Growing up in Ottawa South, it wasn't until he graduated from Junior High School that he really got into music. The story begins in 1993. He got a boombox given to him when he was 13 and that's when it all started. Snow... Cypress Hill... Onyx... Snoop Doggy Dogg & Dr Dre... it was on now. By the age of fifteen he had got his first mixer and CD Player and with an old school Radio Shack phonograph record player he got into the DJ scene. The first piece of vinyl he purchased was from Ottawa's long defunct Downtown Records... it was the 12" single of "Foe Tha Luv Of Money" by Bone Thugs & Harmony with Eazy-E. "Standin' on the corner staright slangin' rocks... Awww shit, here comes the muthafuckin' cops...".
Not having any really great DJ Equipment didn't keep the boy from doing his thing. He blended Instrumentals from CD's with Acapellas from vinyl on a record player that didn't even have pitch control. He also played lots of house parties during his teenage years. He was part of a rap group with two of friends; Originally billed as "DJ Zero", he was the DJ along with his two emcees', Eihtball The Assassin & MC Anarchy... they were known as The Bomb Sqwaad. While he didn't have a computer or any sort of production gear whatsoever, all they could do was write rhymes and record them over other rappers' beats, always a live take. It was Eihtball that decided that "Zero" needed a name change... his cousin had given Eiht an idea... what sbout something to do with palying cards? Eiht thought... Spade! That's it DJ Spade! And that was it. DJ Spade was the namesake he took in 1994.
After a few years of recording over other rappers' beats, by 1997 creative differences and new friends got in the way and The Bomb Sqwaad was no more. Spade went solo while Eiht and Anarchy went in a different direction, changed their aliases and joined another group. Around that time the Internet was becoming popular and MP3's were all the rage. Spade got a full-time job when he was 18 and was now able to spend some dough on some good equipment. Over the years he had gone through countless turntables and two mixers, the original mixer he got had been retired to the Hall of Fame. It served him well.
DJ Spade took upon other musical interests... mixing and blending Acapellas and Instrumentals on the computer. He could perfect the mix better than before and he could edit the Acapellas and put all kinds of crazy shit that had been unheard of before. He began making remixes with loop based sample software and programs like Syntrillium's Cool Edit 96. He kept at it for the next few years while slowly upgrading his equipment, playing more house parties and even a couple of club shows.
Fast forward to today. After 12 years the progression is obvious. Today he has CD decks and a turntable. He knows his shit. These days he's mainly making his own beats and using them to remix other rappers' tracks, still bending tracks and making rock/rap mash-ups as well. He mainly uses FL Studio 6 to make his beats and when a different digital audio workstation is necessary, he's always been loyal to the Cool Edit brand, he sticks with using Cool Edit Pro 2.0. Eventually he hopes to have an album of orignal remixes, blends and mash-ups to put out for anyone who is interested!