Dark Wave Disco

Featuring Resident DJs:
Mark Gertz
Trancid
Greg Corner of Kill Hannah
host: Paul in Chicago
visuals: Arturo Valle

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Dark Wave Disco originated as the brainchild of Chicago DJ/electro culture aficionado Mark Gertz and promoter/graphic artist Paul "in Chicago" Rodriguez. Together, the pair went about assembling their nightlife super-group dream team, an outfit that still produce Dark Wave to this day. Joined by veteran electro DJ Miguel “Trancid” Martin, Kill Hannah bassist and hipster indie enthusiast Greg Corner, and visual video artist Arturo Valle, Dark Wave Disco emerged fully realized and poised for takeover.

Yet for group ringleader Gertz, the party needed more than just backing from the perfect team. For Dark Wave to execute properly, it would also require vision. Fortunately, for Gertz, Dark Wave’s vision was clear from day one. As the DJ told Chicago's Illinois Entertainer magazine in 2007, he drew inspiration from none other than New York nightlife cult icon Andy Warhol, and "the parties he threw at his factory, the bringing together of fashion, art, music, (and) film. But not mainstream pop-culture, (rather), obscure sub-pop culture."

(Left to right: Gertz, Martin, Corner, Valle, Rodriguez)

Sure enough, one look at Dark Wave's track record confirms Gertz's words. Over the past four years, the outfit has hosted and performed alongside the most important names in the underground and established names in the industry, creating an otherwise non-existent ground zero wherein indie music and nightlife culture converge. Talent including: Justice, Steve Aoki, Le Castle Vania, The MisShapes, Felix Da Housecat, Tommie Sunshine, MSTRKRFT, Spank Rock, The Faint, Uffie, VHS Or Beta, Chris Holmes, Carlos D (Interpol), Shiny Toy Guns, Blake Miller (Moving Units/Weird Science/Lies In Disguise), The Bloody Beetroots, A-Trak, Junior Sanchez, The Teenagers, Classixx (formerly Young Americans), Feadz, Mount Sims, Lady Sovereign, Spencer Product, LA Riots, She Wants Revenge, Junkie XL, Villains, Felix Cartel, Lauren Flax, Chloe Little, Riot In Belgium, Sinden, So Me, Go! Motion, Mark Verbos, Richard Oh, Keith Wilson, and many, many more. In addition, Dark Wave Disco has often teamed with and produced events in collaboration with premiere music industry institutions. Among them the likes of URB, BPM, and Filter magazines, Dim Mak, The Cobra Snake, and even major sponsors such as Toyota.

Aside from constant headlining appearances at premiere nightclubs, concerts, after-parties and private events, the Dark Wave outfit’s scope expands with astonishing inertia. These days, it’s not uncommon to catch the DWD circus in cities ranging from Milwaukee all the way to the west coast, where the group touched down in LA on tour in 2008.

Displaying continuing passion and innovation, the night signals Dark Wave's unyielding momentum, in and outside of Chicago, in 2009 and beyond.

http://chicagoverse.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/my-dark-wave-disco-group-bio/