Mixtape returns with Pride party
From a chance 2008 dance floor meeting at legendary bar DC9 to the Pride Party in 2024 at the 9:30 Club, gay DJs Shea van Horn and Matt Bailer have spun together for more than a dozen years.
As the D.C. nightlife scene has changed, their partnership has endured under the moniker of Mixtape. Mixtape started in 2008 soon after the two met each other spinning at DC9. “We had so much fun playing their mix of music for folks, we decided to start a monthly party together,” they said.
Four months later, they hosted their first Mixtape party at the Ethiopian restaurant Dahlak in Adams Morgan. From there, over the next decade, the party grew.
They held Mixtape across the city at diverse venues: the Warehouse Theater, DC9, EFN Lounge, the Rock and Roll Hotel, Black Cat, Howard Theatre, U Street Music Hall, and ultimately the 9:30 Club.
