Coffee and a side of house music? A DJ duo caters to the bleary-eyed, but not at the clubs

Beckoning bass enthralls the curious. You only catch it if you’re walking by, or if you’re driving with the windows down. The music, which builds steadily, hints at a rave or even a club setting — but neither is in sight.

It’s Saturday morning, after all.

Breakfast Blend does not simply refer to a coffee roast, but a full sensory experience crafted by DJs Shelby Kushma and Nicholas Coletti. The partners founded the “community enrichment project” at the beginning of the year.

“What it is, is basically bringing live DJs, local DJs, to our favorite local coffee shops in the morning,” Kushma said, “We go for about three hours.”

All types of music can be heard at a Breakfast Blend event — from house music to jazz to electronic. Kushma said the duo curates the setlist to “enhance the atmosphere of whichever coffee shop” they visit.

On a Saturday in late August, Breakfast Blend has taken over the outside patio of Picnic Cafe, a neighborhood coffee shop tucked away near Liberty Park. The day is dedicated to a Vietnamese pop-up — a collaboration between the coffee shop, which is owned by Vi Tran, and Sisters SLC, a business owned by Quyen Pham that makes Vietnamese snack food.

Music filters in from the outside of the shop to the inside. Picnic Cafe is small, cozy in the way that neighborhood coffee shops tend to be. There’s a line out the door, with customers staring in interest or confusion at the DJs outside.

The event features an all-female lineup, with Yinzey Wang (Dj Yinzey) and Andrea Ramos Campos (DJ Causita). It was both of their first times playing for Breakfast Blend. Kushma, also known as DJ Kush, finished out the set.

Campos has been DJing for almost three years now and loves to combine different languages in her sets. On this particular Saturday, she features tracks in French, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish.

Her set is full of bright, bold beats that radiate energy as contagious as the person making them. The set encourages Kushma and others to dance along in the afternoon heat that is creeping in. It’s not lo-fi music, but it is gentle, uplifting even.

Music, Campos said, has always been part of the foundation of her life. She started as a dancer before evolving into a DJ. Usually, she plays sets at late-night events, but the morning setting of Breakfast Blend intrigues her.

“I absolutely love that there is this opportunity to connect, dance and listen to good tunes during the day with a cup of coffee,” Campos said, “and just make it, really, a lot more accessible.”

Stepping away from the nightlife scene that is so intrinsically connected to DJing is part of the reason why Kushma and Coletti were inspired to start Breakfast Blend.

“I love the music, but … it’s kind of a chore to go out and drink a diet soda and stay out late to get involved with the DJ community,” Coletti, who stopped drinking alcohol a few years ago, said. “We just kind of want to promote and provide a more sober-friendly environment.”

Coletti said Kushma also opened his eyes to the “coffee culture renaissance” Utah has, referencing the plethora of shops across the state that have become cultural hubs for many communities.

Kushma also used to work in coffee shops.

“I love everything about it, from the roast to the beans to the kinds of coffee,” she said. “The whole coffee shop scene, where people are just kind of gathering and getting together and chatting over coffee.”

The duo’s goal is to get out to as many different neighborhood coffee shops in Utah as possible.

Wang, meanwhile, has been DJing for nearly two years, playing house and techno music at places like Plumhouse Social Club and with Authenik SLC. Music, she said, is the perfect thing to add to the coffee shop environment.

“Music is a cultural movement that brings people together,” she said. “It’s also a learning experience, because it is culturally influenced, especially house music.”

Music and coffee both have the potential to unite — and energize. Breakfast Blend harnesses the two together and creates an opportunity for people to connect.

Breakfast Blend has hosted 10 events so far this year, from shops like Urban Sailor in Park City to Picnic Cafe. To find out where the next event will be, keep up with the duo’s Instagram, @breakfastblend.slc.

Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.