Poolside began as a recording project in a converted Los Angeles backyard pool house in early 2011, producing sunny tracks of subaquatic indie dance music in this makeshift recording studio. Surfacing first in the form of a YouTube video for the catchy track “Do You Believe?” Poolside were soon gaining local and national attention, with DJs like James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, techno legend Derrick May, and disco don Todd Terje spinning these tracks at events and a growing online following. Throughout 2011 Poolside continued making waves with a sound called “daytime disco” through tracks like their cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and original tunes. In 2012 Poolside worked on a remix for longtime disco punks The Rapture and held fans over with a new single and video for a song called “Slow Down” as they prepared to release their debut album. That album, Pacific Standard Time, was self-released in July of 2012.
After the album’s release, remixes for artists like Matthew Dear, Little Dragon and Fool’s Gold soon followed, as well as rehearsing and touring with a live band and doing DJ sets around the world. As thoughts turned to a second album, Poolside went on ice for a year to regroup, beginning to work in earnest on another album in the Fall of 2016. While still revolving around the sunny, laid-back disco sound of PST, these sessions yielded the additions of up-tempo dance songs and more guitars, and generally more fleshed-out arrangements. Poolside surprise released their second album Heat in 2017.
Poolside returned in July of 2019 with “Can’t Stop Your Lovin’ (feat. Panama),” their first new music in over two years. They spent the summer and fall touring with Kacey Musgraves and Tycho and released a second standalone single “Greatest City” in October.
Brijean
Since their debut as Brijean, the project of percussionist/singer-songwriter Brijean Murphy (the percussive
heartbeat for live bands like Mitski, Poolside, and Toro y Moi) and multi-instrumentalist/producer Doug
Stuart has moved with ingenuity, fusing psych-pop abstraction with dancefloor sensibilities. Through the
body and mind, rhythm and lyricism, they make sense of the worlds around and within; 2021’s Feelings
celebrated self-reflection; 2022’s Angelo processed loss, coinciding with the duo’s first headlining tour,
which doubled down on the material’s desire to move. Now, across the playful expanse of Macro, arriving
in 2024 on Ghostly International, Brijean engages different sides of themselves, the paradox of being
alive.
Murphy, an accomplished DJ, session and live player in Oakland’s diverse music scene has emerged as
one of indie’s most in-demand percussionists. In 2018, she began recording songs with multi-
instrumentalist and producer Stuart, who shares a background in jazz and pop in bands such as Bells
Atlas, Meernaa, and Luke Temple. Eventually dubbed Brijean, the project grew out of marathon sessions
at their intimate home-studio. Their first effort, Walkie Talkie (released by Native Cat Recordings in 2019),
found Murphy taking the mic for the first time to deliver dreamy dance tracks that felt home-cooked and
effortlessly chic. Her layered percussion and hypnotic, expressive vocals coupled with Stuart’s production
and harmonic palette evoked shades of disco, ‘90s house, and a sly pop sensibility. ”A smooth,
sumptuous, and soulful record,” said Bandcamp, who helped propel the group’s early following.
Murphy’s musical talents are family heirlooms: her father, percussionist and engineer Patrick Murphy,
taught Brijean her first patterns on a pair of congas that she inherited from the late Trinidadian steel drum
legend Vince Charles (of Neil Diamond). Growing up in LA’s Glassell Park, Murphy was raised by a cadre
of honorary aunts and uncles – a deep bench of jazz, Latin and soul musicians in their own rites. This
meant she grew up regaled by musical lore – larger-than-life tales of jazz luminaries, psychedelic trips
and obscure cultural enclaves – sampling some of those family stories and weaving them into her work.
Growing up outside of Chicago, Stuart found his way into jazz clubs and festivals as a teenager,
frequently going to hear Jeff Parker, Fred Anderson, and other members of the AACM. While attending
the University of Michigan, he studied under Detroit jazz royalty, Robert Hurst and Geri Allen. After
college, Stuart became intrigued by the music of J Dilla and Moodymann, and began learning production
and exploring the connections between jazz, house, and hip-hop.
WOH Club
To feed the most tasteful sounds of the underground into the ears of the overly saturated young adults of the dance music scene.
A summer seasonal weekly social club night on Sundays @ the rooftop patio of The Reef. We specialize in showcasing the most tasteful djs and producers regionally/nationally.
During the fall/winter/spring months we bring it inside and focus on curating dj/producer club nights by bringing in fresh talent that isn’t your top 40.
The atmosphere and the social aspect of our events are just as important as the talent we bring in.
Culture Curators (WOH) – Suite Love, NTE OWL, No.Prophit and Henry the WOH Horse!
