Coalesce Origin Story
A Narrative by Coalesce Founder, Brandon Pepper.
New Years is always an exciting, yet tricky holiday to celebrate. After spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with your family, it’s that perfect opportunity to celebrate with your chosen family. Having to pick which friends, which location, how you were getting there, if you were staying there, and all the details in between can sometimes prove that a fun holiday can be more complicated than it should be.
My New Years 2015 was a great example of how hectic it can be. My friends and I spent 3 days celebrating NYE in 2 different SoCal cities, and after a non-stop party marathon, I ventured out to a desert gathering with Mojave Walker to play a DJ set that I was booked for. It also happened to be my first time playing in front of a crowd. I was beyond nervous to play in front of strangers—especially due to a lack of sleep from the celebrations 3 days prior—but I decided to not pass up the opportunity. When I hit the decks, people started getting up from around the fire and moving their freezing bundled bodies in front of the booth. This feeling of a connection between me and a dance floor through sound was like nothing I had ever experienced. After 3 days of raving at the biggest events I could go to in my area, I found a new home in the desert and a passion to keep chasing this shared experience through the music I play.
By the time the next New Years rolled around, I had another desert DJ gig under my belt, experienced the first Woogie Weekend in the summer, and made the decision to attend Desert Hearts in the fall, all while living 13+ hours away in Humboldt. I craved the desert and was completely set on journeying out there again to celebrate NYE, so I decided to take it upon myself to create a platform where I could provide other DJs with the same opportunity I was given. I contacted my closest friends and told them I planned on going to the middle of the desert to DJ through the night, even if it was just 5 of us on a pair of KRK’s. After making a Facebook event to gather whoever else wanted to join us, borrowing some janky PA speakers from my uncle, and renting a generator from Home Depot, my first desert renegade was underway.
With only about 30-50 people in attendance, our pre-Coalesce New Years 2016 celebration called Conundrum was one to remember. Rhythm Selector (kushboy420 at the time) was the only one outside of our crew who contacted us to play and made the trek since he was close to the area. Since there wasn’t a large attendance, we all ended up playing 2 sets each. The intimacy of being able to meet and interact with everyone made it something so uniquely special. That family vibe was the same welcoming community energy I felt from Desert Hearts, so I knew this was part of my passion that I needed to pursue.
One of my favorite desert renegades I’ve ever attended—You Are Here—took place on what is now the property where we host Coalesce New Years. After attending for the first time in 2017 I connected with the landowners, Samson and Fabio, and proposed the idea of using their property to host an event. The idea was to get all the DJ crews we knew together and throw a 48 hour gathering to showcase the freshest local talent - something bigger than any of us as individuals.
Originally I decided to call the event Interface, since my intention with the gathering was to get these individuals connected and build with each other. However that plan came to a halt when we were hit with an email from a lawyer representing an underground techno group that throws a party with the same name. With no options other than finding something that could capture the same ideals, I came across the word Coalesce - and we were cleared to continue.
After booking 28 of the best local artists, renting the finest available sound system, locking in porta potties, and securing a generator, we set out to the desert to build something none of us were fully prepared for. Ironically, the first You Are Here gathering was thrown on the wrong coordinates, so the first Coalesce was actually the first gathering on the property. And we were honored to christen it.
Coalesce 2016-2017 Pre-Monsoon
There was concern over rain in the forecast, so much so that the sound system almost didn’t make it to the property. We only witnessed about 30 minutes of rain before the sound guy arrived, which completely contradicted the forecast, but all I was thinking was, “at least he made it”. The owner of the system had a prior commitment, so he unloaded it and left behind his friend to keep watch over his equipment for the weekend. Everything was going great until the subs went out the first night and we learned that the guy who was left to watch the system actually had no idea how to fix or even operate it. This first speed bump lead to the owner driving back out to pick up the subs, which no longer worked. Thankfully he was nice enough to let us keep the tops and the amp powering them, so we didn’t have to end the gathering. We were back on track, even though we didn’t have the pounding sound system that was echoing off the hills they were once facing.
As night came, the cloud coverage came in thick. It was a new moon, so since the sky was completely cloudy you couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of you without a light. I was excited for this new aura of the environment, as the darkness of the property complimented the techno vibe that was to come. But as soon as it started raining sideways the excitement came to a quick halt. I ran to the stage. Which at first was a delightful sight because everyone on the dance floor had smushed themselves under the 2 EZ-ups that were originally covering the sound system, bouncing as if it were the march of the penguins. Then I saw the rain pouring down on the DJ equipment. I franticly unplugged the power to the generator, got everything covered and held down, and got the amp into a dry car. We had about 16 people holding down the EZ-up that housed the DJ equipment and speakers, as well as the tarps on every side that prevented the rain from coming in. Still to this day it was the most intense weather I have ever experienced.
After the rain began to die down, a group of us sat and considered our options on how we were going to continue our New Years celebration since no one was leaving with the flooded roads. I remember the night before everyone arrived we were DJing off Samson’s Job Rocker speaker. I quickly rushed to him to see if he was okay with us using it to keep the party going and after confirming with the owner of the DJ equipment that they were safely secured under the EZ-up, we were back on track once again. I sprinted to the camping area where everyone was sheltering in their car and knocked on their windows to let them know, “rain or shine bitches, party is still on!”
After extending the dance floor into 2 EZ-ups and covering each side with tarp, we had created a little renegade nightclub in the middle of the rain - the Boiler Room Mojave. What could’ve been the worst experience became one of the most epic nights of my life. We made the best of it to the fullest sense of the saying. No obstacles stopped us, and no words can ever give justice to the vibe and the energy we all experienced. It was once in a lifetime. From the most humbling of origins, this is still only the beginning. We’ll meet again soon.