D.J. ESP

Originally known as DJ Groovespot way way back, this one time long hair Kinko's copy geek and one man circus has walked quite the path and forged a name for himself and the great North. Early rumblings came in the form of a tip sheet known as the Disco Family Plan. The "Disco Family Plan" editions ran from late 91 up till about late 92 early 93. Contributors included local DJ's; Craig Thran, Mr. E-tones, John Schultz, Kava Supreme, Kevin Cole, Tom Spiegel, Freddy Fresh and eventually branched out to include DJ Repete, Adam X and many more from around the surrounding regions.

Kevin Cole played an important part in Woodrow's formative years as a dj including his first big room appearance at First Ave and the two went on to become co-partners in the promotion and development of the Depth Probe series until creative differences in vision and scope caused the two to split towards the middle of 1993. The two produced a number of Depth Probe events around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area throughout the summer of 92 setting out the template for the then blossoming Minneapolis rave scene. Woody went hard as the music began to pick up tempo, grit and sheer concussive force and he came to witness the strength of sound in the way Tom Spiegel; another co-conspirator and partner of Kevin Cole who would take a 20k rig and drop it into the 7th street entry; a room with a legal capacity of perhaps 150-200 people which had at the highest point, maybe 12 ft. ceiling's for his House Nation Under a Groove weekly. Woody picked up the template and ran wild with it and developed the now infamous 4D wall that we came to know, love and have probably lost immense amounts of hearing to.

With the music getting harder and faster. Things grew. Woody started playing around the Mid-West, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, etc. and in 1992 branching off into Milwaukee with a co promotional role in the infamous Grave Rave; a seminal early meeting of mid-America's then blossoming scene where 962 people were arrested handcuffed and processed. The few hours the event lasted and the late night spent in handcuffs following its shutdown were perhaps the pinnacle moments that crystallized the music and raves in a lot of the minds of the current movers and shakers of todays mid-west scene.

Woody eventually dropped out for a bit in 93. But not before his first release with Freddie Fresh on the now long defunct German label "Adam and Eve" and the Earthworm Sings ep on EXperimental. Over his hidden summer, the first 4D record on Labworks came out and initial pressings of the first two Drop Bass Network records started surfacing. After some phone calls and some heckling from friends. Woody got back up and started playing out again. This led to the foundation for the "More" parties which quickly established Minneapolis as a destination for travelers from around the midwest to come hear a nights worth of the finest and to come dance to dj's as diverse as Mr. Bill, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, Mystic Bill, Dj Drone, DRC, Carl Craig, Wade Randolph Hampton, Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, Davey Dave, Dan Bell, Earth, Apollo and many others. The "More" series of parties died with one last hurrah in 1994 with what boasted to be the largest system then assembled. At some 32-36 ft in height, and an equal width. The bass was concussive and wonderful memories of the good ole' days were born. "Further" was another event Woody co-founded and held in the spring of 1994 with the Drop Bass Network and David J. Prince, the former editor and owner of Reactor magazine, who later went on to found and promote M3. Eventually differing visions became apparent between the early supporters and collaborators of the concept. Further was left to the capable hands and twisted mind of Kurt Eches and the Drop Bass Network. One last meeting of the minds coordinated Even Further 1996; an epic event which brought a then still new Daft Punk into a field in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin and also saw a silver suited Mixmaster Morris stay awake the entire weekend and commence a Sunday session that would blow minds completely wide open.