Growing up in Chicago, I was shaped equally by the city’s indie rock scene and its house music lineage. From early on, music became an obsession. I became and still remain a sponge for discovery: digging, collecting, sharing sounds across post punk, pop, deep house, deep disco, 80s boogie, techno, electronica, jazz, soul, hip hop, and indie rock. Regardless of genre, the through line has always been quality and creativity.

In the late 90s, while studying abroad in the UK, I discovered club nights and festivals that treated DJing as an art form. Long sets, open minded rooms, and genre fluid crowds reshaped how I listened. UK radio was a game changer, from John Peel and Gilles Peterson to Trevor Nelson and the myriad of pirate radio shows, I was in heaven.

Living in New York City since 1999 meant being immersed in a uniquely fertile musical moment. I experienced movements as they unfolded, from indie sleaze and electro pop to hip hop and the enduring energy of club nights like Body & Soul and Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space. The radio show and the club nights became a kind of North Star, showing how deep underground sounds could coalesce into cohesive journeys.

The DJs I admire most (Tim Sweeney, Jamie XX, Soulwax, Theo Parrish, Fred Again, Four Tet, Jacques Greene) have deep reservoirs of knowledge and unique abilities to weave multiple genres together into deeply soulful surprising sets. I still live for live music. 

As much of a self admitted music snob as I am, I also genuinely love pop in all its forms. I enjoy playing the deepest cuts just as much as lighting up a room with a perfectly timed crowd pleaser.

My mixes reflect who I am. DJing is an art form when done with heart and an open mind. Thanks for checking me out.

Followers of ckcy