Infinite Jess

Infinite Jess’ love of music knows no bounds and sharing the feeling with other ears is life for this San Francisco selector.

As an instrumental part of the Lower Haight record store institution Vinyl Dreams, she’s armed countless DJs around the world with vital vinyl offerings, traded tips of the mixing trade with fellow wide open minds and has helped to produce countless in-store showcases of local and global talent. It was at Vinyl Dreams where she became a DJ, soaking up gems of wisdom from store owner Mike Battaglia and the many DJs and producers who have been faithful customers over the years. But her love of vinyl as a medium began in her childhood with her father’s records, many of which she plays in her sets today.

“My goal as a DJ is to be known as someone who will always bring something new to the listener,” she says. “Even if it is a deep cut that was released 30 years ago! People come to me specifically to hear something they’ve never heard before or hear something they have heard, but not in the way I play it — it’s a fresh perspective. I feel the most beautiful when I’m behind the decks because I’m playing songs that make my heart swoon.”

A passionate focus on vinyl means that Infinite Jess has spent years hauling heavy bags of records to gigs, when others might bop in with a featherweight USB stick to play a party. She never takes the well-traveled hit road of the mainstream, instead constructing sets that span genres, eras and languages that are bound together by evocative emotion.

Written by Tamara Palmer, March 2020

You can catch her show The Saturday Morning Comedown on 1st Saturdays of the month, 10a-12p, on SutroFM