MOTIF8 - US - Hard House / Euro Dance / Techno

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Lucian Klatka, aka DJ Motif8, was born in 1977, in Chicago, IL, USA. He started as a guitarist/drummer/songwriter in local Chicago heavy metal & rock bands and discovered Electro music at the 1994 Techno Music Coder for various PC Graphic Demo Groups based out of Norway, Finland, Denmark & Sweden (featured at Assembly event).

But things really started in 1997/1998. The philosophy was simple; by listening to many of the great dj's in Chicago with their many different styles, he thought they would mix really well and play a good song here and there. But why not mix a proper set and play good songs all the time? From then on DJ Motiv8 was out to set things straight. It was then that an aspiring electronic artist had decided to become a DJ as a result of mixing beats and samples to create dance music at various parties, colleges, bars, and clubs.

He would first travel on the weekends to Champaign Illinois, where he would perform live sets around the campus of University of Illinois. DJ Motiv8's music speciality started with Chicago style Hard House, Euro Dance, as well as Hardcore Rap, Techno, and Electronica. Check him out on the mic during part of one of his earliest recorded live sets in 1998 of Crystal Method 's " Get Busy Child ". For various "non-motivating" reasons, New Year's Eve '99 marked the last time Motiv8 would play to a college crowd picking a private party over the headlining spot at Orchid Nightclub, which was instead filled by Chicago 's Curt Caris . In Chicago, DJ Motiv8's first club experience behind a mixer was at an event held at Club Fever, where he opened up for Chicago 's unique-styled veteran DJ Psycho Bitch.

In June of 1999, Lucian was able to focus more energy on his music endeavors as successfully completed the 4 year requirements for a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Information Systems from DeVry University. To distinguish himself from all the other "Motiv8's" out there, he implemented a new spelling of his alias (from MOTIV8 to MOTIF8), as Lucian became more specialized in Trance and was on the forefront of playing what is known today as Progressive House & Trance. Why MOTIF8? A motif is defined as a recurring theme or element in an artistic expression; something he deemed was naturally occurring in the DJ art form of to dance music.

Towards the end of the year, Lucian started MOTIF8music, which was to be the Chicago-based label for future releases of DJ Motif8, aspiring DJ's and up-and-coming artists. However, with the direction that techno music was taking, MOTIF8 focused less on creating his own tracks and promoting talent, but rather importing and mixing tracks from the freshest and hottest European dance music. MOTIF8music CD Releases were to be vinyl for Digital DJ's. Due to certain legal restrictions along with popular Internet music file-sharing services such as Napster, this venture was not fully pursued.

After many shows, there were requests for CDs, so Motif8music was in the process of becoming an independent record label. However, the summer called Motif8 out for a 2-month tour in Europe, beginning with a trek back to the homeland in Poland . From there, the real fun started in Switzerland during the week of the Street Parade, when he played a "open air dance" music festival, with the talents of Talla 2XLC, Bossi/Cosmic Gate, Mind-X & Noise, Energy & Tatana, Mellow D, Voodoo & Serano, Warp Brothers, and US techno DJ Jeff Mills.

Making a better living with promotions than djing, Motif8 still performs at various guest spots in bars and clubs in Chicago and lots of private parties.  His parties host some of the biggest names like Armin van Buuren, BT or Nu NRG. If you are lucky to see Motif8 spin, you will see and hear quite the performance.  Being a technology advocate, Motif8 also plays live for various Internet radio stations as a way to reach audiences outside Chicago that enjoy the same passion for energy dance music but don't have the killer clubs or party environments.  In fact, it has been believed that only recently Chicago has entered the global club dance music scene.

Visit Motif8's MySpace