John Clees

The balance of funk, passion, and creativity, was captured from an early age. Often times hearing the sounds of the piano and organ growing up, John fell in love with the vibration tones of the lower bass foot pedals; being barely tall enough to turn on the organ, being mesmerized by the drum patterns, it was actually the foot pedals which were at his disposal, and immediately became the core of what he could reach, was drawn to, and became the root core of his music today. When John was around 7 years old, he would listen to The Electrifying Mojo on 97.9 FM in the early 80s, after being tucked away for bed. Staying up as late as 3 AM, rolling his head back and forth, waving his hands in the air pretending to play the drums, he heard many styles, frequencies, and artistic forms of electronic music. John created RedsoulRecords.com in 2001, was finally able to channel his energy into his own projects, have his own way to distribute his music directly in simplicity, and John’s first vinyl release also followed that summer, which was pressed at the legendary Archer Record Pressing plant in Detroit. In 2004, he remixed Sean’s Matrix imprint, The $hit: 2003 Remixes – Vol. 2, which went on to be the release of the year, however, the pressing plant had made a mistake and revered the music and printed the labels on the incorrect side, which is still being sold, today, even with the wrong samples on record sites. In 2007, John released music for the Cranbrook Art Museum for their African Diaspora Cd project; John also recorded with Seth Troxler, as their Breakfast with Thorialanus Remix – (Seth Troxler Feat. John Clees 7 AM at the Coney Mix) – UNFOUND SOUND [28] release which went on to be a gigantic success for the UnfoundSound Label. In 2008, John started to create his own annual Donation Drives for the Homeless in Detroit, had a 2nd annual event in 2009, and in 2011 John eventually turned his annual [D.R.M.M] – (Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries) Donation Drive for the homeless into his very own Sunday Monthly [Home] @ TV Bar. John has held a Friday monthly residency at The Shelter/St. Andrew’s Hall, Thursday & Sunday monthly residencies at The Velvet Lounge/Tonic, as well as a weekly-Sunday residency at The Sky Club; as well as had several guest appearances around the city such as the legendary Motor, Oslo, Exodus, and Grasshopper, just to name a few. As the years continued, John went on to tour in Moscow with one of his hottest live performances to date, constantly perfecting his sound and has gone back into seclusion, putting his productions first once more. Releasing “Lost Tracks” on his label that have been buried for years, having them newly remastered in 2021, but also on an entirely new path and journey, he will finally be sharing new material once again will the world very soon. Stay tuned in as we move into another year of exploration. A new Live PA is on the horizon very soon.