Gene Hunt

Mark Grant

What makes a legend: longevity, fame, respect or a combination of the three? Label owner, songwriter, producer and DJ, Mark Grant has been making legendary moves for 23 years now. He is a world traveled DJ with a non-stop tour schedule secured by a fan base that stretches from his hometown Chicago, to as far as Istanbul. Hes produced a number of songs and remixes that have garnered him the respect of his peers and music media. Put it all together and you have an internationally known, well-respected talent who has shown incredible resilience in an industry of one-hit wonders. Its true, Mark Grant has the stuff of legend, but with no signs of stopping, dont call him one, just yet.

In 2005 alone, Mark Grant produced three chart-topping songs featuring Chicago Idol winner, vocalist Russoul for his label imprint, Blackstone Recordings. Louie Vega and Marques Wyatt licensed the first single; Girl With U for mixed CDs on Defected and OM, respectively. There 4 Me appeared on Roy Davis Jr.s mixed compilation, Get Large for Large Records. Those two songs, along with You R The 1, were all best sellers in a sluggish vinyl market for Syntax Distribution, as well as their impressive performance in mp3 formats on Tracksource.com and Clickgroove.com. All of which has helped Grant newly cement a spot on iTunes, where Blackstone music will soon be available. Within one short year, Grant has established Blackstone as a formidable vocal house label and a-cant-miss hit source for DJs.

Label owner Cajmere sees the writing on the wall. Most every release on his Cajual and Relief imprints of the last two years has contained a Mark Grant remix. Thats over 15 remixes that Grant has created for artists such as Dajae, Green Velvet and Cajmere himself. Grants remixes for Cajual are bought, played and charted with great regularity by globetrotting DJs, giving further proof to Grants ability to make extraordinary music. In truth, Cajmere always knew this. In Cajuals hey day of the mid-to-late 90s, Grant was considered the go-to guy for remixes and was the only producer in their stable to mix a compilation for the label. When A Taste of Cajual dropped in 1997, it received numerous critical accolades including honors from Rolling Stone critic Greg Kot as one of the years 15 best.

Grants success with mix compilations continued with a three-turntable masterpiece for OM records, Sound Design Volume 2. The 2001 release was capped off with a 20-city tour that made Mark Grant a house-hold name. A tour de force with tracks from Masters at Work, Truby Trio, Inland Knights and more, SD Vol. 2, established that its never Memorex with Grant. On tour, he re-created his live recording, playing every venue on three turntables where available.

K-Alexi

DJ and producer K Alexi as one of Chicago's true heroes and cited by many as a contributor to the Chicago sound. At a young age of 12, K was already moving in the right circles befriending worldwide legends like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst frequenting the famous Warehouse. K's upbringing in Chicago during the 70's and 80's era, meant he was exposed to a range of genres and varying styles of music including Stevie Wonder Prince Curtis Mayfield and David Huff - these same names would prove to be the roots of his influence. K's first pressing 'Essence of a Dream' is still regarded a classic today. A tally of successful hit records, coupled with remixing and collaborating with other artists resulted in his talents being sought after by a diverse range of artists like The Pet Shop Boys, Derrick May, Angel Abi, Paul Johnson, Mr Lee (who produces for R Kelly), Larry Heard, Robert Owens, TjenTjen, Dave Angel, Felix Da Housecat and famed actor/rapper Will Smith. Just as notorious for his deejaying ability, Mr Alexi has played at just about every exotic location imaginable, his smooth blend of house disco and soul never fails to excite and win over the crowd.

Bear Who?

“Fix My Sink” - Worldwide Dance Hit with a # 1 dance chart appearance for 13 weeks on Radio 1 BBC

“Bear knows how to fix any dance floor’s problems. He gets people up and Moving". - Rob Simas, Editor-in-Chief, BPM Magazine

“Insane talent.” – Urb Magazine

At the doe-eyed age of six, when the others kids were monkeying with dolls, pinballing around the living room, smearing mud in one another’s hair and generally making themselves a nuisance, little Edwin Rios aka Fuzzy Cufflinxx aka Bear Who? had begun his education in earnest. That is, at least during the parties thrown by his parents at their Logan Square “pad” (this was the seventies you know). It wasn’t the sex, booze or “other” that flipped his switch, but the movements of the upstairs neighbors who, upon entrance, shed their mortal skin and became DJs. “I was amazed at the attention they got when they came in. Unpacking their crates and equipment, the whole room just stopped. Only when they began to spin the disco did it start again—but at a different speed, a different tempo.”

His parents took nights off. Not Bear. Such reprieves were spent cross-legged in front of the family HiFi armed with a tape recorder, taking rapid-fire dictation from the now-tenured, then-radical first wavers of Chicago’s House dynasty. Frankie Knuckles, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Ralphi Rosario, Steve Hurley, Mr. Lee, Julian Perez, Fast Eddie—all were catalogued and absorbed.

Sounds focused for such a young lad? You’re probably expecting something akin to: “Upon reaching puberty Bear received his first drum machine, locked himself in a room with a slide rule and a supercomputer vowing not to emerge until he had constructed the “perfect” beat.” Or, “On his sixteenth birthday Bear donned a cape and green tights vowing to wage a war of virtue against all enemies of House.” Not quite. Close. But not quite. He did what any young prodigy should. He skipped the Boys Scouts and joined the House on the Boulevard Crew. Similar to another ‘80s convention, the “breakin’ crew," but favoring turntables and microphones over cardboard and parachute pants such neighborhood clubs allowed young turks like Bear to evolve while keeping them out of trouble in skinflint environments like Logan Square. Truthfully...there might have been parachute pants involved, but that’s a question for the man himself.

From then on he was running in the rabidly talented Chi-town wolfpack alongside Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Bad Boy Bill, Mark Farina etc—and he, like the rest, did his time working at landmark wax store Gramaphone; playing out at Chicago mainstays like Crobar, Karma, Shelter, Redno 5 and Zentra; setting up his own production company (What I’ve Been Through Productions) and putting out singles on, among other labels, Dust Traxx. The latter, for good or evil has become a rite of passage for any respectable Chicago DJ.

One major by-product of life in the heart of a city so rich in its musical heritage is the opportunity to build a diverse palette. And Bear has—from Italy and Brazil to Germany and the UK, Bear has kindly walloped crowds over the head with his self-dubbed “Mental Musicale”—a soulfully kinetic jambalaya of disco, salsa, techno and Latin-influenced “house hop” rhythmus shot thorough from alpha to omega with his own on-the-spot freestyle, rap and spoken word: Willie Colon and El Gran Combo on a steamy double date with Afrika Bambatta and Kraftwerk at Studio 54.

He’s astutely aware that audiences are beginning to want more from a DJ than cross fading. “In Europe mix shows are pop. You can hear Green Velvet alongside Coldplay, and Americans are starting to feel this. The days of put your hands in the air, ‘Praise this and praise that and praise everyone,’ are over. People are bored; they’re expecting DJs to be artists and performers. We need to elevate our game. When I go out most of the time I’m wondering, ‘Where is the show?’ I make the show—an all-in-one show of Chicago soul. I grab the mic and perform everything live.”

Bear Who? is responsible for the 2003 dance chart slayer "Fix My Sink", with remixes by the Grammy Award Winning duo "Basement Jaxx." The song produced by Mark Bell of Bjork and Simply Red fame, along with Dj Sneak, marked Bear Who?'s first excursion into the world of music television and world wide dance fame.

The "Fix My Sink" video was filmed in alleyways around Queen West in Toronto. The song and video subsequently hit #1 for 13 weeks on the legendary Radio 1 BBC dance show hosted by legendary Pete Tong, number 10 on the MTV UK Video Charts and #25 on the Radio 1 Pop Charts. “Fix my Sink” also landed in the hands of world famous dance collective Ministry of Sound UK and Australia hitting the pop charts at # 10 down under.

Bear Who?’s popularity grew even higher when Dj Sneak, Mark Bell and Todd Terry (“Everything But the Girl”) collaborated for a fiery single titled “Que Pasa,” now featured on AOL music sessions live exclusively for Grammy Nominated Dj and Artist, Armand Van Helden.

“FMS” proved Bear’s ability to conceive and execute grade-A floor burners that garner equal respect in the worlds of dance and hip-hop; consequently his discomfiture at perceiving himself low-man in the “Mongoloids” has eased. If you’re not familiar, the aforementioned is a loosely formed, tightly knit brotherhood of badasses including The Basement Jaxx, Roger Sanchez, Sneak, Armand Van Helden, Junior Sanchez and Daft Punk. Time for one “Hurrah!” and it’s back to work. He’s not nearly satisfied. Bear’s recent remix of Grammy Award-winning artist Kelly Rolland’s “Stole” blew people’s pants off. Scratch that, it caused people’s pants to evaporate.

Bear has completed riding his rail in the studios with the completion of his first artist album, “The Beatbox.” This album is a fusion of Hip Hop meeting House music in a way that only Bear Who? has the ability to portray. A new idea and sound that has the first music video completed as well as the backing of 2 additional music videos, full media blitz, tour and some of the best remixers in the Dance game (Greenskeepers, CZR and DJ Rush to name a few) . The Beatbox is also the first single off the album.

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Mister T. (Paris France)
Serial Records

Jacques Dumas (St. Barth, France)
Nikki Beach Deejay

Jacques Dumas began his carreer as a DJ in 78 in Aix-en-Provence. After relocating to Paris in 1981 and three years of taking small jobs he finally landed a night at "La Piscine", the first New Wave club in Paris (clients included : Depeche Mode, Rita Mitsouko, The Cure, etc...). Other club appearances included ,"Le Palace","Le Central"(future Queen) and finally "'Le Niel's" where he produced club hits "Your Song" featuring Billy Paul and "Branchez La Guitare" with San Franciscan group "Big Soul".

Mr Dumas earned a Platinium record for his contribution to the success of "Your Song" at the occasion of the French TV show "Taratata" where Billy Paul sang for the first time in France. He later signed a production contract with Sony Music for "Big Soul" which earned immediate success in France, within 6 months selling over 150,000 copies of the album, obtaining Gold status.

Deejay Hydro Chicago, IL
Betty's Blue Star Lounge