SFist Interviews: Amandeep Jawa, Flashdance Boss

How many people have been turning up? What's the crowd like?

The number of people turning up has been rising steadily. The first one had maybe 80 people show up over the course of the evening, with 50 people dancing at any one time. The second had 100 people show up with maybe 80 people dancing at any one time. And the third one had maybe 120 people show up over the course of the evening & 100 people dancing at any one time. The crowd is phenomenal and the best part - lost of random folks, mostly 25-35 but some younger and some older. There is always a great fun & warm vibe - not too many cooler-than-thou types or drunken idiots.

How much behind-the-scenes work goes into a flashdance?

There was a lot of behind the scenes work at first - though I already had some stuff done: I DJ friends' parties whenever I can so I already have a laptop full of well-organized dance music. Then, once I decided to make this thing happen, there was a fair bit of work: borrowing equipment from my friends, advertising to everyone I could, making a website & email list, getting over my fear of embarrassment. But now it is just deciding when and where, sending out email to my list, getting my gear together before the event, strapping it all to my bike, & finally getting it to the site.

Was there something that inspired you to start holding flashdances?

Yes - two things: I was in Paris last summer & all along this one area of the Seine there were these free, open-air, nightly salsa parties that had grown up organically I was told. They were fantastic & I thought - we could do this! Though since I'm not a big salsa monster, I knew I wanted one that was more funk, hip-hop, and pop. The second inspiration was one of my Halloween costumes: I was a full body disco-ball with built-in speakers last year (pix: http://www.deeptrouble.com/pixpages/halloween2005) and everywhere I went became a roving dance party - which was the most fun I've ever had at Halloween. That is what convinced me I could do it.

Have you ever gotten in trouble for holding a flashdance?

Not yet. The second one, at Church & Market (in front of the Safeway steps) got called in for noise (lame!) 30 minutes before I was planning on shutting down anyway, so I promised the cops we would be done soon & they were cool. They were more worried about the open containers of alcohol.

What do you envision in the future for flashdances? Do you want to make them bigger and grander, or is their current scale just right?

I'm pretty happy with the size of them now, in fact I might need to get some bigger speakers that are still bikeable as it is, but I'm not sure it can really get much bigger and still be as fun. On the other hand I don't want to make them exclusive, so we'll see how this plays out. We have 575 people on the email list now & it is still growing. As for future directions, I don't know - we've only had 3 - the fourth is Saturday.

And now, of course, boilerplate SFist questions:

Favorite place to spend time online (website/blog/RSS feeds):
BoingBoing, Engadget, Slashdot (did I mention I was a geek?)

Favorite local business:
Ritual Roasters (21st & Valencia)

What I'm currently Reading:
The "Three Californias" series by Kim Stanley Robinson
"Biomimicry" by Janine M. Benyus

Best Deal in San Francisco:
Me! :-)

Favorite mode of transportation/favorite MUNI line:
My bike!

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area:
Lyrics Born or Blackalicious

Favorite Bay Area Stereotype, and whether or not you buy into it:
Fixie-riding girls-jeans-wearing Castro-hat wearing hipsters - no I'm no hipster

Favorite local hangout:
My stoop/Dolores Park/Ritual Roasters

SF has the best...
Attitude

You've never lived in SF until you've...
Started bitching about a cold winter even though where you were raised got 10 times worse.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
One of my best friends, Tom Radulovich (BART Board of Directors) - though Al Gore just bought a condo in town....

Now that Mayor Gavin is single, who are you going to set him up with?
Someone who will get him off his ass & doing more than talking a good game

You can tell someone is a local here if...
You can't. They're sneaky like that.

SF would be soooo much better if only...
We built more housing, everybody rode a bike instead of drove & people dressed in brighter colors.

Best Burrito:
El Farolito (24th & Mission)

Best Restaurant:
Dosa (21st & Valencia)

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
"Dad making fun of Head" in Mike Myers' "So I Married an Axe Murderer"

Favorite Bridge:
It's all about the Golden Gate

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Grab a burrito & bike across the Golden Gate bridge & take the ferry back

I have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist:
much

Tell us a San Francisco Story.
One of my first experiences of SF was being in the Castro on one of those warm sunny days where all the gay boys are wearing waaay too little and flirting with everything that moves. I thought "Man these guys would be shot back in North Carolina, and they are celebrating here - how cool is that!" For a straight guy from NC, it was my first taste of the liberation and iconoclasm that makes SF the place for me. Besides I would have never gotten in touch with my love for all things sparkly without SF.

Any questions you'd ask if you were doing this interview?
Why are you so fascinated with sparkly pants?