Mike Dearborn

Michael James Dearborn grew up in Chicago listening to WBMX's Hot Lunch Mixes and weekend mix shows featuring Farley Jackmaster Funk, Steve Silk Hurley, and Frankie Knuckles, which sparked his interest in DJing in 1985. He started producing with a Roland TR-505 and Casio sampler in 1988, and released his first record, "Make the Music," with schoolmate George on the Chicago Trax label the following year, but frustration with the label pushed him to step away from music and finish a communications degree at Northern Illinois University.

In 1992 he discovered a record on the Dutch label Djax Up Beats, sent them a demo, and was signed by label head Saskia Slegers, beginning a four-year run that produced club staples like "Strictly Underground" and "Hardcore Swinger." His first European gig drew about 7,000 people to a rave in Paris, and he went on to play Germany's Mayday festival, Tresor, Rex Club, and Ministry of Sound, later releasing his full-length debut, Ready for War, on his own label, Majesty Recordings, in 1999.