Guesthouse Music | Oakland, CA
Bay Area–bred DJ Mes (Jason Sutton) rarely slows his groove. Since the 2004 inception of his Oakland-based label, Guesthouse Music, Mes has produced a prolific catalogue of bass-heavy tracks that have scorched dance floors amid the ebb and flow of electronic music. As a DJ, his sets have inspired; as a producer, his montage of disco-dredged beats melds bump with rhythm and bass to create hot buzz in front of and beyond the speakers. In 2011, Traxsource honored Mes with the top spot on its list of 100 Best House Tracks of 2011 following the release of the bumpy Chicago-sound track Fools Gold (Cajual Recordings).
Mes’ career dates back to the mid-1990s, when the future producer took early influence from the likes of DJ Dan (Funky Techno Tribe) and Tony Hewitt (Tango Recordings). Some two decades later, it would be DJ Dan who would join the talent ranks of Guesthouse Music, Mes’ genre-defying imprint that earned him notoriety beyond numerous festival appearances, club residencies, and as co-founder of Daddy’s Records (1996). Unlike previous endeavors, Guesthouse bloomed as a personal and creative project inspired by the underground house community that embraced the sound in the U.S. and overseas. While Mes continued releasing tracks on acclaimed labels such as Cajual, Relief, Glasgow Underground, and Salted, it is his own Guesthouse Music that set the pace, approaching 600 releases — including 50 vinyl releases — since its inception.
Mes’ ear for talent led to the unveiling of some of the most successful names in underground house, including breakout artists of 2011, J Paul Getto, who scaled the charts of Traxsource with Need More Music and Paris Fried Chicken. Boundary-bending producers such as Gramophonedzie, and classic acts such as Cosy Creatures and The Sound Republic, exploded onto the scene under Mes’ own A&R moxie. Even while introducing new DJs and producers to audiences, he continued creating his own body of boompty sounds.
Bass. Beats. Funk. That’s what Mes is all about!
