John Patterson

John Patterson began his foray into spinning records in 1996 while a student at the University of Illinois, DJing at several bars and small parties in college. A long time fan of 80s synth-pop and hip-hop, John quickly developed an ear and appreciation for different forms of electronic music. Although he did not have a strong understanding of electronic music at this point, John quickly discovered that he had found his passion.

Though exhilarated by his new love, even at this early point of his evolution, John often felt constrained and limited by the music he was expected to play in the limited forums available to him. It was only when he graduated from school, moved to Chicago, that all boundaries dissolved and he was able to truly refine his skills. He obtained his first pair of turntables in January of 1998, and his serious concentration on spinning wax began.

As he began his true ascension into DJing, John experimented with several styles of electronic music, constantly searching for the elements that would help him define a unique and personal sound. The DJs and producers who he now sites as major influences reflect the diversity of sounds that he explored in his formative DJ years. They include Brian Bretz, Mark Broom, Dave Clarke, Carl Cox, Nils Danielsson, Steve Rachmad, Ben Sims, Technasia, Cristian Varela and Claude Young.

Over the next two years, John continued to hone his skills, mostly privately for friends, and in closed quarters. During this period John began to gravitate largely towards only spinning techno. In the years 2000, John accepted an offer to become a resident DJ for Koncept, a Chicago-based promotions company that exclusively features techno music. This alliance afforded John greater opportunities to share his passion with techno fans and to perform at well-known Chicago clubs such as Crobar, Empty Bottle, Moonshine, RedNoFive, Sound Bar, Vision, Tini Martini and Zentra, as well as the opportunity to open for local and international talents such as Dave Angel, Joey Beltram, Adam Beyer, Cajmere, Marco Carola, Mike Dearborn, Deetron, Jake Fairley, Roman Flugel, Richie Hawtin, Laurent Garnier, Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice, Derrick May, Billy Nasty, Gaetano Parisio, Pan/Tone, Mauro Picotto, DJ Rush, John Selway, Luke Slater, Christian Smith, Space DJz, Danilo Vigorito, Mike Wade and Geoff White.

These days John continues to refine and define his sound spinning independently for Koncept and on select occasions for Chicago-based Meiotic, Pure Promotions and the NBFC. John has also played festivals in Mexico, the Winter Music Conference(WMC) in Miami and in Detroit during the Detroit Electronic Music Festival(DEMF). He continues to help pace the growing, local techno movement in Chicago with his three-turntable sets. These sets showcase his ability to move effortlessly in and out of various musical styles, which is further accentuated by his seamless mixing style, focused on Eqing, trickery, and holding mixes for extended periods of time. His sound clearly reflects the broad spectrum of music to which he was exposed as he refined his Djing skills, and the bleeding edge of the larger, global techno movement.

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