Biography:
If life is about "being in the right place at the right
time," then Diz's timing could not have been better.
Born and raised in Chicago, the original epicenter of the
House Music uni-verse, his adolescence coincided with the
beginnings of that city's legendary scene. Nowadays, if
you mention Diz's name amongst House aficionados, you are
almost cer-tain to hear adoration and respect for his insane
DJ skills, stage presence, and warm-hearted personality.
Diz's musical influences started at home, where his mother's
love for Jazz led him to pursue the saxophone for many years.
His DJ beginnings were about whatever he could get his hands
on, like Disco and old Breaks records inherited from family
members. When he was 14, his older brother took him to The
Music Box, where Diz witnessed the true potential of House
Music: to affect people's emotions and bring them together
on a collective journey. He's been striving to do just that
ever since, and in the process, has become a faithful participant
in the music, the culture, and the times.
Throughout high school, he frequented parties featuring
DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Farley and many
other masters, and finally had a chance to break into the
scene at age 19 after meeting contemporaries Mark Farina,
Derrick Carter and Spencer Kincey (Gemini). His early gigs
were at Alcazar with Gemini, and at one-off parties. At
his Wicker Park loft, what started as a means of paying
the rent developed into a two-year run as a nightclub, featuring
Diz, Farina and Mark Grant on the decks. Soon after-wards,
he and his friends took over Shelter, one of the city's
"most severe night spots." >From roughly 1993-98,
Diz was the Friday resident at Shelter, and the Saturday
resi-dent at Red Dog alongside Johnny Fiasco, and since
then has held many residencies at other legendary Chicago
spots.
In 1995, Diz accepted a job working for his brother's friend,
Anthony Pearson (Chez Damier), at PRESCRIPTION (the label
founded by Chez and Ron Trent). PRESCRIP-TION conducted
distribution business with CAJUAL, and that is how Diz met
his future producing partner and close friend, Joshua (whose
nickname as fate would have it, was "Iz").
In 1995, Iz n Diz produced their first record together,
"Ghosts in Detroit," released on PRESCRIPTION's
sub-label, BALANCE. A year later, Joshua/Iz moved back to
San Francisco, but he and Diz maintained a close friendship
over the years and continue to produce together for labels
like CLASSIC, AESOTERIC, GUIDANCE, TWEEKIN', SIL-VER NETWORK,
and PANHANDLE.
Diz is currently on a touring tear taking him one of the
planet to the other while some-how finding time to finish
up an album with mate Iz, coming soon!