Get Ready to Dance: ESG is Playing Great American Music Hall!

by Nico Simonian

There are two kinds of people: those who love ESG, and those who have not yet heard ESG. The band’s particular blend of funk, post-punk, and dance music sparks immediate and infectious joy to everyone who hears it. And whether you know them or not, you now have the incredible chance to hear ESG’s story and to dance your ass off, all in one night!

This Saturday, 1/6, ESG is holding a double event, screening their new documentary, Are You Serious? The ESG Story, and following it with a performance. The film tells the story of the Scroggins sisters and their musical journey over the past 46 years, starting with their first show as teenagers in 1978, to becoming some of the most sampled artists in the world, to growing into a multi-generational band defining themselves on their own terms. I cannot recommend highly enough that you buy a ticket.

It’s all happening at the Great American Musical Hall on Saturday, January 6th. Get your tickets right here.

Who is ESG?

If you are asking, “Who is ESG?”, I am jealous of your forthcoming discovery. ESG is:

A. One of the most sampled artists in history.
B. A band with an enormous legacy across all genres.
C. A group formed in 1978 by four sisters (now adding in some daughters and a son) in the South Bronx.
D. Musicians who, four and a half decades later, continue to absolutely rock.

If you haven’t heard of ESG before now, your favorite artists certainly have. Their song “UFO” is one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history, sampled by everyone from Public Enemy to Big Daddy Kane, TLC to the Beastie Boys, and many, many others. They are also a beloved favorite of the indie rockers and dance-punk kids, quoted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Liars, and more as a monumental influence.

Are You Serious? is the Scroggins sisters’ long-deserved chance to tell their story on their own terms. The most fame that ESG has received has unfortunately been through other artists, often without permission, credit, or royalties. Frontwoman Renee Scroggins directed the documentary to ensure her band, her music, and her family would be represented appropriately and compensated fully. In doing so, she added filmmaker to her growing list of skills including bassist, guitarist, and businesswoman (having handled much of their licensing troubles over the years). The film will be a welcome insight into her and her family’s lives and the background of a band that has quietly influenced so much of the music we know and love today.

ESG began in late 70’s New York, a time and place where both punk and hip-hop flourished (to really drive that point home: they opened for Grandmaster Flash and the Clash – at the same show!). The critical meeting point of these genres is no wave. No wave (a reaction to new wave, post-punk, and punk) was a genre born in this time emphasizing a minimal and dry sound, a propensity for dissonance, and an equal desire to move your body. Because of this, no wave is an eminently sampleable genre – fellow no wave artist Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern” is famously sampled in Melle Mel’s “White Lines.” To my ears, ESG is the best and ultimate example of the genre: extremely fun, occasionally noisy, and minimalist in a way that is surprisingly difficult to achieve.

ESG performing “UFO” at the 5th Hard French ▼s Los Homos at Mezzanine in San Francisco. By hinnk – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

This (deceptive) simplicity gives each element the spotlight. The drums drive the music, with complex percussion overlapping, both as steady and strong as they are playful and nimble – you would be forgiven for believing ESG wrote music specifically to be sampled. The bass fills in with limitless personality, bouncy and insistent, not a single note wasted or unintentional. And then of course, that voice: bombastic and repetitive in a way that is deeply pleasurable; sometimes a slinky suggestion and sometimes a shout, like a DJ calling out to the dancefloor. All of this is wrapped in production that is so minimal it feels raw, with the occasional Lee Scratch Perry delay and some short, hard-edged reverb.

The most famous exception to this minimalist arrangement is “U.F.O.” Adding into the driving, needy rhythm of the other instruments, we get the loud, noisy, fear-inspiring electric guitar that sounds more like piercing horns than plucked strings. As the alien sounds ring out, drums and bass burst through into a song that could have been made 40 years ago or yesterday.

Now that you have a better understanding of who ESG is and what they’re all about, go get those tickets and join me on the dance floor on Saturday!

ESG with Abracadabra, and DJ Hot Goth GF
Saturday, 1/6
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco
Tickets here

Nico Simonian is an Oakland-based pianist, singer, writer, and educator. Their unique flavor of psychedelic folk draws on simple pleasures, genderfluidity, and the spirituality of nature. In addition to their own music, they also organize the annual Broke-Ass Stuart Best 100 Songs of the Year project. You can find their music on any streaming service, and you can find them hiking in most East Bay parks or drinking mezcal negronis in backyards.