As the fledgling new year begins to find its legs, it’s important to remember that we get out of our community what we put into it. One of the qualities so many of us fell in love with about Santa Cruz is its diverse community where artists, creatives, fun weirdos and anyone in between can come together to share ideas, cultures, stories and a laugh or two.
It’s this love for connection and good times that spins at the heart of DJs Efrain Garcia (aka Dr. Funk) and Valeria Jara (aka Jet Jaguar). After all, they even named their KZSC program—where they play funk, disco, electro, dance and cumbia music, and which celebrates its four year anniversary on Jan. 11—the Mothership Connection.
“I love George Clinton, Parliament and the space motif,” Garcia says. “Plus the literal word ‘connection’ is in the name so it really brought together our different passions.”
The duo also deejay under the Mothership Connection moniker throughout the Central Coast with two monthly nights at the Blue Lagoon, spinning funk every first Friday for Funk the First (which celebrates its one-year anniversary later this year) and cumbia every third Friday for Firme Friday (which just celebrated its one-year anniversary in December).
The two originally met in the most unlikely—and also modern—of places: Tinder.
“It’s a tale as old as time,” Jara laughs.
They became friends online first in 2019 and started hanging out right before 2020. They were both interested in one another but neither knew how to approach the subject.
“At that point I had been at the station [KZSC] for about three years and I had a program that played oldies from the 1930s to the 1960s,” Jara remembers.
However, she had grown bored of it and in the fall of 2020 she started a show focusing on vogue and ballroom style music from the queer underground.
“I wanted an excuse to hangout with Ef regularly,” she says. “So I told him about the show and invited him on.”
Shortly after they started the Mothership Connection, blending their love for funk and dance music with the representation of marginalized communities. Over the years the show would grow to a beautifully eclectic blend of funk, disco, dance, lo-fi beat and cumbia.
“Curation is really important to us,” Garcia says. “We’re not just playing tracks. We’re creating a vibe and ambiance to add another layer.”
It’s this attention to detail—understanding the art of DJing to not only beat match but also vibe match—along with their pristine taste in music that makes Mothership Connection stand out in the local club scene (and the drag clown makeup doesn’t hurt, either). It’s also what makes them such great live DJs, with the ability to read a room so the party never stops.
For Firme Friday, the duo digs deep into the rich history of cumbia—a 19th-century style that originated in Colombia and blends Latin American and African traditions—along with current hits in the genre. The two noticed it was a style they loved that was severely lacking in local dancehalls.
“There’s too many brown people in Santa Cruz to not have a cumbia night,” Jara says about Firme Friday. “It’s pretty intergenerational with college folks to older heads.”
“Firme is a love letter to being brown,” Garcia agrees. “Cumbia holds a very close, familial place in my heart.”
Then there’s Funk the First, which the two host with a special set of refined tunes all played on original vinyl, a technique they’ve slowly integrated on their radio show as well.
The idea for a funk night came about as a collaborative team-up with Ruca Records, the womxn deejay collective out of Salinas. Each Funk the First features a rotating cast of local DJs from Ruca Records, along with Mothership Connection and guests Encounters of the Funky Kind (Monterey), Ugle Eye (Watsonville) and more.
It’s all part of a larger scene they all have been slowly curating and growing on the Central Coast.
“It’s lame to have to go to San Francisco for something cool,” Garcia says. “We want Santa Cruz to be a part of the conversation between San Jose and Seaside.”
In that same spirit, Mothership Connection doesn’t just play and support their own nights, but can be found throughout the community on any given month. Along with private events like weddings and corporate gigs, the duo has also deejayed everything from the Cedar Street Faire and the Santa Cruz Rollerderby to burlesque and drag shows like The Cherry Pit.
The last of these provides inspiration for Garcia and Jara to keep creating new environments for the community. Jara quotes the Cherry Pit hosts: “You want more shows? You can do this too!”
Garcia agrees.
“Be the change you want to see in the community.”
“Funk the First” takes place Friday, Jan. 10 at the Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. “Mothership Connection” airs Saturdays at 2pm on 88.1FM KZSC.
