Nyiko Maphosa Aka “Apple Jazz” is holding down the deep house sound in South Africa.  He is sure to continue to startle us as he has from the very beginning as with his first remix, the now-classic scratch on “Jazz partner”. His fusions, clamped to the beat of his unique, thundering kick drum, define his sound at every turn.

Through DJ-ing and the local scene, Apple Jazz found himself intrigued with the production element of dance music and soon began to create his own grooves.  The Apple Jazz sound, or the “one man mix”, as Nyiko calls it, is quickly becoming house music history.

During this cultivation process, Apple Jazz formed a strong bond w/ crew member Arnold Tempo and they have now joined forces in the studio to create the group Black Jazz.  They’re first release is soon to drop on RealDEEP Recordings.

::: RealDEEP Recordings | Soul Foundation | Music 101 | WAXaddict :::

Brian Gardner may have discovered his passion for DJing by accident, but his success is far from accidental. As a veteran of the Chicago House music scene for more than 15 years, Gardner has emerged as a versatile DJ and producer who manipulates everything from soulful, jazzy jack to the harder beats of industrial and techno. More recently, Gardner has stepped into the role as one of the booking directors for Chicago’s Music-101.com, where he brings in an array of top-tier House talent while promoting the underground vibrancy that makes the city’s house scene glow.

Gardner’s love for underground House stems back to his childhood days in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. While the “Hot Mix 5″ DJs on the historic WBMX 102.7 dial sparked his passion for the music, it was involvement in the rave scene of the early 1990’s that first introduced him to the full spectrum of underground, electronic sound. When some friends asked if he could look after a set of turntables for them in 1993, Gardner saw it as an open call to experiment with beat matching and mixing. With his friends never reclaiming the tables, he delved deeper into his newfound passion, buying records and playing numerous house parties across the city.

In the mid 1990s, Gardner elevated his underground status by joining the ranks of Chicago’s Soul Foundation Kollective, where he and fellow House cohorts including Traxx, Jevon Jackson, Frique, Brenda D and John Simmons created an electronic blueprint of house music history. The legendary Soul Foundation parties allowed Gardner to step into his own as both a performer on the decks and promoter of the events. In 1998, he took on the role of House buyer of Chicago’s Hot Jams records while earning playing time at premiere underground venues including Smart Bar, Boom Boom Room and Mad Bar, to name a few. His success on and behind the scenes landed him the position as manager and house buyer for WAXaddict records in 2002.

Gardner currently juggles multiple hats of being DJing, producing, promoting and booking events. In (2000) he joined the ranks of Chicago’s visible Music 101 promotions team where he works as a production manager for bookings, event coordinator and web site administrator. On the DJ tip, he and production partner/wife Brenda D have held their three-year, Friday night house residency, Bootlegged, at Chicago’s Moonshine. Gardner himself commands presence on a weekly basis throughout the city, bringing a fresh flavor to the typical four-by-four beat.

“Acid, deep, jackin’, old school-I’m not limiting myself to any one genre of House,” Gardner says. More recently, his style has taken him the route of “deep boompty house,” which are slower beats characterized by big vocals. “I’m not interested in putting people to sleep,” he says of his performance style. “Good music is just good music.”

Gardner releases his first nationally distributed C.D. in fall 2007 on the San Francisco-based Loveslap! Recordings label. The mix C.D. features his mix of the label’s back-catalogued cuts.

“You always have to recreate yourself-you can’t get stuck in your niche,” Gardner says of his evolving career. “It’s an exciting time for House music in Chicago.”

What began as an electronic interlude on the Rockford, Ill., rave scene turned into a full-time passion for DJ/vocalist, Brenda D. In the mid-1990s, Brenda fell hard for the electronic sounds that were igniting the Midwest at the time. Instead of simply joining the party, Brenda orchestrated it, coming at audiences with her self-styled brand of techno and House. Now with more than eight years of DJing experiencing under her, Brenda has carved herself a unique niche on Chicago’s House music scene, blending her driving house beats with a kind of feminine finesse that makes audiences take notice.

Brenda’s move to Chicago in 1996 saw her joining the ranks the city’s esteemed Soul Foundation Kollective, which included heavy house hitters such as Traxx, Frique, Jevon Jackson, Brian Gardner and John Simmons, to name a few. Brenda quickly absorbed their creative influences and landed her first gig at Chicago’s Mad Bar in 1999. Soon, she earned a monthly residency at the club and began playing at other underground venues, including Smart Bar, Karma & many others.

In 2004 she and production partner/husband Brian Gardner established their Friday night residency, “Bootlegged” at Moonshine. With help from fellow Soul Foundation member Jevon Jackson, the night has become a weekly underground staple of Chicago’s house music scene for the past four years.

“DJing and performing are my passions”, says Brenda, who considers her track selection a brand of “forward-thinking house”. Her rolling, rhythmic beats create a sonic canopy of sound that resounds with hard energy while maintaining a sense of femininity.

Local press has also taken notice of Brenda’s style. “Chicago Scene” magazine featured Brenda D. as one of Chicago’s best female DJs in its April 2007 issue. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else”, she says of her House music craft.

DOTS (aka Dust On The Stylus) is an enigmatic non-musician, producer, deejay, and remixer who fuses psychedelic pop influences with modern day electronic music. The DOTS sound knows no boundaries and aims to bridge the gap between experimentation and more traditional pop structure. Mixing together a colorful swirl of electronica, rock music, and noise, the music DOTS creates successfully bypasses the limitations of being labeled as any one specific genre, but rather accepts them all as being equally influential to his unique style.

…BIO & PICS Coming Soon…