DJ CALVIN RILEY is a Santa Barbara success story. Raised in the 805 since moving from Los Angeles as a youngster, Riley has been the preeminent musical force behind nearly every SB house music event since 1999, whether as weekly resident or frequent contributor. The cultivation of SB’s now-rabid house scene can be traced to that of Riley’s list of credits, the two intricate lineages seeming to mirror each other since ’99.
With a strong Chicago house influence, Riley sites Juan Atkins, Derrick Carter, Derrick May and DJ Sneak as his favorite artists, while DJs like Charles Feelgood and DJ Pat have served as consistent mentors and collaborators. Riley’s sound is, most succinctly put, funky. And he evokes nothing but fun as a performer, hands in the air, pumping fists at his faithful listening nearby.
With friend Emil Lundin, Calvin Riley started the Let Down crew in 1998, as resident DJs of Thursday nights at Q’s Nightclub, SB. Let Down Thursdays started slowly with a grassroots musical promotion, standing in stark contrast to the mainstream format the club adhered to the other 6 nights a week. As Let Down Thursdays became more and more popular with locals, Riley began getting booked to play house parties, club guest spots and the now-historic “Word of Mouth” gatherings in the nearby mountains. But in helping to challenge the paradigms of club owners and managers in SB, Riley’s initial work on Let Down Thursdays completely paved the way for what was about to come.
With the help of promoter Brennen Titus, then-Q’s manager and Therapy ProductionsCEO Christopher Dixon, and DJ partner Brandon Wallace, Let Down soon became Revival in early 1999. From the outset, Revival was a hit. Packing in crowds of 500 on a weekly basis, the promotion became the first weekly house night in Santa Barbara since stuff happening at Zelo in the late 80’s. Headlining the night for over a year, DJ Calvin Riley had arrived.
Madhouse Bar’s highly-influential Friday night was next for Calvin Riley, headlining weekly for a three year period. Calvin’s Fridays at Madhouse were some of the most important nights in SB’s bourgeoning house scene at the time.
Revival was at the year mark when Dixon and Riley cultivated the night that would become sbtherapy. Starting as a private party promotion in the upstairs billiard lounge of Q’s, the then-titled Therapy Session quickly gained momentum, enjoyed a number of nights at Q’s before branching off to a full-scale production at The Edge/Velvet Jones, in April of 2001. Fusing deep>funky>groovy house with live instrumentals, vocals and arresting visuals, sbtherapy became a city-wide club phenomenon. With the creative freedom the venue allowed, and the home for visiting DJs that it became on Saturday nights, the show enjoyed a tremendous run before moving to the newly-opened Wildcat Lounge in June of 2002. It has gone on to monthly and seasonal parties in San Francisco, and a series of singular events in Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.
Riley has enjoyed many traveling guest spots over the years, too. Favorites include LA Ski & Sun Tour/Reno/San Felipe, Spundae Circus/Los Angeles with Sander Kleinenberg, and 5STAR Oxygen Lounge/FL last year with Doc Martin & Richard