Since the dawn of the 1990s, American dance music culture has seen waves of club-goers, artists and DJs come and go. The survivors are rare: It's hard to stick with a dancing-till-dawn culture as your 40s approach, but that's what one DJ has done. Thee-O continues to be a pillar of Southern California club culture, and his banging, bouncy house style hasn't let up, either.
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The spinner was planning on becoming an opera singer, of all things, when rave culture beckoned in 1992 and he played his first parties. The experience was a blast, and he realized there would be no future in penguin suits – he would be a DJ. Thee-O became a top-of-the-flier spinner at local raves – a self-proclaimed seal of approval for underground events. He dabbled in trance and techno, but his true style would be up-tempo, radio-mix-show-style house music. His is no chin-stroking music: A Thee-O set is always a party.
Thee-O has played alongside most of the great ones, including Orbital, Underworld, 808 State and the Chemical Brothers. His guest mixes can be heard occasionally on Sirius XM satellite radio. But he's as humble as they come: Shades-wearing, fly-by-night superstar-DJ wannabes be damned. Catch him Wednesday at Movement.
Movement presents Thee-O at the Light Gallery, 440 E. 17th St., #6, Costa Mesa. Wed, 8 p.m. Info: myspace.com/jasonblakemore.
