Jeff Peters grew up going to raves in the early ’90s.
A few short years later, some friends told him about Burning Man, which was where a lot of the raver kids were congregating to. He really dug it. A friend of his built an EDM-blasting art car for the desert festival, which he called the “bounce car.”
“That sparked the love for the whole DJing aspect of music. I went full head-on from there,” says Peters, who DJs under the name Mr. Bounce Man. “We started with a pretty janky version. Every year we upgraded.”
The Bounce Car is still very much a thing, with multiple DJs (including him) continuing to create a massive desert party at Burning Man every year. They also play other gigs, like at Decompression in San Francisco recently, to thousands of EDM fans. Gigs in Santa Cruz are less frequent, but they do happen—they performed at the Santa Cruz Music Festival last year and will likely play next year.
“I’m trying to keep the music and vibe kind of bouncy. It’s creating an energy for people to follow,” Peters says.
When he’s not getting a massive dance party going on the bounce car, Mr. Bounce Man is doing solo gigs in more intimate spaces. The vibe is basically the same. It’s all about getting people bouncing. The music is fun, high energy and usually revolves around house, hip-hop, trap and whatever else the crowd is digging on.
“I’m a person that’s been dancing since 15 or 16,” Peters says. “It’s always been a thing for me. It’s kind of like full circle to be able to make people move constantly and enjoy life in that way.”
INFO: 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 479-1854.
