Jesse De La Peña Is What Chicago Sounds Like

Written by Vocalo Radio on May 22, 2024

Chicago DJ and all-around music man Jesse De La Peña hosts Vocalo’s 5 O’Clock Mix and Friday Night DJ Series, and plays a key part in shaping the station’s sound.

There’s a lot of things … people love about Vocalo, and I’m happy that I had an opportunity and I used my platform, I feel like, for good.
– Jesse De La Peña

For Jesse De La Peña, curating music is as second-nature as breathing.

As a 14-year-old fascinated by hip-hop culture, from the music itself to graffiti and breakdancing, De La Peña first started finding his DJ footing while spinning records at his mom’s house. It’s what most emerging DJs did in the ‘80s, he recalled, and how they typically discovered their sound.

“Hip-hop culture back then, it wasn’t so broken-down and segmented like it is now,” De La Peña said. “You [would] hear [DJs mixing on the radio] [and] you [would] try to figure out what they’re doing.”

^{Pictured here around 1997 at Elbo Room for his series Blue Groove Lounge, Jesse De La Peña has been a pillar of Vocalo’s sound since 2011. Big Larry Mondragon, courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

Moving across the city growing up, De La Peña credits his infatuation with music discovery to his mother’s disco-heavy record collection and the diverse song selection broadcasting on local radio stations. Straying from the more mainstream dance and house mixes, De La Peña feels what initially set him apart from other new DJs was his new wave focused sound similar to what was spinning at clubs like Smartbar and now-closed Medusa’s and Neo.

“All of those places that I wasn’t old enough to get into — but I knew they played this music,” he reflected. “I feel like if I was just playing house music and dance music, I don’t even know if I would have stood out amongst the other DJs, because there were so many. But the fact that I was playing a different sound kind of got me in the door.”

Working at Chicago record stores Imports Etc. and Gramaphone Records in his teens, De La Peña found his way onto the club scene himself. He recalled often recommending new music to frequent customer — and Smartbar’s owner — Joe Shanahan. One fateful day, Shanahan gave a young De La Peña his first big break.

“It was the thing you’d see in the movies, the audition,” De La Peña said. “[Shanahan asked,] ‘Why don’t you make a tape? We’ll come by the office, and we’ll discuss it.’ And that’s what we did.”

^{Liquid Soul grew from a weeknight event to a Grammy-nominated ensemble. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

“It doesn’t work like that anymore. I love the fact a cassette led me to my foot at Smartbar. I was just this kid from the South Side who really didn’t know anybody, but he saw something in me.”

After a few years collecting exposure at Smartbar and clubs like Ka-Boom, De La Peña was introduced to a new sound out of the UK: acid jazz. Connecting with guitarist Tommy Klein, he joined a weeknight acid jazz band at Smartbar as the DJ, blending jazz, funk, hip-hop and soul. Finding residencies at now-shuttered venues Culture Club, Elbo Room and then Double Door, the band would later grow to a 13-piece (at its peak) Grammy-nominated ensemble led by Mars Williams: Liquid Soul.

“Me and Tommy, we really were getting into this whole thing,” De La Peña explained. “He was really dialed in with the musicians, and he said let’s just keep this thing going. We continued it around town, wherever we could find a place to do it … [but] we weren’t the same band. Tommy came up with the name Liquid Soul.”

In 1999, De La Peña stepped into the radio world as a weekly mixshow DJ at 106JAMZ, later starting his own internet show DELAPEÑA LIVE in 2003. Skip to 2011: current Vocalo station director Silvia Rivera reached out to De La Peña about joining the station as a music curator, eventually establishing the Vocalo DJ collective to showcase DJs from all over the country.

^{De La Peña began his involvement with Vocalo under Silvia Rivera in 2011. Joe Nolasco for Chicago Public Media}

De La Peña brought together a group of DJs — including collective members like DJ All The Way Kay and Shazam Bangles, plus monthly contributors DJ Intel, Sandra Suave, Vocalo founding staff member DJ Lady D and much more — to produce diverse, high-quality mixes for Vocalo’s “Friday Night DJ Series” and “5 O’Clock Mix” on a voluntary basis. Both shows also frequently featured DJ mix submissions from the public.

“We’ve been very instrumental about telling the DJ’s story and kind of giving them a profile over the years. That was always my thing,” De La Peña said. “For me, it’s one of those things … that helped build what people love about Vocalo. I’m happy that I had an opportunity and I used my platform, I feel like, for good.”

De La Peña’s time with Vocalo will conclude on May 28 along with Vocalo’s weekday staple mixshow, the 5 O’Clock Mix, and the weekly Friday Night DJ Series. This change is part of Chicago Public Media’s recent layoffs.

DELAPEÑA LIVE will continue as a weekly Saturday mixshow, available for streaming through Twitch, Twitter and Mixcloud Live.

For this segment of This Is What Chicago Sounds Like, De La Peña shares his story and journey within Chicago’s music scene, reflecting his deep connection to the city’s diverse culture and his commitment to bringing people together through music. This is what his Chicago sounds like.

^{Jesse De La Peña in front of a packed crowd as the sun set on Chicago SummerDance 2018, presented by Chicago DCASE in Millennium Park. Zeab Photos, courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

Introduce yourself, and describe your work in a few words.

I’m Jesse De La Peña from Chicago. I do a few different things. You know, people know me for DJing, and obviously in more recent years for the radio. I do a little bit of everything music-related. And this is what Chicago sounds like.

Where in Chicago are you from?

Originally born in South Chicago, and then we moved to South Deering. And then in the ’80s, when my mom got remarried, we made our way to the Southwest Side, lived there for most of my teen years. And then after that, ventured up to the North Side, bounced around. Wicker Park, further up, just overall made the rounds. I currently reside in Berwyn.

^{De La Peña started his DJ journey as a young teen, and continues to spin records today. Big Larry Mondragon, courtesy Jesse De La Peña (1996/97)}

Where does your music journey start?

As a kid, my mom always had records around the house, 45s and albums. She was really into disco, and … [I remember] being introduced to it from my mom. And then later as a youth, listening to the radio and recording off the radio and making little tapes, with your mom yelling in the background. Little things like that! We just bought records. That’s what we did, cassettes and records. Now it’s kind of funny, because people are like, “Oh my god, it’s so cool. You have records and vinyl,” but that was just, that’s like saying, “Oh, it’s cool that you breathe air.” That’s just how we consumed. If you wanted to have this in your collection, you had to purchase it. And luckily, at home, mom had a few records that got me started.

In Chicago, we were very blessed to have so many different radio stations playing different sounds. That was probably my gateway. As I got older, I kind of started figuring out my personal music taste. And that was kind of like late ’70s, early ’80s, stuff that was happening with the videos, to the electro, B-boy stuff, house music and hip-hop. At the same time, I was interested in breakdancing, I was interested in graffiti, and it all kind of went [together]. It was something you did. I mean, hip-hop culture back then, it wasn’t so broken-down and segmented like it is now … You [would] hear [DJs mixing on the radio] [and] you [would] try to figure out what they’re doing.

^{An invitation to the “Industrial Funk Revolution,” a night of music curated by De La Peña, Derrick Carter and Josh Bryan on June 21, 1991. Illustration by Andrew Mitchel Kudelka. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

[I was] going to parties and trying to peep what exactly was happening. I wasn’t really friends with a lot of those guys … so [it was] from afar. [I was] trying to figure out … how this music was being mixed. Scratching and tricks, backtracking. At that point, you’re in your basement [or] bedroom … in the lab … [taking] those next steps to be smooth and get your skills up.

I did have DJ friends that were already kind of doing it on their own. So that was like, okay, something to aspire to, to at least get to that point where you wouldn’t embarrass yourself. As one thing led to another, you record the mix, you go to the record store, you try to figure out what the songs are. You start collecting and building your crate, just to have more music in your arsenal. You make a tape, someone hears it, thinks you’re good enough to kind of spin at some basement party or what.

I was kind of doing it at my own pace. My other friends were way ahead of me, and I was just not ready. So eventually, you spin at a backyard party and you kind of lose the nerves and you’re able to do it a little more. For me, my advantage was, I was starting out playing hip-hop, but I really couldn’t get my hands on a lot of it in Chicago. It was mainly dance music, house music. I did that for a while, and then I got kind of bored with it.

^{Pictured here in 2014, De La Peña is often seen repping merchandise from Chicago labels, groups and record stores — like Wax Trax! Records, a local independent label. Provided by De La Peña}

What came next?

^{Flyer for De La Peña’s “Birthday Bash” in 1993, featuring illustrations of the DJ by Andrew Mitchel Kudelka. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

I started venturing into more alternative, new wave, industrial. That was kind of the sound I was into. And it was playing on the North Side, at Medusa’s and Smartbar and Neo, Octagon, Limelight, all of those places that I wasn’t old enough to get into — but I knew they played this music. Medusa’s was great because it had an early, “for the kids,” and a later night.

I feel like if I was just playing house music and dance music, I don’t even know if I would have stood out amongst the other DJs, because there were so many. But the fact that I was playing a different sound kind of got me in the door. A similar story … with Herb Kent and the Punk Out movement. That was kind of happening over again with me and the guys I was spinning with, because it was something different.

So much history! How old are you at this point?

At that time, school-wise, I was at Bogan [High School], and then I was kind of bouncing around. I was at Latino [Youth] alternative school, I went to Washburne Trade, and I met another DJ who was actually doing the same thing. His name was Mike Huerta, and him and his brother were doing some pretty notorious parties in Little Village, at the Blessed Agnes Church, and they gave me my first flier. That eventually led to me working at a record store. I started working at Imports [Etc] Records. Paul Weisberg, who was the owner, had a friend named Joe Shanahan, who would come in — who was the owner of Smartbar and Metro. And when he’d come in, Paul would say, “Hey Jesse, show Joe what’s happening this week with the music.”

^{De La Peña began his career as a DJ at clubs like Smartbar. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

So I started picking out music for Joe, and we connected and stuff and it was the thing you’d see in the movies, the audition. You know, “Why don’t you make a tape? We’ll come by the office, and we’ll discuss it.” And that’s what we did. And things don’t happen that way anymore. I mean, it was an audition. I made my cassette. We went up to the office, he turned down the system, we sat on the couch, and he would critique, “Oh, I like this. Oh, that’s my favorite.” And it was great, because if you were to get a residency now or a DJ gig, it doesn’t work like that anymore. I love the fact a cassette led me to [getting] my foot [in the door] at Smartbar. I was just this kid from the South Side who really didn’t know anybody, but he saw something in me, as well. So between Joe Shanahan, Paul Weisberg, Jeff Pazen, things started to take off, and I started getting other gigs outside of Smartbar.

I kind of dabbled in the turntablist stuff early on. I was never like … Pumpin’ Pete or anybody like that. But I could hold my own … I was technical, but I really tried to be tasteful. And in these battles, a lot of the DJs were just club DJs, they weren’t very technical. So that gave me an advantage.

This battle was for a new club that was opening up, it was called Ka-Boom. All the DJs wanted this residency. It was kind of on a fluke, I just kind of got in the competition, I put together my little 15, 20-minute set, and I ended up moving forward and winning that competition, along with Diz … We were the first DJs at Ka-Boom. The owners were the people who owned Neo and a bunch of other [bars]. This was probably early ’90s, and I was definitely nearing my 21st birthday.

RELATED: Chicago Acid Jazz Collective Liquid Sould Reconnects At Music For Mars

Chicago Acid Jazz Collective Liquid Soul Reconnects At Music For Mars

Tell us the story of Liquid Soul.

^{Liquid Soul took up residency first at Culture Club, then Double Door and Elbo Room. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

As much as I love dance, music and house music, it was a bit repetitive, the samples and the same drums and all that stuff. So I started kind of looking to the origins: the disco records, the funk samples. I started realizing, in these tracks, I really liked certain elements, and I started investigating what those elements were, where they were from, who were the producers. At the same time, when I was getting bored with dance music, this new sound out of the UK, out of Europe was happening. It was called acid jazz. It was funk, soul-based, it had some reggae, it had some rapping. And, man, it just kind of went hand in hand. I had just taken a break from doing the nightclub stuff, and I think Joe saw I was getting restless, as well — Joe Shanahan — and he gave me an opportunity to do something a little different within Smartbar.

At this time, you were hearing about bands like The Brand New Heavies, the Young Disciples, Galliano, record labels like Acid Jazz and Talkin’ Loud. I wasn’t doing the big Saturday night anymore, but I was able to build this acid jazz, jazzy hip-hop night, and he paired me up with some musicians and we started experimenting, based on what we were hearing on those records coming out of the UK. He built this band and he put me in the band. He put me in as the DJ, and I wasn’t used to doing any band stuff. I didn’t know music theory. We incorporated different musicians, and the one guy who kind of saw something in me as well was Tommy Klein.

^{A flyer for Substrata’s Smartbar residency, before they became known as Liquid Soul. Courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

For about a year and a half … it was a Thursday night [called “Substrata”] in Smartbar, [and Joe Shanahan named the band] the Booty Kings, and I was like, “The Booty what?” And he was like, “You know, it’s like a pirate’s treasure.” And I was like, “Okay.” I mean, I was new to this, I didn’t really have any say in any of that. I was the new kid. And then it kind of ran its course. But me and Tommy, we really were getting into this whole thing. He was really dialed in with the musicians. And he said let’s just keep this thing going. We continued it around town, wherever we could find a place to do it. We found a place called the Culture Club. And we started building this, and we needed a name, because we weren’t the same band. Tommy came up with the name Liquid Soul.

And Liquid Soul was starting to tour, we’ve got a record out, and were able to start doing some major dates. Liquid Soul becomes this 13-piece [group], at its height.

How did the radio work come into your life?

At the same time, I started venturing into radio, as a mixshow DJ. My view of radio was always kind of like, it wasn’t something I wanted to do, because I didn’t want to be told what to do or what to play. I was always doing something a little different. So I never thought it would really work. But they reached out, the guys from Chrewd Marketing, and they said that 106JAMZ is looking for DJs and they’re looking to kind of broaden their Hispanic market. I guess, by the sake of my name, I came into conversation.

So I started doing 106JAMZ, I was in a great slot. [A few years later in the early 2000s] I started hearing about podcasts and … internet radio and that kind of led me to discovering … a drum and bass station that was based out of Chicago [BassDrive.com, and a hip-hop station, Smoothbeats.com, out of Philly]. I had an opportunity to do my own show [on Smoothbeats]. This was 2003. And, man, I was like, this is pretty cool. There were some stipulations, but it wasn’t really regulated like a real radio station.

^{Jesse De La Peña spinning for Chicago SummerDance 2018 in Millennium Park. Zeab Photos, courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

I was able to bring DJs to my place and feature them and promote certain events happening around town. I started building a little clientele that looked forward to my DELAPEÑA LIVE every Wednesday, 2 to 4 p.m. I did that for seven years, and I was like, “Okay, I did it. I’m done.” It was nothing personal, I had a great ride.

_{Jesse De La Peña in the previous Vocalo Studio, pictured here in 2017. Kevin Starke, courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

Right when I faded down DELAPEÑA LIVE, Silvia [Rivera] reaches out, and she says, “I have an opportunity for you. I just landed at a new place called Vocalo.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s awesome. I’m glad you remembered me. Thanks for reaching out. But I’m good. I’m good, thank you.” So she said, “Okay… I hope you can reconsider.” I gave it a little more thought, and I reached out to certain people that I really valued their opinion, and we all were kind of like, “Man, this is a pretty unique opportunity.” It’s not a position that exists, but they’re creating a position as a music curator. That was what they brought me in for.

So I gave it a shot. We had a good opportunity to build something. And the signal wasn’t great, but we still kind of moved in that direction and we found different ways around it. We started doing events. I wasn’t doing any 5 O’Clock Mix, I wasn’t doing the Friday night show. I was just kind of like helping with marketing and doing specialty interviews and stuff. We just started doing specialty shows, and people were really responding. I would do these nights around town, I started recording these nights and featuring them on Vocalo.

Eventually, Silvia wanted to know if I’d be interested in being a part of the Friday night show. And that was kind of something that was happening, and it started before I got there. It had a really generic title. They were booking DJs, but no one knew about it. It was kind of like local guys, so I felt like, if I’m going to kind of take over this whole thing, I’m going to use the people that I know. I’m gonna use my contacts. If anybody’s coming to town, let’s feature them, they got something going on. Then it just became too much, where it was like six mixes on Friday, the 5 O’Clock Mix. So seven mixes, fresh every week. I was like, “How am I going to keep up with that?” You know, without repeating. So I had the notion to create the collective.

Wow, the creation of the Vocalo DJ collective!

It made perfect sense to create our own team, [like the “Hot Mix 5” back in the 80’s on WBMX.] Chicago radio has always been very cliquey. So if you had a great mix, if you had the skills and the passion, the music spoke for itself. We’ve been very instrumental about telling the DJ’s story and kind of giving them a profile over the years. That was always my thing. In Chicago, you knew the DJs, you knew their names, you knew their scratches, their drops, you knew their trademarks, but you really had no idea why they were doing it or who they were. So giving the DJ a voice and really letting them tell you how they got into it, and why they do what they do, and what’s the story behind that drop or whatever, that was an opportunity that I felt like we had to take.

There’s a lot of things … people love about Vocalo, and I’m happy that I had an opportunity and I used my platform, I feel like, for good.

How has Chicago influenced your work?

You know, I am very Chicago. I mean, it’s definitely the upbringing. I think it’s the neighborhoods, I think it’s the culture and being able to be in a place where it’s so diverse. A lot of segregation … you can’t deny that. But I think over the years, you see different ways around it, and you find different ways to bring people together. For me, music has always been that. Whether it was my parties or whether it’s on the dance floor, you find a way to connect with people, and music is always at the helm of that.

^{De La Peña has spun at many bars, clubs and venues around Chicago, including Blind Barber in Fulton Market (pictured above in 2019). Caleb Zahm, courtesy Jesse De La Peña}

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