ArtistInfo

Steve Melvage

Dance

“Every artist I respect takes the influences that have shaped who they are and transforms them into the media they control.” Such is the case with Steve Melvage. He continues to utilize the influences he's surrounded by to bring a replete story to the dance floor. Born and raised on the North side of Chicago, Melvage first started his dj career at the age of 11. Heavily inspired by the mix shows on WBMX Steve decided that the turntables would be his mark of expression. “Growing up in Chicago was the best education anyone could ever get djing. People here care about your “blends”, your selection, and your originality. If you can play here you can play anywhere.” Grabbing his own radio show and first residency at the age of 16 Melvage learned to work a room for 6 hours at a time. It was during this brief stint on the East Coast that he was exposed to Dancehall, Industrial, Acid Jazz, Hip Hop etc. “My heart has always been HOUSE but learning to blend and manipulate other styles of music made me a better DJ.” Returning to Chicago Steve gravitated towards the “chunky but not cheesy” records coming out of Chicago, New York, and Europe. Melvage credits sharing the decks with DJ Heather, Derrick Carter, Justin Long, DJ Deeon, E Smoove, Luke Soloman, James Curd, and Mark Grant; as well as having a residency with JT Donaldson, Tim Shumaker, and Diz for being instrumental in elevating his skill set and establishing his sound as unique. “You can learn a lot from playing with incredible DJ's. I've always felt that when you step up to the decks it's like a blank canvas. From there it's a control and release story you create with your crowd.” Steve has worked at many record stores, including an 8 year stint at famed South side Hot Jams Records. After years of residencies at Betty's, Spy Bar, Mercury, and Lava Lounge to name a few, Steve teamed up with Brian Heath to form “Beatgiants.” The idea was to conjoin Heath's raw aggressiveness with Steve's passion for four on the floor, disco influenced, track manipulation precision. Together they delivered their “push and pull” energy to such venues as Smartbar, Darkroom, LAVA, Zentra, and Green Dolphin. Recently Melvage and Heath operate under the moniker First Time In Tokyo and changed the game with esteemed nights GUERILLA COUTURE and ACID ONE. “The idea was to try to bring something original to Chicago nightlife and just have a great time with our friends, who happen to be amazing artists.” With Heath, Steve has recorded the highly applauded “Rocks in My Pocket” on Greenskeepers Music as well as “Drowsy” on Alphabet Music. The future holds solo projects from Melvage as well as the soon to be released “Summers In Mississippi” on Back to the Future Recordings with Brian Heath. “It's been an amazing journey and on the way I've met some incredible people. I'm just gonna keep creating, having a good time, and making people shake their ass.”