Meet Motown On Mondays: The Party That Turned Mondays Into Magic
Motown On Mondays (MOM) is a Motown-inspired party series that has been invited to and touched down in over 50 cities worldwide, celebrating Motown classics, remixes, covers, and close musical relatives. MOM creates a unique vibe, bringing together DJs, creatives, musicians, and music lovers to dance, sing, and connect in inclusive, welcoming spaces.
MOM was started as a weekly party in SF in 2009 and 16 years later is still seeing lines down the block to get in every Monday in its hometown. As of 2024, 7 MOM chapters have reached or surpassed the decade mark of hosting weekly events and new chapters/cities continue to join the family.
Our Marketing Coordinator, Ava, hopped on the phone to chat with Donovan aka Don Gordo, founder of MOM, about the origins, influences, and community behind Motown on Mondays. Here’s what he shared during the call.
William Stokes will be joining MOM at MINTED SF for the DJ set
Obrayan Calderon will be joining MOM at MINTED SF on the trombone
About motown on mondays
What’s the origin story of your crew? How did you come together? Who were the founding members? What inspired your name?
Donovan: I started by myself. I had been DJing for 15 years at that point and had kind of gotten away a bit from my original reason for getting into DJing, which was just for the love and the music. I was trying to play bigger clubs and chasing big paychecks a bit. And I just kind of found at that point – at 15 years – I started to kind of fall out of love with that scene of DJing, that type of DJing.
It’d gotten old and I wanted to reconnect with music I listened to growing up as a kid. So I thought that on a Monday that I’d be able to do that – just connect with the music and create a space for just good music that I want to hear and not have to worry about bar numbers and crowd numbers.
It was just a reconnection for me. I started it and I put a lot of thought and love into it because I did it for my mom too. I’d gotten close to my mom and, it was like a family thing. That’s how I learned about the music. And, the music and the name itself, Motown – I just wanted to, you know, respect it and take care of it.
I wanted to create a space for others to enjoy the music. Eventually people came and it grew and grew and spread to different cities and whatnot. At a later point, like eight months in, I had someone join me, but he’s no longer a part of it. So it’s been 16 years of every single Monday.
How would you describe the Motown On Mondays Community? What vibes can people expect coming to one of your parties?
Donovan: It’s a dance party first and foremost. When people come in the door, so many times the first stop is the dance floor; like they don’t go to the bar. They come in the door and they’re hugged by the regulars or we have regulars that’ll make a line and cheer, people coming in and people come in surprised. There’s a lot of energy and just dancing.
That’s the big part of it but having been in the music scene in SF for decades now, it’s one of the most diverse crowds all around, like as far as age, style, race, and everything. On every kind of metric, there’s just people there from all different walks. I think it’s in large part due to the music, but also, but it’s a Monday night.
It’s not a normal night for weekend crowds, you know? So it draws in like creatives and travelers and artists and then also people that do have 9-5s, but they’re just willing to risk it all because it’s, you know, it’s so fun.
It’s a seven hour party, so there’s so many hours for different people to have opportunities to check it out.
Who or what influences your sets the most? Genres, eras, mentors, movements — what shapes your sound?
Donovan: Our party is based on the Motown labels so obviously anybody on that label. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Jackson 5, Diana Ross, The Marvelettes, and the whole gamut of that.
There’s many cities [for Motown on Mondays] and they all have a different connection to the music and to the label and to the sound; and because Motown grew from its own original Detroit sound and creating its own sound, then doing disco and different forms of R&B and funk, each city kind of latched onto maybe a different era and different sound.
I’d say for SF, I think ’cause we do so many hours and have been going on, so many years we’re always trying to find new ways to connect that sound to maybe what’s going on now or artists that are performing now and kind of bridge those gaps and then make it all make sense. And also there’s obviously so many remixes and what you can infuse it with – a, bigger energy, but also reminding people of the original.
So yeah, it’s just kind of like knitting it all together.
How has the Bay Area shaped your identity as a crew?
Donovan: Well, we do have live elements. Speaking on the DJ part of it, The Bay has a high level of caliber DJs that you’re surrounded by, from selectors to battle DJs to crews and whatnot. It’s that really high caliber of DJing – it definitely influences anybody that’s throwing parties out here. You wanna be able to hang at that level so it’s, not something that you take lightly when you bring in DJs and guests.
You want to kinda represent that. There’s a natural kind of feel to want to have it at the highest level so we try to bring in people or, you know, do it in a way that’s at higher levels.
Then also, we do have musicians that come in because there’s a lot of soul history in the Bay Area.
We got like Oscar Myers who plays at Madrone still. He does a Tuesday night there, but he used to play with James Brown. And like Howard Wiley that comes through and plays sax. He’s a legend. He’s played with so many artists.
Then you just have like The Whispers or Sly or all these people with influence and it’s even in the music. San Francisco’s called out and then Jackson Five’s songs. So there’s a connection to the music. I think it goes deep. We get old cats that are like 60-70+, you know?
How do you stay connected to your community outside of the booth? Where and when can we catch you outside of MINTED SF?
Donovan: I think that changes over the years. Like I said, it’s been going on so long, it’s so many different eras lifetimes for me personally. As far as going out and connecting being out on the scene – I’m getting older; I got an 11-year-old now, but definitely supporting other parties.
A lot of which are also being highlighted at MINTED SF – you know, Sazon [Libre], Cuffin’ R&B, and Love Supreme. All those are all people that have played our party and I played their parties. Supporting that, going out and seeing what they’re doing and appreciating and just showing love. So there’s that.
But again, like I said, we do seven hours every, every single week. That’s the gathering spot for us, you know? It’s basically where you can definitely always find us.
Outside of the MOM name and family of DJs, we get invited to [other events]. We played Bottle Rock almost every year for the last nine years, and we played Outside Lands, and get invited to hop on other things at The Midway and different spaces.
We’re doing the Noise Pop Block Party [Fridays on Front St.], we did Downtown First Thursday; we pop up fairly regularly – do the Nightlife with the Academy of Sciences and we’re around.
I should also mention that another way to hear us or catch us is we have a weekly radio show on KPFA on Sundays from 10PM – 1AM.
Follow @mom_djs on Instagram to stay in the loop with all things Motown On Mondays!