Chris Sheppard (also known as DJ Dogwhistle) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
born former
DJ and
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...
. One of the leading figures in the Canadian
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
scene in the 1980s and 1990s, he was active as a club and radio DJ and as a musician with the bands
BKS and
Love Inc.
Career
Sheppard's career began in the early 1980s as a DJ and host of several warehouse parties in the
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
area.
In 1985,
David Marsden hired him as the host of a Saturday night alternative dance music show, ''Club 102'', on
CFNY. this later expanded to a live broadcast from various Toronto nightclubs on Friday nights, a type of broadcast which was later copied by many other radio stations.
Sheppard later moved to
Energy 108 and later
Z103.5 where he launched his program, ''Pirate Radio'' later renamed ''Groove Station'', into
syndication across
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
.
[ Sheppard also launched the ]Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...
-winning dance groups BKS (Quality Records) and Love Inc.(BMG Canada), with whom he had several charting pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
and dance hits.
Sheppard launched his own record label, Pirate Records, to release compilation albums of dance music from around the world in Canada.["Summer of Love tour grooves into Cowboys". '']Calgary Herald
The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network.
History
''The Ca ...
'', June 14, 1998.
During the late '80s and early '90s when Toronto's rave scene was at its peak, Sheppard would often attend as a guest DJ under his rave alias "Dogwhistle". Sheppard released two CD compilations under the Dogwhistle alias, entitled ''2 Hi 4 Humans'' and ''The Life and Times of an After Hours DJ''.
Sheppard retired from DJ'ing in the late 90's and claims to have a Ph.D in Molecular Science from the University of Toronto, a Ph.D in Neuroscience from the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, and gave lectures on occasion at the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
.
Since 2022 it has been rumoured that Sheppard now lives in Costa Rica.
Discography
*''Techno Trip'' (1992)
*''Sheppard's Revenge'' (1992)
*''Still Trippin'' (1992)
*''Trip to the Moon'' (1993)
*''Have a Nice Trip'' (1993)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol. 1: The Underground Collection'' (1994)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol. 2: Club Culture'' (1994)
*''The Life and Time of an After Hours DJ'' (1995, as Dogwhistle)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol. 3'' (1995)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol 4: The Best of 1995'' (1995)
*''Destination Dance Floor'' (1995)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol. 5'' (1996)
*''2 Hi 4 Humans'' (1996, as Dogwhistle)
*''Destination Dance Floor 2'' (1996)
*''Pirate Radio Sessions Vol. 6'' (1996)
*''Destination Dance Floor 3'' (1997)
*''Kwikmix 2938'' (1998, as Dogwhistle)
*''Groove Station 4'' (1998)
*''Club Cutz 101'' (1998)
*''Club Cutz 201'' (1999)
*''Groove Station 5'' (1999)
*''Club Cutz 303'' (2000)
*''Groove Station 6'' (2000)
*''Club Cutz 404'' (2001)
*''Euphoria: Hard House & Progressive Anthems'' (2001)
*''Club Cutz 505'' (2001)
*''Club Cutz 606'' (2002)
*''Euphoria 2: Deep, Dark & Underground'' (2002)
*''Loud Ass Mother Fucker'' (2006)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Chris
Canadian DJs
Canadian radio personalities
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)