DJ Profiles

Nate’s contributions to the Midwest and West Coast dance scenes 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.  He’s now been going strong for 7 years out in the Bay 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 some of the venues already performed include the SHED (Healdsburg), 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), Cline Cellars (Sonoma), Paradise Ridge Winery (Santa Clara), the Mountain Winery (Saratoga), The Lawrence Hall Of Science (Berkeley), 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 Park Chalet Restaurant (Golden Gate Park), the Grand Hyatt Union Square (SF) Hotel Vitale (SF) and the Golden Gate Club (Presidio)