House of Pride
Celebrating the queer and Black history of house
Disco Beginnings
Studio 54 may be the most storied disco club, but among audiophiles, Paradise Garage takes the cake. Larry Levan and DJ Sharon White used a state-of-the-art soundsystem to bring bass to the fore.
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The seminal synths of disco
Physical, high-tempo grooves—created with these synths—soon dominated the burgeoning gay club scenes in the US and UK. The foundation on which house was built.
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Paving the way for house
As the nation was cooling down from a decade of disco fever, the genre was evolving into a format that didn’t require a studio-full of session musicians. From the San Francisco gay club scene came Hi-NRG, an uptempo take on disco. Patrick Cowley was a pioneer of the genre, and his synth of choice was the Prophet-5.
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From the East to the Midwest
Having come up in New York alongside his friend Larry Levan, DJ Frankie Knuckles moved to Chicago to hone his skills at the newly opened Warehouse, a members-only club for Black, gay men.
Though already in use to describe older disco records, Knuckles' mix of classic disco, rock, and soul went on to be known as "house"—shorthand for the venue where this propulsive new sound lived.
The classic gear of house
To quote Frankie Knuckles from a 2012 MusicRadar interview, “I loved that machine! Sometimes I'd just leave it running by itself, just so I could hear those kick drums. I think the crowd were pretty much sick of it by the end of the night, but I couldn't get enough.” Gifted to him by Detroit’s Derrick May, Knuckles’ felt that the 909 was core to the enveloping nature of his sound.
Popularized by Ron Hardy’s relentless playback at Chicago’s Music Box, “Acid Track” by DJ trio Phuture featured the 303’s now iconic signature thump. Propelled by Chicago’s energy, “Acid Track” and the 303 would crossover into the UK helping add a brand new branch to the tree— “acid house.”
Appearing on the first ever house record pressed to wax, Roland’s TR-808 can be heard driving the beat on Jesse Saunders’ “On & On.” Outside of house, the 808 can be heard across all genres of music.
The hands that built house were many. While Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Mr. Fingers, and more receive their share of the light, it's important to recognize that in the story of house, influential talents like Yvonne Turner, DJ Sharon White, DJ Lady D, K-Hand, and more are only beginning to get their proper credit.
Going global and house today
Brick by brick, house was built into the skyscraper that it is today. It's part of the skyline that serves as a background for the pop stylings of Beyoncé while remaining a cultural mainstay for queer communities.
In Chicago, torchbearers like Derrick Carter are keeping the beat alive, while globally acts like Kaytranada, Honey Dijon, Channel Tres, and more continue to push the gospel of house to new heights.
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“When I first saw it [the Roland JD-800]. I thought it was like, the cat’s meow. I really liked that the strings on it—the pads, even—sounded really lush, very clean, and great. Great, great, great, great, great. At one time, I think I had three or four [of them]. I actually sold a couple on Reverb. But I still have my main one. If you’re looking for a machine that can do lots of things, particularly strings, pads… get one of those."
