Art for Progress

Biography
Growing up in South Florida in the early days of house music and DJ’s mixing records was quite an experience and inspiration for DJ Gatto. He was intrigued by Miami DJ’s like Lazaro Mendez who would regularly spin on three turntables at the Power 96 parties across Miami. This was of course the newest art form at the time, and two Technics turntables and a mixer were the instruments of choice. On the weekends, Gatto would sneak into clubs with his fake ID hoping to hear the latest and newest house tracks. His purchased his first house mix tape at the legendary Josephs in Ft. Lauderdale which featured the classic cuts “Set if Off” and “Planet Rock.” Not shortly thereafter, he moved away to attend college in Pennsylvania, and he didn’t have the same access to house music and the Miami scene he enjoyed so much, but it did help him realize that music had a special place in his life. Within a few years of finishing college he moved to New York City to take on a new job. He immediately immersed himself in the house music scene in the mid-90’s and regularly hung out at Tunnel, Twilo, Soundfactory and many other underground spots around town. Gatto would follow his favorite DJ Danny Tenaglia to wherever the legendary master would spin on a given weekend, but he’d also check out Carl Cox, Junior Vasquez, Sasha and Digweed and many others. Inspired by the music and the scene, in 1999 Gatto decided to purchase his own decks, mixer and 808, and on July 4th, 2001 he spun at his first[...]