Issue 3

FALL 2023 ISSUE NO.3

Cave Rave Debt by Degree Dressing Up and Eating Down

Alternative Radio

ON THE FRONT COVER

Spotify Playlist

A playlist perfect for hitting the road!

CONTENTS

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Jasmine Ochoa skates, wearing one of her designs, at her hometown’s DIY skate park also known as the Orphinarium, in San Bruno, CA. Ochoa has been skating for many years and is now a member of the San Bruno skateboarding community.

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PHOTO BY LELANI XICOTENCATL

ON THE BACK COVER

Dressing Up and Eating Down

A look at styles on campus.

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PHOTO BY ZACKERY STEHR

Name Drops

Identity defined by name

Alternative Radio

A new generation hits the radio waves

PLAYLIST PHOTO

Glowing disco ball at the HydeFM radio office on the corner of 16th and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

PHOTO BY RYO KOJIMA

13 Cave Rave

Airbrush Dreams

Airbrush, a wearable art

An inside look at the underground scene

Debt by Degree

Is a degree worth the debt?

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Sage Russo (they/them), shows off their pronoun hair clip in a portrait taken at SF State’s Quad.

Russo has been a faculty lecturer in the Communication Studies department at SF State for 13 years.

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Broken TV with HydeFM painted over on the screen at the HydeFM radio office on the corner of 16th and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

PHOTO BY RYO KOJIMA

EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the third issue of Xpress Magazine! We are grateful for your ongoing support and enthusiasm for the stories we bring to you each semester. Your engagement fuels our passion for storytelling and drives us to explore diverse narratives that matter.

In this edition, we’re thrilled to showcase the talent and innovation f lourishing in the Bay Area. “Airbrush Dreams” unveils the journey of an up-and-coming airbrush artist, capturing the essence of creativity in our vibrant community. Explore the world of “Alternative Radio,” where an online station is fostering a close-knit community for emerging music artists, redef ining the landscape of auditory discovery.

Additionally, we dive into the thought-provoking narrative of “Debt by Degree,” questioning the value of a college education against the backdrop of student loans. Is the pursuit of a degree a worthwhile investment in today’s world? This story delves into the complexities and challenges students face in their academic journey.

Thank you for joining us on this exploration of diverse stories, perspectives, and talents. Your continued support is the heartbeat of our publication, and we look forward to bringing you more compelling content in the issues to come.

STAFF Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Diversity Editor Engagement Editor Copy Editor Photo Editor Multimedia Editor Co-Art Director Co-Art Director

Zackery Stehr Andrea Sto. Domingo Nadia Castro Daniela Perez David Ye Leilani Xicotencatl Tam Vu Alicia Montoya Ella Lerissa

Staff Writers

Amy Burke Bessette Andrea Jiménez David Chin Div Lukic Enrique García Faya Beeldstroo Giovanna Montoya Isabella Minnis Lydia Perez Sarah Louie Sydney Williams

Photographers

Andrew Fogel Colin Flynn Feven Mamo Neal Wong Ryosuke Kojima

– Zackery Stehr FALL 2023

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How to scan code: 1. Open Spotify 4. Scan code 3

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2. Tap search bar 5. Listen

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3. Tap camera 6. Enjoy!

Dressing Up and Eating Down Diversity and uniqueness of styles on campus.

Story and photography by Zackery Stehr Design by Alicia Montoya

Wearing a blue and red windbreaker jacket, white cropped tank top, blue jeans and red Adidas sneakers, Luna Fife poses for a portrait in front of SF State’s Humanities building.

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alking onto campus, you see a collage of different styles and aesthetics. Dark academia, indie sleaze, vintage chic, Y2K and various types of street styles — SF State has space for it all. Students take to the walkways like runway shows, each with a unique sense of self.

In the era of micro-influencers and trends, it’s hard to determine what is considered “in” or “out” of style.

Location, upbringing and pop culture can all play a part in one’s style. But here at SF State, there is no one dominant look. This collection of photos just scratches the surface of our student body’s diverse attire.

Professor Nancy Martin, who teaches pattern drafting, basic sewing and culture and historical costume, defines style as what is accepted in society, stemming from various aesthetics and innovations during that time. But at the same time, style can be extremely personal to a person’s identity.

“It’s a huge part of your identity,” said Martin. “It has to do with how you grow up, how your parents dressed you and then also how you are going into the world and deciding how you want to appear.”

Luna Fife (she/they) freshman, cinema major

What do clothes mean to you?

“Every day I wake up and I’m like, ‘Let me dress up my avatar based on how I feel.’ So it’s very on a whim — based on the vibe of the morning. It helps me express myself and feel myself.”

What inspires your style?

“I listen to a song and I’m like, ‘I want to portray how I feel about this song’.”

Is there a defined style here at SF State? If so, what do you think it is?

“A lot of the outfits are very eclectic and very much personalized to that person.”

What’s your favorite fashion item?

“Probably my shoes […] I’ve had them since seventh grade and they’re suede, and they’re kind of just a triedand-true pair of shoes that give me the ‘80s Bronx rapper-like Tribe Called Quest vibes, or like MC Hammer.”

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Leslie Torres (she/her) & Tristan Sanchez (they/he) sophomore(s), apparel design major

What do clothes mean to you?

Leslie: “Self-expression. I don’t really overthink it and I just think it’s a fun thing to add to yourself.”

Tristan: “It’s a form of self-expression […] I love fashion; I have a strong passion for it. So to me it’s fun, brings joy.”

What inspires your style?

Leslie: “I just go on Pinterest sometimes, or Tiktok.

I’m really into Latin creators — just going back to [my] culture in a way.”

Tristan: “Right now I’m very into New York chic and also indie sleaze[...] I’m not really set to one [aesthetic].”

Is there a defined style here at SF State? If so, what do you think it is?

Leslie: “I’ve always seen very Western boots, or like, very […] not goth, but all black. But [also] I just feel like everyone is so diverse here.”

Tristan: “There’s people who like to play around; the girls like to be creative and I like that. But I see a lot of minimal outfits, and it’s not anything bad.”

What’s your favorite fashion item?

Leslie: “I guess [...] this old Heaven vest.” [referring to Heaven by Marc Jacobs] Tristan: “My Dolce & Gabbana boxing boots. I’ve been eyeing boxing boots for so long and I was able to find these on Depop for only $175.”

From left to right, wearing a blue and black sweater vest by Marc Jacobs, black jeans and black Dr. Martens, Leslie Torres poses with friend Tristan Sanchez at SF State’s Garden of Remembrance.

Sanchez wore a black long sleeve, black sweat-shorts and Dolce & Gabbana boxer boots.

Ramzi Djebroun (he/him) junior, business administration major

What do clothes mean to you?

“Clothes are a way that we can communicate with people.

They are the symbols we attach ourselves to. I think clothes are things we take for granted.”

What inspires your style?

“I like the ‘70s, the ‘90s; I like a lot of older clothes. Sometimes the music I listen to changes the way I dress.”

Is there a defined style here at SF State? If so, what do you think it is?

“There’s a diaspora of fashion here. You get all walks of life, all different types of aesthetics.”

What’s your favorite fashion item?

“My shoes; I’ve had these since eighth grade. They’ve been through thick and thin.”

Wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and black Jordan sneakers, Ramzi Djebroun poses for a portrait at SF State’s koi pond. His mom gifted him those sneakers when he was in eighth grade.

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Amelia Brion-Reed (she/they) freshman, psychology major

What do clothes mean to you?

“They’re a way for me to express myself.”

What inspires your style?

“I usually go to the artists I listen to, like Beabadoobee or Laufey or Grentperez.”

Is there a defined style here at SF State?

If so, what do you think it is?

“Everyone’s very expressive with their styles,” said Brion-Reed “It’s a very open place for people to express themselves.”

What’s your favorite fashion item?

“I just got this shirt from my sister when I went home this weekend. It’s the Grentperez tour shirt that he’s on currently.”

ON THE LEFT

Wearing a gray long-sleeve under a Grentperez band shirt, brown trousers and black platform Converse, Amelia Brion-Reed poses for a portrait outside SF State’s Student Health Center.

ON THE BOTTOM

Wearing blue jeans, a white graphic T-shirt, white Adidas sneakers and a brown Carhartt jacket, Miko Alves poses for a portrait on SF State’s Quad. The jacket, given to her by her dad, is customized with iron-on patches and other images she cut out from old T-shirts.

Miko Alves (she/they)

senior, asian american studies major What do clothes mean to you?

“It’s a part of culture a lot of times, and I love [clothes]. It shows a person’s personality and who they are.”

What inspires your style?

“The people at school, honestly. There’s so many people with great style.”

Is there a defined style here at SF State?

If so, what do you think it is?

“No, I don’t think so. Everyone is just so unique here.”

What’s your favorite fashion item?

“My jacket today […] I’ve had it for a long time. It’s a hand-me-down from my father but I made it my own.”

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Name Drops Name creates a sense of self Story by: David Ye Photography by: Neal Wong Design by: Ella Lerissa

Astrid Kane, senior editor at the San Francisco Standard, is seen at his desk in San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 1, 2023. (Neal Wong/ Xpress Magazine)

T

his past summer, my mom wanted our family to get our passports renewed for a trip back to Hong Kong, my native country, next year. Filling out the form was easy enough; address, birth date, height — easy. But I had one issue: Should I put my Chinese name and my “American” name? Even after having spent 16 of my 21 living years in the Bay Area, I didn’t know if I should write down the name on my birth certificate or the one on my SF State student ID. Name changes happen for so many reasons. To name a few: marriage; divorce; adoption. But in recent times, a new cause for a name change has arisen: gender affirmation. However, that wish for affirmation is something that all people want.

For me, that desire came from spending most of my life with a Western name conjoined to my Chinese name, which I was given at birth. That ethnic incompatibility with my environment haunted me through middle school and until my junior year of high school when my parents went to the Alameda County Superior Court and declared a legal name change for me on my behalf.

It felt like a weight had fallen off my shoulders for about a week, and then life went on. But during the core of the pandemic, I repeated that name to myself in some attempt to recall the melancholy it brought — to cut through the Zoom lectures and their silence through unlit days.

When the university finally opened up to in-person classes, I said, in a class on cultural diversity in news media, that removing my Chinese name felt like having lost a limb. But did I deserve to say that when it was more of an amputation than a dismemberment?

For Alex Gómez, a second-year BECA major who started undergoing hormone replacement therapy five months ago, a name change was just one step in that journey of self-actualization. Gómez started “socially transitioning,” or asking people to call them Alex instead of their birth name, when they were 13.

The transition was initially limited to Gómez’s outer friends and classmates, but their aunt, who they lived with at the time, wasn’t so empathetic when Gómez told them, and neither was the middle school they attended.

“I was always sending up one of my friends to go correct [the substitute teacher] before anything happened,” Gómez said. “After a certain point, it started getting to where I was going up to the sub myself, but definitely at first I was like, ‘I’m not going to have that conversation.’”

Although Gómez’s friends and some of their family support their identity, they’re still having a hard time trying to get their name finalized on legal documents.

“The type of people who work at the DMV — it’s always older people, so it was definitely very challenging,” Gómez said. “And then even more so when it came to Social Security. The thing with Social Security is they still gender you on there and there’s no X marker, which I wanted to have, so I just had to settle for male.”

That exposure to one’s previous name can be dangerous, according to Jen Reck, an assistant professor in SF State’s sociology and sexuality studies

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HE my

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department. However, not everyone has the same relationship with their “dead name” — the name a transgender person is identified with before their transition.

“For someone to use that name to refer to them is incredibly traumatic and painful for a lot of people because it kind of indicates an erasure of who they actually are and who they’re asking to be seen as,” Reck said.

When I spoke with Francis Wong, an Asian American studies professor at SF State whose class on Chinese American identities I had taken two years ago, I felt reassured about my name change. After all, he did say that’s just one way some people survive in society. I wanted to have a name that wouldn’t mark me for a thousand bad jokes, and that’s what I got. But was to fit in really what I wanted?

“Anything that’s not familiar to people, they butcher. In Westerndominated society [...] if [people] can’t pronounce your name, they can’t remember your name. And if they can’t remember your name, they can’t remember you,” Wong said.

“And so you can see how that would play out in business and politics and at school [...] let’s say you’re the only Chinese person in the class and instead of them remembering you for who you are, they’ll just remember that Chinese person […] you actually have no identity,” Wong continued.

Astrid Kane, a senior editor at the San Francisco Standard, changed their name this past February. During the peak of the pandemic, Kane pondered their gender identity; in December 2020, Kane made it “Facebook official,” changing their account pronouns to they/them and the gender marker to X. Around Labor Day in 2021, Kane started telling people that they would prefer to be called Astrid. Despite those successes, they found 2022 to be a stream of name-change tedium — especially when it came to travel plans.

“I really just want to make this easy on myself because going through TSA

SF State student Alex Gomez poses for a portrait in San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 1, 2023. (Neal Wong/Xpress Magazine)

is already kind of a pain,” Kane continued. “My three primary forms of ID have different gender markers.”

One of Kane’s biggest struggles was grappling with their byline, which their previous name had occupied for many years. Although Kane was comfortable with it because they’d been using it for so long already, they felt a disjunction between their professional and social personalities.

“The name that I wrote under for many years was my birth name: Peter Lawrence Kane. It had a good cadence to it,” Kane said.

“At first I wanted to change it to Peter-Astrid because it maintains that cadence and has a non-binary quality of a male name and a female name anchored together with a hyphen. People [kept] defaulting to Pete [...] but after a while, I’m like, ‘I want to be Astrid.’”

Kane also had to deal with feeling guilty because of their name’s attachment to their ancestry.

“My given first name was my grandfather’s name and my given middle name is my father’s name,” Kane said. “There’s a mild sense of betrayal that I dumped it and went with other stuff, but I still got the last name.”

Like Kane, Gómez decided to keep some of their family in their name when they changed it.

“When I did get the chance to legally change it, I added a middle name, which is Ulises, to keep a little bit of Spanish in there. I don’t want to just completely cut off my name from being related to my culture at all,” Gómez said.

Similarly, Amatullah Zapanta-Mir, a freshman working on starting an AAPI queer club on campus, has a complicated relationship with her name.

It represents their mixed heritage — but they wouldn’t change it.

She sometimes goes by Tala because that name represents their Filipino side; it means “star” or “goddess of stars” in Tagalog [17]. But Amatullah, which is Pakistani, translates to “servant of God”: a meaning they didn’t necessarily agree with.

“I resented the name very heavily [...] because of its religious meaning, and I didn’t feel connected to the religion,” Zapanta-Mir said.

Eventually, she learned to become comfortable with her name and gave

it the meaning that she wanted.

“As I got older and started shaping and defining my own gender and my own experiences and learning to really love my cultures, then that opened a gateway to me learning how to redefine my name as my own,” Zapanta-Mir said. “Because you can’t choose your name when you’re born.”

Kane also came to terms with their name change — they realized they couldn’t compromise with the world’s incompatibility with their identity, and the legalities and social politics involved. They could only accommodate that lack of understanding.

“I remember being 25 and being like [...] ‘I’m not a boy and I want to change my name, please do that for me now’ — it was beyond inconceivable, and now it’s in the rearview mirror. I always have to remember what once felt impossible is now every day,” Kane said.

“You’re still inhabiting the same body in the same world, but the way things quickly become mundane is what erodes the fear,” Kane continued.

“I could at some point tell myself there is a future in which I and everybody I know will be beyond the point of discomfort or unfamiliarity, and it’ll just be my name.”

When I got my name changed all those years ago, I felt “normal” for about a week, and then — nothing. Then came guilt for knowing my parents paid $450 for me to cast aside my heritage, and for not feeling guilty enough.

Every name carries an identity, but an identity isn’t just a name — or a gender or an ethnicity. To my family, my name may still be 吐德權 — “insurmountable leaf.” In my daily life and on paper, I may be just David Ye. But I’m more than just my name. And my name is — should be — more than a testament to trauma. I will take that leaf and make it a reminder of my growth, endurance and potential.

No shame in looking back — but we’re indebted to our past selves to keep moving forward.

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ALTERNATIVE RADIO HydeFM brings exposure to the SF music scene.

Story by Div Lukic Photography by Ryo Kojima Design by Alicia Montoya

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n a baby blue jumpsuit and orange beanie, Denis Makhlin is dressed as a sailor from Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” He grabs the microphone and reiterates the name of the DJ to the clowns, nuns, zombies and vampires who packed themselves into the two-car garage-sized warehouse for HydeFM’s Halloween party. “Jooosh Cheeeooon!”

Cheon, owner of Dark Entries Records, was dressed in the bulbous teased wig, tight pink sweater vest and caterpillar mustache of Freddie Mercury from Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” music video, as he played a drum and bass mix of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” to the delight of all the costumed partygoers. The other DJs of the night were Mishka, dressed as a medieval knight, and Angela Ruins, dressed as Little Red Riding Hood — both resident DJs at HydeFM. HydeFM is a San Francisco community-based multi-genre online radio station that was started in 2019 by Denis Makhlin and Luis Castillo.

Over the last few years, they’ve grown to over 2,500 weekly listeners and currently feature 29 resident DJs, with dozens of guest DJs coming through every week.

Part of the motivation behind the origin of HydeFM was to create a space where artists felt welcomed and encouraged no matter how new they were to the game. Through their weekly programming and live events at bars, clubs and warehouses, HydeFM has grown from a radio show hosted in a college dorm by two friends to a thriving local music scene.

“The community in San Francisco is like no other. People can say, ‘Oh, it’s just these two guys who started it,’ but HydeFM has become so much bigger than us,” said Makhlin. “It’s everyone that’s helped us, whether it be volunteering and helping us make videos, or every single guest that plays. All the residents — they are the ones who made it bigger than what it originally was.”

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Makhlin was introduced to his love of radio through his sister, a former DJ at KXLU, Loyola Marymount University’s radio station. When he was in high school, she’d tell him to make a playlist and bring him into the station to play it live on air. Makhlin loved the station’s freeform curation policy, which encouraged DJs to play whatever sort of music they were into. For Makhlin, these visits to KXLU cemented the idea he was a born radioman; so focused on working in the industry, he only applied to colleges with radio stations.

“She let me play some music and we talked on the mic and I just fell in love with it. When I was looking for schools I wanted to go to, I was really just basing it off of what radio stations they had instead of anything else,” Makhlin said.

After getting waitlisted and denied from all of his top choices, Makhlin found himself knocking on the doors of SF State’s very own KSFS Radio.

He entered SF State with an undeclared major and switched several times before landing on visual communication and design, unaware that participation in the school radio is contingent on your major. To his dismay, the process of getting on the airwaves was much more restrictive than he had hoped. Only Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts majors are allowed to work in KSFS, and there are several prerequisite classes they must take before they can actually work with live programming.

“The vibe was awful honestly. It wasn’t welcoming and I don’t like that. Music can have a very judgmental face […] it needs to be more welcoming,” Makhlin said.

After not having any luck at KSFS, Makhlin reached out to several other community stations in hopes of getting involved but was met with either rejection or radio silence. A combination of being off put by how inhospitable some facets of the music industry were and the ever-present burning passion for radio inspired Makhlin to start his own online community radio station

HydeFM turntables and DJ set at the HydeFM office at the corner of 16th Avenue and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

Christopher Alam, a resident DJ at HydeFM, performing a DJ set at HydeFM office at the corner of 16th Avenue and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

with Luis Castillo, a friend he met working at the since-closed Firepie Pizza.

Makhlin and Castillo quickly progressed beyond just coworkers and instantly bonded over their love of artists such as Animal Collective and John Moss, as well as their shared experience of organizing and running concerts in high school.

The two also moved to San Francisco from Southern California and bonded over relocating to and from the same place.

BUILDING THE DREAM Makhlin brought the concept of HydeFM to Castillo, and the two got to work.

“I came to Luis with the idea cause I’m like, ‘This is the person I want to do this with.’” said Makhlin. “We both just formed this love together for it.”

HydeFM’s first show was in April 2019; it was broadcast from Castillo’s dorm room at the Academy of Art University and racked up a whopping 14 listeners. Whenever resident assistants would knock on the door and tell them to be quiet, Castillo would step out and remind them

that as a music production major, he was simply doing his homework.

After two months of running HydeFM shows out of either Castillo’s dorm or Makhlin’s room at his mom’s house, the pair moved into an apartment in Daly City in December 2021, which served as the HydeFM headquarters until moving into their current location: a small, densely decorated studio space in a renovated bank in the Mission District.

Up until this point, the only equipment HydeFM had was a pair of cheap turntables and a simple DJ controller. The big move also coincided with another opportunity presented to Makhlin through Anna Rulloda, a previous DJ at KCPR, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s radio station.

Rulloda helped enroll HydeFM in the fiscal sponsorship Intersection for the Arts, which meant that every dollar they made from shows or donations would be matched by large Bay Areabased companies. HydeFM makes money from ticket sales of live shows and online donations from listeners, but all of the money goes back to the artists or overhead costs. The matching program meant that they could compensate their artists and also save up for better equipment.

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CREATING COMMUNITY Currently, HydeFM has 29 resident DJs that play an eclectic array of bouncing beats, and four to five days of programming per week. Part of HydeFM’s mission is to make the Bay Area music scene more approachable and accessible.

“I always compare it to going to a record store.

You sometimes feel really intimidated because you see a lot of vinyl-heads and the owner’s kind of like, ‘Whatever.’ And you’re just kind of like, ‘I don’t want to be pulling some random records.’

We just have basically the opposite motto at HydeFM where we welcome all music. And even if you don’t know how to DJ, we still want you to come and play music on your phone or your laptop.” Makhlin said.

Mustafa Popal is one of the two hosts of Tribe Jazz, a monthly show on HydeFM, and he’s been DJing since 2000. He recognized the power and control that a DJ has with their audience and wanted to know what it’d be like on the other side of the turntables. Although the show is called Tribe Jazz, Popal’s definition of jazz is very nontraditional, which lines up well with HydeFM’s eclectic curation policy.

“Our understanding of jazz is very flexible.

We hear jazz both as a ‘genre’ but [also as] an attitude, a philosophy, an exercise in different sounds — things that aren’t traditionally considered jazz, but the ethos of jazz, the attitude of jazz, the experiment of jazz, the risk-taking of jazz,” said Popal.

As HydeFM grew, Makhlin and Castillo realized that running the radio shows after 14-hour work days was unsustainable. They reached out on social media for volunteers and were met with 11

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a surprising number of applications. Despite not being paid work, volunteering at HydeFM is a great way to become familiar with the local music scene and immerse yourself in the community.

Jabril Rice, HydeFM’s newest volunteer, recently moved to San Francisco from North Carolina and wanted to ingratiate himself in the local scene.

“Music has always been

a big part of my life and I was looking for a community that would continue to build that...”

“Music has always been a big part of my life and I was looking for a community that would continue to build that, and [HydeFM] just sounded like the perfect opportunity for me to contribute to a music community, but also [to] create a sort of family,” Rice said.

Comparing San Francisco’s music scene to that of North Carolina and his hometown in Ohio, Rice appreciates the experimental quality of musicians in San Francisco.

“Every weekend I hear something completely different than I heard the night before, and I think that’s the most exciting as a musician,” said Rice. “It inspires me creatively and it inspires me to branch out with what I’m DJing, but it’s also just like fun and nice to see people so passionate about whatever type of genre or type of music that they’re doing.”

GAINING EXPOSURE For artists in the Bay Area, HydeFM can be a stepping stone for the next moves in their careers. Several DJs from the up-and-coming crew Vitamin1000 even played their first sets on HydeFM. Vertigo is one such artist who got her start at HydeFM, and she’s now playing some of the largest nightclubs in the city. There is a degree of prestige, no matter how local, that is affiliated with playing a set on HydeFM. For new artists, getting these few crumbs of clout can be instrumental in furthering their careers.

Radio play is obviously beneficial for an artist’s exposure and popularity, but HydeFM offers more than just that to its residents. The kindred spirits that gather under the pink lights of the studio provide a sense of community that, to some residents, DJs are more valuable than financial or commercial advancement.

“I’m not looking for [HydeFM] to give me something. That creates kind of an exchange relationship, a capitalist relationship,” Popal said.

“Just the ability to be able to share music and build community, like meeting [Earl Biggers, the other half of Tribe Jazz]. That’s what I was excited about: just being able to share sound and then build a community of like-minded folks that you can fuck with.”

Christopher Alam, who hosts the show Taqsim Taxi under the DJ name Hakim every month before Tribe Jazz’s set, shares Popal’s value of the camaraderie that HydeFM provides.

“Dude, the community is great. My brothers at Tribe Jazz, we come here, we drink beer, we play music, it’s a good time,” Alam said. “Finding

new music, finding new people, going to cool parties, it’s a very nice community resource.”

For new artists who are trying to break out onto the scene, this sense of community can alleviate some of the nerves that come with trying to market yourself. Trying to make a name for yourself in a scene can be hard enough — so why do it alone?

“When I came [to San Francisco], I was really reluctant to even try to do music because it’s kind of scary […] When we started this and people started coming on, it’s a way for us to keep it so casual that you don’t have to really overthink it,” said Castillo. “You don’t have to be scared.

It’s just a place for you to start whatever journey you’re on in music.”

In addition to the benefits of radio play, the live shows that HydeFM has organized at bars, clubs and warehouses have helped bring the community together in a much more tangible way. Since Makhlin and Castillo both have experience putting on shows in high school, it was a natural decision to have live shows in addition to radio programming.

REKINDLING THE SF MUSIC SCENE Part of HydeFM’s mission is to destroy the notion that San Francisco’s music scene can’t go toe-to-toe with those of other major cities, such as Los Angeles’ or New York’s. The Bay Area’s era of ‘90s rave culture has long faded, and Makhlin feels that San Francisco’s music scene hasn’t gotten its proper credit since those bygone days. Packing out warehouses like they did this Halloween is the most effective way to demonstrate to the world that San Francisco’s music scene is alive and well. “[San Francisco] is never on the same pedestal as other major cities in terms of arts and culture.

It used to be but not as much anymore. Having that here and having this living example of the arts and culture in the Bay Area — it feels amazing for sure,” said Makhlin. “It’s really rewarding to just sit in the studio and watch people meet each other for the first time.”

“Having this livng

example of the arts and culture in the Bay Area... feels amazing” Collectives, crews and communities such as HydeFM that have popped up over the last few years are helping to change that narrative and put the spotlight back on San Francisco.

“I think that we are taking a step forward in terms of establishing San Francisco as another hub for music and art, because I think at some point, maybe it wasn’t as lively and it wasn’t as thriving. So I’m happy that now you see all these different collectives and different promoters and different shows coming up,” said Castillo.

“People wanna come and stop in San Francisco and they wanna make sure that they come here on their tour or when they’re DJing, you know. We get a lot of people that wanna come back to the city and that’s such a good feeling.”

Mishka, a DJ at HydeFM, performs her DJ set at a venue in San Francisco, California.

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Mustafa Popal and Earl Biggers of Tribe Jazz, a San Francisco-based duo presenting rooted sounds across the musical spectrum, pose for a portrait at the HydeFM office at the corner of 16th Avenue and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

Denis Makhlin, co-founder of HydeFM, poses for a portrait at the HydeFM office at the corner of 16th Avenue and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.

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Airbrushed Dreams Nostalgia thrives through wearable art.

Photography by Leilani Xicotencatl Design by Alicia Montoya

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Jasmine Ochoa airbrushes a random design onto a white T-shirt in her family home bedroom in San Bruno, CA. Although her expertise is airbrushing her own ideas, Ochoa’s business consists of satisfying custom ideas from her clients. She has come a long way from her very first $20 order — now having the confidence to provide live airbrushing designs at pop-up events all around the Bay Area.

Jasmine Ochoa, known professionally as Love Angel “Gata,” poses for a portrait, surrounded by some of her favorite pieces of work and material inside her family home bedroom. Ochoa launched her small business at the beginning of 2022 while completing her general education at SF State. Since then, Ochoa left school to fully pursue her business. Inspired by the ‘80s and ‘90s when airbrushing was popular, she has embraced her Chicana background and her love for Sanrio characters and created her own style of art.

A mix of designs airbrushed by Jasmine Ochoa at a pop-up event in Oakland, CA, on Oct. 13, 2023. Ochoa prepares a suitcase full of different airbrushed designs. She sells T-shirts, shorts, jeans and so much more. “After months of trial and error and troubleshooting, now in an hour, I can get through multiple different shirts and it doesn’t take me nearly as long,” said Ochoa after reflecting on her growth from the beginning of her airbrush journey to now.

Jasmine Ochoa sets up her airbrushed t-shirts at a pop-up event in Oakland, CA, on Oct. 13, 2023. Ochoa has been part of multiple pop-up events around the Bay Area, but this specific event was a collaboration between many creatives from around the Bay. The pop-up event was organized by GAG! Magazine, an art publication created in 2022, and Skateboarding at UCB, a skateboarding organization founded in 2021 by students at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Jasmine Ochoa sets up her airbrushed apparel on racks at a pop-up event at The New Farm in San Francisco on Nov. 11, 2023. The New Farm was founded in 2019 by Andrew Pollack, the president of the Green City Project. It is a free space which runs solely on donations, where artists and creators come together. Ochoa was at the event along with 14 other vendors and seven bands.

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Youssef performing as the opening DJ of the night at the Cave Rave. Undisclosed Location, San Francisco, CA October 28, 2023. (Colin Flynn/ Golden Gate Xpress)

Cave Rave Uncovering the lively scenes that thrive beneath the surface Story by: Giovanna Montoya Photography by: Colin Flynn and Andrew Fogel Design by: Ella Lerissa

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D

ensely packed together, a crowd of rave-goers surrounds a makeshift DJ booth constructed out of a single steel barricade and two strips of caution tape. Colorful strobes pierce through the haze emitting from a fog machine. A psychedelic design is projected on the ceiling, illuminating the graffiti-ridden concrete walls encompassing the event.

Situated at the end of a seemingly endless staircase and a dirt trail surrounded by trees, the abandoned military structure is perfectly secluded within the San Francisco cliffs. The remote location makes it an ideal spot for the initial secrecy of a rave.

Dressed in their Halloween costumes, hundreds of people set out to make the trek to the evening’s anticipated event. With each step up toward the faint booming bass of the speaker, attendees can feel their feet sinking into the sand.

Despite the existence of events and festivals such as EDC, Outside Lands and Rolling Loud, “underground” rave culture has significantly declined since the early 2000s, as reported by Tammy L. Anderson in her Sociological Forum Journal. This has been measured by the prevalent decrease in the number of such events, as well as event attendance. Cave Rave was created to reinforce the authentic rave culture that used to exist in San Francisco.

The event thrown by Cave Rave Entertainment on Oct. 28 was created by an apparel design and merchandising student at SF State. Cave Rave Ent. is a combination rave-clothing brand. The inspiration to merge a clothing brand with a rave came from their combined love for music and clothing. The proceeds from the apparel are reintegrated into funding for the “cave raves” to keep them admission-free.

Due to the legality of the unpermitted events, the student will be referred to by their Instagram handle @caverave.ent throughout the story for the purpose of anonymity and source protection.

Cave Rave Ent. pulls inspiration from the past rave culture in San Francisco, as well as that of the United Kingdom and Russia during the ‘90s. The vision behind the brand emphasizes the importance of the overall rave experience. From a fog machine to lasers and the limited color palette of lighting for a specific ‘darker aesthetic,’ the audience’s energy stems from the environment provided.

“It started out because the events that I wanted to see and the energy I wanted to see in them wasn’t there in San Francisco, and so I wanted to bring that somehow,” said @caverave.ent. “I’ve been to a couple of good events, don’t get me wrong — but it’s very rare, or they’re charging crazy money to get in.”

A large crowd dances during the cave rave near the beach on Saturday, Oct. 28th, 2023. (Andrew Fogel/Xpress Magazine)

Cave Rave attendee posing just outside the venue. Undisclosed Location, San Francisco, CA October 28, 2023. (Colin Flynn/ Golden Gate Xpress)

Gia Guzman-Hornback, a second-year liberal arts major at SF State, heard about cave raves through a friend who sent her a screenshot of the flyer they had posted to the instagram story. What intrigued her most about the event was the location and being able to celebrate Halloween with her other schoolmates.

“It was really cute, you know, you had to take a little hike to get up to the party, it was awesome,” said Guzman-Hornback. “I thought it was organized really well [...] I hope they have another one.”

After attending a couple of pre-Halloween weekend parties, Finnley Lawler, a second-year visual communication design major at SF State, headed over to the Cave Rave event with some friends. Dressed as a chef, Lawler made his way to the front of the crowd, jumping and dancing around to the beat of the music.

“I really like dancing, but I don’t like dancing to club music,” said Lawler.

“Techno [music] and rave [events are] like, I love that […] and also kind of, like, the mosh-type energy vibe.”

Kotaro Kajinishi, who goes by KJ, was one of the two headlining DJs of the evening. Originally born and raised in Japan, KJ transferred to SF State about one year ago, and is a third-year marketing major at SF State.

His inspiration to start DJing originally came from his friends in Japan.

There are many similarities and differences between the rave scenes in Japan and the U.S., but one of the reasons why KJ really enjoys playing his music in America is the enthusiasm from the crowds.

“At the last [Cave Rave], [...] I played [a remix of] Skrillex with the Kendrick Lamar ‘Humble’ song, and everyone’s jumping and I could see someone [crowd-surfing],” said Kajinishi. “I was like, oh, ‘This is America.’

Love it.”

The other DJ who played alongside Kajinishi was Youssef Elseifi, who goes FALL 2023

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A crowd dances during DJ Youssef’s set at the cave rave on Saturday, Oct. 28th, 2023.

(Andrew Fogel/Xpress Magazine)

by the stage name Tobë. Elseifi is a fourth-year electrical engineering and computer science major at UC Berkeley. He started DJing about 10 months ago and is already under management and performing at festivals. Like KJ, his favorite part about playing for an audience is the energy he receives from the crowd.

Unlike his normal events, Elseifi volunteered to play his sets at the Cave Rave. He admired the genuine motivations behind Cave Rave Ent., which embodies the authentic underground experience. “[@caverave.ent] definitely fostered the PLUR environment,” said Elseifi.

“Music is vibes. That’s why I think I had the most fun, because there was no restrictions on what I could play.”

PLUR was first introduced as the defining mantra of the early rave movement. Each letter in the acronym represents the four pillars of raving: Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. Each of these guiding principles expresses the primary ethos and cordiality within the underground community.

“There’s a ton of event throwers here in Berkeley that try to do the same thing [@caverave.ent] did and they suck because they’re not genuine,” said Elseifi. “They’re [all] trying to make money off of it, which is the wrong approach.”

The adventurous undertone to these sorts of unsanctioned events is a big reason as to why people enjoy them so much. Hadil Caldera Florez, a thirdyear transfer student at SF State, emphasized the spontaneity in attending the underground scene. Correspondingly to Guzman-Hornback, her favorite part of the rave was the location.

“My favorite part would be just walking into the cave because I didn’t know [it] even existed,” said Caldera Florez. “I think it’s a very interesting and spontaneous adventure.”

The creator of Cave Rave Ent. dabs ink on a shirt while making merch in his house in San Francisco on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.

(Andrew Fogel/Xpress Magazine)

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Debt by Degree Canceled student loan forgiveness and tuition hikes add to the stress of getting a degree Story by: Andrea Sto. Domingo Design by: Ella Lerissa

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million people are in student loan debt — and the number continues to rise. In June of 2023 , in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court denied the Biden administration’s student debt loan forgiveness plan, leaving borrowers, including some of the SF State community, stuck with their debt.

With the high cost of living in San Francisco and the newly-approved 5% tuition increase by the California State University Board of Trustees, SF State students are more than likely to take out student and other types of loans in the upcoming years. Student loans don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. At what cost is it worth it to get a degree anymore if it means taking on the debt?

Higher Education At a Cost For many students, including SF State alumna Tenaya Tollner-Silva, obtaining a four-year degree was always a goal despite the financials.

“So, my parents — they both also took loans out to go to school, and they were definitely pushing towards me going and getting a fouryear degree,” Tollner-Silva said. “It was kind of something I knew I wanted to do as well. The conversation wasn’t ‘Do you want to still do this, even if you have to take loans out?’ It was ‘You’re gonna go to a four-year, but we can’t afford it so you’ll be taking loans out.’”

The supposed affordability of a CSU is what brought most students like Jacob Rivas, a broadcast and electronic communication arts major, and Mars Navarro, a studio art major, into getting their degrees.

“I knew that I wanted to go to a Cal State no matter what, because I would get a little bit better financial help,” Rivas said. “‘I [thought] I’m definitely going to Cal State because it’s just cheaper than if I were to go to a [University of California campus].”

“The fact that when I applied, tuition was an average of $4,000 — it was what drew me to the school a lot more,” Navarro said.

According to the Education Data Initiative’s study on student loan debt statistics, “The average federal student loan debt balance is $37,718, while the total average balance (including private loan debt) may be as high as $40,499.”

While the tuition fee for seven units or greater is the same whether a student lives on or off campus, starting Fall 2024, the cost will increase by 5% per year for the next five years. The fee increase will affect many students, including Navarro. “[Hearing about the tuition hike] wasn’t as bad at first, simply because I knew that I wasn’t going to be there [at SF State] for that much longer,” Navarro said. “But [...] $500 extra per semester — that’s still a pretty good amount that I could be putting into other, more important, things, like if I’m going to be applying for a graduate program. “Just thinking about that made me realize that wasn’t very fair to students who have to work to support themselves, not just for financial aid students.

Post-graduation Life

in San Francisco post-graduation. Tollner-Silva moved back home to Sacramento after graduating in 2020 because the cost of living in San Francisco was not feasible.

“Eventually, I would love to use my degree,” Tollner-Silva said. “But it’s hard when you have a creative degree. I’ve moved out of the Bay Area just for the sake of being able to afford to live. And when you’re not in a major city, those opportunities are lower and lower.”

The cost of tuition is just a portion of the cost of living in San Francisco for SF State students. With the added burden of student loan debt, Rivas does not see himself staying post-graduation.

“I think I’d probably go back home to [Los Angeles]. Living in SF is already expensive,” Rivas said. “That is my goal in life, literally, because [debt is] honestly kind of a life sentence [...] I’m gonna start pushing in a lot of money into the loans and paying it back.”

According to a Pew Research Center study on student loan debt, “College graduates ages 25 to 39 with loans are more likely than graduates without loans to say they are either finding it difficult to get by financially.” Student loan debt can be a lifelong commitment and determine what comes next for their future.

“Student loan debt is going to prevent a whole generation of people from owning homes, from having good credit,” said SF State psychology professor Zena Mello, who specializes in researching socioeconomics. “I think it’s capitalism at its worst, honestly. I think it has really huge impacts on student life.”

“It’s like — okay, you did everything you could to go to college, and now you’re a college graduate,” Mello continued. “And that should get you into the [ job] playing field, but it doesn’t, because now you have this debt. So it’s like […] an anchor on your ankle, it’s something else keeping you down.”

However, students can look into refinancing their loans, which can decrease both the principal payment cost and interest fee.

Student Loans Are Common but Taboo SF State provides resources for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid but does not openly offer in-person courses regarding student loans. In order to receive individual help, students can either walk into the One Stop center in the Student Services Building on campus, or schedule an appointment with the Office of Student Financial Aid online or over the phone. “[Counselors] always talk about just financial aid, but they don’t really talk about the loans,” said Rivas. “I think that’s a conversation that needs to be had every single time we talk about financial aid. So many people are in debt.”

Most students enter their college years between the ages of 17 and 18.

Having to make an important financial decision at that age can mislead students about the realities of taking on debt.

“For someone who’s under the age of 24, there should be a mandatory course that they have to take in order to take out loans,” Tollner-Silva said.

“You’re just not focused on the bigger picture, you’re more willing to take risks — potentially [taking] up to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the schools they go to and how long they’re in school [...] I really felt like I was still a child then.”

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