Greg Bowes aka DJ Dexterity has been active in the South African music industry and DJing since the early 90s. His initial forays into the deejaying field happened at underground Johannesburg parties like Looking For Love and at venues like The Portal, Therapy and the early Foundation.
He went on to spin at spots like 206 and HQ, and performed as part of Suplex, a deejaying tag team featuring vocalist Ziza and fellow electro-head Damian Armstrong (aka Offbeat). Gigs at the legendary 206 and Carfax were well received, and the trio continues to perform, with spots at Fashion Week 2005, Nike’s Joga Bonito launch (alongside Lark) and the Young Guns Creative Ad Awards event.
Greg has held residencies at both Carfax in Newtown and at Melville hotspot Tokyo Star, where he’s spun diverse and eclectic sets that traverse electronica, electro, breakbeats and all manner of house rhythms. He was also one of the Secret’s posse of punk funk pioneers during a well-received series of events stretching from late 2004 through to early 2006. These slots have been interspersed with sets at Fuel Café, Loaded, 115, Color Bar and many more.
As well as major festivals like Lake Of The Stars in Malawi. Oppikoppi, Desert Storm II and the Rustler’s Electronic Music Festival (aka Essence), Greg’s skills have been showcased at parties like Shrapnel, Revolutions Per Minute and Select; as well as on TV on shows like GoChat (DStv channel 84), and on online radio station BeatsRadio (www.beatsradio.net).
He’s also supported internationally renowned names like Charles Webster, Luke Vibert, Aphrodite, DJ Hell, Fred Everything, DJ Swift, Phil Ross, Ready D, DJ Deep, Pepe Bradock, Eric Rug, I-Cube, Kojak, Hans Nieswandt, The Runaways, Forss, Ectomorph, Rob Summerhayes and DJ Naughty.
Greg is also a music journalist who’s written for publications and organizations like the Mail & Guardian, ZA @ Play, Circut, GTFO, The Vibe, SL, inhaleX, Rage.co.za, Massive, Ministry Of Sound, House Afrika Records, What’s Phat Records, 5 FM, Y Mag, Jazzworx, Soul Khula, Inspirit Records, ELLE magazine and LiLO Productions.
His DJing skills have also been commandeered by Fashion icons like Black Coffee and Marianne Fassler, and he conceived the soundtrack for the ELLE/Guess model search in 2002, and Black Coffee shows in 2000 and 2005.
The irregular series of free K Kar Kommandos’ events, organized in tandem with DJ Offbeat, at Hotel Sunningdales in Corlett Drive, Johannesburg, ended up attracting a serious and devoted following with their wide-ranging, foot-stomping selection of a variety of classic and contemporary grooves from across genres.
Dexterity currently holds sway, along with Offbeat, at Fuel Cafe on Saturday nights at Unsound System, a LiLO-organized hoedown showcasing atypical electro, techno and tech-house grooves. He's also spinning at the monthly Social Security events at Braamfontein's Alexander Theatre.
