Touched by an Angel

>> Stereo celebrates two years of pleasing ears

by KRISTA

"If you build it, they will come."

Hey, if it worked for Kevin Costner, it can work for anybody. Keep in mind that Brooklyn-based DJ/producer (and now club owner) Angel Moraes had something much more appealing in mind when he set out to build his "field of dreams." For starters, it didn't involve baseball on any level.

His dream was to build a club with a sound system unlike any sound system in any club anywhere in the world. The kind of sound system reminiscent of famous, legendary clubs like the Paradise Garage and Sound Factory Bar that famous, legendary DJs would want the opportunity to come and play on, and he wanted to build it here in Montreal.

Angel built it and they have come. In the two years since Stereo opened, almost every big-name DJ in the world of house music has come to try out the only existing custom-built analog sound system in the world. Names like Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, Frankie Knuckles, Baby Hec Romero and Marques Wyatt have all stepped up to the plate to have a whack. And who can forget the magnificent Danny Tenaglia and Stereo's MVP, monthly resident David Morales, who declared Stereo "the best room in the world to play in" and started a buzz about the club around the globe. Hell, it had only been open a year when Britain's Muzik magazine voted it one of the top five clubs in the world.

Though the club's reputation here at home is, at times, not so golden (shaky management early in the game and a few questionable marketing moves left Stereo open to the scrutiny of Montreal's finicky and rather spoiled afterhours patrons), outside of our comparatively small city Stereo has achieved mega-club status ranking it up there with venues like London's Fabric and Pacha in Ibiza.

"People know about Stereo in places you would never even think of," Angel says from his Brooklyn flat, "so we must be doing something right. But I think the learning process is still taking place. We could be doing a lot more. We're still not even close to peaking, but we're on the right track."

Stereo has been an important outlet for local DJs as well as the major-leaguers. "It's important to generate the exchange of talent that way," says local label Bombay's Nav. "The club is helping to put Montreal and Montreal's DJs on the map. DJs get to play long sets--there are max three DJs playing on a night. And we have NYC residents coming to play on a regular basis. That doesn't happen in other cities."

This weekend, with the help of NYC's Def Mix crew, Stereo officially celebrates its second birthday. L.A.'s Eddie Amador is flying in for Friday night's festivities, and on Saturday the Stereo dream team of club founder Angel Moraes and club resident David Morales will be in full effect.

Friday $20, Saturday $25 at the door, 2am