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99 People to Watch in 99

People A-C | People D-G | People H-L People M-P | People Q-S | People T-Z Mike Kuchar Dan Carbone Actor Dan Carbone is a delightful oddity among local solo performers--his off-kilter perspective on reality and its illusions creates a strange, funny and disturbing-in-a-good-way hybrid of Flannery O'Connor, The Twilight Zone, Mister Rogers and Jonathan Winters. A mild-mannered eccentric with a mind as big as Texas and a face like Silly Putty, Carbone caught the attention of many this year with his show Up From the Ground, which won raves and a "Best of the Fest" nod at this year's Fringe Festival, and he's just completed an encore run at the EXIT Theater. (KR) Suzanne Castillo & Sarah Franko Retailers & Fashion Designers, Manifesto Offering cute, practical clothing with a retro sort of twist, Suzanne Castillo and Sarah Franko of Manifesto plan within the next few years to expand their operation beyond their Hayes Valley headquarters to the whole Bay Area. These girls bust their butts to keep San Francisco wardrobes snappy. (DR) Fritz Clay Owner & Stylist, Hair Play The Hair Play team's one-world approach to hair has garnered much professional praise and a fiercely loyal clientele. The salon is also the genius behind countless runways, including Metropolitan's fall fashion party, which featured models sporting fantastic Lolita-like braids and extensions. (DR) Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff Comic Book Writer & Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff's penetrating tragicomic documentary about Robert Crumb made the underground comic legend almost a household name. Now Zwigoff is working with another comic-book genius, fellow Berkeley resident Daniel Clowes, on a film version of Clowes' sweet, painful, darkly funny comic novel Ghost World. Demon china doll Christina Ricci is starring. Sounds irresistible. (MG) Denise D'Anne Politician The polls don't lie. Sure, Denise D'Anne's quirky '98 campaign didn't garner the votes to give San Francisco its first male-to-female transsexual supervisor. However, according to pollster David Binder, D'Anne did get some support in every neighborhood in the city and managed at least 15 percent of the vote in the east side progressive neighborhoods. Not bad for a first-time candidate. Her plan for saving the city millions through recycling office products seems a little ambitious, but why not? Watch out for D'Anne in the district elections in 2000. (DM) Jack Dangers Musician The genius behind Meat Beat Manifesto has anticipated almost every innovation in electronic music, making languorous, cinematic trip-hop when Tricky was still just a Tricky Kid, and creating rapid-fire breakbeat tracks before anyone had ever heard of jungle. He says he doesn't mind that music hasn't made him rich, but he still deserves to rake it in in '99. (MG) Lance Dawes Editor & Photographer Considering that San Francisco is widely recognized as the mecca for skateboarding, it's quite ironic that it's also illegal. When Lance Dawes left Washington, D.C., nine years ago to start Slap, he had a vision of creating a magazine which accurately represented both the renegade spirit and the artistic side of the sport. Referred to as the "Raygun of skateboarding," Slap has reached skate audiences all around the world. Also the head photographer of Slap, he will be featured in the skate documentary Push, which opens in January. (AN) David Dawson, Shelly Gottschamer & Honey Jernquist Retailers & Fashion Designers, Asphalt Not only is Asphalt a longstanding retail space in Hayes Valley dedicated to the promotion of local fashion and the spiritual headquarters of ISM (Independent Style Merchants, a collective of SF designers), it's also where you'll find owners Dawson and Gottschamer's recently re-introduced line of women's clothing, Das, and Jernquist's Phobos & Deimos. (DR) Julie Deamer gallerist, Four Walls gallery This sometime superwoman directs the Four Walls gallery in the Mission with partner Suzanne Stein while keeping her day job. An avid champion of the local art scene, Deamer possesses an eye for true talent. She is extremely committed to the arts community of San Francisco and consistently features local up-and-comers at Four Walls. Deamer is also an organizer of Sap, the hugely successful alternative art fair. (CB) Coleman Domingo Actor & Director With two Hollywood films slated for '99, the 6-foot and strapping Domingo has "big time" written all over his face. Catch him in Clint Eastwood's big-budget True Crime in February and the locally produced Around the Fire in June. Or see him in the flesh in Theaterworks' production of Amadeus in January. Domingo also directs Lisa B. Thompson's Single Black Female at Theater Rhinoceros in March. This boy keeps busy! The big time might just have to take a number and wait. (DM) Ann Dyer Jazz Singer Whether she's reworking the Beatles' Revolver album, singing classical Hindustani music or showcasing the tunes of top-flight local composers, jazz singer Ann Dyer avoids the predictable. A dramatic performer with a clear, ringing voice, she's a charismatic improviser dedicated to the proposition that songs can address spirituality as well as romance. Whether she's taking part in another musician's project or putting together an adventurous program of her own, Dyer has a knack for showing up where the music's getting interesting. (AG) Beth Custer and Christian Jones Eighty Mile Beach Custer and Jones' hypnotic ambient jazz is some of the city's most beautiful music. Their combination of expert musicianship--especially Custer's haunting clarinet--with electronic wizardry has already garnered them lots of notice beyond the Bay Area, including a spot on John Peel's famed radio show. (MG) Winifred April Elam Comedienne Like an undiscovered John Waters film star, cable access personality Winifred Elam is quirky and full of life. Her popular Saturday morning program Inspirational Moments With Winifred is part Rosie O'Donnell, part Dating Game and funnier than the David Letterman Show. Elam, whose contract with TCI Cablevision is up in early 1999, plans to showcase her comedic talents through stand-up, if not another television program. (MS) Dave Ellis Jazz Musician & Sax Player An original Charlie Hunter sideman, Dave Ellis attacks with his tenor sax on his new In the Long Run from San Francisco label Monarch. The Berkeley native has made a name for himself with his strong solos and aggressive technique, but he has a sense of humor, too. (CK) Mark Farina DJ & Musician It is no wonder that the city which spawned techno is also the birthing place of Mark Farina--clearly, the boy has the gift of turntablism in his soul. Five years ago, at a time when the city had just overdosed on acid jazz and speedy house, Farina arrived and woke up the scene with his sophisticated, naturally stoned taste in music. Deep, melancholic and always remarkably smooth, Farina's skills are in high demand--he now divides his DJ time between the States and the U.K. A featured artist in the recent Mixmag compilation, "United DJs of America," Farina solos on Om Records' new Mushroom Jazz II, a fully mixed compilation. (AN) Farika Felix and Clare Black Diamond Helping to make San Francisco clubbing a more creative experience (as opposed to a dating service and techno sieve), the Black Diamond crew is gaining a reputation for throwing one of the best house parties in town. Started three years ago by stylist Clare Rhodes, a.k.a. "Cool Lady C," and DJ Felix the Dog, the Black Diamond parties bring back old-school quality and unpretentiousness with a friendly, devoted following and a dynamic DJ lineup--Laron, Darkhorse and Felix. (AN) Amy Franceschini artist, Future Farmers of America Future Farmers of America (FFA) is a stellar group of graphic designers who have a fixation on agriculture and tiny futuristic characters. Appropriating farm-type images and giving them a cool '90s design twist, FFA comes up with an entirely unique style that's a hybrid of sophistication and daintiness. Their Web site at www.futurefarmers.com displays the ample talent of the designers. (CB) Chris Gadway Designer, Ant Industrial designer Chris Gadway's line of hard-working packs and bags are hailed as the perfect urban accessory. Immediately snapped up by the likes of Antique Boutique (New York) and Fred Segal (Los Angeles), Ant bags can be found locally at Rolo and Wishbone. (DR) Jaime Valdez Paul Gallo Fashion Designer Welcome to Gallo4nia! Paul Gallo's spring '99 collection builds on his break-out '98 collection for men, women and beyond. With hand-beaded, hand-illustrated textiles, Gallo creates gender-bending glamour suits and dresses for every occasion. Gallo's spring collection premieres at the SF Eagle in March with a rousing, millennium-busting runway romp alcoholocaust. Gallo's mad scientist design studio is at 1081 Pine St. (call for an appointment: 931-8863), or the collection can be previewed online at www.fabric8.com/gallo. (DM) Peter & Maria Garcia Restaurateurs When they started thinking about opening a restaurant, the husband and wife team behind the Commodore Hotel's Red Room noticed a void of creativity in the San Francisco dining scene. "We thought, 'Does every restaurant in this city have to be designed by Pat Kuleto?' " Evidently not. The newly opened Zodiac Club fuses creative bar culture and high-end cuisine in the well-blended edginess of the Upper Market/Duboce Triangle neighborhood. (MS) Frank Garvey Artist, Omnicircus gallery Frank Garvey, artist, musician and director of the Omnicircus gallery and performance space, sees robotic sculpture as the way of the future. Intensely political without being pedantic, his robotic red-light district--replete with machines that beg, shoot up, heckle and brawl--is one of the most powerful, exciting art projects in the city; his band, DuesMachina, makes hypnotic grandiose music; and his gallery is full of art whose impact is as emotionally visceral as it is intellectually stimulating. (MG) Dan Golden Conceptual Artist Dan Golden's oddball sense of humor informs his latest series of drawings, a dozen or so cartoon-like works poking fun at the artist's delusions of grandeur and shameless acts of self-promotion. In addition to current exhibits at Behind the Post Office and the Center for Visual Arts and the California Museum of Art, Golden has just produced a line of T-shirts under the brand name D.D.A., sold exclusively at Behind the Post Office. (DR) People A-C | People D-G | People H-L People M-P | People Q-S | People T-Z [ San Francisco | MetroActive Central | Archives ]