Three dBs Plymouth students head to San Francisco for a special show

Second year student Si Littlewood tells us all about his music industry history in San Francisco and why he’s taking two classmates out this December for a special Christmas show. 

At dBs Institute, we live for the success stories of our students - it’s why we do what we do. We design our Music Production Courses so that they’re integrated with the real world and can help our students find incredible roles in the music industry.

Over the years, our BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production degree has seen many students blossom into successful music professionals, such as Harvey Jones (Pizza Hotline) and Marnie Rose Davidge (MRo). 

To round out a year of amazing achievements by our students, we were delighted to learn that two of our second year Plymouth students will be performing live in San Francisco on December 27th. What we hadn’t expected was that the booking came from another dBs student, Si Littlewood. 

Naturally, we had to find out more about how this all came together, but to do that, we have to tell the fascinating story of how Si built his career on the West Coast of America.

From the moors to the shore

Growing up in Devon and raised by the moors, Si’s gateway into electronic music was the free party scene. Originally getting into music performance through drumming, Si would sell his drum kit to purchase a set of belt drive turntables. It was this love for DJing that naturally segwayed into planning free parties on Dartmoor in his late teens.

“We got a crew together called BLIM - Brothers Lost in Music,” says Si as we discuss his formative years. “We were all at school together, but through a local guy who had an old rock system from the 70s, we would get a generator from one of the farms, put the word out on pagers and then convoy across Dartmoor with a 10K rig. At the age of 18, I was playing behind the decks to a thousand people.”

Despite Si’s investment in the local free party scene, his education focused on furniture manufacturing at Exeter College and an apprenticeship in vintage furniture restoration. Si refers to this period as ‘totally unrelated’, but it would actually be one of the catalysts behind embedding himself in San Francisco’s music scene. 

“My friend Luke had a university placement in London at the School of Film & Video, but I had nothing. I suggested going travelling. I didn’t take a year off, but we decided to go to San Francisco to see a good friend’s sister who had a nannying job out there.

“I arrived in New York with 700 quid in my pocket for two months. While on the East Coast, we saw Cape Cod, Niagara Falls and Boston and then flew over to San Francisco to see our friend Becky, and within two days, I had a job as a carpenter on-site and was making more money than I'd ever made.”

Si would go on to stay in San Fran, working as a carpenter by day, and events promoter by night. Over a few trips back home, he eventually transported his entire vinyl collection and started DJing again. 

“I brought a different vibe to San Francisco. There was a lot of psytrance going on back then. Because Beatport and all those platforms weren't available, there was this massive gap. I was bringing breakbeats and drum and bass to a place that was very house and psytrance orientated. I had a different flavour and was landing gigs on boat parties by just passing out my mixes to people.”

This different flavour saw Si performing 5-6 hour uninterrupted sets, “the crowd didn’t want anything else” remarks Si. However, this was just the beginning. 

Constructing a scene

Mega sets and promotion weren’t Si’s only endeavours, he had formed his record label, Sleevin Records, and he was still putting in 8-hour work days as a carpenter to make ends meet. And it was this construction background that was the key to the next phase of his career. 

“Because I'm in construction, I would build stages as well. If you came to one of my parties, then the decor would be wicked. We used a lot of driftwood from the beach for free. We used the netting and stuff from old trawlers to hang from the ceilings - that was new over there. 

Si standing in front of one of his stage creations

“Burning Man was a game changer. I went to Burning Man for the first time in 1999 when I was 19 years old. And then proceeded to go for many, many years afterwards. I built art cars with sound systems on them that led on to other events like Symbiosis Gathering. 

“My crew ‘Drift’, which I set up with my friend Ian, built the world's first ever floating rave. We did that two years in a row. The first one was a free house with branches, lights and mermaids - it was a fully immersive experience. You had to swim or kayak out to the middle of the lake to get to our party. We had a generator, sound system and a free bar. There were so many alcohol sponsorships, we didn’t pay for any of it. We were just using the people that we knew that worked in different industries to augment the scene we were trying to create.”

The second year would see Si and his crew create ‘The Atoll’ - a giant lighthouse stage that floated in the middle of a lake. It was this stage that saw them on the front page of The Guardian, Playboy and High Times Magazine. From there, Drift landed one of their biggest gigs yet; Nocturnal Wonderland in Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino. 

One of the Nocturnal Wonderland stages created by Drift

The next 15 or so years followed a similar suit. Si and his crew would pool together their expertise to deliver some of the best stages, sound and lighting around California. As the years went by, many of the DJs that Si had booked in the early 2000s were getting into their 40s and 50s and looking for new opportunities. This led to many of them becoming the owners of The Great Northern nightclub in San Francisco. 

Through his construction company, Little Woodworks, Si’s team built out a lot of the club when it changed hands and became The Great Northern (previously Mighty SF). Over time, his links with the owners and work in the club naturally led to Si becoming a part owner, though he remarks he’s more of a silent partner since returning to the UK in 2021. 

There’s one more club we need to talk about before the pieces start falling into place, and that’s Monarch. 

“Monarch is the sister club to The Great Northern. My business partners started with Monarch and again, through my building skills, I helped build a second bar and did a lot of the design for the layout of that second section. 

“I've done parties and record release parties for my label over the last 10 or so years there. And after moving back to the UK, I decided that the winters are long in England, and I should go back see all my good friends. Instead of trying to run around and see all of them separately I thought, why not organise a party for everyone to come out. Last year, there were 55 people on the guest list, so it's not really about making money, as long as I can get my flight covered and have a good holiday and see all my California friends. That’s all I need.”

This year, Si’s ‘Christmas Meltdown’ party will be extra special as classmates Gabriel Steel (IZUK) and Dyllon Martin (Dyll) will cross the pond with him to perform live.

A golden opportunity

In 2021, when the world was still in the grips of a global pandemic, Si and his wife made the choice to return back to the UK. The teacher’s unions in America were refusing to return while COVID was rampant, and Si wanted his daughters to be able to go back to school. 

Back in his old stomping ground in Devon, Si was considering his options for what to do. 

“I’ll be quite honest with you, I wasn’t looking for dBs Institute. It just so happened that a Facebook ad for the Access to HE DJ & Electronic Music Production course popped up and I liked the sound of it. I went to an open day and met Matt Ward and Matt Radley, and felt confident that that was what I should do for the next year. 

“I had no idea that I was going to then go on to do my Bachelor's at that point. Because I never went to university, I was entitled to get funding, so I decided to keep going with it.

“Studying at dBs gave my life structure again. At college, I found I could relate to the community. The creative vibe at dBs is great and the tutors are top-notch and very supportive. After the Access course, I realised I wanted to improve my production and mixing skills, get better with music theory, etc. and now I’m in my second year of the BA.” 

Joining the BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production degree put Si in the same space as Gabe and Dyllon, and it wouldn’t take long for friendships to form. 

Gabe Steel [IZUK]

“I clicked with Si almost instantly,” says Gabe. “We both share a deep passion for music, rave culture, and acquiring knowledge. After just the first few weeks Si grew interested in my music and has routinely expressed an appreciation for the quality of my works. During this time I also learned of Si’s many projects and achievements within event management, music production, and business which I became fascinated by.

“Over the last year we have grown to become very good friends and I believe have created a relationship that will last a lifetime. We routinely meet up and collaborate outside of dBs to run events, DJ, create music, or even just hang out.”

It was a similar story for Dyllon. 

“Si and I met at uni when I joined the course in November last year. We would go for DJ sessions after uni most weeks, have a laugh and some fun on the decks. From there I started doing some of my own events and of course had to get Si involved as we loved his style. From there we have had a good relationship professionally and personally.”

Dyllon Martin [Dyll]

The friendship between the three of them went both ways. Looking back on how it all started Si recalls supporting Dyllon set up his production company Shape Up Sounds, but quickly adds that “he’s already off to the races. He doesn’t need me anymore [laughs].”

With Gabe, Si comments on his excellent music theory and mastering skills. “I've been employing him outside of college to post-produce for me and help me with choosing songs, and then he'll do a master. His sound design is brilliant. I've been paying him per hour to help me get tracks over the line. I've found that it's easier to hand it off to a post-producer to add those finishing touches.” 

Knowing that neither Gabe nor Dyllon had played an international show and that the two were super tight as a DJ duo, taking them out to San Francisco made perfect sense to Si. Unsurprisingly though, neither were expecting the invitation.

Gabe: “The opportunity I have been given to headline in San Francisco at a nightclub Si is affiliated with is honestly overwhelming. I am incredibly excited to meet Si’s friends, gain new contacts, and explore the music culture he was so heavily involved with.

“I’m also looking forward to making a holiday out of it, as I’ve never been to the USA. That area of the country is a place I very much want to visit and combining that with my first International booking is something I’ll never forget.”

Dyllon: “Being asked to come out to America was a shocker. I was just in my bedroom DJing as I do and it came out of nowhere. I went to tell my mum straight away and her face was as confused as I imagined mine was! 

“I’m very excited to go as I’ve never been to America before and to DJ there is just something I never saw happening, especially this soon!”

San Francisco day party - It's A New Day (formerly known as Breakfast of Champions)

As well as performing at Monarch, Si is keen to give them the full experience while they’re out there. “Their flights and accommodation are covered, I’ll be showing them all the sites and taking them along to the new year’s party at The Great Northern. It’ll be a full week.”

We’ll be catching up in-person with Si, Gabe and Dyllon in the new year to get the full story, so watch this space.

FIND OUT MORE
Drift
Sleevin Records
IZUK
Dyll
The Great Northern
Monarch

Want to expand your skills and network, too? Check out our BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production degree available to study at our Bristol, Manchester and Plymouth campuses.