Justin Cristofer

Dinner with DJ’s: Justin Cristofer

I took some extra time before writing this one about DJ Justin Cristofer because I enjoyed the memory of it. The conversation, the music, the food, the vibe, it all kind of came together for this, and some of these moments you just want to hang on to a little bit longer before you let them go.

Justin was the fourth DJ who agreed to have dinner with me, and it’s all been a wonderful experience for multiple reasons. This one would be no different. I hope I am true to the story I was told. Here’s exactly how it went.

We agreed to meet around 8 pm at my house, and since Justin is a Vegetarian we agreed to an all-vegetarian meal, going with a traditional New Mexican dish that I’m sure we both ate many times growing up.

Beans made in the crock pot, tostadas, fried potatoes on the side, and we even got some tortillas from the Frontier, just to give it that nice homemade taste.

If you’ve never had Frontier tortillas you’re missing out on not just a wonderful tortilla, but also a great representation of this city. I’m glad we included that. 

Even the appetizer had history to it as Sonya made her salsa that has been passed down through her family for generations on top of generations with each one adding its own flavor.

It set the tone for a conversation, which had a sense of timelessness to it. A story that could have happened at any time and any place, and still there it was unfolding right in my living room.

I think that’s what all this Dinner with DJ’s thing was meant to be. We’re all going at such quick paces, especially DJ’s. Always the next beat, always the next moment, always the next.

We seem to fall into the repetition of it all sometimes that perhaps it’s proper now and then to just stop and notice those around us and how close our paths run alongside each other’s, if only for a bit.

The details of Justin’s story start with his birth at a military base in a city named Twentynine Palms in Southern California just 20 mins from Joshua Tree, living in multiple places with his family as a child. Staying at each place long enough to remember, but not long enough for it to be the only place.

Eventually, his family moved back here to New Mexico, where he first found his love for music as a drummer for a Metal Band named Against the Grain, where he experienced success enough to tour and start his path as a musician.

His connection to electronic music started around the same time in the 505 as well, with a place we all know from that moment and that time.

The Pulse, a club committed to electronic music once located at the end of Nob Hill on central has been closed for a long time now, but what it has meant to our generation of ravers cannot be understated.

For Justin, I, and many others, it was one of the first clubs that allowed us a place to go and dance to the music we loved in a safe and welcoming environment, and I don’t know where we would have been able to go if the Pulse would have never accepted me or anybody else during that time.

Justin’s connection to electronic music started with the Pulse, and it was so wonderful to hear his story including a place we also cherished so much. To know that we share that memory even if we weren’t together at that moment. That was the point of all this in the first place, I believe.

From there he followed his love for drumming to LA where he studied music at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

His original plan was to be a session drummer after finishing school, and perhaps that could have been the story for Justin as a musician, but then that’s where electronic music starts to take over the story.

During his time in LA Justin found the underground between 2010 and 2020, which I feel was a very rare moment in Southern California. California has always been a massive part of the electronic music world, but back then things were changing, and nobody was sure which way it was going to go.

Justin himself was in attendance at the last EDC held in LA at the Coliseum, an event many people have talked about as a pivotal moment in rave culture both for good and for bad.

It signaled the end of an era and the beginning of multiple new ones, with EDC moving to Las Vegas after that, and LA becoming a city more committed to the underground, a task that would take many years to accomplish.

I can still picture Justin describing it as we sat and ate the beans, potatoes, and tortillas, and listened to some music that influenced him, which was around that time he mentioned a DJ very responsible for his connection to LA and electronic music, Boys Noize.

Boys Noize is not from LA or even America, but rather he is from Germany, yet that is what is amazing about a place like California.

At the edge of the world, where all cultures and people come together every single day, there comes an understanding that nobody is where they once started, and where they will end up is not where they are right now.

Justin and his story are a perfect example of that. Born on a military base, raised in New Mexico, and now in Los Angeles finding this music made on the other side of the world and brought to exactly where you are; presented to you in such a way that you may never feel the same about anything else ever again.

I felt a similar epiphany with LA myself when I traveled there for the first time in the year 2015, and I spent the next five years traveling back and forth as often as possible to experience what Justin was able to live and be involved in every day.

It was a beautiful moment to be a part of, and I think of it fondly as I sit at my typewriter and create these words for you on this hot summer night. We all deserve a moment like we had in LA, and I hope if you are reading this now, that you find your version of that someday too.

The energy was everywhere—the graffiti-filled walls, late nights in the city, skyscrapers that seemed to never end. Downtown LA went on for miles—the first taste of what it meant to see a concrete jungle for itself.

Deep in the streets, music filled the air, and those of us who were able to hear it found something I still cherish to this day. Knowing that Justin was there at the same place and the same time is a wonderful thing to realize.

Were we ever at the same shows or warehouses or even festivals? Does it matter? Doesn’t it only matter that we both felt the same feeling and we carried it through?

I don’t think I had any intention of letting go of LA, though, but then COVID happened and everything stopped, which is also what brought Justin back home to the 505, now a promising, powerful, and very experienced DJ.

What I especially liked so much about this night, was that Justin showed up ready and willing to tell his story, and I was so honored and amazed at what he shared.

He told me about going to Mexico City and DJing in an old parking garage, and going to Germany and waiting in line at Berghain for four hours before finally being let in.

The ultimate test of a techno raver is the moment you may or may not be let into Berghain, and most would be impressed that he got in, yet I loved how he was so committed.

No matter how long it took, he wanted to know if he could get in, and I’m so happy to hear that he did. There was even a moment when I asked him which he preferred.

Mexico City or Berlin?

His response was perfect in saying both were unique in their own way and because of that, both were worth seeing on their own.

I admired his answer. To be willing to have seen more than me and still see value in what each holds. This life is not a competition so why should the cities we see along the way be as well?

It was at this moment in our night when Justin and I had an honest conversation about Gay culture and how it will always be the root of where electronic music came from.

House music was created by queer, black and Latino people and made popular in gay clubs throughout the world. The LGBTQ community will always be the bedrock and true face of what electronic music has always stood for.

From there Justin got behind my XDJ I set up in my living room, and he gave me a shortened mix of many of the tracks he discussed with me throughout the night.

It was so impressive to hear the sounds of the words that were just shared with me in conversation. It was more of a rhythmic vibrant techno, which reminded me of our talk of the difference between Latin-American Techno and German Techno.

One goes for a rhythm similar to a samba, whereas the other is industrial and heavy. He then played a track by DJ Hell, another German DJ he discovered in LA, and it gave me the flip to what has influenced Justin throughout the years. It was another moment that reinforced that need for both. Then, he finished with a real favorite of both of ours, Honey Dijon.

Over the years Honey Dijon has proven to be a powerful voice and sound in the global rave community, and a beloved producer and DJ throughout the world. She represents not just the beginning of house music, but also how positive and powerful the future of it can be.

House music and rave culture stand for acceptance and growth for all who wish to be involved and we owe that to the members of the gay community who have accepted all the children of house with open arms. I feel we must remain true to that concept no matter how big house and techno get in the world.

We must always give thanks know the history of what we came from and show respect for what it is. It’s a tradition of house music just like the traditions we have anywhere else in the world, including here in the 505.

In closing, I wish to say thank you to Justin Cristofer for sharing your story and voice and trusting me enough to share that with others. I can’t say enough how grateful I am to the DJs who agree to do this, and Justin is a wonderful example of how powerful the DJ’s perspective is.

Each of us is a part of some larger thing that none of us can see, yet we can feel it, but only if we stop to notice it and each other now and then.

I can’t wait to see how Justin’s voice and experience will contribute more to the 505 and he can be heard playing at the Albuquerque Social Club with his club night he calls Groundware, where he focuses on playing with different DJs from the 505 every week.

First, on August 16th he is playing alongside the very talented Baby Bumps, and next week for Groundware’s first anniversary on August 23rd he will be playing all night long.

Congratulations to Justin for making it to one year with a great contribution the 505’s growing nightlife. He can also be heard wherever the road may take him, which is something I understand more than anybody, and although normally there’d be a mix along with this story, this time I wish to tell you to go out and hear the DJ in person. You never know whose path is running right along yours without even noticing.

See you on the dancefloor, dear friends, and if you’re free, at the dinner table as well.