Music / Business & brands
John Acquaviva
born 1963 · DJ, producer, label founder, music entrepreneur
Canadian DJ who started out in Detroit's clubs, co-founded Plus 8 Records with Richie Hawtin and later helped launch Beatport.
- Born
age 62- Also known as
- J'acquaviva+8
- Detroit years
- late 1980s–1990s
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
John Acquaviva, an Italian-Canadian from southwestern Ontario, began his DJ career in Detroit, performing as J'acquaviva+8. At The Shelter, the basement club under Saint Andrew's Hall, he met the younger Windsor DJ Richie Hawtin, and the two tried without success to interest Derrick May's Transmat label in their tracks. Instead they started their own: Plus 8 Records, founded in 1989 and named after the maximum pitch setting on a turntable, released its first records in May 1990, among them Detroit producer Kenny Larkin's “We Shall Overcome”. Plus 8 made the Detroit–Windsor corridor a second engine of techno and put Acquaviva and Hawtin at the forefront of international DJ culture. In 1993 they founded Definitive Recordings, which Acquaviva later relaunched as a tech-house label. An early champion of digital DJing through Final Scratch, he also helped found Beatport, which became the largest download store for dance music.
Highlights
- Co-founded Plus 8 Records with Richie Hawtin in 1989; first releases May 1990.
- Co-founded Definitive Recordings in 1993.
- Helped found and launch the Beatport download store.
- Reached No. 22 in DJ Mag's 2006 Top 100 poll.
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 · late 1980s
Saint Andrew’s Hall
The basement club where he met Richie Hawtin.