Bass Is Loaded

By Pat Sherman

Joseph “Headshake” Maldonado’s love of electronic music began when he was 12 and would sneak out of the house late at night to hit raves and warehouse parties with older friends. Back then, he shook his head to the sounds of DJ Dieselboy, Cassius and The Prodigy.

More than a decade later, Maldonado’s still boppin’ his brain bucket to electro and bass-heavy beats as a ringleader of the local dubstep scene-energizing the El Dorado Cocktail Lounge’s Dub Dorado nights, held the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

“It’s a performance,” Maldonado says of his cranially animated sets. “The whole ‘Headshake’ thing is simply what I do. I basically get fu#king crazy, so that everyone can get crazy with me. I’m deeply connected with every single track I play.”

From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., Maldonado is joined by DJs Corey Biggs and Austin Speed to deliver the best of bass-heavy (up to eight additional booming bass cabinets are brought in for Dub Dorado nights), low-end dance music-from Kastle to the tribal house of Canblaster.

“The beat is really slow, to where you can really nod your head and get into it,” Maldonado says. “When you feel bass just roaring, it almost feels like it’s inside of you. It definitely can get people partying.”
planetheadshake.com, facebook.com/djheadshake, eldoradobar.com

Joseph Maldonado (a.k.a. DJ Headshake)
Age: 26
‘Hood: Golden Hill
Hubs: El Dorado, Voyeur, Kava Lounge, “crazy, outdoor desert parties”
First Car: 1999 Ford F-150 truck
Current Car: 2003 Nissan 350Z
Dream Car: Audi R8