As the ever-growing wave of UK garage continues to sweep the US, the collective Garage Access in the Bay Area is helping expand its audience palette. The emerging collective is already getting pristine attention from the San Francisco area. From getting to host Rusko, Nikki Nair, Hamdi, and Coco Bryce to takeovers at Portola, Garage Access is easily rising into the crowd’s radar.
Electric Hawk got granted access to discuss the amazing rise of Garage Access, from members Nick Neumann (Neumonic), Daniel Swann (Dan Frandisco), and Scott Widmer (Nightware) to give us more insight on the incredible Bay Area scene. Learn more about the party you will not want to miss if you’re ever in San Francisco!
seradopa: What made the few of you want to create Garage Access and expand UK garage knowledge within the Bay Area? What was the origin story behind all of this even starting?
Scott Widmer: It all started with a group of us playing tunes at a small campout at the end of the night. It was so fun that we wanted to spin it off to a day party at Dolores Park. The response was stellar, we had groups of strangers coming up and dancing, and that’s when we knew the sound had legs and decided to make it into a club night.
Daniel Swann: Kicking off the event series, we had a connection at Monarch SF – one of our favorite smaller venues with intimate vibes, great drinks and staff, and a bangin’ sound system. After a few Thursday nights with just resident selectors, we got enough traction to graduate to weekends. Eventually, we were able to book our first out-of-town act such as Hans Glader on the LA label Night Bass.
seradopa: Does Garage Access have a mission statement on what y’all are trying to accomplish for the audience?
Scott Widmer: Not really a mission statement but a collective vision. To push UK sounds and broken beats in general. The scene in San Francisco has been dominated for years by house & techno and we wanted to take a risk to try something different!
seradopa: Curious to ask, what your thoughts have been in the past year recently on the hype that comes with UK Garage?
Scott Widmer: The rise of UKG recently has been a bit mad to watch. It started bubbling up during Covid with artists like Interplanetary Criminal and Main Phase pushing it before it really took off. It’s cool to see lots of big acts playing UKG tunes – recently saw Bonobo drop Sammy Virji at a festival in Mexico. And we think all ships rise with the tide, so this helps everyone in the scene.
seradopa: Any future predictions on where you think the genre is heading?
Scott Widmer: Hard to tell now, but I think just more growth. I bet we see some really commercial crossovers and pop features. I would love to see another Craig David album, but I wouldn’t count out something wild like a Drake garage track in the future!
[Laughs]
Nick Neumann: On the underground side, I feel like UKG is getting a lot heavier and spicier with this new wave. Crazy sound design and a blend of heavier bass music have made their way in, not just for American producers, but also for the UK producers making garage. With this wave, I’ve seen a lot of American house producers making UKG with tech-house influences, while the bass producers are making UKG that pushes the boundaries of the genre and blends it with modern bass music.
seradopa: I’ve noticed the incredible growth Garage Access has achieved recently – takeovers for festivals, after parties and even gearing up for the Rusko 360 set. How has the feeling been working alongside extremely talented artists, those crowds, and everything in between?
Nick Neumann: Garage Access started at what seems to be the perfect timing of this wave of UKG in America. At first, we just wanted to showcase something different and educate, but now the wave is truly here and it has been amazing to have bigger venues and promoters bring in UKG talent and call us up to throw shows together. It started at Monarch, and with this recent explosion artists that fit our sound can now headline larger spots in San Francisco bringing in much more opportunities.
Scott Widmer: It’s been really fun! Every artist we’ve had through has been really friendly, and all the international acts are always so stoked about the energy and enthusiasm on the dancefloor. The vibe can vary a ton by show, but at every show, people are constantly telling us they love what we’re doing so we’re stoked to have such a locked-in crowd.
seradopa: What have been some incredible memories that have occurred through those few years in operation?
Daniel Swann: One of our wildest shows to date was the last-minute opportunity to play the Chris Lake afterparty at the 1k+ capacity main stage of the Midway. It was every DJ’s dream – a chance to show our UKG sound to the tech-house audience, with all of our homies on a massive stage with us. Since then we’ve continued to partner with the Midway, 1015 Folsom, Public Works, and many other premier venues throughout the city.
Nick Neumann: Another stand-out moment was Hamdi‘s debut tour in America. We booked Hamdi for Monarch basement for his second-ever US show, right before his massive explosion, and by the time he made it here, his sound was everywhere. This was the highest energy show we have ever seen in that basement! It was packed to the brim and was an insane night. It felt great to collaborate with Wormhole and The Untz Festival for this one, who are absolute legends in the Bay Area bass scene.
seradopa: Are there any particular artists you wish to debut or work together with in Bay Area?
Scott Widmer: We have a whole A&R wishlist, and we’ve actually run through a bunch of them. Right now, the big ones would probably be Main Phase and Soul Mass Transit System. Beyond them, some of the newer acts that aren’t touring the US yet, like Prozak, Silva Bumpa, Mattik, Badger, Cesco, and Oppidan. If we could get anyone, it would have to be Kurupt FM [laughs].
seradopa: How has the community that you have built been with Garage Access? Do you see familiar faces at your events or praise that arises?
Scott Widmer: It’s been a great ride, and we’ve made loads of friends along the way. From partnerships with other promoters and clubs to dancefloor regulars and complete strangers who come chat with us, the response has always been stellar. We’ve had people travel from other states to our shows since their local promoters wouldn’t book the same acts. We regularly hear that Garage Access is somebody’s favorite party, and that alone makes the whole journey so special.
seradopa: Lastly, any goals or sneak peeks you can let us know about what to expect for the future of Garage Access?
Daniel Swann: We have dreams of getting into other forms of content creation such as an industry/scene blog, potential radio show, and maybe even a Garage Access record label. With the promising, current trend in the US, there are plenty of opportunities to make ourselves stand out even more.
On the gig front – keep an eye out for more US debuts of rising UK stars and partnerships with bigger festivals and promoters around the Bay!
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