Born 1976 in Evanston, Illinois, Justin grew in a musical environment. Justin sang often in his early years with his church as well as a touring Chicago children's chorus. Early inspiration was found in the recorded music of Michael Jackson as well as early Run DMC (first musical purchase-Raising Hell on vinyl). Come 1989 Justin was vibing to the freshest hip-hop and rap artists that he could find as well as Chicago house classics gleaned from the local dance radio programming. Rap albums from Black Sheep, Tribe Called Quest, Third Bass, and The Beastie Boys, were high school favorites. This trend continued until he found himself in Kalamazoo, Michigan attending Kalamazoo College. Randomly chosen to live with a experienced techno listener from Detroit, this pairing would prove to be quite important to Justin's future path. Exposed to the sounds of Plastikman and his plus8/probe record labels, Justin had discovered the sound that he had been seeking unconsciously for many years. January of his freshman year he attended his first underground rave party in Ann Arbor. The next fall he was spinning house and techno records on a beginning dj setup. Justin currently lives in the Chicago area and does promotion for WNUR (Northwestern Radio) Streetbeat. He has been djing deep/progressive house and Detroit/European techno regularly for the past five years. He has played raves/clubs/parties with such notables as Jay Denham, The Surgeon, Claude Young, Terrance Parker and Robert Hood. He sights his primary dj inspirations as Plastikman and Derrick Carter. ~ Justin Reed Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 Autechre Tri Repetae Beastie Boys Check Your Head Black Sheep A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing Carlito's Way (movie soundtrack) Marvin Gaye What's Going On? Jimi Hendrix The Essential Jimi Hendrix Michael Jackson Thriller Sara Mclaughlan Fumbling Towards Ecstacy Rage Against the Machine (self titled) REM Automatic for the People Squarepusher Feed Me Weird Things Donna Summer On the Radio-The Hits Volume 1, All Music Guide