I started my career in the basement of a friends’ house in the suburbs of Chicago in the fall of 1994. My friend Rich was a DJ and took me under his wing once I mentioned to him that I had always wanted to DJ. I quickly grasped the concept and combined it with my knowledge of music theory (from my high school band days...band geeks FTW!) to create a very structured, clean style of mixing.
Even before starting to DJ, I loved the music that was the foundation of nightclubs: house, hip hop, old school house, alternative, and industrial music. All this led to my first residency at Paladrome, a fairly new underage club in Palatine IL, in January 1995. That summer, Paladrome was one of Chicago's most popular nightclubs, breaking attendance records nightly. Performing alongside DJ/Producer Mazi (Audio Soul Project/Gourmet Recordings), we created an environment like no other, with music crossing all popular genres. Here is where I received my DJ name of “Too Smooth”. Every so often, club goers would come up to the booth and use the word "smooth" to describe my mixes. Once Mazi caught wind of this, he branded me with the name over the microphone and it stuck. In 1997, I also got a taste of producing. DJ Trajic from Underground Construction had got in touch with Rich and I, and we sat in and delivered input to Trajic during the creation of his release, Noize Junky.
After Paladrome, I continued to DJ at various clubs in the Chicago area until 1999. I decided it was time for a break. But that would only last so long. I returned to nightclubs by joining A La Carte Entertainment, Chicago’s premier nightclub operation in March 2003. I held residencies in some of the top ACE clubs and performed at many others, including Chicago’s world class mega club, Vision.
In October 2007, I got an opportunity to get some airtime. After a tryout, I joined the weekly mix show team on Club Mix WRLR 98.3 FM out of Round Lake Beach, IL. In July 2008, I joined the Radio Danz mix show team as a weekly resident DJ for the 2008 summer and then maintained a monthly one hour mix show until May 2010. I also rebroadcast my mixes in a podcast. After Radio Danz, I decided to continue my podcast at the request of my subscribers.
Currently, I am holding a residency at The Leg Room in downtown Chicago. The music focus is mostly on top 40 remixes, electro & progressive house, some old school and of course, some hip hop. Come check it out!
Experience:
- Paladrome* - Palatine, IL (1995-1997)
- Club Vertigo* - Palatine, IL (1997-1999)
- Venus Nightclub - Schaumburg, IL (1998)
- Hob Nob* - Crystal Lake, IL (1999)
- Destination Nightclub - St. Charles, IL (2003)
- Deja Vu - Chicago, IL (2003)
- Alumni Club* - Schaumburg*, Crystal Lake*, Chicago, IL (2003-2005)
- Tonic Nightclub* - Peoria, IL (2005)
- Famous Freddie's Roadhouse* - Fox Lake, Mount Prospect*, IL (2006)
- Dick's River Roadhouse - Mount Prospect, IL (2007)
- Taste of Lincoln Avenue, Chicago (2007)
- The Apartment - Chicago, IL (2007, 2008, 2009)
- Vision Nightclub - Chicago, IL (2007, 2008, 2009)
- Finn McCool's - Crystal Lake, IL (2008)
- Moretti's - Lake In The Hills, IL (2009)
- The Leg Room* - Chicago, IL (2003, 2010-present)
*residencies