Today we’d like to introduce you to Gene Case
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started collecting records when I was seventeen. The first record I bought was an Unsteady 7″, led by John Roy, at the old Showcase Theater in downtown San Diego. My passion for music grew and I co-founded San Diego Rude Boys, a local Ska crew that I started with friends. At the same time, I started to take DJing more seriously, booking gigs around town. A few years later, I became a father and found myself loaning out my turntables to SDRB member, Erny Nunez, and San Diego City Soul Club was formed in 2013. My family became my main priority and I put DJing on the back burner.
As fate would have it, the pandemic hit in 2021 and the San Diego Rude Boys reunited. Each week we set-up our tables 6-feet apart and we played our records for hours. As things started to reopen, City Soul Club got a residency at The Casbah in downtown. At that time, Erny reached out to me and offered me a resident DJ position. The following year, Erny stepped down from leading City Soul Club, and I took over. February 2022 City Soul Club became City Soul Collective. I continued to DJ and build my network, gaining residency at Til Two Club in City Heights.
I really focused on building the collective and showcasing our members, as well as guest selectors and local musicians. We are fortunate to have Sal Samano from Thee Sacred Souls, LA musician Nick Pagan, Dan Ubick from Connie Price and the Keystones, and many others who contribute to our collective. In turn, we started DJing local shows including Thee Sacred Souls, Thee Sinseers, Bobby Oroza, Jason Joshua and many others.
As members of the collective started to come and go, I decided to revamp the structure of City Soul, creating a foundation of selected members who exhibit the skill sets required to be a core member. City Soul acquired Beau Selector and Chief Sweat as official members in 2022 and the collective started to thrive. Our reputation grew as vinyl DJs and with the opening of Part Time Lover in North Park, we quickly became regulars known for our extensive record collection.
We now hold multiple residencies throughout San Diego County. You can find us at Sound by the Sea in Oceanside every other month and Til Two Club every last Thursday of the month. We also added a house band, Head Hi, an up and coming reggae band based out of North County.
All of our members can be found performing throughout San Diego. Beau Selector plays at Blind Lady Ale house every first Friday of the month and Chief Sweat plays a lot of private parties and hip hop events. I do a lot of work with John Roy, leader of local band Smoke and Mirrors Soundsystem. I’ve produced mashups of his songs, where I layer 90’s hip hop, such as Beastie Boys and Fugees, over Smoke and Mirror Soundsystem original songs. John Roy and I play our live dub versions that always draws out the crowd. Many of our tracks can be heard on local radio station 91X.
As City Soul Collective experiences more expansion, playing multiple gigs every week, we always find time to come together and play as the collective, reminding us why we DJ in the first place – to share our love of vinyl with our fans.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Nothing goes without it’s challenges. Any time you have multiple people, you have multiple perspectives and opinions, and we’ve had members leave the collective. It’s always hard, but I always try to learn from our struggles and see new possibilities in change.
It helped us grow to where we are now with different DJs who all bring something unique to the table. Every struggle has eventually led to something great, it’s just staying true to what you believe in.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As I mentioned earlier, I started as a record collector first, later becoming a DJ around 2001 when I could get into bars. I had been playing friend’s parties, even playing a warehouse party with local band The Sleeping People.
I frequented The Rosary Room in the early 2000’s, owned by Rafa Reyes who also owned Pokez next door. I played for the next few years around town while going to culinary school and working full time. When my kids were born in 2009 I decided to step back and focus on my career as a chef.
My kids got older and I had more free time to practice DJing again. I decided to prioritize my craft, build relationships, and make a name within the San Diego music scene. Establishing the collective with like-minded DJs sets us apart, always bringing something unique to the turntable. We are mostly known for the work we do with musicians and talent in the soul community, from DJing shows with Thee Sacred Souls to hosting meet and greets at local record shops like FeeLit Records downtown.
I am most proud of where we are now – performing live with soul bands at venues such as Soda Bar and hosting nights that feature amazing talent from San Diego and abroad.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We love collaborating with other local DJs, some nights featuring up to 10 DJs from around San Diego. When you bring that many DJs you’re going to hear a wide variety of styles and genres.
We also work with local and national touring bands. We frequently DJ shows w Jason Joshua from Miami and Kendra Morris from NYC when they play in town.
People can always support us by coming to our events. We announce all of our events on our Instagram page for performances from all our DJs, purchasing our merch, and spreading the word.
Pricing:
- T shirts $25
- pins $3
- stickers $2
- slipmats $15
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @citysoulcollectivesd
- Facebook: City Soul Collective
- Soundcloud: King Geneyus
