Jon Hester

(Rekids / Klockworks / Dystopian)

Jon Hester is a Midwest American DJ, producer, and dancer known for his physical rhythms and adventurous programming, effortlessly combining diverse varieties of techno and house. With an engaging presence and a knack for telling a story, he builds a unique connection with each audience, and works any room until it sweats.

His beginnings solidified foundational connections to music and the ritual of the dance. Playing the clarinet and saxophone as a child, classical and jazz training opened the doors to music theory, performance, and improvisation. Formative years in Chicago brought house music to his ears via radio waves by age fifteen. He dove into a wider world of sounds, and sparked a connection with music emanating from Detroit. From then on he was going out dancing, and ultimately it was the boundless nature of techno that pushed him to dig deeper.

After years on the dance floor, he made a natural progression to DJing in 1999. Relocating to Minneapolis, he found himself in an under-the-radar haven for Midwest parties, and he eventually ran his own club night, Convergence. As the resident DJ, he was booking touring artists such as Daniel Bell and Ryan Elliott, and providing a platform for local talents like DVS1 and Dustin Zahn. To keep his record collection fresh, he spent Saturdays working behind the counter of Vital Vinyl, the only strictly dance music-focused record shop in Minneapolis.

As his focus shifted to production, he found a new home in Berlin. It was here that he crafted EPs for his EDEC label with Andrew Grant, and his breakout Interstellar Systems EP on Rødhåd’s Dystopian imprint. This brought his sound into the vernacular of techno heavyweights and wider audiences by 2016, with subsequent music out on Ben Klock’s Klockworks, Radio Slave’s Rekids Special Projects, DJ Deep’s Deeply Rooted label, LET Recordings, and Afterlife. Meanwhile, his remix portfolio started to grow. In 2020 and 2021, he released his first full length album in two parts on Rekids, to critical and popular acclaim. This marked a new milestone for Hester branching out to explore new sonic realms, while maintaining his focus on the dance floor.

His DJ skills have moved dancers around the world, in venues such as Berghain and Tresor Berlin, fabric London, Trouw, Shelter, and De School Amsterdam, Space and Hï Ibiza, Output New York, Crobar Buenos Aires, D-Edge São Paulo, Bar Americas Guadalajara, B018 and The Grand Factory Beirut, Faust Seoul, and Vent Tokyo. Hester’s enthusiasm and steady grind ensure that his star will continue to rise.