Two Lower Haight DJs Can't Stop Pushing The Feeling

Two Lower Haight DJs Can't Stop Pushing The FeelingPhoto: Kevin Meenan
Mike Gaworecki
Published on June 05, 2015

Tomorrow night, Lower Haight locals Kevin Meenan and Drew Marcogliese will bring to Underground SF (424 Haight St.) the lineup they’ve wanted since they started the Push The Feeling monthly night of electronic music and dancing more than three years ago.

“We made a wish list early on of acts we dreamed of coming through,” Meenan told Hoodline in an email. “Both Secret Circuit and Suzanne Kraft were on there, and we have literally been in contact with them since day one to try to make something happen. I honestly just have hounded them until I finally got them to agree to a date — sorry guys!”

Meenan explains that both acts are “super forward-thinking and original producers who really embody the genre-bending spirit that we aim for with our party.” They are also both personal favorites of both Meenan’s and Marcogliese’s, who say they regularly spun tracks like Secret Circuit’s "Nebula Sphynx" and Suzanne Kraft’s "Morning Come" during their DJ sets at Push The Feelings past.

The June 6th party (Meenan always calls it a party, not a show or a club night) is going to set you back $5 before 11pm and $10 after, which Meenan says makes it one of the most expensive parties yet. “We are bringing both acts up from L.A. so we had to charge a bit more but are still trying to keep things as cheap as possible — it is generally free - $6,” Meenan says.

Marcogliese and Meenan held the first Push The Feeling in January of 2012. Meenan had already been putting on “more traditional shows” for a few years under the epicsauce name — $5 parties with up-and-coming local acts like Ty Segall, Weekend, Baths, Religious Girls and Tussle and the occasional bigger-name headliner.

Originally, Meenan hired guest DJs to play in between acts, but decided to start doing it himself. At first he was just trying to make the nights more cost-effective for him to promote, but soon he was hooked. After a couple years of DJing, his taste started tending more towards house and disco.

“I found myself going out to see live electronic acts and DJs more often than I was bands,” Meenan says. “While digging the music, I definitely much preferred the vibe of small shows at bars over the traditional club setting — it can be fun now and again but is hard to want to be in that environment every weekend and even harder to convince my friends to throw down the big cover and join along.”

That’s when he came up with the mission that would drive Push The Feeling: “I wanted to book these amazing electronic acts that were seemingly bubbling up more but in a setting that I actually would want to hang out in on the regular.”

“Beyond thrilled to have a place in the neighborhood to put this on”

Around the same time, his best friend from high school, Drew Marcogliese, moved back to the Bay Area and took up residence with Meenan, who will celebrate a decade of living in the Lower Haight this September. Marcogliese has drummed for numerous bands, but he had been DJing as well, under the name YR SKULL. (Meenan formerly went by “epicsauce DJs” but recently started using his own name.) The two decided to team up and launch the night of music and dancing and general hangouts that Meenan had envisioned.

When they started hunting for a venue, they were looking for something similar to their favorite DIY spots like Balazo/Submission, The Lab and the now-defunct Li Po lounge as well as laid-back bars like Knockout, Amnesia and Hemlock. During one of the Lower Haight Art Walks in 2011, Marcogliese and Meenan ended up at the afterparty at Underground SF and realized they’d found their spot.

Marcogliese (left) and Meenan DJing at Treasure Island Music Festival. Photo by Sjimon Gompers.

“We just love the vibe there and are beyond thrilled to have a place in the neighborhood to put this on,” Meenan says. “We are both also Lower Haight residents and always wished we had a spot like these for the nights where we wanted to listen to some music but didn’t want to hop on a bus or hail a cab.”

Meenan says he first fell in love with Lower Haight on a trip to the long-gone Future Primitive store (597 Haight St.), and that love was confirmed when he hit drinking age and was introduced to Molotov's jukebox.

“Lower Haight is without a doubt the best neighborhood in the city, a point I often rant to friends about after a few IPAs,” Meenan says. “It is the perfect mix of things — tons of rad options so I can always get my friends to come hang here but not quite enough big destinations to have it completely overrun come Friday and Saturday. Just a super unassuming and unpretentious area in a city that often feels like it is going the opposite direction.”