"My parents remember me asking them to turn on the radio in the car by pointing at it and shouting-before I could really even speak clearly" explains Rob Grega (AKA Rob G/Still Rob G/Zemo), San Francisco-based musical enlightenment specialist. A 20-year veteran DJ, esteemed mixmaster, and overall musical tastemaker, Rob would be impossible to pigeonhole. With downtempo, hip-hop, funk, jazz, soul, broken-beat, house, + minimal tech influences, his DJ and production style proves to be versatile and fresh in practice.
A San Francisco transplant, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Rob has a finger placed firmly on the pulse of electronic dance culture. When he was only 6 years old his parents enrolled him in piano lessons. Soon he was playing in a band with some other grade-schoolers, and he became the go-to-kid for musical accompaniment at all his school functions throughout his education career. At the age of 13 he was the first in line to become his church's new organist when the old one split; a profession he continued at several local parishes outside of Pittsburgh for 10+ years. Meanwhile, at 15, Rob and a high school friend decided they wanted to become disc jockeys. With a bit of assistance from their parents, the two purchased some pretty basic gear, and began DJing youth group and high school dances. Soon his high school was the only one that anyone in the area had ever seen with a live DJ and crowd-pumping musician for all of its home basketball games.
After high school Rob continued his mobile gigs all over the Pittsburgh area, and was soon playing in clubs and lounges. He worked at the local CD store for quite a while, but grew bored of the more commercial music he was hearing and playing and began to look for something different. He moved to Pittsburgh proper, started buying more electronic-based music, and soon an opportunity at a swanky upstairs nightclub presented itself for Rob to begin playing house music, a style that came very naturally to him. Rob's Wednesday night residency at Soba Lounge became almost legendary in the small city, and once he realized how much he loved mixing house music, he never looked back. He and his friends proceeded to produce many club nights and raves all over the western Pennsylvania area, booking international headliners and helping to expose that part of the country to what was going on musically in the rest of the world. In an effort to find music that really touched his soul, he became a music buyer at the now defunct Hypervinyl, establishing his presence as a major influence in the Pittsburgh area, and helping him to gain the knowledge and connections that would eventually take him to the west coast.
In 2001, Rob made the move to San Francisco, CA. He landed a job at the eclectic music distribution collective, TRC, as an influential house music buyer. Getting to know the landscape and people of the bay area better and better with each interaction, Rob naturally was drawn to the sounds of Om Records, the San Francisco-based label known for its forward-thinking Mushroom Jazz sound as well as internationally acclaimed compilation series. Rob was hired as A&R assistant at Om Records in 2005, and in early 2006 became full-time A&R/Project Manager. While at Om, Rob used his keen ear to help evolve the sound of the label, by enlisting the talents of cutting edge producers and remixers. Rob also became the in-house compiler, finding and sequencing music for every Om compilation that was released during his tenure, including Om:Miami 2007 & 2008, Om:Lounge 15 Year Anniversary Edition, the Om 15 Year Anniversary compilation, Sounds of Om v.6, Om:Beached, Om:Lounge 10, Om & Virgin Megastore present House Essentials, Om:Ibiza 2005-2009, Om:Chilled 1 & 2, Downtempo Garden, two compilations for San Francisco's chic Hotel Vitale, and even a cover comp for world renowned DJ Mag. Though he thoroughly loved his involvement with Om, Rob recently moved on from his full-time position with the label to instead focus his efforts on his own studio productions. He continues to assist with independent A&R and brand development for a few indie house labels.
Rob's musical taste runs the gamut and his DJ sets seamlessly blend all manner of house and techno as if it's all cut from the same cloth. Armed with an extensive knowledge of music culture, Rob is poised to change emotions on the dance floor. As a seasoned music professional classically trained in piano with the ability and need skill to DJ, mix, master, produce and compile, his sound proves to be ever-evolving. Known for his “early morning style” live set; the kind of music that people wait for all night, it is quickly apparent that any audience would jive with what Rob is cookin' on the turntables, and if you're lucky enough to catch one, you may never look at music the same again.
Currently holding residencies in San Francisco at the world famous ENDUP along with his contemporaries Worthy (Anabatic) and J Phlip (dirtybird), and the esteemed bar WISH, Rob remains true to his eclectic, multi-genre sounds. Look out for Rob's latest studio projects as Still Rob G, Shook Night, P(e) and Dos Compadres. |
