These days, for queers, there is scarcely a
name more synonymous with country music in
Portland. Encinas, professionally known as DJ
Crystal, now regularly spins discs and teaches
line dancing for the Rosetown Ramblers, C .C .
Slaughter’s and her own club night, Crystal’s
Queer Country Jam.
She says the line dancing makes the music
worth it: “If you just sit and listen to country
all day, you’d just think, ‘whatever.’ But if
you’re dancing to it, it’s a whole different
story.”
Encinas, who is 37, says a good mixture of
people show up for her Queer Country Jam,
and the age range is from 25 to 60. She has
also been working on bringing more women to
her gig at C .C . Slaughter’s, which has tradi
tionally catered more to men.
Though Encinas’ DJ jobs are paid, she
regrets still having to find a day job to pay the
hills. She says: “I would prefer not sitting
behind a desk.”
She’d much rather sit behind a C D player.
DJs doin' it for themselves
Three free-lance disc jockeys make waves
and shake booties across Portland
by
K a t y D a v id s o n
I’ve been doing this for six years,” she says.
DJ Lauren, who moved from Los Angeles to
Portland 10 years ago, loves eclectic music—
some of which she can’t even play at dances
because of its inaccessibility. In the City of
Angels, she got into KROQ, a cutting-edge
radio station that was among the first in the
world to play alternative rock. Accordingly, DJ
Lauren finds Portland’s radio scene a bit drab.
“I’m a radio snob,” she says. “I don’t listen
to Portland radio because it’s so boring.”
DJ Lauren says she likes contemporary
artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Limp Biz-
kit, but one of her all-time favorite musicians is
Frank Zappa.
L
ike Encinas, DJ Lauren (who prefers not to
use her last name) became a disc jockey by
way of chance. She used to sing with the
Portland Lesbian Choir, and after concerts the
group would throw a house party— and she
would gravitate toward the C D player.
Now she works as a DJ for fund-raising
events, private parties and many of the Lesbian
Community Project dances, including a recent
one held at the Echo Theatre.
“I consider myself an amateur even though
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“Sometimes I play what I want, and I
always clear the dance floor,” she says. “But I
always take requests, I want people to dance.”
Her collection of 3,000 CDs spans three
decades of music— “I have an affinity for disco,
but I get off on ’80s music,” she says. “I also lis
ten to gay-hoy music like the Pet Shop Boys,
but lesbians don’t really get into that.”
Though most of her jobs are queer-related,
she keeps her collection diverse because of the
random events she’s asked to do— spinning
CDs at the Parkrose Middle School dances, for
example.
“It’s cool to see all the kids dancing. I play
them ’N Sync, Destiny’s Child, the Backstreet
A
t the ripe young age of 25, Remel Young
sure holds a torch for older music. She
grew up in Portland, teaching herself to
play her father’s drum set and listening to
albums with her family.
“I’ve always played records,” she says. “My
mom would be cleaning up or something and
she’d tell me to go put on some music.”
Little did she know that she’d grow up and
spin some of those same records for legions of
clubbers.
When Young worked as a security guard at
the now-defunct club Secrets, her best friend
was the DJ. She was offered the opportunity to
step into the spot when her friend left.
Young, now known as DJ Mello, currently
works for the PlayHers Club, a roving dance
night that was conjured up by Nita Reed and is
sponsored by the Lesbian Community Project.
The event is usually held in downtown
Portland at the Jasmine Tree (restaurant by
day, dance club by night), and is designed for
lesbians of color, but anyone is welcome to
attend.
“There’s always a good mixture of women,
men, straight, gay, white, black,” she says. “You
can just dance and relax. We try to keep it as
unhostile as possible.”
For the PlayHers Club, Young spins R&.B,
hip-hop and old school, her favorite music.
“Older music just sounds better,” she says. “I
listen to a lot of old school like the Gap Band,
Cheryl Lynn and Alexander O ’Neal— a lot of
the stuff from way back when.”
Young, who lives with her girlfriend and her
cats, sees music as an alternative to alcohol or
drug abuse: “Music can help people,” she says.
“If you’re upset, just throw on Parliament and
let it take you away. You gotta have some kind
of escape.”
DJ CRYSTAL spins her country favorites every
Wednesday nigjht from 8 p.m . to midnight at C .C .
■
Slaughter's, 219 N.W. Davis St.; at the PP AA,
618 S .E . Alder S t. , on third Saturdays ; and at
periodic Rosetown Ramblers dances.
DJ MELLO will shake some booties at the next
PlayHers Club dance on June 20 at the Jasmine
Tree, 401 S.W. Harrison St.
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