DJs Make the World Go 'Round 1

In the great scheme of things maybe they're not as important as gravity but in that 48-hour period we call 'the weekend' they are as essential as water. The out-of-town DJs are always a splash but it's the clan of local DJs that rehydrate us with life and soul on a consistent basis. In this weekly column you'll be introduced to one of them and get their story.

John Morgan is going to start things off.

John rocks it like a pro. He's one of those DJs that senses the crowd and works with them, always feeding them the right bpm. Besides his day job and Focus he has his recently nascent Powerplant Music label. He also produces.

And then there's John Morgan, the individual. A sweeter man is impossible to imagine.

Vancouver Residencies?

Focus Fridays @ The Lotus (last three years)

First introduction to music?

I bought a Korg synthesizer in 1986 so I could play in my friend's band - eventually I ended up getting into all sorts of '80s electronic music. My first exposure to House music was in 1991 on a trip to England, where I came across this cool record shop and bought all sorts of great CD's like Spiral Tribe and LFO.

Favorite all time party set in Vancouver

That's a tough one - there's been so many good parties through the years. Kevin Shiu and Jeffree at Fantasy Island would be near the top. Jelo at Family Gathering sticks in my mind for some reason. This may seem cheesy, but in 1998 Oakenfold and Dave Ralph tore the doors off the Riverside Hall - I still hear lots of people talk about that party a bunch. Speedy J at Hump on Wednesday's at Mars in 1995 was unreal. I could go on for a while on this one...

Are you happy with the Vancouver scene?

For sure - There's quite a healthy electronic music scene for a city of this size - there's almost more promoters here than clubbers.. and everyone's a DJ. I guess the byproduct of all this is that lots of good music can be found all over the place, and locals have been doing really good things in the studio.

Why do you reckon the scene is smaller than other cities of
Vancouver's size?

I wouldn't say that.. On a trip two years ago to New York City, I stumbled across the underground house scene there at this restaurant called LeZouk - it really reminded me of something so similar to what was going on here, say at the Anza or Lotus - We're doing it right here, and size isn't really that important.

Would you relocate as a DJ?

No, because I've got other things going on in my life that are way more important to me. Vancouver is a great place to live, and that's the main thing to me. Although I would say that if I was making a living as a traveling DJ, it would be geographically not the best place to be - certainly an East coast city would be much more accessible.

What makes Vancouver the best city EVER?

Lots of big cities have different thing going for them that make the unique - I wouldn't say Vancouver is the best city ever, but it is a great place to live because it's one of the few cities that can offer you a bit of everything.

Anything else to add?

Vancouver's all about the tight house parties... I think our rainy winters might have something to do with it, but it works for me.