International DJ/Producer based in Chicago. An avid music lover with an incessant curiosity for all things in the extended disco, house and techno family, Mark Grusane is a Chicago treasure whose relationship with the dancefloor goes back to the ‘80s. With a special instinct for what makes people move, his unique approach to DJing brings together traditionally incompatible genres with passion, style and panache. 
Bookings Contact: samir@goodlifeagaency.nl

X music
X art
X club nights 

A record label that combines music, art and club nights curated by @SHMLSS.

I-94 is the lifeline between Chicago and Detroit, the highway that connects us, and the birthplaces of house and techno. @i94_legacyproject dives deep into the gritty, raw, and undeniable connection between these cities, fueling the underground scene with an unmistakably Midwestern pulse.

The mission is to honor the strong legacy [The Architects], uplift the descendants, and intentionally root networks of upcoming selectors & producers. 

🎧 Mix Series 🎧 Every two weeks, I-94 will drop a mix, alternating between Chicago and Detroit’s finest underground talent. ✨ We prioritize Black people, women, LGBTQ+, and POC artists, but our doors are open to all who are invited ✨

OUR FIRST EVENT IS 8/17/24!

This isn’t just music—it’s a movement, and it’s always been that way.  FOLLOW @i94_legacyproject 💚 This is for legacy.

Brooklyn-based and Washington D.C.-born, Derek is lauded for his ability to adapt seamlessly to most any type of gig while still displaying his signature style. With over 2 decades of experience, he's equally comfortable playing lower bpm, eclectic opening sets, to banging out house and techno in a dark basement, to disco and funk party jams on a sunny rooftop. 
As a producer, he has released on Make Mistakes, Perimeter Junk and his own label, Broad Channel. In addition, he throws an underground party in New York called Xoloft.

bookings: derekrusso@gmail.com

Mario Mars aka heathenBEAT is a Chicago based DJ & creative w/ a goal of blurring genre lines within global dance rhythms while keeping focus on Dance Music’s linear history & foundational sound culture unique to Chicago’s House roots. 

Mars was born in LA, raised in St. Louis, and groomed in visits to New York. Early years involved Punk venues, Industrial music, & focus on international nightlife & arts. Taken under wing by elders in his mid/late teens his tastes evolved to include Chicagoans Larry Heard and Jersey’s Tony Humphries who he credits as the club music Godfather who turned him out. An avid record collector to this day he began familiarizing himself with spinning in early 90’s & became a known dancer in warehouse, lofts, and after hours. Around this time he was asked to curate mixes for a college station and focused on obscure international club music.  He still spins records preferably. 

Around 2012 Mars established a friendship w/ the Chicago based collective, Excursions, helmed by DJs Cordell Johnson & James Vincent. After relocating to Chicago he began hosting their wildly successful gathering rooted in Chicago but branched out in Japan, Detroit, & Atlanta. Artist like Jay Daniel, Jose Marquez, Marcellus Pittman, Antonio Ocasio, Loftsoul & countless others were guest at staple venues that include the infamous annual Detroit gathering at the Russell Bazaar Warehouse that drew thousands. 

Pivoting to individual pursuits Mars dove into the craft of DJing as nightlife closed in pandemic. Numerous mixes spurred invites to session from elders like Andres (Specter) Ordonez. These sessions inspired still ongoing gatherings that have seen Chicagodeep, Julion De'Angelo, Chicago Skyway, Noshaluv & other selectors & friends. 

A unique sound he affectionately calls heathenBEAT, Mars prefers a slow-paced, low to ground, slung & intoxicating rhythm that pushes a muddier Detroit sound meshed w/ Chicago’s deep & moody house origin. His roots in Punk often lend to sets going left into unpredictable stretches of obscure & hidden gems. heathenBEAT, which he also calls coarse or irregularity, is music, and way of presenting it, that goes against grain & norms. 

Mario Mars features on domestic & international radio, been booked as remote as Lima Peru, billed on lineups alongside Tony Humphries, Rich Medina, Specter, Damon Lamar, Jose Rico & appeared at Silver Room Block Party, Podlasie Club, Bronzeville Winery, & other esteemed spaces.

~ Refuge Worldwide is a community radio station based in Berlin, working in solidarity with grassroots and non-profit organisations.
~ Visit us at Niemetzstr. 1, 12055 Neukölln
~ refugeworldwide.com

Owner of Second Hand Records in Bushwick Brooklyn NYC. 
Opened doors in the fall of 2016 after handling buying / distro at Downtown 304 for over 4 years.

Started Second Hand Records simply as a way for the music that he loved exploring to meet in one physical space. 
Feeling the need to step away from our dependency on the web & the disconnect it creates, instead using it as a powerful tool of socio-exploration.
Music & dancing in social setting are something so essential to our species & one way to begin appreciating their effects, is by stripping away layers of conscious thought we acquire.
Replacing it with an understanding that some forms of communication do not present themselves in spoken language.

-Dropped out since 2017*

independent rear suspension with 
limited slip differential

photos by raul coto-batres https://www.instagram.com/rl.ct.btrs/

Mark Grusane is following