HALO: THE PROGRESSION
The Foundation
The Birth Place Chicago.
He’s 16 and earned his nickname rocking graffiiti-tags all through chicago during this time he also was offered his 1st music industry job by long time friend Dj Sneak working at famed record store Hip House, where it all began - the education in acid house, Detroit techno, et al. Chicago’s underground loft parties inspired him to hear real Chicago house music, plus a dash of disco, spun by such legendary jocks as Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy. These were the artists whose sounds formed the movement, and they made an impression. Listen close: You can still hear them in Halo’s soul-tickling, eardrum-rattling, Deep House rhythms today. Because of Hip House’s location just outside of downtown, the Windy City teen was able to establish contacts with visiting club industry reps, who, after listening to his tapes, began hiring him to play their parties. “I started doing that more and more. And more and more people started hearing me play,” Halo says. Before he left the Midwest for the far west, he served a three-year tour of duty as an A&R with MoodyRecords, a period where he learned more, grew more, saw more. In a word: becoming.
Go west, young man
San Diego.
Now he was traveling regularly. He was manning the decks in clubs from sea to shining sea, gaining experience, developing a sound. Early on during his stint in So-Cal, Halo attended the 2000 edition of Miami’s Winter Music Conference. Halo and long time partner Hipp-e together known as H-Foundation was spinning at a club, when a couple of guys from the then newly opened London-based Fabric approached them. “They “asked,” , ‘Have you ever played Europe?” they said they hadn’t. Soon after, Halo “was” in the rain-soaked city, reaching out and “, crucially,” connecting with an unfamiliar audience. He’d found a home. “The sound system, the staff—it was probably one of the best clubs I’ve been in,” Halo says of Fabric. Fabric offered him his first residency abroad. He accepted. And, yeah, he still plays there on a regular basis
In 2004.
Halo was focused on building up CityDeep Music, Dedicated to releasing quality, cutting-edge dance music created by the finest producers like Franck Roger, Dennis Ferrer, Marlon D, Rocco, Andre Lodemann, CityDeep is an oasis that worships at the altar of deep house mixed with organic techy rhythms—the stuff, in other words, “mature music for the deeply minded”.
Inside the crystal ball
In 2008.
Halo loaded up the U-Haul moving truck once again and head up to San Francisco to work on a variety of projects, not the least of which will be rocking the much talked about CityDeep parties and Also keeping a very busy production schedule. It’s the kind of dedication that earned him the top spot on “URB Magazine’s “Next 100”, nominated for best dj in 2003 at the IDMA’s “International Dance Music Awards” and voted top 20 in BPM’s “Whos Americas Favorite Dj” in 2003 and 2004, and supported by a army of DJs and producers from across the globe, including a variety of djs like Alix Alvarez, Osunlade, Deetron, Atjazz, Charles Webster, Darimount, Lars Behrenroth, Doc Martin, Marques Wyatt, Sacha Dive, Dj Deep, Tuccillo, Danilo Vigorito, Dj Sneak and Others. In 2009 Halo’s “ early production “Future” produced back in 1998 was voted #95 in RA’s best tracks of the decade, and can is still be heard in clubs across the globe.
In 2011.
Halo launches his new sub record label project “Surface Recordings” under his moniker “View” with friend Nikola Baytala that will include producers Tuccillo, Dj Sneak, Danilo Vigorito, Marasco, Lomez, Andrew Grant, Pezzner , and more to come. Halo also has a long history of production under labels like Fabric London, MN2S, Large, Yoshitoshi, Soma, NRK, Nordic Trax, Foliage, Orion Muzik & more, then there are his club gigs, which include regular appearances at South Africa, Buenos Aires, Australia, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Tokyo regular hot spots in Europe and America. Halo’s house is for the soul and spirit, not the cheap and commercial. “I’ve been DJing for 20 years,”he says. “And I love what I do.”
