Rees Urban
Urban moved to Chicago at an early age and soon took a liking to the various sounds of underground music that the city had to offer. After years of buying records and mix tapes, he drew closer to the musical movement by landing his first job in 1994 at the Chicago record store, Frequency, owned by house icon Rick Garcia. Since then, he has worked in several major Chicago record stores, including Hip House, the starting point for renowned artists like DJ Jes, DJ Sneak, Halo and Hyperactive. Following the footsteps of these giants, he began playing banquet halls, basement parties and house parties, and has since went on to headline events across Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America alongside notables including: Ben Sims, Bob Sinclar, Gaetano Parisio, Green Velvet, Mark Farina, Roger Sanchez and Umek to name a few.
After playing at Love Parade 2000 in Berlin, Germany; Danube Rave 2000 in Linz, Austria and going on a six week tour in Europe stopping in over 16 major cities he is a star attraction worldwide. His tour earned him a residency at Stammheim in Kassel, Germany; a top rated club in Germany in the year 2000. Over the years, Urban’s style has remained uniquely his own, ranging from deep house and acid house to electro, techno and ghetto. He creates an atmosphere based on the innovations and explorations of the earlier vibes that we all miss.
As a producer and remixer, he has recorded projects for a wide variety of labels such as Dance Mania, International House Records, Moonshine, Primate, Pro-Jex, and Tresor. His tracks have been consistently charted and played by a wide range of top jocks including Adam Beyer, Bad Boy Bill, Carl Cox, DJ Funk and Judge Jules. In addition, he has made appearances on mix CDs from the who’s who in electronic music like: Antoine Clamaran, Dave Clarke, DJ Dan, DJ Rush, Hatiras and John Digweed. Furthermore, Rees co-founded Bunchlox Music as well as started two record labels of his own, Jackinthebox and Public Housing.
Bunchlox has been an outlet for releasing artists including: Mazi, Natural Rhythm and Tony Senghore. The first label on his own, Public Housing, a techno and ghetto house label, has releases by several techno superstars including: Ade Fenton, Ben Long, D.A.V.E. The Drummer, Paul Mac and of course DJ Urban as well. The second solo label, Jackin’ The Box is a house label that primarily features Stateside house producers. Releases on Jackinthebox include: Greenskeepers, Southern Roots and Spettro.
It goes without saying that Rees Urban is poised in becoming a good deal more than he already is. As DJ Rush explains, “Urban, in my eyes, captures the culture, the excitement of the moment and is the real thing.” That being said, it is clear that this artist is indeed a work in progress; exactly what is required to remain strong in an ever-changing dance music industry.
Matt Porter
Fetha
