Alex Whalen's dance music story starts all the way back on New Year’s Eve in 1991, when a flyer led to a map point that led to a legendary Catastrophic rave in Washington, D.C. A love of the music and culture he found there quickly morphed into a budding career as a much sought-after downtempo DJ, eventually landing him a gig at Supersting alongside the likes of Sasha, Laurent Garnier, LTJ Bukem, BT, Scott Henry, and Carl Cox. 

As Alex’s notoriety grew, he expanded his musical arsenal to include progressive house, techno, and trance, eventually attracting the attention of the Deep Dish boys back home in D.C. After tagging him to head their the Yoshitoshi Shop and Yoshitoshi.com  his reach went global, with gigs across the Americas and Europe. Not long after, he formed a close musical partnership with Dave Ralph, creating a duo that held down a monthly residency at Buzzlife in DC, produced several records for R-Factor Recordings, and launched a world tour in support of both. 

After moving to San Francisco in the summer of 2002, he joined the Thump Radio crew in producing a series of syndicated radio shows, headlined regularly for both Spundae and Release, helped launch a new house music venue for Blowfish Music & Sushi, and launched a series of successful weekly and monthly nights across California, including Arrival Industries with DJ Kramer and Nicholas Baker. 

But when his musical partner Dave Ralph called from Boston’s legendary Avalon with a new opportunity, it was time to head back East, and for the next decade he shared the bill with all the biggest names in dance music. At the same time, and in what is likely a first for a DJ with his track record, he completed a PhD in Political Science at Boston University, all while launching and hosting the Good People Better Rise Up! podcast, a series now 250+ episodes and more than 15 years in the making. 

When COVID hit, Alex necessarily put his travelling schedule on hold, turning his attention to building a new production studio deep in the mountains of Colorado. PHDJE Studios sits dead center in the highest town in North America, just a few miles down the road from the Molly Mines of Climax Colorado, a combination that undoubtedly make him the highest DJ in North America. Along with several of his mates, he’s formed the Bootycorn Sound System, a DJing and production collective determined to bring the fun and the funk to post-lockdown dancefloors worldwide.

Alex recently co-founded MK2 Artist Management with Micke, his longtime co-conspirator in all things melodic electronic. Expect to see them both on a dancefloor near you soon!