I was born in 1979 in the great state of California, but lived in Illinois, and New Jersey most of my life. Because of this, I've been lucky enough to see a fair portion of the US, as well as become exposed to a wide variety of music. Everything from hip hop to rock, I've heard, and am most likely a fan of (I draw the line at country however). I recently settled down in the St. Louis area after living at the southern New Jersey coast for a good portion of my life. Why move from beaches to cornfields? I got a job offer I couldn't resist. The rest is history.
My mother was my biggest influence, being a fan of reggae, classical, blues, jazz, R & B, rock, new age, and even some electronic music, she planted the musical seed when I was very young. She also encouraged me musically placing me in piano, trumpet, and violin classes. I also had a guitar and drum set at a young age, and was known for banging the drums much later than I should have. While I regretfully never pursued my music lessons to their fullest, a sense of rhythm, and a musical ear stayed with me.
I can't remember when I was first exposed to electronic music, I was a fan of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" as a youngster, and was always drawn to songs with strong beats, and cool synths. I became intrigued by the sounds of dance music from going to clubs in Philadelphia, and from, believe it or not, the Wipeout XL Soundtrack (one of the first electronica CDs I ever purchased). After becoming an avid club goer, I began to notice my self getting angry when the DJ would make mistakes, or play bad songs.
I continued to go to clubs, when one day I caught wind of a club in Philly called Space, so one day some friends and I went to check it out. Turns out Space was pretty much a Rave every night, complete with massage tables, screens with games being played on them, and big name DJ guests (from Oakenfold to Digweed to Dieselboy). The night I went, Joey Beltram was the guest DJ. I became hooked, I wanted to do that, become a DJ, rock crowds like he did. I continued to go to Space, and I also began tinkering with software programs like Sound Forge, Acid, and other DJ programs. I made a few mixes here and there but I never had the money to actually purchase turntables. I was offered my job, so I packed up and moved to the St. Louis area in September of 1999. I found new friends, and continued to tinker with computer software, but I was unsure if my dream to DJ would ever come to fruition.
That all changed when I met a guy by the name of Andy, or as some people reading here may know him as, DJ Polar. We became good friends, and found we had a common love for music. One summer day in 2000, we decided to go 50/50, and purchase the gear we needed. We started with two Numark belt drive turntables a Numark mixer, and 4 records. We spun every day, bought whatever vinyl we though sounded cool, regardless of genre, and lived music for months. Thru a contact of a friend, we landed a weekly thursday night gig at a small bar in the town of Glen Carbon, IL. Every week, we honed our skills, live in front of hundreds of drunk college students. We had a blast. After a few weeks, we upgraded our setup with the names Technics and Pioneer.
We eventually became roommates with two other friends and held parties where we could show off our skills. Sadly, due to tension between us and other roommates, we got distant, and took our careers in different directions. I continued to practice at home using two Stanton STR8-60s, and a cheap Numark mixer, and found a new music love in Hard Trance. However, I chose to focus on my relationship with my girlfriend, and my job, so I stayed unknown. Andy followed his new found love for Happy Hardcore, and began to make a name for himself as St. Louis' premier Happy Hardcore DJ. We talked off and on.
After almost a year, we began talking regularly again, and he introduced me to Kelly Dell, of OPK Productions. He had told Kelly of me as a DJ, and convinced him to take a look at me. I gave him a demo, and he booked me for a "tryout" party. There was a catch, he needed me to spin Jungle, something I hadn't spun in ages. I freshened my collection, and spun a earthshaking set. This was 12/21/02, and I was now OPK's newest DJ.
From there I've spun numerous house parties (including an after party following an even with DJ Icey headlining), and even made some appearances at Deep Six on Washington Ave, but I was still a relative unknown. I pressed on, introducing people to my fresh blend of hypnotic mind melting synths, earthshaking bass, and seamless"progressive" mixing style. I was also booked to spin on St. Louis Electronic Radio, along with OPK's Dienda, and DJ Nitro, where even Nitro was impressed by my DJing ability.
My name is still being whispered amongst party goers, people wondering who I am, and where I came from. Watch for me, listen, and be prepared to join my revolution...