DJ Anna

DJ Anna, born Anastasia Klafter–making her the rare DJ whose real name is more exotic than her chosen alias–was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She began deejaying clubs in her town when she was 17 years old, playing hip hop and downtempo parties like The Black Diamond, the Funkside and Feminine Phat. In 1994, Anna moved to LA to study art at UCLA and began infiltrating the SoCal scene, while continuing to be a presence up North. A shared photography class with Cut Chemist led the two of them to deejay many an art school party together. In addition to writing for URB, The Vinyl Exchange, Subculture, and Sonicnet, Anna toured with the Ninja Tune Stealth tour and the Om Records Deep Concentration tour.

Anna became a resident DJ at the Future Primitive Sound Sessions in 1996; she played every Session until moving to New York City in 1998 to pursue a Masters Degree at NYU. When not in class, Anna learned her way around the city with a record bag slung over her shoulder, trudging from gig to gig–including New York's groundbreaking Take Back the Decks event in 1999. Frequent collaborations with 1200 Hobos member DJ Signify furthered Anna's initiation into New York beat culture. She became a member of the 1200 Hobos in 2000; shortly thereafter, she moved back to San Francisco to work in the Internet radio industry. She still plays at Future Primitive shows and is a regular at True Skool and Dalva.

Anna has shared the bill with the some of the best turntablists in the world, including Mixmaster Mike, Shortkut, D-Styles, Mr. Dibbs, Kid Koala, Numark, Cut Chemist, Z-Trip, the X-ecutioners, the Beat Junkies, 5th Platoon, Shortee & Faust, DJ Vadim, DJ Food, and the Bulletproof Scratch Hamsters.

Today, Anna works full time at The Beta Lounge and writes for XLR8R magazine. With fellow journalist Philip Sherburne, she throws the irreverently-titled weekly party Cops Fear Pimp Turf War at the longstanding Mission District hotspot Dalva - when she's not gallivanting around the country deejaying, supporting MCs like Paul Barman, or appearing at SkribbleJam.

To contact Anna for booking, email her at anna@djanna.com