Marques Wyatt

Critics rave and house heads go weak in the knees over this West Coast phenom. He's one of the few house music DJs who has managed to avoid the mantle of anonymity normally associated with house music: he's a cornerstone of the Los Angeles club scene, but regularly tours on the East Coast, in the Midwest, and on other continents. He has played at just about every major electronic conference and festival, and is one of the most respected promoters in Southern California. High-profile gigs at the official Grammy Awards After Party (2000 & 2001) and on the NARAS/Grammy Awards Remixer Craft Committee helped Wyatt shoulder into mainstream music.

Wyatt's career started in the late '80s. Unlike many DJs, he did not start out spinning records in his basement; instead, he focused on the promoting end of the business. As the L.A.-based promoter for U.K. label Acid Jazz, he helped break Jamiroquai and Digable Planets on the U.S. scene. He also was active in the house music scene, both as a promoter and a DJ. From 1992-1999, he held a residency at L.A. after-hours staple Does Your Mama Know. He also built up a fan base on the opposite coast, performing regularly in New York and annually at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. He started house music party DEEP in 1999 at Hollywood's Viper Room, and continues to throw it in major cosmopolitan centers all over the world. Around the same time as he started DEEP (1999), he started a three-plus-year tenure as resident DJ for Release, a famous weekly held in San Francisco.

Interestingly, Wyatt's discography only stretches as far back as 1998. His production debut, which was released on Yoshitoshi, was a remix of "House Music" by Eddie Amador. Subsequent releases were on Strictly Rhythm, Nervous Records, and King Street. Currently, Wyatt is signed to OM Records. His first full-length mix CD, Sound Design, Vol. 1, was released in 2000. and he began touring for For Those Who Like to Get Down, his second full-length CD for OM in March 2002. "Don't Look Back," the first single off the album, is Wyatt's most visible attempt to shift from a DJ/remixer into a solo artist/producer. If it's as successful as his other ventures, one can expect to see this artist take his rightful place next to DJ Tiësto, Miguel Migs, and the few other house DJs who have found recognition on the global scene. ~ L. Katz, Rovi