Listening Booth: DJ Dodger Stadium

Photograph by Max Martin.
Photograph by Max Martin.

Samo Sound Boy and Jerome LOL (né Sam Griesemer and Jerome Potter) are two friends from Los Angeles who perform under the name DJ Dodger Stadium. Though, in their late twenties, they’re far too young to have experienced house music when it first started, in Chicago in the eighties, they’ve experimented with and mined the genre with unusual passion and creativity. Samo and Jerome have their own label, Body High, which specializes in contemporary dance music, and they just finished their first album as DJ Dodger Stadium, “Friend of Mine.” They’re are in town this week to celebrate its release, with a show at Cameo Gallery, in Brooklyn, on July 25th.

“Friend of Mine” is ten tracks of beats that arc upward and swoon back down, synthesizers and effects, and soulful vocal samples stripped down to a single phrase. The album delivers all the release and freedom that can be expected from house, but it has a particular edge. The music was inspired, in part, by aspects of life in Los Angeles—its earthquake risk, its lonely automobile culture—as well as by a classic work of fiction set in L.A., “Ask the Dust,” John Fante’s 1939 novel about a writer, Arturo Bandini, struggling in the city during the Great Depression.

“I woke up at dawn a few months ago to my entire eleventh-story apartment building in Koreatown swaying in an earthquake,” Samo Sound Boy told me.

“After about five seconds, it stopped, but I decided to get out of the building anyway. I went down to the street and a young mom was sitting on the steps holding her baby son and whispering things to him. She seemed sort of freaked out, but the baby wasn’t making a sound. Then I noticed that he was wearing a tiny T-shirt that said ‘I Love My Haters.’ I sat next to them as the sun came up over downtown, and I thought about her buying him that T-shirt and putting it on him that morning.”

“A lot of what went into this album comes from what we experienced walking to and from our studio,” Samo said. “Getting out of the car in L.A. is really unusual, but when you do it opens up a whole other level of detail in the city. There was an evening, last summer, when I was walking home and saw an older woman walk into the lake in MacArthur Park, fully clothed, and then swim out into the middle of it. I’ve never seen anyone go close to the water there, but it was during a heat wave, and it seemed like she had just sort of snapped. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks. The song ‘Sit Down Satan’ definitely has her in it.”

When listening to the album, the connection to “Ask the Dust” seems elusive, but, like a smog-free day in Los Angeles, it exists. “To me, that book is largely about the cyclical nature of struggle,” Samo said. “The idea that problems and demons never fully resolve themselves, and that you can go through so much only to find yourself back down again. While that sounds really devastating, there’s a beauty in the idea that if you can embrace it without losing your mind you will keep going and be human.” “Ask the Dust” was on Samo and Jerome’s minds while they were putting together the tracks on “Friend of Mine.” “The themes of and the setting of ‘Ask the Dust’ are very similar to themes that we were discussing while making the album,” Jerome said. “Bandini would definitely exist within the universe we created.”

The two recently compiled a list of songs to mark their visit to New York City:

Samo Sound Boy:

Rod Lee, “Dance My Pain Away.” A modern-day classic and a beautifully straightforward explanation of why people need clubs and dance music.

Francis and the Lights, “Knees to the Floor.” A heartbreaking pop song about moving on after failing to commit.

Levon Vincent, “Rainstorm II.” Melodic and raw New York City techno. Vincent is a master of creating thick atmosphere with the most minimal elements.

Sun Kil Moon, “Jim Wise.” The saddest song to ever reference Panera Bread.

Prince, “Another Lonely Christmas.” The line in this song where Prince sings, “Every Christmas night for seven years now I drink banana daiquiris until I’m blind” is so arresting and unusual. I first heard it while driving, and I had to pull over because I couldn’t focus on anything else.

Omar S, “The Shit Baby.” I wish this song would never end. The way the piano dances with the baseline is so gorgeous.

Jerome LOL:

William Bell, “I Forgot To Be Your Lover.” A beautiful apology song that tells a story not often told.

CocoRosie, “Werewolf.” You can hear deep pain in this song. It has magical powers.

Labi Siffre, “My Song.” I discovered this song by way of Kanye West’s “I Wonder.” It is a very honest piece of music that is self-reflexive in the perfect way.

The-Dream, “Love Vs Money Part 2.” A very powerful breakup anthem that enlivens me every time I hear it.

Future, “Blood, Sweat, Tears.” Future’s emotion in this song is raw and evocative.

The American Analog Set, “Punk as Fuck.” I would like to start every day with this song. Everything about it is comforting.