Donald Glaude

Donald Glaude was classically trained on upright bass and violin as a child. Funk records led him to experiment with tape decks and a basic Radio Shack mixer at home in Tacoma, Washington. He was playing nightclubs by the mid-1980s and held an early residency at 6th & Proctor in Tacoma.

Glaude came up through the American rave scene of the 1990s, working out of Seattle and touring widely across the United States as house music spread through that circuit. He had a Friday residency at the Underground nightclub and headlined warehouse parties such as NAF Studios in West Seattle. He is grouped with DJ Dan in San Francisco and Ron D Core in Los Angeles as a shaper of west-coast house.

His sets draw on funky, disco-inflected and bass-heavy house, kept at a high tempo and mixed with an eye on the room. Deep bass rhythms carry the music, with occasional breaks where he shouts to the crowd. He often talks over the music while playing, a habit that set him apart from DJs who stay silent behind the decks, and he released a series of DJ mix albums in the same party-focused style.

Glaude later settled in Southern California. He runs the labels Durty Records and Eden Records, aimed at working DJs, and puts out digital releases on Beatport. In 2005 and 2006 he held a Friday residency at ICE Nightclub in Las Vegas called Thank Glaude It's Friday, which was shown regularly on the Spike TV series The Club.