DJ Koala ( Dean Russell ) has been spinning House music since 1987, three decades. Joining the Toronto club/rave/after-hours circuit in 1992 at the pioneering Destiny Fridays as a resident dj, and a special guest at 23Hop (318 Richmond), System Soundbar, RPM, Guvernment, also landing club residencies at Living Room, Madbar, Limelight and Zoo Bar.. And after-hours regular at Buzz, Comfort Zone and many others.. Also Radio shows on Global Groove 100.7 CHIN, 93.3 CFRU, 89.5 CIUT and even a live to air show on AM 640.. Several guest appearances at events such as Atlantis, WEMF, Destiny, Binary, Vision, Effective, Arena, Utopia, Get Real, Day Breaks, Cherry Beach and even opening for Cevin Fisher at the legendary Industry Night Club.
To put it best : If there was a space playing house music in Toronto, Koala has played it.
Dj Koala has also toured through Ontario spinning in in Guelph, KW, Waterloo, London, Ottawa and across Canada in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Dean is always playing a mix of house from classic, soul and funk to hard acid and tech, whatever fits the moment. Expect a mix of sexy tribal beat downs that get you sweating on the dance floor. If you like to dance, you will like Dj Koala.
Dean is currently producing and tinkering with live shows, lighting setups and of course making music under the label/producer name of klubjunk. He is currently residing in Guelph Ontario where you can hear him semi-regularly at various nightclubs/lounges with fellow djs like ShiKing, Deeno, Edwin the Cat and friends.
Attempted Complete Venue/Events List: 23hop, 5ive, Afterlife, Aqua, Area 51, Arena, Atlantis, Atmosphere, Basement, Big Bop, Binary, Boom Boom Room, Catch 22, Century Room, Cherry Beach, Comfort Zone, Dance Cave, Day Breaks, Denile, Destiny Fridays, Destiny, Digital, Effective, Exit II Eden, Factory, Fez Batik, Film, Fluid, Fly, Footwork, Frequency, Get Real, G Spot, Granite, Guvernment, Industry, Joy, Joker, Kajmere, Limelight, Liquid, Living Room, Lotus, Lush, Luxor, Mad Bar, Majic, Meow, Ministry, Network, NV, Orange Room, Oz, Pacha, Oxygen, Plush, Phoenix, Rehab, Roxy Blu, RPM, RPM Warehouse, Seven, Shark City, Shmooze, Skybar, Solid, Stillife, System Soundbar, The Docks, The Drink, Time, Tonic, Turbo, Ultra, Velvet Underground, Venom, Venus, Vibe, Vision, Xit, WEMF, Utopia, Whiskey Saigon, Zoo Bar.. If i missed you let me know!!
What does a DJ do for a day job?
416 Design Lab is a complete web development and print design business that has been operating for over 20 years. It has been re-located to the Guelph area for the last 15 years.
Klublife Magazine was a full colour national magazine about djs music and nightlife. Dean was the founder editor and creator of the magazine from 1997 until he left in 2001. There are COUNTLESS other contributors, advertisers and people to thank, including the people who actually invested in the magazine. You know who you are... sorry this is a dj bio, not a life story for now..
Design and layout for "urban culture' magazine PEACE! What's up H! and Communic8r. Creators James and Neiland. Hi guys!!
Dean could be seen manning the Liquid E bar at every major event from 1992-1997, what some would call the 'best days' of the Toronto rave scene. Liquid E was an all natural concoction developed to replace harmful drugs in the scene by Deko! and Carlos @ the organic cafe in Toronto.
Sets, and Live mixes on soundcloud
Coming soon. Live streaming of shows and events.
Upcoming Events
Monthly, Weekly, Bi-Weekly
