DJs at the Lounge at La Rosa keep Santa Rosa dancing

Just past midnight on a recent Saturday night, partiers crowded the second-floor lounge above downtown Santa Rosa’s La Rosa Tequileria & Grille, while the line waiting outdoors to get in stretched down the block.

Inside, strobes and spotlights cut through the darkness as the disc jockey in the raised corner booth shouted, “Put your hands up!” Immediately, a forest of arms arose, bathed in the flashing light.

“Tonight’s going to be a wild night,” predicted Ousa Som, 30, the resident DJ at La Rosa Lounge. “That’s because it’s cold and rainy outside.”

Although it was just another weekend night, the mood resembled that of a New Year’s Eve party, but without the crowds. “There were couples kissing in line outside at midnight last New Year’s Eve, because they didn’t get in yet,” he said.

Som, known professionally as DJ Sykwidit, has been working at La Rosa Lounge since it opened two and a half years ago and is one of several DJs who drive the energy there. He is a 2003 Elsie Allen High School graduate, grew up in Santa Rosa and is one of a relatively small but busy squad of nightclub DJs working in Sonoma County.

“I’ve been DJ-ing since I was 16,” Som said. “My first gig was a high school dance at Elsie Allen. I messed up the first song,” he said with a laugh. “I was shaking and nervous, but I learned from it.”

Since then, he has become a polished professional, appearing regularly at La Rosa as well as Remy’s restaurant and nightclub and Christy’s on the Square, both in Santa Rosa.

He considers his line of work a sometimes misunderstood art form. There’s more to the job than standing there spinning records or punching in a computer program.

“There’s a lot of thought process that goes on between songs and creativity behind it - matching the beats, tempo syncing - and there’s wordplay, going from one song title to another,” he said. “There’s a mood that you set as a performer, and I say ‘performer’ because that’s what we are doing.”

When he’s working, Som is never still - bobbing to the music in his booth, out on the floor working the crowd, checking with regulars. It’s all part of the job.

Lots of work

Tony Salas, a 30-year-old Santa Rosa native whose professional name is DJ Tony Tone, lives and performs in San Francisco now, but he still returns to La Rosa every month or so.

“There’s a lot more work to it than one would think. There are different styles. I like to use turntables as an instrument,” Salas said of his craft.

“There’s time preparing, as far as downloading music. There’s multiple web sites you have to visit to stay current with what’s new and what trends are going to be the new thing.”

The music at youth-oriented nightclubs naturally includes a lot of hip-hop, but the DJs like to cover a wide range of material, including remixes of ‘80s and ‘90s dance hits and even new takes on oldies like Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” and Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” “I listen to everything,” Som said. “Every day, a couple of hours a day, I’m downloading songs. On my computer, I have hundreds of thousands of songs. People say, ‘Why do you need so many?’ I don’t just work at clubs. I DJ at weddings and private parties. I DJ at Macy’s.”

While his booth may look the same as in past decades, with Som standing on a raised platform behind turntables, new technology actually has transformed the job.

“DJ-ing has changed. Everything is digital now,” he said. “Music is stored on laptops and we use a program to mix our music. The program allows us to still use turntables and records that have a time coded signal which reads MP3’s. It’s nearly identical to using actual records.”

Like other entertainers, local nightclub DJs develop fan followings. During the recent wintry Saturday at La Rosa, Som fielded a string of text messages from fans, checking to see if he was performing at the club that night and hoping to get in.

“I like to go see Ousa every once in a while. He’s great,” said Amy Mueller, 25, of Santa Rosa, a Realtor and 2011 Sonoma State University graduate. “I’ve been going to see him since I was at Sonoma State.”

Mueller said she’s also a fan of the venue.

“I like La Rosa because of the space, because it’s nice and open. We’ll do a girl’s night there. Sometimes my boyfriend and I will go. It’s the atmosphere I like. It’s almost like you’re in The City.”

The night began slowly, almost like a high school dance, with women in their 20s dressed in tight-fitting, glittery dresses, dancing together while husky young guys in jeans and flannel shirts watched from the edge of the dance floor. But that soon changed.

“Things don’t even get started until after midnight,” Som said.

The Lounge at La Rosa Tequileria and Grille, 500 Fourth St. Santa Rosa, is open 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Hours will be extended in the spring. 523-3663, larosalounge.com

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.