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MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ASSJAMZ creators discuss inception, popularity
AMELIA ARVESEN
news@kansan.com
Some people throw money, some people backflip on stage, but most people just dance when they're at #ASSJAMZ.
"At this point, I don't know what to expect," Jan Marzette said.
Marzette, 24, and Cameron "Boats" Birdsall, 23, are the founders of the Lawrence-based 18-and-older dance party played to the tune of hip-hop music.
Marzette, who's from Lawrence, graduated in May with a graphic design degree and Birdsall, who's from Kansas City, Mo., graduated in 2013 with an English degree.
"We're dudes who like music that most other people like as well and we play it loud and the whole song and people like to dance to it," Marzette
said.
After a two month booty shaking break, they're hosting #ASSJAMZ on July 19 at The Granada with a "wear all white" theme.
Birdsall said the dance party was born accidentally on Cinco de Mayo in 2012. At the time, Birdsall and Marzelle worked as doormen at The Bottleneck. Their manager asked them to sub in for a DJ and invite friends, so Marzette tweeted to his followers and friends on May 2, 2012:
"Me and @boatss are DJing cinco de mayo at @thebottleneck on saturday. Prepare for all the ass-jams to be played 'ass"
"We said, 'we don't know how to DJ.'" Birdsall said. "And they told us, 'Just sit up there and play music and get all your friends to come and drink'"
So they did. Birdsall said they played
throwback songs from their iTunes library—artists such as 2 Chainz, Trey Songz and Nelly—and people loved it. He said the name #ASSJAMZ was just the name of a playlist.
Other than switching from iTunes to Spotify, Birdsall said only the size of the crowd has changed—it's grown to hundreds over two years.
Chipper Sloane, a musician, promoter and friend of the founders, said anything can happen when a venue is packed with 18- to 24-year-olds.
"We throw arguably the wildest party that Lawrence has ever seen, but in reality, that's just kind of something we do on the side," Sloane said.
Sloane has helped guest DJ in the past, and so has Rob Schulte, a Bottleneck booker and manager.
"The whole DJ side of it was sec-
KELSEY WEAVER/KANSAN
Cameron Birdsall (left) and Jon Marzette (right) sit behind downtown businesses near 8th and Massachusetts Street. Birdsall and Marzette began #ASSJAMZ in May 2012.
SEE JAMZ PAGE 15
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