DJ Dave Wittman, Is He "Berkeley Enough?"

Last week we brought you our interview with YMISB member "Revenge of the Black Prius."  Of course within seconds of setting that up we thought, "Man, we should see if we can track down the first guy and see if he'll talk to us."  What we didn't know at first was that the creator of the original WFPL video is also a YMISB member.  David "DJ Dave" Wittman joined YMISB back in the early days and we were happy to have a chance to catch up with him.

Your Mom is so Berkeley: For starters, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, were you went to school, what you've been doing since you left Berkeley and a little about Fog and Smog?

David Wittman: Okay.  I went to UCLA and studied economics, but always played music.  I've played music with Sam Dorman who went to BHS, back about 10 years ago, and our families/moms are both from Berkeley and I'm marrying a girl from Berkeley, too.  Rebecca.

YMISB: When you were in Berkeley what music projects were you involved with (BHS jazz ensemble, Bay Are Wind Symphony, Souls of Mischief, etc)

DW: BHS Jazz was a big part of my life, Charles Hamilton etc.  I also made some friends in the Bay Area Wind Symphony on trips to both Japan and Australia in the early '90s.  I think I did a show with "mystic journeymen" back before they were really formed, but I'm not sure.  Love Heiro, but have never been affiliated directly.  My other music projects (commercial/film work) are mostly on davidwittman.com.

YMISB: What are your favorite spots in Berkeley?  Where do you have to go when you visit?

DW: I love Cancun Taqueria.  I used to go there back when it was on the OTHER side of the street!!!  (Like, '90ish).

YMISB: Can you tell us about your parents?  What's your mom like, does she fit the YMISB vibe?

DW: My mom and dad still live in North Berkeley, my mom is the greatest Berkeley mom!!!!  She's not really in that category I see on your group so much, although she has rocked Birkenstocks at various points.  But she's not like, big on Subaru Outbacks or other stylistically hippie stuff.  You can catch her stopping to smell flowers on her way up to the French Hotel to get an extra foamy latte from Angel and being an active member of many communities!!!  She's a pillar of the community I do believe and is the greatest Berkeley mom!!!  Just dunno if she hits all the "touch points" you guys have, but hey, I think she defines her own category.  Oh, and she hates attention...eek!  Anyway...

YMISB: Yeah.  I hope this doesn’t get you in trouble with mom.  I think your description of her highlights an important point, that there’s a lot of ways to be a Berkeley mom.  I don’t think any one mom out there really possess all the qualities or quirks we talk about on YMISB but even having just one or two helps people identify with that “Berkeley mom” thing.

OK, back to you.  You graduated from BHS in 1992.  Were you ever shot down by self proclaimed “drama geek” Rebecca Romijn?

Rebecca R., no.  Never shot down, didn't know her, but my sister I think was friends with her sister or something?  And I guess she (Rebecca) did date a guy I played in some band in the mid-90's with named Zack...but I don't remember any details.  I am going to marry

a girl named Rebecca from BHS however, in November...but she's shy so I'll leave her last name out!

YMISB:  Right on.  Congratulations on the marriage.  It looks like Fog & Smog was put together for the Whole Foods video, is that the case or was it already in the works and this just happened to be the first project?

DW: Fog & Smog as far as the name/website was created around the production and release of the WFPL vid but the group of friends existed before that so, it's sort of hard to say exactly.  More like it solidified around that?  Yeah.

YMISB: Do you plan on doing more work as Fog & Smog?  What can we look forward to?

DW: The follow up. Well, yeah...got a bunch of different material, just trying to feel out the best way to move through the next couple projects.

YMISB: Most musicians I know are doing three or four things at the same time.  Advertising and movies keep you in kambucha and Whole Foods made you a YouTube sensation, what else you got going on?

DW: Yes you're right, for me, different irons in the fire.  Steady commercial work, may do the score for a new documentary, have done a few movies of the past 2 years...working on more stuff for myself and Fog and Smog, fielding weird offers like casting agents calling from various networks, etc.  And of course planning the wedding in November.  Actually coming to the bay pretty soon for a visit!

YMISB: What’s up with the offers?  You know every knucklehead with a video camera wants to become a hit on YouTube in the hopes of being “discovered.”  On the other hand you actually have a pedigree and talent and now that you got the exposure what kinds of offers are you getting?

DW: Yeah, I have thought about that in terms of like, this isn't just some random YouTube vid with somebody tickling a cat.  There's part of me that just wants to do more creative fun stuff, another part that's interested in production opportunities for the crew, another part that's excited to be contacted by casting people! Random.  I just say, keep the feet moving, keep doing creative work.

YMISB: There was a response video to “Whole Foods Parking Lot” called “Revenge of the Black Prius,” have you seen it?  What did you think?  Is it flattering to have someone feel inspired to make a response or do you think it’s biting?  Do you know Delia Brown at all?

DW: Yes, did see Black Prius.  Thought it was okay, def. flattering.  Funny that she put old guys in our shot...but then, she's kinda old, so that was weird.  I'd give it a B-.  Sort of a diss, but also an homage, like, her own version.  I'd like to see either a totally different take on it, (own version) or a FULL DISS, like, getting AFTER us.  She was sweet. Wrote me on FB, all that.  Nice person.  We have a mutual friend from Berkeley actually. But I told her you gotta go harder with your disses, and sent her a history of great rap battles to study. :)

YMISB: What’s it like dealing with the kind of notoriety that comes with being internet famous?  Do you get recognized at Whole Foods now?

DW: Not as much recognition at WF as you'd think.  I think I'd need to wear the clippers hat!  But recently I had a really nice check out with some guys who recognized me and were super cool.  It's fun, cuz it's where I'm at all the time anyway.  So it's like, very honest and feels homegrown.  I wanna do a duet with that guy LaeCharles.

(YMISB: Oh hey kids, here it is.)

  DJDave, U not BERKELEY Enough... Feat. LaeCharles by djdavewittman

YMISB: Yeah, what’s up with the Clippers cap?  Wasn’t growing up with the Warriors bad enough?

DW: Haha...well, as for the Clippers, hey...you gotta go with a familiar feeling, right?

YMISB: For sure.  Right on, well it’s been great chatting with you, it’s always great to see Berkeley, and especially Berkeley High, people doing well.  Thanks for taking the time.

DW: Thanks so much for your interest! And thanks for your kind words about the video.

David posted a couple times way back a couple years ago.  Here’s what he had to say about you mom:

Your mom is so Berkeley…

…that she still calls "Fatapples" "Fat Alberts."

…she stops and smells flowers sometimes when we walk up Rose street on our way to get an extra foamy Latte from Angel at the French Hotel.

And just in case you haven’t seen it yet here’s the Whole Foods Parking Lot video that inspired a nation:

PS Dave: Your mom is so Berkeley…she stopped Delroy Lindo’s assault in the WFPL with simple shaming.

Delia Brown is So Berkeley

Image copyright Delia Brown

When I started the blog component of Your Mom is So Berkeley I always thought about doing some kind of periodic member profile featuring interesting YMISB members.  So far the closest we’ve come is the link to Jane Stillwater’s YMISB inspired blog post and last month’s release of our theme song.  Well today I am thrilled to bring you our YMISB interview with group member Delia Brown.  Some of you may recognize Delia’s name as she’s been a very active poster and commenter on the facebook group the past couple months.  It turns out this Berkeley born, LA raised, New York polished woman has a lot going on.  Aside from the posts to the YMISB group Delia made a video called “Revenge of the Black Prius,” which is a response to fellow YMISB member David Wittman’s ”Whole Foods Parking Lot” video.  We were very happy to have a chance to grab an interview with her.

Your Mom is So Berkeley: For starters, how did a woman from Venice, CA who lived in NY and then went back to LA end up on YMISB? It looks like you spent your early years in Berkeley?

The Buena Avenue Posse

Delia Brown: My parents met at UCB, and all the things I've written on the FB group page are from my life...I was in my mom's womb when she was rallying at Peoples' Park, my dad really ran for Berkeley City Council, I was babysat by Tom Hayden, my parents almost joined a multi-family Berkeley commune, etc etc.

I was born at Alta Bates hospital and lived, until I was 9, on Buena Ave, then we moved to LA cuz my dad's first teaching job after he got his PhD from UCB was at UCLA.   On Buena Ave I lived across the street from fellow YMISB members Janie Dalton & Jennifer Lin, next door to Monica & Sherron Selter, and their brother Adam Sawyer (son if famous Ken Kesey pal, the late Unitarian minister Paul Sawyer).  I never got to eat a grape, or anything with red dye, and my parents boycotted Safeway and only shopped at Berkeley Co-op (I started the lil conversation about moms who still remember their Co-op membership#).

The first joint I ever smoked was sent to me in an envelope from a friend in Berkeley, when I was 13 (and I got expelled from my junior high for smoking it - in the classroom). My younger sis lives in Oakland now and my parents talk all the time about moving back to the Bay Area, though now they live in Santa Monica (known by right-wingers as Soviet Monica). I could tell stories all day about being the child of activists, etc. They weren't hippies, they were activists.

Not a hippie

YMISB: When I got in touch with you it was because I wanted to know why you thought a video so clearly set in LA would be relevant to Berkeley, what do you say?

DB: I just thought that it was so interesting that both Dave Wittman and I are the children of Berkeley moms. I've noticed a lot of kids who went to Berkeley High are really into hip-hop, and so it seems like both Dave and I (I don't know him personally, but we have a mutual friend), doing a kind of middle-class liberal white-person rap thing, is very Berkeley-influenced. Like, somehow the characters we play in our videos are the obvious adult outcomes of kids of raised in Berkeley (who now live in LA!). Also, the fact that doing a rap battle is similar to doing "the dozens", which is what YMISB is all about, right?!

YMISB: Agreed on all counts. After I sent you the email I started going back through the history on the page and it started to come together a little more for me when I saw the stuff you posted before.  I also did the obligatory internet stalki…uh…research.  Can you tell me a little bit about your previous rap career?

DB: I was in a 2-girl rap group in the early 1990s called The Fuzz with my friend Evelyn Charlot. We performed around town in LA and worked with a production company called Shake City Productions...we got offered a deal for a single with Loud Records (Wutang was on them - in fact we got to open up for Wutang in San Francisco on their first west coast tour in 1993, just randomly, because our buddy Bigga B was their west coast tour manager). So I had some amazing experiences hanging out with people like them - shit not many other white woman have probably seen!  Such as hanging out at the Pharcyde Mansion cuz we were also friends with their DJ Mark Luv. But we didn't take the single record deal with Loud, cuz I had the audacity to think that they were dicking us around by not signing us for an LP!  Evelyn is African American, so people used to think it was funny to call us Salt & Pepper which got on our nerves. Back then we put everything on cassette, and I still have not got around to digitizing The Fuzz but when I'll do I'll put it Soundcloud.

YMISB: What was your stage name?

DB: Ideal (it's an anagram of Delia)

YMISB: When was the last time you were in Berkeley?

DB: I'm in the Bay Area often, like once every 3 months, because my sis and her family live in Oakland. My uncle lives in Berkeley and I have other friends still there, like Janie Dalton, another YMISB member. My niece goes to preschool in Berkeley. I went to Berkeley Hills Nursery School btw, and Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools.

YMISB: Do you have any favorite Berkeley places or memories?

DB: My favorite place up there now is actually in Oakland - Yayu, a kick-ass Ethiopian restaurant near Lake Merritt. But in Berkeley, I go to The Dailey Method (an exercise studio) when I'm up there, and of course we always shop at the Berkeley Bowl.  Today the Rose Garden across from Codornices is my favorite place to go in Berkeley.  Back in the day it was Lake Anza, and the baby animal petting farm and merry go round at Tilden.  When I was a kid it was all about the Ashby Flea Market, Mr Mopps, Yogurt Park and Top Dog (I think was the name of the hot dog joint). And some Chinese place on Telegraph that had a beer ad clock or something that had a moving picture lightbox of a waterfall on it. I think the restaurant was called Yangtze or something, but we called it Moving Picture. I also used to love to go to Walnut Square. Now it's super bougie!

Going to the Little farm then "Waterfall". Yay!

Oh my Parents just corrected me, Yangtze or whatever it was called (no longer there - maybe someone on YMISB can remember the name) was on Shattuck, & my mom just told me it was a Hamms beer ad.

YMISB: OK, multi-part question: What's your experience with video production?  I know you've done some videos of your artist "alter ego," Chelsey Green.  How much of the Black Prius video did you do yourself in terms of editing, shooting, etc?  How much time goes into a project like that?

DB: I made a music video of a singer named Goapele (actually from Berkeley/Oakland!) some years ago, as an art piece, so that was my first foray into video-making.

Revenge of the Black Prius just was a sudden idea that I had when I saw Whole Foods Parking Lot video, thinking "Damn, I wish I'd made that video!" Because it was so fresh, but also because it really was something I'd do. In fact I had written a song a while back with the lyrics "I'm just another Prius in the Whole Foods parking lot/Thought I was special but I guess that I'm really not". So then I thought I'd pull a Roxanne Shante and just be the driver of the black Prius that stole DJ Dave's parking spot. I wrote the lyrics and my friend Nelson Marquez did the beats, and that took us like a week, and then I just posted a lot of FB pleas for help making the video, and my friend Justine Bateman turned me on to a great DP and an editor that were willing to do it for free - I suppose as a favor to her.

Dillon Moore was the DP and he was awesome. I had a shot list and storyboards of everything I wanted to shoot, and we just ran around the Westside getting kicked out of various Whole Foods until we had all the footage we needed. The scene of me and my friend Danielle (also a YMISB member!) smoking a joint and drinking Charles Shaw was done at the end of the shoot day, and I was totally exhausted and so I immediately got really wasted and so I was super faded when we were shooting. I could barely do the lipsync and it really shows. 

The hippie hottie in the gluten-free aisle was a guy I just accosted while he was having lunch at a picnic table in front of the Venice WF. I had already stalked two other guys (followed them to their cars as they came out of the store) who turned down the role. But this Italian dude Stefano was just loafing, so he agreed to be in it, and in the meantime he told me about his meditations on the beach and about going onto alien spacecrafts. Yep.

We shot the footage in one and a half days, and then this guy Ted Gianopulos did the editing (I sat with him for a bunch of it but he did a lot on his own too) in like 2.5 days. It was really amazing to have these guys I didn't even know devoting time and real professionalism to the project, which was just for kicks.

I am crazy for writing lyrics and also performing, so any excuse I have I will do either of the two, or both. I am thinking now about a theme song for my FB group Bitches Who Eat Burritos (BWEB). It's only for chicks who can finish their burritos - no burrito bowls, and no "I'll take the other half home for later". BWEBs are the kind of girlfriends I prefer.

YMISB: Freaking awesome. I love the Roxanne Shante reference and the getting kicked out of various WF until you got what you came for. Silly questions but is your friend Justine Bateman from "Family Ties?"

DB: Yep!

YMISB: And of course you’re also an accomplished visual artist. Good enough to get some nice write ups and national attention even if some jerk from the New York Times wasn’t so kind.  It’s been great talking to you, any last thoughts?

DB:  Oh yeah the NYT.  It was mainly just Michael Kimmelman but he doesn't write about art anymore. I actually had an 8-page spread in the Times Magazine right before he wrote that review, and since then they've done a couple other small features on my work, so it's not really too terrible.

I'm so excited you're going to write about me on YMISB! The best press I've ever had ha ha!!

YMISB: Aw shucks, now I’m flattered.  This can’t be the best press you’ve ever gotten, you played your self on an episode of "The Young and the Restless!”

OK, so there you have it, the lovely and talented Delia Brown.  We leave you with Delia’s best posts from Your Mom is So Berkeley:

You mom is so Berkeley…

…that 2 years ago, when she was moving to a new house, you finally convinced her to let go of the Co-op jars of spice in the spice cabinet. Keep in mind that she hasn't actually LIVED in Berkeley since 1979.

… she can’t come to the phone because she's re-potting/mulching/doing something with worms

…you knew all of Holly Near's songs by heart at age 8. And also the Joans - Armatrading AND Baez.

Your moms are so Berkeley that - wait, which of your moms should I talk about first?

…that your very first memory of language was "Ho Ho Ho Chi Min. NLF is gonna win"

And of course, here's the video:

Long Time, Let's Catch Up Real Quick...WE HAVE A THEME SONG!

Sort of how I imagine a Village of Cream Puffs.
Photo by Stephanie Johnson

UPDATE: The Cream Puffs are Somewhat Misleading!

It seems my mistake was misreading the credit for the song and giving attribution to the label and not the artist.  My bad, though I do think Sound Cloud needs a better layout.

Well this does give us the opportunity to give credit where it's due.  The true artist behind the YMISB song is a woman from Berkeley who publishes and performs under the stage name "Cactus Dawn." The YMISB song is sort of a rough cut but you can find her more polished work on her YouTube channel.


Hi All,

So it's been a year since my last post.  As you know I've been chasing a PhD which required that I move back to DC.  In that time my "So Berkeley Mom" of a wife and I had another kid who may well grow up to be a Berkeley mom herself.

Also in the last few weeks we almost fell victim to the new Facebook rules for groups.  I wasn't super bummed.  No one had posted in a while and I figured maybe this thing had run it's course.  After all, I hadn't had time to promote it and keep it going.  I sent a "farewell and thanks" note to members on Facebook and they got enough traffic to the page to save it.  It was a heartwarming display from the YMISB community.  In that process we added about 300 members.   But it's funny, we can't seem to get past 2,500 and stay there.  Every time we get over 2,500 we lose a few.  I don't know if that's a Facebook limit or just the vagaries of people's online habits but it's interesting to me.

The last few weeks have seen a bit of a rebirth on the Facebook page and I've been putting some of the gems out on the twitter feed (@yourmomissoberk).  One of the best things we've had in a while is that an act called Village of Cream Puffs Cactus Dawn, has written us a theme song.  Well, they didn't really say it was our theme song but since the song is called "Your Mom is So Berkeley" I'm adopting it as out official anthem.  Give it a listen below.


Your Mom is So Berkeley by village of cream puffs Cactus Dawn



Thanks VoCP Cactus Dawn!  And thanks to all of you readers and members out there!

You can find the original post by Village of Cream Puffs Cactus Dawn by clicking here.

Where Have You Been?

 

Wow. It’s been a long time since my last post here and the truth is I don’t know if anyone is still stopping by to see if there’s anything here.  Why would I let the slim momentum we had going peter out?  Well, the answer is grad school.  Just about the time of my last post I got word that a new PhD program in my field (the first of it’s kind) was finally approved for this fall.  Exciting news, but it also meant that I had twelve days to study for the GRE, and another two weeks to write my essays, get my transcripts, and cross my fingers.  That was only the beginning.  Once I was accepted I had to figure out how to move my entire family to the east coast, find a place to live, rent my house, quit my job while keeping my health insurance, and pack.  This has left me no time for writing.  I promise as soon as I get settled in DC I’ll get back to bringing you more Berkeley related fun.

“But how can you leave Berkeley?”  I know this is on your mind.  Leaving Berkeley so soon after coming back is hard.  Leaving means missing my friends and family and losing out on all the great relationships I’ve started as a result of YMISB.  But the PhD is a long time dream of mine.  It’s also the best chance I have to further my career and my family’s well being, so off I go.  But, like Patton, I will return.  I know, Patton never did return, but I will.

With travel, specifically my upcoming cross country drive with my dogs on out mind we present this:

Alison Williams: My mom is so Berkeley that one time on a camping trip in the VW bus, the fan belt broke. My dad was clueless (my mom always fixed the bus herself) but my mom made a makeshift fan belt out of pantyhose. "Mom, why do you have pantyhose?", I asked in shock. "I don't know, but I'm glad I did..."

Your mom is so Berkeley…

… the only downer part of her trip to Europe in '68 was that the East German police confiscated her Cuba Revolution poster

…she named her travel agency in Walnut Square, Berkeley Unified Travel Service because it had a nice "come together" feel to it. Or maybe it was just because she had a good sense of humor and knew the acronym would be "BUTS".

… she left her car door unlocked "just in case a homeless person needed a place to sleep." Which actually eventually happened, and stunk the inside of the car up to holy hell.

…she drives around with artwork epoxied to her car.

… she taught you whenever you travel and you have to go to the bathroom, just find the nicest hotel in town and go right in.

Food II

What is your mom cooking?  What's in my food?  AAHHHH!! Photo courtesy of Chelise Stroud Hery

I know what you're thinking, "Dude, finally! Where have you been?" Well the last few weeks around YMISB HQ have been consumed by "Application Madness 2010." I've made the decision to go back to grad school and see what this whole PhD thing is all about. The "madness" part is that the program was just approved two weeks ago for fall enrollment so everything's been compressed and stressful. Thus, no time for posting.

But enough about me, let's talk about your mom. Food still rules the roost at YMISB your mom really scarred us all with her carob muffins and frankly we're not over it.

Your mom is so Berkeley…

…you thought 'Bragging' referred to seasoning your food.

…she puts tofutti on croissants

…she buys people food stamps ($1 for $1) so they will have cash to buy non-food items.

…when you were broke you got sent out to pick dandylions for soup.

…your special family dinner was putting a giant bowl of couscous on top of a sheet on the floor and having us sit around it, rolling it into balls and-always as the meal digressed-throwing the couscous balls at each other.

…she decided that a burnt Dominos pizza pie looked like art and so she nailed it right to the wall above the kitchen table, where it stayed for quite some time.

…Or framed two boxes of peeps and hung them on the wall for 15 years.

…you didn't know what refined sugar tasted like until you went to public school.

…you never went to McDonald's until Junior High with out of town friends.

…you just assumed everyone knew what an olallieberry was until I went to college and people had never heard of it before!

…you were shocked (at the age of 30) to find that mainstream families keep a snack drawer in the kitchen into which they place all kinds of junk food and which is apparently open access, even to the kids

…she still thinks rice cakes and grind-your-own peanut butter is the perfect breakfast.

…hemp continually replaced oregano as the main seasoning at dinner

… she still uses cheesecloth to strain store bought yogurt into thicker "homemade" yogurt

…she bought cheese in a driveway.

…she puts hemp seeds in her whole wheat banana pancakes.

Pop Culture I

Your mom definitely preferred books over TV and PBS over cleaning the house.  I remember you as the kid humming the “Mystery” theme song in 1^st grade.  Your brother was the one who almost hit a pole while walking down the street reading a book about giants.  But I know it’s not your fault, I blame your mom.

Your mom is so Berkeley…

... she taught you all the proper responses to "Rocky Horror Picture Show"

... that you never had a TV in the house until you were 9, and all of your friends parents knew that you were only allowed to watch channel 9 at their houses.

…all of her kids read while they walk

…she doesn't watch TV ( and I mean ever)

…she had me enthralled by Julia Child by the time I was five. No Brady Bunch for me, just Julia Child on the tv that barely worked

...my mom wrote an article about her for the East Bay Express.

…she's in that movie, "Berkeley in the 60's"

… she wouldn't let us watch the 6 Million Dollar man because the music was too scary.

… she swears the movie Pretty Woman is a subversive patriarchal plot against feminism

… she taught you Walt Disney was a fascist...and then took you to Disneyland anyway.

Sex I

Photo by Stephanie Johnson

Let’s just say you didn’t need to wait for “Social Living” in tenth grade to learn about the “birds and the bees.” Or as your mother called them “Sex. Often involving a penis and a vagina but also sometimes two penises or two vaginas.” Example:

My mom is so Berkeley that when I was 7 (in 1975) she told me, "it's okay if you're gay honey." To which I answered, "What's gay, mommy? Can I have my dollie?" Ironically, she was right!

The rest of you:

Your mom is so Berkeley…

...you were conceived at Woodstock and all you know about your father is he was the bus driver and his name was "Moonwalker"

…she left The Joy of Sex and, Our Bodies Ourselves laying around the house. Ok, so maybe the Joy of Sex was for her

… she slept with Mr. Panasenko (of Berkeley high) possibly while underage.

…you were only allowed to have dolls that were anatomically correct (with vaginas and penises) so that I wouldn't get the wrong idea about sex.

…she will keep your boyfriend up all night talking about poets she slept with and leftwing politics

…she bragged that her gay son got his first hicky from a lesbian

…that I used to be afraid that our parents "Women's Group", "Men's Group", "Couples Group", and "Therapy Group" would all get together and have an "Orgy Group".

…you have two of them, and a gay bio-dad.