Can you read a great DJ in the tracks they make? In the case of Galen and his Magic Bus EP, you absolutely can. The Bay Area veteran has crafted an EP of deep, grooving but above all dancefloor-ready tracks. As a producer, Galen instinctively knows what DJs want, and delivers it.
Founder of Sunset Sound System and both a witness and participant in the first flowering and further evolution of West Coast dance music, Galen hails from that era when “DJ” and “producer” were separate jobs, each with a distinct skillset that were complementary but not identical. Firing up a generator and speakers at a park in Berkeley every Sunday to spin records he didn’t get a chance to play anywhere else, Galen’s early sets were epic in length as well as scope, taking in acid, deep house and more, often when these genres were still new and less well-defined.
It comes down, ultimately, to a question of taste. You can fake everything, in the end, except for good taste. Galen’s sensibility on the decks — sharpened and polished as Sunset Sound System has gone global, in addition to his Sunset Campout festival in the Sierra Foothills — has informed a production style spread across a short but strong discography. Galen’s releases on Culprit (Sensory Distortion), Dirtybird (The Cactus) and Suol (Trunkated) are joined by Magic Bus, an EP of three tracks each coded for a different time of night or spur of the moment during a DJ set. “Love Machine” sets the table with fluttering synths that rise to the roof and come back down with a chunky 303 acid line riding shotgun. “Your Own Style” is the darker piece of the trio — a wandering sonic journey of color & sound compressed down to 6:16. “Dance Me” is the most flexible and for us the most relevant here, with an unrelenting bassline that makes this a delicious set piece to mix into. You can imagine DJs from the underground to even big room and festival selectors finding a place to fold this into their sets.
Magic Bus represents a high point for Galen as well as for Justin Martin‘s What To Do label. 5 Mag met Galen ahead of its release in May 2025.
We know a lot of the same people but haven’t had the chance to speak before, so I’m glad to do this. Where are you at right now?
Ahh, yes, I have no doubt there’s some friend crossover; the overall music landscape can feel quite intimate at times. Currently, I’m back in San Francisco, my hometown, and where I grew up discovering the underground music scene… but I’ve recently moved to Amsterdam in search of some new inspiration. I wanted to be closer to my sister and explore my European roots. I look forward to branching out more into music endeavors there as I’ve spent many summers working with festivals such as Love International & Meadows in the Mountains, amongst a myriad of other gigs. That being said, I plan to stay active in the SF and West Coast scene with our Sunset Sound System events.
San Francisco still has its wild west soul, and there are amazing people here dedicated to making quality music events happen. There’s a burgeoning underground scene, and San Francisco could very well be going through an evolution that I hope will bring back its glory days on a wider scale.
Sunset Campout is coming up pretty soon, isn’t it? What’s going on this year?
Yes! We are into our 16th year, and this is our grand finale! It’s the end of a cycle, but not the end of Sunset. We put all of our time, love, and energy into these events, so we’re all looking forward to ending this era on a high note. Our lineups have usually focused on bringing out a wide array of European artists and US legends, but this year we are mostly focusing on the West Coast family that has supported us, with a few international favorites added in. We are pulling out all the stops to make this one to remember! If you know our production, it far exceeds that of most boutique festivals and rivals even the big ones.
What is your level of involvement in all of the “Sunset” events? Like to what extent are you managing them? I imagine just the campout would be enough to put a man off his feet for a few months afterward.
So I founded Sunset Sound System by maxing out my credit and buying a sound system to play records. We would set up in a park every Sunday that overlooked the San Francisco Bay as the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge… and it all grew from there. I’ve never stopped throwing parties since those days in the ’90s. A community formed around these events that is still thriving today. I’ve met my best friends, girlfriends, my partners through Sunset, and the most amazing array of unique kindred spirits. But as I said above, the Campout does require an exceptional amount of time and energy. Sunset Sound System lives on through our park parties, boat parties, and New Year’s Day party… including an array of other events throughout the West Coast and in Europe.
The history is out there so I don’t want to ask you questions you’ve answered before for the pleasure of answering them again. But I’m curious of your perspective on this: why did the Bay Area punch so far above its weight when you were coming up? There were DIY projects all over, and many of them have proven to be really long-lasting. (And if it helps narrow the question down: why do you think Sunset Sound System prove to be so long-lasting?)
I’ve been talking about this a lot lately cause I feel San Francisco is showing its size a bit more these days in comparison to the New York and LA markets. I’m saying this more in the so-called ‘underground’ scene and not so much the commercial side of things.
But I don’t think you can point to any one factor, but simply I believe it’s a combination of the city pandering to the tech industry, which in turn gutted many of the performance spaces. This drove the cost of living prices up and made it harder to survive as a creative. Back during the hippy movement of the ’60s, the sleaze disco era of the ’70s, the mod rocker era of the ’80s, and then acid house rave era of the ’90s, the city was affordable and bursting with excitement. You could afford to explore the thriving nightlife any night of the week by working just a basic day job. It’s a lot harder these days… and the new generation of San Franciscans are having a harder time making it here.
Don't Stay In 
Get on our guest list for news from 5 Mag and you'll never miss a thing. It's free and we don't sell your shit. 
That being said, SF still has its wild west soul, and there are amazing people here dedicated to making quality music events happen. There’s a burgeoning underground scene, and SF could very well be going through an evolution that I hope will bring back its glory days on a wider scale.
Sunset Sound System has persevered through our dedication to our community, this city, and our willingness to adapt. It has not been easy, but my biz partner and I are DJs who have never eased our passion for music and performing, so we are constantly meeting new people and evolving as well. We are not driven by profits or fame, but passion for underground dance music, its history, its art, and the community we’ve created around it. It’s also helped that we do mostly day-to-evening events and are accessible for many generations. But don’t get me wrong, ‘house music all night’ long is an ethos deep in my bones.
The Between the Beats documentary about the era came out last year and it’s streaming on Tubi, it was in development for I think a longer time span than the period it covered. In Chicago we have a long history of making documentaries about the scene and then complaining about them. You were in it, what did you think about the film?
I’m so happy to see the film get released, viewed, and appreciated by those who lived during that truly special time. I cherish that I grew up in that era, and was exposed to the Detroit & Chicago acid house sound that dominated many of the parties. This has had a huge impact on the music I play today. It’s given me a massive amount of respect for the roots of the global house/dance music heritage. As I alluded to before, this was a time when San Francisco was truly leading the way in the unification of a music movement across the US. The music community supported each other, it was vibrant, and undeniably electric. The beginnings were before my time, but I was still able to catch enough of that glory feeling and harness it into our events that still embody that ’90s ethos. I believe we are one of the few, if not the only crews that have consistently been operating without a break since. We definitely appreciated being included in a sort of “torch-passing” kind of way. Of course, there was no way to capture every contributing element, but it truly encapsulated that magical, raw, and fresh feeling of the time. There easily could be a part 2 to pick up on the many other story lines that played a part in making the whole city and Bay feel so choicely special.
So Justin Martin was apparently in attendance at your Sunset Sound System events back in the day. When do you recall formally meeting?
Who? Just kidding… Justin just magically appeared and somehow we were instant friends 🙂 Our history dates back to somewhere around 2000, when wild, unabashed nights were a common occurrence at The Top, a legendary DJ bar in the Lower Haight. Our friendship and collaborative creative endeavors have blossomed ever since.
I love the sound on Magic Bus — pure class, and purely utilitarian. These are made for DJs to play for people dancing, which is not always a given! What can you tell me about it?
Thank you! This is what I’m all about. People losing themselves in dancing to DJs who relish in the art of mixing songs to create a journey. Closing your eyes and becoming synergized by the overall experience. For me, it’s not about one song, it’s about the journey. These songs were created and inspired by all the late-night warehouse parties I’ve experienced. They are dance tracks but uniquely songs that are meant to be mixed, but equally carry a unique signature of rich texture and rhythm that I often embed into my DJ sets. They have a modern production, but are inspired by late nights dancing to acid house and ’90s rave tracks.
Do you feel like technology has been a net benefit or net negative for the art of DJing?
That’s an interesting question… I’m admittedly a bit of a purist and feel the art of learning to DJ with vinyl has created a more connected, body-centric relationship with the music. One that isn’t dominated by tons of information staring at you on a screen. You have to feel out every mix and trust your instincts. I bring this same mixing style when I play digitally. I truly appreciate musical experiences, in both the analog and digital realm, but it’s the organic approach where I feel the magic is at. Having too many options or metrics at your disposal can easily turn into a detractor rather than an enhancement.
5 Mag Issue 219
Out Now
VISIONS: Originally published in 5 Mag Issue #219 featuring Hieroglyphic Being, Sunset Sound System founder Galen, Z.I.P.P.O., Flurb and more. Become a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right now…
