Solid 4th Anniversary
Mark Grant and Miles Maeda sign on to help relaunch one of Tokyo’s signature house parties

Courtesy of Solid

Keeping a party going is no mean feat in the fickle
world of clubbing, especially when you’re fronting paychecks to guest DJs from overseas. Expat Canadian Marshall Boardman has managed the feat for Solid by cultivating a dedicated core audience with a consistently credible slate of talent and by focusing on Chicago house.

Next weekend Boardman celebrates the relaunch of the event, now known as Solid Tokyo. “One of the main reasons we’ve done this is because we are getting much more recognition internationally through all the DJs who have come to play from around the world,” says Boardman. Offers to do Solid in Chicago and at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, he says “made us think about how the whole experience of Solid for us and our guests is as much about the great scene and people in this city.”

Fronting the bill are not one but two DJs who have previously appeared at Boardman’s event. First is none other than Chicago veteran Mark Grant himself (above). A label owner, songwriter, producer and DJ, Grant has been integral to the city’s house scene for over two decades but also incorporates deep house and acid into his sets.

DJing throughout high school and college as a hobby, Grant dropped his first production in 1994 with “Gotta New Love Thang.” The track jump-started his career, leading to a contract with Chicago house imprint Cajual Records, where he became the go-to production guy. The DJ also became the only person in the company’s stable to issue a mix compilation, topping Rolling Stone’s Best 15 list in ’97 for A Taste of Cajual.

In recent years, Grant has combined an international DJing career with mix compilations, including the three-turntable, 2001 outing for OM, Sound Design Volume 2. He also launched his own label, Blackstone, which in 2005 produced three chart-topping songs featuring Chicago Idol winner, vocalist Russoul.

On the decks with Grant and Solid residents (including Boardman himself) will be Miles Maeda. A second-generation Chicago house DJ, the multi-talented Maeda is a familiar face in Tokyo both at Solid and in his own yoga workshops.

Needing something to balance the physical demands of late-night DJing, Maeda found it in yoga, taking it to its logical conclusion by integrating the two in his Traveling Love Show and DJ Evolution projects. In Tokyo, he has been behind the decks at Solid, and also conducting Kundalini yoga workshops at the YogaJaya school.

Concludes Boardman: “We thought the two of them together would make a magical night of beautiful house music (in its many forms) for all the Solid Tokyo fans, as well as any new people who want to come down and experience the good times we’ve had at La Fabrique these past four years.”

La Fabrique, Nov 3. See club listings for details.

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