Machete

Rob Gonzalez started out as DJ Rob G in the early '90s, spinning hip-hop at Hollywood afterhours spots like No-Doz and Caffiend. He got pulled toward the breakbeat-driven sound coming out of England through LA DJs like R.A.W., Curious, and Oscar Da Grouch, and in 1994 renamed himself Machete, a nod to his cutting and mixing style, as he moved fully into jungle.

He co-founded the crew Junglist Platoon and, in March 1999, launched RESPECT, a weekly drum and bass night that's since become the longest-running of its kind in Los Angeles, settling at Hollywood's Dragonfly. He was featured in URB Magazine's NEXT 100 Issue in 1998, toured on the 1999 KungFu-Knowledge Tour alongside DJ Craze and Rob Playford, and was named LA's No. 7 DJ by LA Weekly in 2016.