DJ Pierre

DJ Pierre is the stage name of Nathaniel Pierre Jones, a Chicago born DJ and performer of house music. He helped to develop the house-music subgenre of acid house, as member of Phuture, whose 1987 EP Acid Tracks, which was called the first acid-house recording. Allmusic.com calls Jones a crucial DJ and the production wizard partly responsible for the development of Chicago acid-house. Jones' first single, "Generate Power," became standard fare for scores of producers during the next few years. Philippe Renaud, a journalist for La Presse in Montreal, states that the term acid house was coined in Chicago in 1987 to describe the sound of the Roland 303 bass machine, which made its first significant recording appearance on Phuture's Acid Trax (DJ Pierre) in that year.

Career

Phuture

Jones has recorded under the names Audio Clash, Darkman, Disco Fuhrer, DJ Pierre, DJ Pierre's Afro Acid Project, Doomsday, M & M, Nathaniel Pierre Jones, One Screaming Idiot, P-Ditty, Pfantasia, Photon Inc., Phugitive, Phuture Scope, Pierre's Pfantasy Club, Raving Lunatics, the Don, Time Warp, X Fade, and Yvette. He formed the group Phuture with his friends Spanky (Earl Smith Jr. –founder/technical producer) and Herb J (Herbert R Jackson Jr. - keyboards). During the mid-1980s, the trio began using the squelch sound that became common in Acid House recordings after the group's initial experiments with a Roland TB-303 bass line synthesizer. Living in the Chicago area, they were exposed to many house artists, such as Hot Mix 5 artists (Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Ralphi "The Razz" Rosario, Kenny "Jammin" Jason, Mickey "Mixin" Oliver, and Scott "Smokin" Seals) who were producing many tapes and vinyl recordings. Frankie Knuckles was DJing and the Warehouse club (from where house music may have derived its name).