Steve Fabus, disc jockey

Since moving to San Francisco in 1974, DJ Steve Fabus has been a staple. In the late '70s and early '80s, he threw all-night loft parties and Sunday-morning raves. At the time, the city's exuberant party scene was hosted by a growing gay subculture, and Fabus was at the forefront of this scene.

He was lured to New York during the '80s, and there he watched as disco morphed into garage and house. By the late '80s, Fabus was back in the Bay Area - as he declares, "I love this city!"

Now Fabus is a guiding force of Go Bang!, a party devoted to bringing everyone - disco freaks, art school students, drag queens and kings, fierce dancers, flashy dressers - together in celebration of the diversity and freedom of disco nightlife. Saturday's Ho Ho Ho Bang! will be especially festive - expect fake snow and holiday-tinged disco. This is also Fabus' first-year anniversary playing with Go Bang! So forget trying to be nice, because it's time to get naughty.

Who has influenced you as a DJ?

The first DJ that influenced me was Lou DiVito, who played at Dugan's Bistro, an underground gay disco in Chicago in the early '70s. It was the first time I heard a DJ build a night that elevated a crowd for hours. A few years later in San Francisco, I was inspired by the great Tim Rivers, a DJ I played with at the I-Beam.

What are five essential components for any DJ?

I would remind DJs what my mentor, Tim Rivers, told me: (1) When a DJ starts his/her night, it's like a painter with a blank canvas. Think of music selections as colors that complete a painting. (2) Do your work of preparing. Listen carefully to everything you want to play. (3) Organize your music so you can find it easily and quickly. (4) Find your style, technique and signature sound. (5) Build up trust with the crowd, and give a performance as if this was the only night you would ever play.

What are some of the places you like to go to in the Bay Area?

Of course, I like to go to my home clubs: Go Bang, Honey Soundsystem and Tubesteak Connection. Also, the Endup, SOM, Temple, 222 Hyde, Mighty, the Public Works - anywhere where there's good music.

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

I love all kinds of music. Of course, disco and house, but also rock, jazz, some hip-hop, techno, classical. Last night I was listening to "Electric Ladyland" by Jimi Hendrix. Amazing record.

Check it out: www.gobangsf.com.

Next gig: 9 p.m. Sat. Free-$5. With Tres Lingerie and Sergio. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin St., S.F. sanfrancisco.going.com/gobang.

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- Michelle Broder Van Dyke, bandwidth@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page G - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle