Mike Bee got his start DJ’ing family weddings andhigh school barbecues as a kid growing up outside of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. His musical journey would take him across the countryto San Francisco and see him immersed in music and DJ culture, workingat nearly every level of the industry over a 25-year career.
An early path as a classically trained opera and music theater studentat Carnegie Mellon University took a left turn as Mike dove headfirstinto the emerging rave scene of the early 90’s. After moving to theWest Coast, he immediately started DJ’ing throughout San Francisco,as resident selector of such legendary club nights as Ikon Massive(for which Mike programmed and mixed a commercially-available CDcompilation of the same name), La Belle Epoque and Bottom Heavy.Mike’s DJ’ing exploits have seen him open for myriad big-nameheadliners, from James Murphy to LTJ Bukem, Mark Farina to AndrasFox, Alexander Robotnick to Ryuichi Sakamoto & over his 20+ yearDJ career Mike has done thousands of gigs both home and across thecountry and globe.
Mike’s longevity as a DJ has also seen him incorporate many differentmusical genres into his repertoire: starting out as a Drum’n’Bass DJand moving through UK/2-step garage, Broken Beat, downtempo &chillout styles, disco, deep house, techno and more. His eclecticismis a result of a lifelong musical addiction that is the lifeblood ofhis skills as selector, curator, presenter & tastemaker, and he isasked to consult his encyclopedic knowledge of music and culturedaily.
If there’s a hat to wear in the industry, Mike has worn it – whetheras dance/electronic music buyer for Amoeba Music SF (1998-2011), columnistfor Urb Magazine (1997-2000) or XLR8R (1997-2005), co-host of Future Breaks FM(1997-2004) or the Friday Night Session (2003-2010) on sadly deceased formercommunity radio hub KUSF 90.3FM, nightlife promoter (1995-present) orMike’s current endeavor as owner of Lower Haight-based dance culturerecord shop Vinyl Dreams. Launching in 2011, Vinyl Dreams has beenMike’s attempt to give the Bay Area dance music community a place togather & commiserate and experience music and culture with no barrierto entry.
Mike continues to DJ regularly in SF and beyond, with previous residencies atHousepitality SF, Das Sind Wir SF, Dance Jam Berkeley, Muka/Phonobar SF, & Charmaine's / Proper Hotel SF while his travelling endeavors have seen him drop sets at theSunset Campout (Belden, CA), Chillits (Laytonville, CA), Folding Space(Seattle), Desert Trip Festival (Indio, CA) Dublab (LA) and Systematic(LA) as well as numerous underground events for the Back 2 Basics crew in the the Bay Area.
