Get To Know Our Friendly Staff

Nate’s contributions to the Midwest dance scene have been numerous and relevant. As a founding member of Chicago’s Style Matters collective and now as owner of Caliber DJs, he has also had a significant role in reshaping the idea of what it means to be a wedding and special event DJ, and has helped to build a successful event model for couples everywhere. Nate got his start in Madison, Wisconsin in May of 1998 and his local profile quickly rose as he promoted shows in clubs on a regular basis. Upon moving to Chicago in August of 2000, he upped his exposure through gigs at institutional Chicago clubs like Crobar, Smart Bar, RedNoFive, Big Wig and others. Steady invitations to spin at clubs from Hawaii to London came in and he also found himself with numerous weekly gigs around the city, including his highly successful Sunday morning Funk and Soul brunch at local Wicker Park hangout Moonshine. About this time he met Spencer Lokken of the Chicago DJ trio Orchard Lounge, and the 2 quickly became friends. When Spencer incorporated his wedding DJ business Style Matters, Nate was one of the first on board, helping with a number of weddings every year as the company grew more and more. Nate also launched a record label, Bad Advice Inc. in 2008, which released projects from some of Chicago and the UK’s best House music artists.

In October of 2009 everything changed as Nate was named music director and talent buyer for the legendary Chicago dance club Smart Bar, housed in the basement of the Metro. The club, which celebrated its 30th birthday in July of 2012, has played host to dance luminaries and legends alike week after week. James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, ?uestlove, Laurent Garnier, Kaskade, Nicolas Jaar, Dave Clarke and Seth Troxler are just a small fraction of the artists that have graced the decks during his tenure. In addition, he is the man responsible for overseeing the creation of Queen!, Smart Bar’s highly popular pan-sexual Sunday night soirée which features residents Derrick Carter, Gramaphone’s Michael Serafini, Garrett David and the late Frankie Knuckles. In 2012 Nate decided to take a break from nightlife and use his knowledge and experience to go in a different direction, launching Caliber DJs in the Bay Area.

Nate has already become a favorite of planners, vendors, venues and above all happy couples across the Bay Area and has been enjoying a rapidly-filling schedule at various locales from Sonoma to Tahoe and from as far south as San Diego to as far north as Ukiah. Just some of the venues already performed include the SHED (Healdsburg), the Ritz Carlton (SF), the Thomas Fogarty Winery (Woodside), Cline Cellars (Sonoma), Paradise Ridge Winery (Santa Clara), the Mountain Winery (Saratoga), The Lawrence Hall Of Science (Berkeley), The Claremont Hotel (Berkeley), The Mark Hopkins InterContinental (SF), Diablo Ranch (Walnut Creek), The Marin Art & Garden Center, Lucchesi Vineyards & Winery (Grass Valley), The Ainsley House (Campbell), The Park Chalet Restaurant (Golden Gate Park), the Grand Hyatt Union Square (SF) Hotel Vitale (SF) and the Golden Gate Club (Presidio)

Born to Puerto Rican parents and hailing from a family of musicians and a town known for its music culture, Edwin earned his stripes in the Lawrence, Kansas’ music scene as a DJ and promoter for close to a decade before heading to Chicago. It’s a history that allows him to bring something new to the turntable – and with former residencies at elite clubs such as Studio Paris, Sub 51, Cuvee, Nacional 27 and Scarlet Bar, thousands have been given the chance to hear it. On his own he has been responsible for creating the soundtracks to some of The city’s top restaurants, hotels and lounges. And as a fellow member of the Style Matters DJ collective, he’s performed and MC’ed at dozens of weddings over the last 5 years, bringing an incredible amount of experience, professionalism and musical knowledge to the table for Caliber DJs,

His style varies, from the latest cutting edge tunes to forgotten favorites to future hits. Edwin fuses many different genres from hip- hop to House and the requisite Top 40 as well as doo wop, funk, soul and even edits and remixes of his own. Comfortable fusing many genres into one cohesive set or playing it straight, he is an unstoppable force behind the decks. And trust us, he makes people move. Every time.

Currently Edwin splits his time travelling between San Francisco, Chicago and Austin TX, where his talents have become extremely valuable to the special event and nightclub industries. If you’re fortunate enough to land him as your DJ, you’re in for a fantastic evening.

Raised and based in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, Olga T is the premiere female DJ of the Northern California Women’s and Queer club scene.  Her ability to play nearly any genre of music, from Hip Hop, Dancehall/Reggae, 80s, 90s & Y2K Throwbacks, Funk, Old School, Latin, R&B, to Top 40, Electro, Trap and Dance Anthems allows her to satisfy any kind of audience. Olga T is known for having perfect crowd reading precision, passionate energy and flawless transitions that always generate a happy and packed dance floor.

Currently Olga T is a resident DJ at SPiN SF (Susan Sarandon’s ping pong social club recently opened in the SOMA area of SF) and also a resident DJ and audio tech for MANGO @ El Rio in SF. Already in its 21st year, Mango is the Bay Area’s 1st and longest running outdoor afternoon party for women, queers and their allies. Other residencies include 1st Saturdays at Q Bar in the Castro, 2nd Friday nights at El Rio and she also holds down a residency at The Night Light Bar in Oakland, California. Olga T is also a recurrent guest DJ at Hard French and numerous special events throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to absolutely dominating the Bay Area nightlife scene, she also has extensive experience DJing for weddings, private and corporate events making her the perfect fit and a valued addition to the Caliber DJs family.  A loyal vinyl head and always true to the original art form of DJing, Olga T is masterfully explosive in each and every performance!

Weddings and special occasions are no stranger to Michelangelo Battaglia, aka Mike Bee, who got his start DJ’ing family weddings and high school barbecues as a kid growing up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mike’s musical journey would take him across the country to San Francisco and see him immersed in music and DJ culture, working at nearly every level of the industry over a 25-year career, making him an exceptional choice to soundtrack one of the best days of your life.

An early path as a classically trained opera and music theater student at Carnegie Mellon University took a left turn as Mike dove headfirst into the emerging rave scene of the early 90’s. After moving to the West Coast, he immediately started DJ’ing through out San Francisco, as resident selector of such legendary club nights as Ikon Massive (for which Mike programmed and mixed a commercially-available CD compilation of the same name), La Belle Epoque and Bottom Heavy. Mike’s DJ’ing exploits have seen him open for myriad big-name headliners, from James Murphy to LTJ Bukem, Mark Farina to Andras Fox, Alexander Robotnick to Ryuichi Sakamoto & over his 20+ year DJ career Mike has done thousands of gigs both home and across the country and globe.

Mike’s longevity as a DJ has also seen him incorporate many different musical genres into his repertoire: starting out as a drum’n’bass DJ and moving through  UK/2-step garage, Broken Beat, downtempo & chillout styles, disco, deep house, techno and more. His eclecticism is a result of a lifelong musical addiction that is the lifeblood of his skills as selector, curator, presenter & tastemaker, and he is asked to consult his encyclopedic knowledge of music and culture daily.

If there’s a hat to wear in the industry, Mike has worn it – whether as dance/electronic music buyer for Amoeba Music SF (1998-2011), columnist for Urb Magazine (1997-2000) or XLR8R (1997-2005), co-host of Future Breaks FM (1997-2004) or the Friday Night Session (2002-2010) on sadly deceased former community radio hub KUSF 90.3FM, nightlife promoter (1995-present) or Mike’s current endeavor as owner of Lower Haight-based dance culture record shop Vinyl Dreams. Launching in 2011, Vinyl Dreams has been Mike’s attempt to give the Bay Area dance music community a place to gather & commiserate and experience music and culture with no barrier to entry.

Mike continues to DJ regularly in SF and beyond: as resident DJ at Housepitality SF, Das Sind Wir SF, Dance Jam Berkeley and Muka SF, while his travelling endeavors have seen him recently drop sets at the Sunset Campout (Belden, CA), Chillits (Laytonville, CA), Folding Space (Seattle), Desert Trip Fest (Indio, CA) Dublab (LA) and Systematic (LA) .

It started with a piano when she was four. She moved her way through band camp, punk bands, the rave era, and dance clubs until she found herself behind two turntables and a microphone. It’s been a long journey from DJing in a small suburb of Chicago to the seedy nightlife of Las Vegas to the balmy beaches of Mexico. Margot Elizabeth, also known as Diskokitty in the music industry, has grown to be a turntablist among DJs.

Margot has a vast knowledge of genres and  knows how to read her crowd and environment extremely well. She is the DJ to call when you need someone to keep a finicky crowd on the dance floor. Margot has held residencies at many of Chicago’s most well-known night clubs as well as her own themed nights. She has performed inside some of Chicago’s finest museums and has even made appearances on local radio and public access television stations.

Margot has also had the opportunity to DJ with some of the world’s most coveted DJs and has been featured in several articles and magazines. You never really know where you’ll see her DJ next- it could be spinning 45’s at the next vinyl night she finds or for a crowd of 1000’s at your next festival.

One thing is certain, people will be dancing and asking themselves “Where did she find that remix?” Currently, Margot is one of the top-tenured DJs of Chicago’s illustrious Style Matters collective for whom she has done- literally- hundreds of weddings and other special events over the course of her time with them. Thanks to a recent move to the West Coast, we are happy to offer her services through Caliber DJs for the 2019 season! She is without a doubt one of the most experienced, personable and well-rounded DJs on our roster and we are elated to have her on this side of the continent!!