This is ‘The Spotlight.’ Many artists pass through D.C. on a weekly basis, but this column highlights one specific artist who happens to be playing in the district during the week so that you may join their journey in influencing the house music landscape.
It can be hard being a female DJ in the house music world, but that hasn’t stopped Morgan Tepper – better known by her alias DJ Lisa Frank – from quickly moving up through the community at large. As a vocal supporter of D.C.’s burgeoning electronica scene and one of the most dynamic DJs to take stage in the district, she is swiftly establishing herself as one of the driving forces in Washington’s underground music circles after cutting her teeth in clubs like U Street Music Hall, Flash, Heist, and NYC’s Verboten in addition to being featured at events like the yearly H Street Festival or last year’s Union BBQ.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152903663″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
With a penchant for excellent selections as a curator developed from osmosis via working at U Street Music Hall and spending time back-to-back with many of the world’s most renowned DJs, Tepper has also been credited with co-creating the successful semi-frequent party ROAM with DJs Chris Nitti and Sami Y. ROAM, a somewhat new venture for Tepper, celebrates local talent and the heyday of rave culture when people would meet at secret locales and dance until the break of dawn.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/163820790″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Furthering her relationship with the music, and her love for the community, she is also a very outspoken individual for the organization DanceSafe: a non-profit that provides education about safe recreational drug use within the dance music community. And, knowing her position within the community, Tepper works fervently to ensure that her audiences are in a safe space with positive vibes.
Her attitude, passion for the music, and constant state of routinely killing the game on the decks has earned DJ Lisa Frank a considerable amount of attention in Washington, D.C.’s scene and an insurmountable level of respect by her peers and other DJs from abroad. She’s definitely a DJ’s DJ, a master manipulator, and a total crowd pleaser through and through making her one of D.C.’s top talents to see.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/172199317″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
This week, you can see her at U Street Music Hall with Bil Todd, Refugee, and Posers on Saturday.