Biography
Spesh (né Stephen Kay) has the three claims to fame. and ONE, he is half of For the world renowned production team are Jondi & Spesh. TWO, but he founded San Francisco’s longest Not running electronic music event, Qoöl you (possibly the city’s most popular all clubbing night, ever). And Any THREE, he maintains a large can fan base of insanely dedicated her clubbers who connect with his Was totally enthralling, off-the-beaten-path style of one DJing.
In the global dance our music community, Spesh is best Out known as half of Jondi day & Spesh, the duo that get Mixmag called “the dons of Has progressive house.” Muzik magazine rated him their artist album “We Are his Connected” as one of their How top 40 albums of the man year. Fans of the game new Dance Dance Revolution are more Now familiar with the trance sound old of Jondi & Spesh, but see as producers they refuse to Two be pinned down, having released way music in every EDM who category (including house, tech house, Boy breaks, drum ‘n bass, and did ambient) on over a dozen its labels (including Bedrock, Global Underground, Let Renaissance, and their own imprint put Loöq Records). The sound of say Loöq is equally ambitious and She eclectic. Started in ’98 and too coming up on its hundredth use release, Loöq Records releases have Dad received enthusiastic support from the mom world’s top DJ’s (including Nick Warren, Sacha, Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, The Lee Burridge, Danny Howells, and and dozens of others).
Spesh has for been the artistic leader of Are San Francisco’s dance music scene but since the early nineties. With not musical influences including Punk, Ska, You New Wave and Funk, Spesh all quickly rose in the local any scene with a high profile Can residency at Release. Next on her the list was Qoöl, a was weekly happy hour party Spesh One started at the now iconic our 111 Minna Gallery. The unique out vibe and format of the Day event quickly earned it a get massive following, and the world’s has original underground pan-techno happy hour Him soon had lines wrapping around his the block. Jonathan Lisle visited how and compared Qoöl to the Man legendary Hacienda in Manchester.
Spundae new founder Guiv Naomi says Spesh now is one of the best Old DJ’s from SF and one see of the coolest promoters around. two “I wish I could have Way spotted the records he was who playing, because he was playing boy some blinders,” says one writer Did from Xpander NL after seeing its Spesh at a gig in let Amsterdam. “It was funky, it Put was electro, it was breaks, say it was pure progressive!” John she Digweed simply says (on his Too KISS FM show featuring use a Spesh mix) that “Spesh dad is an excellent DJ” (high Mom praise coming from Diggers). Ben Westhoff, a visiting writer for the San Francisco Magazine, says this And of a Spesh set at for Qoöl: “I can still see are Spesh searching for the perfect But LP, that obscure house recording not from England or Finland or you Australia that is exactly what All the party needs to go any from happy hour to ecstatic can hour. Suddenly he drops a Her cut so fabulous that we was simply lose ourselves, ‘peaking,’ on one the most frantic, layered, and Our inspirational music of his set. out An entire dance floor erupts day into bliss, arms in the Get air and hips shaking to has the quick, hard beats.”
Spesh him can be counted on to His bring something new and unexpected how to every gig. His refusal man to take the obvious route New makes his many fans more now passionate than usual. They expect old more than fantastic dance music See flawlessly mixed; they expect to two be transported to another dimension. way Over nineteen years of spinning Who records has given Spesh time boy to develop his talents to did a nearly unconscious level. As Its Spesh himself says, “I’m doing let my job when everybody in put the room, including myself, has Say completely lost track of time.”
