Before he was a teacher at Amador, Shawn Weber spent a considerable portion of his life in San Francisco from 1994 to 2005. During this time, Weber’s friends introduced him to a new hobby of DJing.

“I started DJing roughly from the years of 2003 to 2006,” said Weber. “A couple of those years in San Francisco, I DJed in smaller clubs and bars, mostly because I knew a lot of fellow DJs. They were friends of mine and they basically got me into it. It was mostly through DJing vinyl. It was downtempo music and early-90s hip-hop. I still have many of those records, and I still have my turntables.”

Although he still has his DJ equipment with him, Weber does not find himself spinning records very often anymore. 

“Recently I guess I haven’t had time to DJ,” said Weber. “Once in a while, I’ll throw on a record here and there, but I don’t really mix them anymore. I haven’t played out live as an actual DJ since 2006. It’s been a while.”

In 2006, Weber moved out of San Francisco to Oakland. It was partly because of this that Weber decided to leave the turntables behind.

“When I moved to Oakland, where I’ve been ever since, I lost the connections,” said Weber. “Lots of my friends stayed in San Francisco, and some of them are still there. Others moved far away from the city. When you’re in a new city, it’s hard to get into a scene and establish those connections. I was fortunate enough to know people who DJ in San Francisco.”

Currently a teacher at Amador, Weber rarely speaks about his former DJ-ing days. Because of this, his students are surprised by the fact that he used to be an entertainer.

“Finding out he was a DJ was definitely a surprise to me,” said Sam Montoya (‘23). “Mr. Weber’s a really cool dude. He also has great taste in music, and I always wondered where he got that from, so the fact that he was a DJ makes lots of sense. I do wish I could have seen him being a DJ since I only know him as a teacher, and it would be really fun to see him doing other things.”

Although it was a short-lived experience, Weber learned valuable lessons from DJing in San Francisco.

“Probably the most valuable lesson I learned was that if you have a passion for something, it’s really easy to achieve success,” said Weber. “ It’s a lot easier than something you’re not as headstrong about. Performing, whether you are a DJ or other musician, can be very nerve-racking. That was tough to overcome, but if it’s something you really like to do and practice doing, it becomes easier and it’s something you enjoy.”