Superchumbo

Tom Stephan is the man behind the progressive house project Superchumbo. Growing up in the town of Olean in upstate New York, Stephan first became interested in music through his musician father. Dropping out after two piano lessons, Stephan decided to learn at his own pace on the equipment his father had lying around the house. Hearing Nitzer Ebb and Depeche Mode on the radio swayed Stephan toward electronic music, but he dismissed house as nothing but Black Box and screaming divas. A trip to the Sound Factory to hear the more underground sounds of DJ Junior Vasquez forever changed his idea of what house could be. On the advice of a friend, Stephan moved to London and studied film. Finding that he was most interested in the film's soundtracks and starting to do his own mixing, Stephan's first gig was a half-hour set, warming up for superstar DJ Danny Tenaglia. A five-year residency at the London club Substation followed, giving Stephan all the experience he needed to start his Superchumbo project. Twisted released Superchumbo's first single "Get This" in 1997 and Stephan's regular "ChumboMundo" and "Roach" nights at the London club Turnmills became the place to be for house music fans. In 2001, influential DJ Pete Tong declared Superchumbo's "The Revolution," his tune of the year, and in 2002 the mix-CD Get the Lead Out was released. Remixes for Kylie Minogue, Basement Jaxx, and Darude followed and a Superchumbo bootleg mix of Missy Elliot's "Get Yr Freak On," was championed by Tong once again, and Missy herself. The remix collection Leadheads: The Sound of Superchumbo appeared in 2003 and the DJ stopped his regular London club events to concentrate on international touring and Superchumbo's debut album. ~ David Jeffries