DJ Andy Caldwell's love for the night life began 13 years ago in San Francisco.
"I loved going to raves when I was in high school," Caldwell said by phone from 'Frisco. "I loved the beat and the sound and the mix of the music that was played at the raves. I had a good friend who had a lot of vinyl records and would hook up my stereo and we'd have a mix party."
The mix party blossomed into something more for Caldwell. It became a job. "At first, I wasn't getting paid to do parties. I just liked putting music together and having people dance. I wanted to be part of the scene. And I became part of it. And as the time went on, I became more in demand. Then I started getting paid."
Becoming a DJ is hard enough in the culture, but getting your name out is an even more difficult aspect of the scene. "You don't have a lot of places where you can do things," said Caldwell. "It's not like you're a band and you get noticed. You play in parties and raves. But if you stick with it long enough and do interesting things with music, you will get noticed."
Caldwell's was noticed when he was in a group called Soulstice. The group made mix tapes and passed them around. Then, through his connections with Soulstice, he found himself doing music for OM Music and Naked Music record labels.
"Through those people I hooked up with Swank Records," he said. "And that's where I am now."
In fact, Caldwell has been so popular that Swank has built a CD series around him. His first album for Swank is called "Late Night with Andy Caldwell." The album features 16 tracks mixed and produced by Caldwell. "I'm honored to be a part of Swank," he said. "These guys know a lot about the DJ music scene."
With the know-how and the connections, Caldwell hopes to expose more people to dance-mix music. "I want to get people involved with what I'm doing. Hopefully this series will help."
If you go
What: DJ Andy Caldwell
Where: Club Halo, 60 E. 800 South
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
How much: $10
Phone: 532-1510
Web: www.takeoutmarkeing.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com