DJ Cecil

Nearly two decades of quietly helping build Oakland's house music scene

Cecil Carthen has been quietly helping build Oakland's house music scene for nearly two decades — not by chasing trends, but by creating spaces where community and music meet at their most honest.

An accomplished video game developer by training, Cecil found his way into house music through a friendship at work that changed the direction of his life. Introduced to the culture by DJ and promoter Dedan, he threw himself into the Bay Area scene — carrying records, designing flyers, learning the craft from the inside out.

His early residencies at venues like Levende and Oakland's Air Lounge — where he was among the first DJs to play when the club opened — established him as a fixture in the East Bay underground. From there, he began building the events that would define his legacy.

In 2006, Cecil co-founded Bembe with producer and Ocha Records founder Carlos Mena. What started at the Duplex in San Francisco grew into a celebrated party with editions in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Miami, and beyond — marking its 10-year anniversary at Output in New York in 2016.

A year later, he co-founded thePeople in Oakland alongside Cali, BeBrown, HeyLove*, and Amy Nabong. At a time when, as Cecil puts it, "you could not build big parties in Oakland off house music," thePeople proved otherwise — running for over a decade and helping redefine East Bay nightlife. It was featured in XLR8R as a cultural institution.

In 2013, Cecil and his wife, celebrated event producer Candi Martinez, launched SKIN — a monthly celebration of diasporic dance floor sounds that earned recognition from the East Bay Express and built a devoted following.

Today, Cecil runs Love and Beats, his own monthly rooftop celebration at the High 5ive Rooftop Bar in Oakland, launched in September 2024. He also co-hosts Space Riderz, a monthly soulful house night at Mad Oak Bar with Coflo and Cali.

As a producer, Cecil's work has appeared on Ocha Records, United Records, Deepblack, and other labels — released as DJ Cecil, Cecil Carthen, and Cecil. His productions and remixes, including the beloved "Cecil's Beatdown" series, are available on Traxsource, Beatport, and Spotify.

Now, after nearly two decades of building other people's nights and releasing music on other people's labels, Cecil is preparing something distinctly his own: his debut EP of originals, to be released on his imprint, Love and Beats Records.