Biography:
- DJ Disciple first tapped into the raw nerve center that is underground dance music in the late ‘80’s and has been intrinsically bound to it ever since, ensuring both credibility and longevity as a DJ and record producer alike.
While other names have passed by the wayside in the often
transient world of dance, Disciple’s enduring success is owed to a
canny prescience that keeps him a step ahead of the game. By
skillfully molding the heartbeat of underground dance music to suit
his own sensibilities he has garnered an eclectic reputation, difficult
to pigeonhole, that sees him traversing the globe, playing sets that
range from sultry disco to soulful house, UK, latin and harder
tribal sounds.
In the process he has successfully launched two record labels,
Catch 22 and Nympho Soundz, remixed songs for the likes of
Brandy, Samantha Mumba, Robert Owens and more, had a song
featured in Robert DeNiro’s “The Score” and HBO’s “America
Undercover”. In addition to all this DJ Disciple still finds time to be
the buzz chart editor and reviewer for Big Shot Magazine. To call the
man driven seems an understatement.
DJ Disciple has music in his genes, literally. His father played piano
with none other than Miles Davis and his bass player brother has
been the mainstay in George Benson’s band for many years. DJ
Disciple himself was born into the intense rhythmic and cultural
hotbed that is Brooklyn, New York. An early sense of the innovation
that would earmark his career first surfaced when he began to DJ at
Baruch College, undercutting gospel records of the time by the likes
of the Winans and Commissioned with raw hip-hop breaks.
Through DJ friends, Jazzy Jerome and Rockin’ Rich Disciple was
introduced to the world of house music falling for ethereal
underground sounds by the likes of Fingers Inc. As word spread, his
playground became college campus’ throughout the New York area.
His first gig in a New York club was at the famed Studio 54. Soon he
was DJing at hot spots such as the Choice (where he alternated
with legendary DJ Larry Levan) and Wild Pitch whilst hosting the first
New York broadcast house music show on WNYE, 91.5FM where he
broke records by the likes of Roger Sanchez, Kerri Chandler and
Masters At Work. DJ Disciple also began to recruit a loyal following
in New Jersey thanks to a residency at Club 280. When Tony
Humphries stepped down from the Zanzibar in 1990, the gig was
his.
“Soon after myself and Roger S started traveling, DJing a lot more.
First domestically to places like Atlanta, San Francisco, D.C. and
then in ‘93 I went to England” remembers Disciple “and that’s when
things really started to take off. I really built up a strong following over
there and that led to requests elsewhere in Europe and Japan.”
Soon after Disciple made the natural progression to making his own
music, the first being “We Need You” which was licensed to D Vision
in Italy. Another release, “On The Dancefloor” was licensed to
London Records. With his star firmly in the ascendant in Europe
Disciple soon became a permanent fixture at the huge
internationally renowned venues in the UK: Cream, Empire and the
Ministry Of Sound. The more his fame grew, the more he worked,
totaling a staggering 50 gigs alone in the UK in one year and 15
dates in Italy and Spain.
“I guess in some ways I’ve been fortunate in as much as the growth
in my career has coincided with the growth of dance music on an
international level” says Disciple modestly.
Indeed, the last five years have seen his itinerary resemble that of an
international airline’s flight schedule: Oslo's infamous Jazid, Tel
Aviv's celebrated club Lemon,
Singapore's Mall of Sound and Club Zouk, Belfast’s Milk, Madrid's
Deep and of course Ibiza’s massive Pacha have all been
memorable ports of call. The upcoming months will see Disciple
making dance music pilgrimages to Peru, Croatia, Russia, Africa,
China and Brazil.
The globe trotting has all worked in sync with his numerous record
releases over the last few years on both Catch 22 and Nympho
Soundz which have been licensed throughout the world. Some of
Catch 22’s highlights include “Put Your Hands Up" by the Black &
White Brothers (licensed in over 8 territories) and "Caught Up", a
Billboard Dance chart no1 (as well as a appearing in the series
“Queer As Folk”). The song was also featured on his highly
acclaimed debut artist album, “My True Colors” which Billboard
championed as “Essential” and Muzik described as “Sheer unadulterated pleasure”. Other hits from the album included “It’s
Easy” and “Yes” all of which have been licensed throughout Europe.
Nympho Soundz, the instrumental, rawer element to Disciple’s
persona now also has a slew of releases under its belt. Successes
include "Ill Concepts” one of last year’s biggest anthems appearing
on compilations
from DJ Dan, Bad Boy Bill, Richard Humpty Vission, John Aquaviva,
and DJ Irene. It was also licensed to Bio Records (France). Disciple
also released two tracks “Free Florida” and No One Knows” under
his Banji Boyz alias. "Free Florida" entered the Belgium charts at
no.15 after it was licensed to DigiDance whilst The Tuff Twins label
picked it up for the UK. In the US and worldwide heavy hitters Danny
Tenaglia, David Morales, and Erick Morillo championed "No One
Knows".
Robbie Rivera’s “Superdrum” was licensed to Azuli Records in the
UK , “Fantasy Reality” has been licensed to *69, Peter Rauhofers
label, and remixed by Superchumbo supremo Tom Stephan. It has
also †been licensed in Greece by house label Planet Works
appearing on this year's Nervous compilation.
As if such far reaching international acclaim wasn’t enough, Willy
Sanjuan’s interestingly titled “Straight Girls Don’t Lick Pussy” has
been licensed to N.E.W.S for
the territories of Belgium and France while becoming a strong rave
anthem in America.
With the world literally his oyster Disciple is reassuringly grounded
as to his future and his role in general in dance music:
“For me it’s important to remember that DJing made me what I am
and that’s always the first for me. I see dance music going through a
very big change shortly. It can’t stay the way it is and I aim to change
with it. You have to. Ultimately it’s all music and if you love and
understand music, you’ll know that it’s fluid, forever flowing, forever
changing. It’s wonderful to embrace that and go with the flow but yet
always be original, always be yourself.”
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