DJ Phatman
Jose R. Torres Jr., AKA DJ Phatman, was born and raised in Chicago and began his affair with music at an early age. He embraced the sounds of his parent’s priceless record collection. His mother collected the soulful sounds of Motown, while his father moved to the rhythmic percussion albums of his beloved land Puerto Rico. These influences and his natural rhythm are the roots of the music he plays. In 1984, at the ripe age of 14, Phatman received his father’s blessing and assistance to get his first pair of turntables and a mixer.
He began to develop an ear for music and the desire to understand the audio equipment he worked with. While most DJs began molding their sound by beat matching records, creating scratches and moving crowds, he decided to take another approach to playing music. A desire for a crisper sound led him to concentrate on mastering his audio equipment and setup. This concept, along with his musical creativity, has given him impeccable talents. It has been a catalyst to creating his incredibly organic sound and has proved to be a blessing.
In 1995, Phatman had the opportunity to provide sound equipment services and DJ at various venues from high school dances to teen parties. He also played at much larger events at Navy Pier, The Pan American Festival and the Aragon Ballroom, appearing with great DJ’s like Mike “Hitman” Wilson, Bad Boy Bill and Julian “Jumpin” Perez. Later with the growth of the Underground Hip Hop music scene, Phatman developed incredible scratch patterns, which led to his increased his notoriety throughout the years. A promotional company named “Chicago Party Masters”, further fueled Phatman’s passion to DJ while providing sounds for their events. This propelled him into sound engineering for artists such as Wu-tang Clan, The Beatnuts, Common and Twista. Promoter/DJ Luis Baro introduced Phatman to the rave scene with the common desire to put some positive power in House Music.
The days of Disco have spawned a new breed of music that has an intense Deep & Soulfully rich sound. Phatman’s life experiences along with the musical instruments and compositions of different music genres have created the foundation for his love of House Music. His commitment to the craft, as well as his dedication & support to the music culture, has made him a true artist. He has played alongside Chicago legendary DJ/Producers like Mark Grant, Ron Carroll, Glenn Underground, Diz, Lego and countless others.
Phatman is a featured DJ and has various residencies at countless clubs throughout Chicago including Zentra, Buddha Lounge, Four, Dark Room, Slick’s, Minx and Ontourage. Phatman’s mixes also featured on House websites like grooveparlor.com, music-101.com and chicagogroove.com. Phatman also has a weekly live broadcast radio show on dogglounge.com. Phatman’s contributions to Chicago’s Music scene have finally given him the tools to create his next evolution of sound. In the future, his focus will be toward music production. His passionate style of playing for crowds will broaden his horizons and make his sound one of global proportion. In the future, expect Phatman to educate and share his passion for House……..
Weekly Broadcast: “Right Into Your House!” Thursdays at 2pm CST/3pm EST
Location: Chicago, IL
Website: www.djphatman.com
