Music / Business & brands
DJ Godfather
· DJ, producer, label owner, nightclub owner
One of the founding DJs of Detroit ghettotech, head of the Databass label and a fixture of the city's club scene for more than three decades.
- Birth name
- Brian Jeffries
- Also known as
- Brian Jeffries
- Detroit years
- 1980s–present
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Brian Jeffries began DJing in his early teens and grew into one of the central figures of ghettotech, the fast, bass-heavy Detroit club music that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Detroit techno collided with Miami bass. Ghettotech was first made for local audiences: Jeffries has recalled that a good record could sell a thousand vinyl copies across six Detroit record stores alone, while mix CDs sold by the thousands. Through his Databass Records label he released and remixed the city's club hits, including DJ Slugo's “Godzilla”, which Databass signed in 2003. For years he played Sunday nights at Saint Andrew's Hall for radio station WDRQ, and he has been voted Detroit's best DJ in Metro Times readers' polls. He later moved into the nightclub business as owner of the Annex and 3Fifty Terrace, and in 2020 released the album Electro Beats for Freaks.
Highlights
- A founding DJ of Detroit ghettotech.
- Runs Databass Records, which signed DJ Slugo's “Godzilla” in 2003.
- Hosted Sunday nights at Saint Andrew's Hall for WDRQ.
- Released the album Electro Beats for Freaks (2020).
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1990s
Saint Andrew’s Hall
He held down Sunday nights here for radio station WDRQ.