Spencer Kincy. "The Live Recordings"






    If there were ever a post that we feel fully embraces our mission and mixes that we felt needed to be shared it would be these by Chicago's own "Gemini", Spencer Kincey. Spencer was a part of Chicago's second wave of artists that came out of the 90's loft and underground scene and by many accounts was both an master on the decks and in the studio. With timeless releases on labels such as Relief, Caujal, Peacefrog, Planet e and Classic to this day still finding new fans and then what was becoming an steady flow of DJ gigs around the city and trips overseas, it all seamed to have all faded with out reason and had many asking the same question. "What happened to Spencer Kency"?

    Back in 2009 when I really started to embrace the whole social media thing, I started seeing posts making the rounds from blogs, music sites and fans all wondering the same thing. "What did ever happened to Spencer Kincy and where has he been all of these years"? Being that other Chicago artists such as Derrick Carter, Mark Farina and DJ Sneak that also came out of the same era had gone on to spread their sound around the world still to this day, this had many asking why wasn't Kincey part of all this as well? From what I can put together from various sites and comments online is that sometime around the early 2000's, he disappeared altogether from both the industry and from those who knew him personally. There are a few different theory's behind why or how this all came about and the most recent info that I've seen by Chicago's (5 Magazine) sheds some light on the subject. Along with those questions came an renewed interest in his productions and mixes by younger fans that would hear what was being being posted by Kenceys fans on various websites and fan pages. That's when I started to wonder what sets of his I could find online being that the internet was now full of classic and never before released mixes from days gone by from both fans and artists that have held on to them. Surely people have dug out their old mixtapes and shared what they have of his or could point to someone or somewhere that did. Well for the most part the end result was the same handful of sets that have already been passed around for sometime now with a few getting put out over and over. That's when I started to wonder if there were any tapes in our collections that might have been forgotten about or maybe since we didn't know about how much his fans around the world missed him.




    Fast forward to 2013 when we dove into the vaults and found these 6 live recordings mixed in with the lot. I had talked to The Datman about what I was reading online about Spencer and he to was shocked with what I had told him. He felt just as strong as I did about putting these out and telling the story's behind them the best we could and share his magic behind the decks. Fast forward a year to 2014 and here we are ready to share with those who are willing to listen and breath life back onto these tapes that had been sitting for all is time. We will, to the best of our abilities, try and tell some of the story from these nights but with so many recordings over the years going back to the early 90's sometimes our memories fail us. So in the end we might just let the mixes talk for themselfs and keep the story's brief. Please, if any of you have flyers from any of these dates listed, message us on here or hit us up on our Facebook page. We would love to be able to add them to the post. The 4 from 1997 were recorded at Shelter and the two from 1998 were recorded at Karma, both in Chicago. I'll spread out the the mixes over time so don't expect them to be posted all at once. So lets get into it then!


             Spencer Kincy and (Derrick Carter) Live from "Material at Shelter" Chicago". 01-24-1997


                             







    Going by the feel and flow of this recording, the first 45 minutes or so is Spencer and then Carter closes out the rest of the mix. If they went back to back on parts later on the mix or if it's just Carter on his own, we're really not sure. None the less, it's a great classic set to start with. This was around the time when Fridays were "Material" nights at Shelter and you had residents such as Scott Song, Josh Werner, Miles Maeda and DJ Diz along with local guests such as Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, Spencer Kincy among others laying down tunes and setting a great vibe that Friday nights at Shelter were known for. This is also where a young DJ Collette helped night life mainstay Erick Urenn promote the night. Material had a 6 year run till the club finally closed it's doors in 1998.


                               Spencer Kincy live at "Shelter Night Club" Chicago. 07-04-1997.








   This is another mix of Spencers that was recorded by the "Datman" at Shelter Night Club here in Chicago. As you can tell from the date, it was on the Fourth of July. What better way to celebrate then with Spencer on the decks! If my search online is correct, this show was on a Monday night. We don't have the flyer from the night so it's hard to say who else played this night with Spencer. To me this mix truly shows Spencers talent for both his mixing and track selection. The "Datman" really captured something special when he recorded these nights at Shelter, especially these sets by Spencer and we're glad to be able to share this one with you all now!



    If you haven't already, Click on (Live Sets Chicago) or our tab at the top right corner of the blog to keep up with what we have treading on our Facebook page. Get links to other DJ mixes, view classic and current party flyers and event links for shows we are supporting or recording. And of course check out all of these artists personal sites links above their sets and where high lighted through out the post for more info on what they got coming up, tour dates and be sure to support what they do. After all, If it were not for the artists, none of these posts would have been possible. There is'nt an official Kincy fanpage or website but those of you that are on Facebook check out an (Spencer Kincy) group who's fans share stories, music, photos and gives tribute to a man whose talent is still being heard and missed to this day.

(Special thanks to Terry Matthews from 5 Magazine for the use of the link and Scott Song for some corrected info)

Hope this finds you all well.

Cheers!


© Live Sets Chicago. 2016.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you so much, this is indescribably awesome work of you guys!!

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  2. Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoy the site. Tell a friend. Cheers!

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  3. Holy shit! Yes, this sounds perfect. Get your funk on, groovy style.

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  4. Any chance for a download link?

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  5. Datman! I always wondered what became of him.. any info be appreciated.

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  6. Where can i download any of these súper maravilloso mixes?

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  7. I have a tape Spencer made for me a while ago, I think maybe 1994? I may be able to get it digitized and uploaded to you. I remember it was such a great mix.

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  8. I remember Spencer well and also wondered about his musical fate. This post containing lost mix tapes and a bit about his story certainly keeps his contributions to the History of House top of mind and pertinent.

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