Independently owned and operated since 2002, DJ Hut is a one-stop shop by DJ’s, for DJ’s and all about DJ’s.DJ Hut aims to provide not only music, but also all of the needs a DJ may have; turntables, mixers, repair service, accessories, etc.Our primary goal is to support DJ culture and while vinyl lovers founded the store, we are committed to keeping up to date with new technology.“Preserving While Progressing” is our motto; you will always find the freshest vinyl selections as well as the digital music now used by so many DJ’s.
In 2002, DJ HUT took over for the legendary 12 Inch Dance Records which had been a local vinyl establishment for over 20 years.DJ Hut quickly earned a solid reputation as a customer friendly one-stop shop for everything a DJ might need.DJ Hut has been DC’s best outlet for underground, independent cutting edge music of all genres.But the music was undergoing great changes and the music industry even bigger changes.Today’s DJ’s are versatile and often use multiple formats of music depending on the details of their gig.DJ Hut aims to meet this flexibility head on and provide the DJ’s with the music they need in whatever formats available; vinyl, CD, MP3 or whatever new format may come along next.
“Preserving While Progressing” means keeping up with all the changes underway in the new music industry while being firmly committed to vinyl and stock a wide range of vinyl releases. Vinyl is not only the original format used by DJ’s, but remains to be the highest quality available.However, the days when a DJ was limited to what he could carry in his record bag or find on wax are long gone.With the portable technology available today, increased memory, and processing speeds in use, more and more DJ’s are using digital music, laptops and software such as Serato and Torq.This is where DJ Hut makes a giant leap forward, preserving its brick and mortar location with extensive vinyl releases and progressing to offer a separate digital music store.
In addition to the flexibility we offer in meeting the needs of DJ’s, we also offer the best customer service available.The staff in our store literally has hundreds of years of experience in the music industry.Our staff is on hand to answer questions, give recommendations, offer advice and point you in the right direction.We have DJ’s, producers, engineers, label owners, distributors and more on our staff, representing all levels of the music industry.We also update our online shop every 15 minutes, so if there is a tune on the website that is listed as in stock, you know you can buy it.Best of all, we understand that you need those hot new tunes for your big gig, so if you place your orders by 5:00 PM, your order will be shipped that day.You don’t have to be a globetrotting superstar DJ at the DJ Hut in order to get superstar customer service.
Chris also known as Stylus Chris has dedicated 20 years of his life pursuing a career in music. The foundation to his journey started with Hip Hop Culture. Dancing, DJing, Rhyming, and Studying the "break" , has always been his passion. He realized that Funk, Soul, R & B, Jazz, Disco and Rock were the main components in Hip Hop. This helped him to discover and appreciate many forms of music. He was taught that a true B-boy could encompass all the elements of Hip Hop Culture. It was this philosophy that has lead him to where he is today.
Making his way into the clubs at the age of 14, he fell in love with the nightlife, where he quickly started to pick up side jobs as a street promoter. He was first introduced to House Music through Sam Burns, a colleague and fellow Dj Hut Staff member today.
In 1993, Chris landed his first major break as a b-boy dancer for the super group, Deee-lite. He moved up to New York City where he lived for 3 years. This incredible experience allowed him to listen to and meet so many great DJ's, Dancers, and Musicians.
Coming back to D.C. in 1996, Chris started to pursue his career more as an MC and a DJ. With longtime friends Pejman Sayas, Jimmy Gioni, and Sina Mollaan they started Pollen. This party helped to fuse the Hip Hop Culture along with the Club and Rave Culture. Pollen brought too many Worldwide Dj's to list but, Sam Burns and Oso-Fresh both Dj Hut Staff Members, served as the purveyors of sound weekly. Soon after, Chris and Jimmy along with Dj's Dirty Hands and Tek-One created what many call the most prolific Hip Hop Party ever in D.C., "Soul Camp". These two parties are where Stylus Chris truly honed his skills as a Dj and MC.
In 1997, Chris joined the staff of the legendary record store 12" Dance Records as the Hip Hop Buyer. It was here where Chris met up with Jamal Reid aka Jihad, to form the group Defined Print. They released their first ep in 1999 title "The Fine Print". Defined Print gained worldwide recognition with their follow up release "Rhymes Connect" in 2001. As an MC he has collaborated with the likes of 3 Levels of Genius, Fort Knox 5 and Afrika Bambaatta, Blake 9, and Team Demoition to name a few.
Also in 2001 Stylus Chris started a weekly Friday residency at Modern, a gig he still continues today. You can hear him play Hip Hop, House, Downtempo, Funky Breaks, Soul, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Baltimore Club, 80's, Disco, and just about anything else. Currently Chris has monthly residencies in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay, and Metro! in Roanoke Virginia. You can find him regularly guest spotting in D.C. at such clubs as Fly Lounge, and Josephine.
After 5 years as the Buyer for 12" Dance Records, Chris along with fellow Buyer James Graham, teamed up with Niv Farahandouz to create DJ HUT. DJ HUT is his representation of a life's work dedicated to music. In 2005, Sina Mollaan joined DJ HUT as a co-owner. His vision was to help bring DJ HUT into the digital age. Life has gone full circle with Chris and he is excited about what the future holds.
John Johnson - Store Manager, Buyer & Digital Content Manager
DJ & Producer with releases on Farout recordings, 202 digital, and Odeon-D records, John started Dj'ing in 1990. Prior to joining the team at DJ HUT, John earned his degree in audio engineering, graduating from Full Sail Ctr. for the Recording Arts and worked in many areas of the music industry, spanning every position at the retail level to both major and independent record labels, Post-Production and live sound engineering.
First Dj residency: Late Night Library in Tallahassee FL from 1995-1997. In 1999, he co-founded Groovedistrict (aka: GD); DC's original Brokenbeat/NuJazz crew & launched AROMATIC; DC's first weekly party dedicated to Brokenbeat, NuJazz, & the like. GD's second weekly, TRAINSPOTTING; centered around Soul,Jazz, Funk, Dub, & Afrobeat. GD's third (& final) weekly, ABSTRACT MOTION, featured John, fellow DJ HUT employee Dan Soda, & GD partners as weekly residents with special guest appearances by Jazzanova, Koop, Jaymz Nylon, Mark Force & Daz-I-kue (Bugz in the Attic), Kyoto Jazz Massive, Agent 99, Ian Frost, DeRigueur, Lars 'LB' Behrenroth, Herbert, Tim 'Love' Lee, Iguassu, & Kevin Yost...to name a few.
Currently, John & Selectadeb host the Thursday weekly PEAS & RICE. Selectadeb kicks off the party with Dub, Downtempo, and Roots Rock Reggae while John plays Afrobeat, Nujazz, Brokenbeat, House, Soul, & Jazz, favoring (but not limited to) Brazilian, Latin, & African flavors. John is also the Friday resident at Mie N Yu in Georgetown, spinning Brazilian, African, Latin & other world grooves mixed with Jazz, Dub, House, Brokenbeat, NuJazz, D&B, & Funk.
Check out John's Podcast "Welcome to my spaceship" for his hour-long Dj mix sessions updated monthly @ http://johnjohnson.podomatic.com/
