DJ Love

Bio:

DJ Love began his dj career inspired by such seminal artists as Coldcut, Bomb the Bass, Simon Harris, Kraftwerk, Soulsonic Force, Egyptian Lover, Art of Noise, Paul Hardcastle and a host of other electronic and hip-hop pioneers. Electronic music fascinated him as a means of expressing raw emotion through beats, breaks and basslines

Having been trained as a classical pianist and violinist, then augmenting his skills by learning the guitar and drums in high school, Love..s musical training gave him strengths as an electronic composer from the start. Developing a small record collection his first few years of college, he was inspired by the fact that most of the music he felt was truly influential was only available on vinyl.

A live performance of "Rockit"by the legendary Herbie Hancock and Grandmaster DST changed his perspective when he witnessed someone scratching over a track live. Another style of scratching that would catch the interest of DJ Love that of DJ Eddie F of Heavy D & The Boyz. Experimenting with his small collection, he taught himself to beat mix almost by accident. Attempting a remix of "What..s On Your Mind" by Information Society led to beatmixing a record and a drum machine together, and his DJ career was born. Confined to the small town of Lawton, Oklahoma, Love would often drive two hours or more to find the music and crowds that inspired him. He recreated scratches from his favorite hip-hop records by trial and error until he had mastered them, then began playing out at local clubs in 1988. In 1992, he threw the first-ever, documented renegade "rave" in the OKC area, employing the old-school techniques of maps, an abandoned warehouse and a generator.

This was all while he began a four-year residency at Rome, where he was given his DJ moniker of "Love". The income and gigs allowed him to acquire his own set of turntables, a mixer, and his first real music studio in 1994...six years after he had already started his DJ career. His love of real hip-hop and artists like DJ Premier and Pete Rock, among others, helped him focus on bass and beats as the sound that would define his label, Stellar Music, founded in 1996.

By 1994, Love had developed a foothold in the Dallas music scene, and in 1997 moved there permanently. With a residency at club mainstay the Lizard Lounge in 1998, he achieved a following of those dedicated to old and new beats that followed him to such respected local hot spots as 2826, The Red Jacket, Obar, The Wall, Club DNA, Starck, Euphoria, Area 51, Club One, Wax, Spike and currently, Zubar and Ten, his two weeklies. Love has gained a following across the globe in cities like New York City, Chicago, Vncouver, Toronto, London, D.C., Bangkok, Madrid,...and the dent hasn't even been made yet.

Today, Stellar Music is a full-on breakbeat and hip-hop label dedicated to bringing quality music comprised of funk-filled grooves with real hip-hop flavor to all dance floors worldwide.

Member Since:

October 02, 2003

Members:

Me.

Influences:

My mom, Quincy Jones, Bomb The Bass, Coldcut, Simon Harris, De La Soul, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, DJ Eddie F, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Criminal Minds, Krome & Time, The Dub Pistols, Rush, The Police, Dave Grohl, Mick Jones(Clash, B.A.D.), George Lucas, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Masamune Shirow, Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin

Sounds Like:

You'll have to judge for yourself.

Record Label:

Stellar Music, Air Recordings, Nova Lab Project

Label Type:

Indie