wordplay by orangepeelmoses.com
image by Element One Photography
hair by Bree (Salon Contage)
Kevin Alves never wanted to be a DJ. When he was a wee rug rat in the Windy City, he remembers wailing into an imaginary microphone in front of the mirror. American Idol was not in the cards, though. Years later as a teenager, Alves actually wanted most to produce and perform his own original music, more than he wanted to merely DJ other people’s. However, friends convinced him that DJing was a good place to start, regardless. En route to a garage sale one day, Alves asked the turntable gods in the sky to show him a sign. After rummaging through the stranger’s up-for-grabs belongings, he was beginning to get a bit discouraged. Baby clothes were not exactly the sign he’d had in mind. Alves didn’t give up on his borrowed dream quite so easily, though. Just prior to departing the yard, he inquired about the long shot possibility of an unwanted deck. Turns out the turntable gods had both heard and understood his mumbled prayer after all. Within minutes, the stranger returned with a brand new direct drive turntable complete with pitch control…still unopened in its original box.
Within mere months, Alves, billing himself as Gift, had landed a residency at Colorado’s single most important club at the time--Boulder’s Soma Lounge—partially in exchange for his proven flyer b!+ch track record. Ben Pound, Nebula 9’s Jim Stout and Friends in Stereo’s Colin Chapman were a few of his first local role models. From his paid debut dropping disco for old folks in Aspen to warming up the state’s sweatiest basement for true heads in the People’s Republic. Ascending the dance music ladder so quickly would give many the bends, or at least mild nausea.
“It was a bit nerve-racking at first, but I would show up and practice before the club opened, before I had a chance to play in front of a crowd. Best experience at Soma was opening for Nick Warren. I showed up at 9 p.m. and there was no music on, but they had already opened the doors. I had to push my way through the crowd to get to the DJ booth. Everyone was leaning over the decks, just waiting for me to hop on and play. It was unreal.”
Warming up for Warren may have warranted Alves’ most vivid memories, but opening slots for Jerry Bonham, Sandra Collins and Timo Maas certainly haven’t slipped his mind. Sharing the bill with Chris Fortier likely maintains the second highest balance in his memory bank, though, partially thanks to Fortier’s post-gig Balance Record Pool invitation. At the time, Alves was the youngest DJ to receive and accept such a prestigious invitation. Obviously possessing a knack for being in the right place at the right time from the beginning, he went on to play for Ryan Dykstra at the white hottest Mile High club, Pure. Alves’ current digs are no dump, either. DC10 was recently named one of the “Top Ten New Bars in the U.S.” by AOL’s CitySearch.com. While doing his civic duty as a human jukebox pays the bills for now, producing original music is the path with the biggest potential future payoff. Fortunately, he’s got dance music’s “it” girl in his corner, thanks to well-connected collaborator Kostas K. Motorcycle (Gabriel & Dresden), Tiesto and Deepsky are a handful of the L.A.-based, Sarah Jessica Parker-esque singer’s highest profile past and present collaborators.
“Working with Jes is awesome. I feel very fortunate that I have a big opportunity like this.”
Closer to home, Alves twiddled Nature’s knobs for his recently released Andramada album. Even though the multi-media performance artist is soon migrating across the pond to be with his deported fiancé Sacha, Alves’ engineering services will be retained…a testament to his knob twiddling skills. Many of his past productions have been available on Beatport.com for years now…productions that might never have existed if his grandma hadn’t splurged for his first computer years ago.
One good gift deserves another.
Fridays @ Spa
Saturdays & Sundays @ Cool Waves
Sundays @ DC10
March 24th @ Vinyl
myspace.com/KevinAlvesAKAGift