Victor Calderone

Across a storied career spanning nearly three decades, Victor Calderone has consistently proven himself as a sonically curious artist. The New York DJ and producer came up in Bensonhurst,Brooklyn, where his brother Cesar introduced him to the art of DJing when Calderone was just 15. Years later, in 1991, his short-lived Program 2 project secured a record deal with New York label Sire. In 1996, Calderone broke through with his debut solo single "Give It Up," which lived on top of the Billboard Dance Music charts for a week. Throughout the '90s and aughts, Calderone was known for his intuitive and original club remixes for pop artists like Madonna, Sting, Beyoncé,Depeche Mode, and Whitney Houston. The fruitful era also saw him kick off international and state wide residencies that are still going strong over 20 years later. In New York, his homes were influential clubs The Roxy, Pacha, and Crobar—the last of which where he would ultimately launch his brand Evolve. In Evolve's heyday, Calderone built a luminous reputation for his sprawling 12-16 hour sets—all-consuming journeys that illustrated his gift for musical story telling. By the early to mid-'10s, Calderone's palette increasingly leaned techno. At this auspicious moment, he was given the stamp of approval from techno greats like Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin,and Adam Beyer. His sound flourished across releases for Sleaze, Drumcode, MOOD, as well as his own labels, Waveform and MATTER+. Even with a fresh set of tools and studio partners at his disposal, the underlying groove that was so prominent during his tribal days remained a constant. In early 2021, a health diagnosis forced Calderone to step away from the studio once more, look inward and refocus on his health and family. He has returned energized,having devoted recent months to reviving his MATTER+ imprint. "I'm now reconnecting with a whole new audience,"he said. "That's why it's so important for me to have MATTER—to connect and align with new young artists."