Slim Pickins is the brainchild of DJ Johnnie Walker, a local figure who bears no relation to the whiskey purveyor. This Sunday is his inaugural soirée and the set-up is simple: Johnnie selects two DJs and challenges them to develop a set composed of music found exclusively in Amoeba’s clearance bins. All of the selections are vinyl, and each person must develop a two-hour set that pleases a crowd. Afterwards, the audience decides the winner.

 

Officially sponsored by both Amoeba and Murio’s, the event is meant to task folks—who under normal circumstances go to painstaking efforts to find the perfect tracks—to make something out of nothing with whatever they find in Amoeba’s musical misfit bins. 

“It’s like asking them to play with one hand tied behind their backs," said Walker, "since most people who DJ spend a great deal of time curating their own music."

 

Walker's general philosophy is that there are great things to find in unexpected places. “There’s a lot of good music and with a little effort, you can find it at thrift stores and in clearance bins. Hopefully, it will engage people to be a little more adventurous,” Walker said.

 

Originally from Albuquerque, Walker moved to San Francisco in 2000. He’s a long-standing member of the SF house music scene, and has been a record collector his whole life, but has only been playing out at venues for the past six or so years. However, he knows an extensive network of DJs, and hopes to attract increasingly bigger headliners to the event as it continues monthly from this Sunday forward.

 

This month, two local artists, Cole Beggren and Joel Conway, will be going head to head in an attempt to win the crowd’s favor. There are no set parameters as far as music goes this time, but the future may see guidelines such as “hip hop only,” etc. Walker also plans on pitting members of different DJ crews against one another, and even inviting Amoeba Records employees to strut their stuff.

 

“I just want to have a lot of people show up and for people to have fun and stay engaged. I hope people stay for the duration of it,” Walker said. “I just want to support people having a curiosity and interest in music, and people sharing it.”

 

For the first go-round, the only prize is the fame and prestige of winning. However, future contests will be offer prizes, such as $100 Amoeba gift certificates.

 

The event is free and starts at 2pm. It’s expected to run until about 8pm, but could easily go longer. Johnnie Walker will also be spinning, and he told us there’s a good chance he’ll be giving away some of the records he plays to crowd members if they are feeling a particular tune.

 

So, if you aren’t busy on Sunday and feel like watching local folks polishing some musical diamonds in the rough, swing on by Murio’s and enjoy the show.