Profiles of some of the best 60s / Mod DJs in North America - Part V

This is the 5th installement of Profiles of some of the best 60s / Mod DJs in North America. (Maybe I should start Parka Avenue trading cards...) This goes to show that we have quite the deep pool of commited and accomplished wax spinners here. From my experience, the majority of them are open, friendly and love to share their passion for music. I haven't encountered many that will hide the record label of their rare Soul find in order to keep the exclusivity of the track. Some of them are like that you know! This is not the case for the first-class DJs featured here.

- Your name / DJ name

Guillermo Alfaro Jr. / Go-Go-Guillermo

- City

San Diego, California

- How would you describe your musical style?

My musical style ranges from Garage, Northern Soul, Psyche, French/Spanish/Turkish/Thai, Ska and Reggae.

- What is your “go to” track? The one you will likely never get tired of spinning?

Sweet Sweet Sadie by The Teardrops is my go to track. (Thanks Tony The Tyger)

- Regardless of price, name THE record that is missing from your collection.

No single track in particular is missing from my selection, just new ones I have never heard of. I'm always looking to discover that "New" song that will get the crowd going into a frenzy.

- Where can we see you spin on a regular basis? Tell us about the night or an event you would like to promote.

Because of my busy work schedule, it's hard to have a regular gig, although I am not opposed to traveling to spin at a new place. I love to promote Las Vegas High Rollers and Tijuana Au-Go-Go in Mexico. Always fun spinning in Mexico.

- Is vinyl the only acceptable format for playing your style of music?

Vinyl is the only acceptable form of djing for me unless it's at a lonely bar with a bunch of drunkards and you need to hear something desperately, you break down and plug in your iPhone.

What is your favorite place to buy records?

Amoeba Records, estate sales as well as thrift stores are great for buying records. Swap meets are a hidden gem sometimes.

Photo by Tony Lofi

- Your name / DJ name

DJ Michel Alario

- City

Sherbrooke, Canada

- How would you describe your musical style?

I play 60s garage, Soul, R&B, instrumental Soul-Jazz and a lot of Frenchie-A-Go-Go from Quebec and France. Sometimes a bit of 70s PowerPop.

- What is your “go to” track? The one you will likely never get tired of spinning?

Since I'm a bilingual DJ I will give you two! On the anglo side I will always spin Don't knock it by Sinner Strong! Always love that song since I first heard it on the T-Bird party comp more than a
decade ago.

On the franco side, I will always play La génération d'aujourd'hui by Les Chanceliers and Je cherche by Les Lutins  Oops that's three!

- Regardless of price, name THE record that is missing from your collection.

The Alarm Clocks - Yeah/No reason to complain 45.

- Where can we see you spin on a regular basis? Tell us about the night or an event you would like to promote.

I don't have a regular night. I spin when and where I'm asked. So far I did Sherbrooke, Montreal, Quebec, New York. I will try to set a steady night in my home town of Sherbrooke, but it's pretty hard to find a bar or a space for that.

- Is vinyl the only acceptable format for playing your style of music?

Yes! Mostly 45s and some LPs if I still don't have the track on a 45.

What is your favorite place to buy records?

Sherbrooke didn't have a used record store for a while, but we have one now. It's called Musique Cité. No 45s in the store yet, but the owner gave me permission to pick in his 45s stock in his warehouse.   Usually I go to Montreal for my fix. Le Pick-up is my favorite spot! After that I really like Sonik and Le Beatnick. Besides that, it's records shows in Montreal and eBay.

- Your name / DJ

Celeste Gascoigne / Lady Celeste

- City

Long Beach, California

- How would you describe your musical style?

Up tempo Northern Soul with a splash of R&B.

- What is your “go to” track? The one you will likely never get tired of spinning?

Tina Britt - The Real Thing and Valerie & Nick - Don't You Feel Sorry.

- Regardless of price, name THE record that is missing from your collection.

The Counts - Peaches Baby

- What is the weirdest request you ever got?

While in the middle of playing I Can Tell by Bo Diddley I was asked by a guy if I could "play something more black". The requestor was a college age caucasian!

- Where can we see you spin on a regular basis? Tell us about the night or an event you would like to promote.

The last few months I've been djing for Marv Mack at Soul Side. He's the one that gave me the name Lady Celeste but occasionally I'm a guest at SpinOut and Sophisticated Boom Boom! In the past I've spun at Santa Ana DownTown Soul, High Rollers Weekend in Las Vegas and Tijuana A Go-Go in Mexico.

- Is vinyl the only acceptable format for playing your style of music?

YES! Original, vinyl 45s are the only thing I will dj now, but to be honest I did start out with CDs because my mentor, veteran rockabilly DJ Tom Ingram said once, "a dancer has no idea what format the music is on". Lately I've been collecting LPs for home listening on a vintage Marantz stereo.

- What is your favorite place to buy records?

I've looked for records all of the ways. Yard sale, record store, record swap, auction but these days I typically discover a song or an artist through research and then go looking for it. Lately I've been buying from veteran DJs. They hear my sound and then play for me cuts I may be interested in. One of the veterans has a table at a monthly record swap. He has the top shelf cuts in a box, under the table. I've discovered some new sounds that way! There's always eBay as well. The hunt isn't as thrilling as digging through crates but it can still be exciting when a 2 year old saved search finally produces a long, sought after 45! I've even discovered new sounds on eBay when a "suggested 45" pops up and the label or title catches my eye.