Woody McBride

Woody McBride, born in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1967, moved to Minneapolis in 1988 to study, first getting a foothold in the city's house scene as a protégé of DJ Kevin Cole at First Avenue. He soon turned toward the emerging, still-underground techno scene, taking the name DJ ESP, inspired by Deee-Lite's 1990 track "E.S.P.," and began producing music with tips from fellow North Dakota native Freddy Fresh.

After seeing Daft Punk open for him at Paris's Rex Club in 1995, he brought the group to the US for the first time in 1996, and with Kurt Eckes co-founded Drop Bass Network, helping define the Midwest American techno sound through its Furthur event series. He went on to found Communiqué Records, and has released and remixed music on labels including Richie Hawtin's Plus 8, Dave Clarke's White Noise, Josh Wink's Ovum, and Fatboy Slim's Skint.