Originally hailing from Ottawa, Rick Laplante returned to the Nation’s Capital in 1998, after living in London, Ontario for 10 years. His involvement in the London party scene began in early 1992 with Prism Productions, a project committed to hosting intimate gatherings with good vibes and fresh music. Unable to resist the siren song of the turntables for long, Rick began basement DJ’ing later in 1992, with his first professional gig the following year.
His main musical influences came through London’s proximity to Detroit and Toronto, where frequent weekend visits to these cities exposed him to some of the most groundbreaking underground sounds heard in the world during the early 90’s. Rick has now been professionally DJ’ing for over 15 years, and throughout his career he has played alongside notables such as Richie Hawtin, John Acquaviva, deadmau5, Jeff Milligan (aka Algorithm), Martin Villeneuve (MV), Eli Wilkie, Luke Morrison, Jerome Robins, Tone Depth, John Creamer, Stéfane Lippé, Brad Copeland, My Favorite Robot, Etienne Ozborne, Jamie Kidd, Toronto’s Fukhouse DJs: Ian Guthrie/Lee Osborne/Eric Downer/The Dukes, Kenny Glasgow, Nitin Kalyan, DJ Addy, Eddy Jasmin, Capital J, and many, many others.
Rick’s preferred club style is anything that can be described as funky and bouncy tech-house, yet he also draws influence from his eclectic music collection - with flashes of myriad genres, ranging from progressive to electro, techno to disco, breaks to jazz and from latin to lounge. He hasn’t forgotten his musical roots from running the Detroit–Toronto corridor for years… you can always expect the unexpected while Rick blends several different auditory flavours into his DJ sets.
While Rick endeavors to provide the dance-floor with a progressive blend of electronica, and bring new sounds to the listening and dancing audience, he doesn’t shy away from the classic underground tracks. Good music is timeless!
Since moving back to Ottawa, Rick has been active in the local scene of our Nation’s Capital, as well as out of town gigs in Toronto and Montreal, and U.S. cities like New York, NY, Boston, MA and Farmington, CT. He’s DJ’d in almost every Ottawa venue, so now has his sights set beyond city limits with several upcoming gigs in Toronto Montreal and more. Rick is currently spending most of his time Dj’ing and promoting Sunrise Afterhours - an event which parallels the philosophy of Prism Productions: intimate gatherings with good vibes and fresh music!
Where can I see DJ Rick Laplante in action?
Sunrise Afterhours celebrated its 3 Year Anniversary in Nov. 2007, and the event still happens every Saturday night after the bars close in Ottawa, starting at 3am. For those of you in the Ottawa, The Sunrise is at Mavericks (221 Rideau Street).
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