Every other Thursday "Music To Shake Your Ass To" broadcasts from downtown Chicago on amsterdamsmostwanted.nl from 7-9pm (CST) with Steve Melvage and special guests. On January 15th we featured a special guest mix from David Macias aka Cratebug. This mix is dedicated to his newborn son Lennon Guadalupe Macias  and his true love Cristina Macias. Support Cratebug at https://soundcloud.com/cratebug and book him at djcratebug@gmail.com. Enjoy the show...

Cratebug on "Music To Shake Your Ass To" AMW January 15th 2015

I do not own rights to any of this music I
just have a Uncontrollable love of house, musi'll i cannot deny  I am from Chicago started off deep into house and disco at a very early age 10 yes old because I old all of that too my big brother dj drell or bam bam
who was of a part of Chicago gay Community  
from the early 80s who have been known aside other djs I will name later 




Growing up in Chicago’s south side in the late 60’s and 70’s, Deeon experienced an era of profound change in America’s cultural and racial landscape which later became the subject-matter for his extensive musical portfolio. At a time when electronic music was new and starting to define itself, he was a pioneer in developing a sound that corresponded to the time and life of the people around him and the surrounding neighborhoods of Chicago’s downtrodden; those in dire need of profound change and liberation. His personal story and musical work is now indistinguishable from that rich tapestry that is America’s contemporary cultural history. 

Deeon started small producing gritty XXX club tracks with call and response chants which Deeon describes as "for the strippers, for the street”. These original masterpieces were created with a 606, 808, and 909 sampler where he made minimal ghetto beat tracks and played them off cassette. This is what provided the spark for Chicago House and Detroit Techno. Soon now-household name DJs and producers would start picking up on this sound, and remixing it and playing it in clubs, radio stations all over the world. It would be defined as “Ghetto House”. 

“it’s just fun music. It’s kind of like a getaway from the reality of life to music. Get freaky with a stranger music. Girls kissin’ girls music. Stress relief music” he would say in an interview for 5Magazine in 2013 regarding his sound. “The best thing [about Ghetto House] is there is almost always a packed dance floor! It moves the crowd. Ain’t that what we came here for?”

In 2002, Deeon’s started his on-going battle with his health problems. Diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma, diabetes and a severe accident which resulted in having his left foot amputated, he has overcome adversity using his sound as a beacon of hope in his own life, to not lose the spark and to keep going strong. 

With a career of collaborations that reads like the who’s who of the history of dance music, remixes done by and for him that have delighted crowds all over the globe and a portfolio stronger than most of the artists in the industry, he’s now getting ready to launch a new stage in his career.

“Every artist I respect takes the influences that have shaped who they are and transforms them into the media they control.” Such is the case with Steve Melvage. He continues to utilize the influences he's surrounded by to bring a replete story to the dance floor. Born and raised on the North side of Chicago, Melvage first started his dj career at the age of 11. Heavily inspired by the mix shows on WBMX Steve decided that the turntables would be his mark of expression. “Growing up in Chicago was the best education anyone could ever get djing. People here care about your “blends”, your selection, and your originality. If you can play here you can play anywhere.” Grabbing his own radio show and first residency at the age of 16 Melvage learned to work a room for 6 hours at a time. It was during this brief stint on the East Coast that he was exposed to Dancehall, Industrial, Acid Jazz, Hip Hop etc. “My heart has always been HOUSE but learning to blend and manipulate other styles of music made me a better DJ.”

Returning to Chicago Steve gravitated towards the “chunky but not cheesy” records coming out of Chicago, New York, and Europe. Melvage credits sharing the decks with DJ Heather, Derrick Carter, Justin Long, DJ Deeon, E Smoove, Luke Soloman, James Curd, and Mark Grant; as well as having a residency with JT Donaldson, Tim Shumaker and Diz for being instrumental in elevating his skill set and establishing his sound as unique. “You can learn a lot from playing with incredible DJ's. I've always felt that when you step up to the decks it's like a blank canvas. From there it's a control and release story you create with your crowd.” Steve has worked at many record stores, including an 8 year stint at famed South side Hot Jams Records. 

After years of residencies at Betty's, Spy Bar, Mercury, and Lava Lounge to name a few, Steve teamed up with Brian Heath to form “Beatgiants.” The idea was to conjoin Heath's raw aggressiveness with Steve's passion for four on the floor, disco influenced, track manipulation precision. Together they delivered their “push and pull” energy to such venues as Smartbar, Darkroom, LAVA, Zentra, and Green Dolphin. Recently Melvage and Heath operate under the moniker First Time In Tokyo and changed the game with esteemed nights GUERILLA COUTURE and ACID ONE. “The idea was to try to bring something original to Chicago nightlife and just have a great time with our friends, who happen to be amazing artists.” With Heath, Steve has recorded the highly applauded “Rocks in My Pocket” on Greenskeepers Music as well as “Drowsy” on Alphabet Music.

The future holds solo projects from Melvage as well as the soon to be released “Summers In Mississippi” on Back to the Future Recordings with Brian Heath. “It's been an amazing journey and on the way I've met some incredible people. I'm just gonna keep creating, having a good time, and making people shake their ass.”

mainly into styles like ghettotech, juke/footwork, bassline, hardbass, hardstyle, ghetto house, gangsta/ragga jungle, hard house, and the other ways that rap and electronic music come together or are used to accent each other. also very much a fan of african rap/hip hop, african house, and such things. sometimes i like the more classic Detroit techno style. I listen to many other things at other times but this is what i'm always searching for. i'm from the D and if you ask me all the music styles coming from here have something special that no one else can ever do the same, because there's nowhere else that's like it! real shit hardcore stylin, we still create and innovate while the rest just hate