Julius Papp
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Julius Papp is a house music producer and DJ whose roots lie in Disco of the '70s and New Wave of the '80s.
Julius was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and got tuned into dance music through the city’s flourishing club scene and diverse radio broadcasts. He started collecting vinyl records in the late '70s and took to the turntables in 1985, scoring his first major club gig 2 years later.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and then again three years later, up north, to San Jose where the Bay Area has been his home and finally settling into San Francisco.
Early DJ influences for Julius came from reading about specific parties that were piloted by talented music programmers that even today, still influence the youngest of aspiring DJ’s. Legends like Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage in NYC to Frankie Knuckles at The Warehouse in Chicago to Tony Humphries’ weekly at Zanzibar in New Jersey. Always inspired by any track listing in those articles, Julius would hunt down the music that became classics, worshipped by their discerning audiences. To this day, his goal is to keep solidifying his music foundation by being open minded and eclectic in absorbing the music that truly touches him.
That open minded attitude has also groomed Julius into fine tuning his musical palette by giving him a dominant sound which exudes a deep and soulful perspective, which he translates onto the dancefloor. That being said, he blends various styles together (including Latin, Afro, Disco, Jazz) with such fluidity that it is difficult at times to put a defining stamp on his sound. Contributing to that is his willingness to take a chance. He always tries to push the envelope by introducing music that may or may not go over well, but feels deserves the exposure. He takes his audience on a musical journey with various mood and energy changes.
Not content to limiting his ambitions on the dancefloor, Julius began producing music in 1994. The studio was another outlet for Julius’ creative ideas to flow. His early releases were on the downtempo Acid Jazz tip.
He drew attention as part of the jazz and funk scene in San Francisco via the Mushroom Jazz parties alongside resident Mark Farina.
As Julius’ production catalogue grew, so did the amount of labels he released music on including – Nervous (NYC), Maxi (NYC), Large (Chicago), Yellow (Paris), King ST (NYC), Loveslap (SF) and OM (SF).
A veteran DJ and Producer, Julius has refined a style of dance music that has taken him beyond the boundaries of San Francisco to global praise and recognition. Being nominated as “Most Innovative Producer” at the 2004 House Music Awards is a perfect example of that. Putting him in the company of Joey Negro, Osunlade, DJ Gregory, DJ Spinna and Ben Watt was an absolute honor for him.
Along with working wizardry in the studio, Julius has become a familiar face behind the decks, which has taken him around the world. He has DJ’d at popular mainstays like “Pacha” in Ibiza and “Ministry of Sound” in London, To Zouk in Singapore.
Currently, Julius has two residencies in San Francisco. A Thursday night event at Pink called “Simple” - a party where Julius’ innovative talents are more prevalent as his diverse and eclectic style creates a repertoire that subtly changes from week to week. The other, a collaboration with Miguel "Migs"which takes place at Mighty every Saturday night called “Salted Saturdays” and features other local and international DJ’s.
In 2003 Julius Papp ventured into the label arena with NeoDisco Music. Named after the sound that continues to inspire Julius, the label offers him an alternate outlet to release his own productions without feeling pressured into producing formulaic music that might become predictable.
Julius’ latest CD compilation mix is on Loveslap entitled “Heartbeat Vol. 2.”
