DJ Profiles
Nate’s love of all forms of music has led him to make significant contributions to both the Midwest and West Coast dance scenes and he considers it a great honor to have been a full time working DJ for many years. Whether as a founding member of Chicago’s Style Matters collective, the talent buyer for the legendary Chicago club Smartbar or now as owner of Caliber DJs, his dedication to doing quality, meaningful work in the Dance Music industry has shone through for well over two decades. Not to mention, he’s just about one of the best DJs you’ll ever hear, with a meticulous attention paid to every minute detail of anything he’s involved with!
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. It was at his Sunday morning Funk and Soul brunch at local Wicker Park hangout Moonshine that he met Spencer Lokken of the Chicago Disco-Biscuit-adjacent DJ trio Orchard Lounge, and the 2 quickly became friends. When Spencer incorporated his wedding DJ business Style Matters in 2006, Nate was one of the first on board, helping with a number of weddings every year as the company grew more and more.
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 even-more-legendary rock venue the Metro. It was here that Nate had the pleasure of working with some of Dance Music’s biggest legends including James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, ?uestlove, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Laurent Garnier, Kaskade (with whom he’s DJed over a half dozen times), Nicolas Jaar, Juan Atkins, Front 242, The Blessed Madonna (who was his assistant and successor at the club), and Seth Troxler among many others. In addition, he is the man who created Queen!, Smart Bar’s highly popular pan-sexual Sunday night soirée which featured original residents Derrick Carter, 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. The company has now been going strong for 13 years and shows zero signs of stopping.
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 a small handful of the venues performed include Ru’s Farm at Healdsburg Gardens, the Rosewood Event Center in Petaluma, Meadowood Resort in Napa, the Ritz Carlton (SF), the Thomas Fogarty Winery (Woodside), Harvest Inn (St. Helena), The Beringer Winery (St. Helena), Vintners Resort (Santa Rosa), Cline Cellars (Sonoma), Paradise Ridge Winery (Santa Clara), the Mountain Winery (Saratoga), The Lawrence Hall Of Science (Berkeley), The Flood Mansion (SF), Cavallo Point (SF), The Claremont Hotel (Berkeley), the Triple A Ranch (Napa), The Mark Hopkins InterContinental (SF), Diablo Ranch (Walnut Creek), The Marin Art & Garden Center, Lucchesi Vineyards & Winery (Grass Valley), The Ainsley House (Campbell), The Trentadue Winery (Geyserville CA), The Park Chalet Restaurant (Golden Gate Park), the Grand Hyatt Union Square (SF) Hotel Vitale (SF), Bimbo’s 365 Club (SF), The Great American Music Hall (SF) and the Golden Gate Club (Presidio).
And, while wedding work continues to be a passion and a great source of enjoyment, Nate also maintains a busy and fulfilling schedule in the Bay Area nightlife community, mentoring DJs and playing clubs and events in SF and Oakland. He is driven by a passion and experience that makes him the perfect choice for your day.