Meet The Residents: Thomas "DJ Peace" Spann

While still in high school, Thomas Spann began his career as a groundbreaking club dj in 1982 almost by accident while at a friend’s party when the hired dj suddenly took ill. Since the dj was a friend of Thomas’, the promoter assumed that he too was part of the crew and told him to fill in for his partner. Thankfully, may of the partygoers were in a good mood (and wasted) so most seemed not to notice or mind the change in music. However, there was one person there that did notice and approached Thomas after the party. That person would become his first musical mentor and later go on to become one of the most respected and sought after re-mixers in music: Steve “Silk” Hurley. Steve introduced Thomas to many of the pioneers of the house music movement that was growing in Chicago such as Farley “Funking” Keith, Eric “E.T.”Taylor, Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles just to name a few. As an unofficial “member” of Hurley’s Hot Waxx Productions, Thomas learned various mixing techniques such as remixing, scratch mixing and b.p.m. matching by watching and playing with Steve, Farley and E.T. Although no stranger to music programming, largely in part because of his family’s involvement in radio (his father and uncle were prominent on-air personalities in Chicago) as well as his father’s management of several r&b bands around Chicago, Thomas never before had to program music for a live crowd. Soon, Thomas was being recruited by promoters to appear as a guest d.j. on many of Chicago’s legendary house sessions held weekly at places such as the Bismarck Pavilion, the Ascot Hotel, the Blackstone Hotel and other “a-list” venues. In addition to these sessions, Thomas was a regular “guest dj” at Sauer’s for his mentor Steve “Silk” Hurley.

It wasn’t too long before Thomas was getting noticed by his idols such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy and Andre Hatchett and being requested by them to play on their sets. During this period, Thomas became one of the resident jocks for the Marz Bar on Chicago’s infamous Rush Street at the request of the other resident dj Gerard. This was the legitimacy that Thomas needed in order to fully establish him as one of the premiere djs in Chicago – all while still a teenager in high school. By the time Thomas graduated from high school in 1985, he was in high demand, playing at as many as five parties over the course of a weekend and as a guest dj at other clubs in Chicago such as Medusa’s, Frankie Knuckles’ Power Plant, Ron Hardy’s Music Box and countless other spots. In 1986, two promoters approached Thomas about a club that they were going to open on Chicago’s north side and they were looking for a resident jock. They told him that he was on their short list of four possible djs for their venue – a list that included Frankie Knuckles (unavailable because he had the Warehouse), Ron Hardy (he had the Music Box), Andre Hatchett (resident dj for Pleasure Dome) and Thomas. Thomas accepted and in fall of 1986, Club C.O.D. opened with Thomas Spann on decks. For the first time in his brief four-year history, Thomas was the headliner for a nightclub and, also, for the first time, Thomas began using a stage name like many of the other djs in Chicago- and thus was Thomas “Spinning” Spann born. Thomas stayed with club C.O.D. until summer of 1987 when he decided to join the military. In 1989, he was assigned overseas to Friedberg, Germany, and while there served in the first Gulf War.

Thomas returned to the states in 1994 and began playing sporadically in clubs in Chicago and other cities such as D.C. at the now defunct “State of the Union” with Stan “the Man”, Chicago’s Funky Buddha Lounge, Colorado Springs’ “Hide –N-Seek” lounge and other spots along the way. In addition, while taking classes at Chicago State University, Thomas began hosting /producing his own talk show entitled “the 411” on WCSU – AM 610 bringing in headline makers such as Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Dr Fred Price to political figures and numerous sports and entertainment figures to discuss the critical issues affecting the black community. From there, Thomas went on to WUIC hosting “Ragga Radio” which aired Fridays 6-10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2-6 p.m. and covered issues affecting the Caribbean community locally and abroad and used this medium as a means to highlight Caribbean owned businesses and service providers. Thomas’ show was also the only Caribbean themed program serving the Chicago land area that broadcast simultaneously via the airwaves and the internet, garnering him an international audience .In 2002, Thomas relocated to south Florida where, once again, bored with the club scene and the repetitive sounding djs, Thomas entered - and won – the Battle of the DJs under a new, edgier tag “Tommy Gunnz” held at the now closed “Club Matrix in downtown Fort Lauderdale in February 2003. Deciding to reinvent himself once again, largely due to the amount of turmoil and violence in our world, Thomas buried “Tommy Gunnz” and has been rocking the world ever since in his latest reincarnation DJ Peace”. Thomas has been a featured “guest dj” for Hot 105 – FM’s “the Tom Joyner Morning Show Cruise Bon Voyage Party in 2003 and 2004 as well as for “Funk Jazz Lounge” on occasion playing alongside the Brass King and can also be found on decks frequently as a resident for Soul Simple. In addition, Thomas still travels back and forth to Denver, Chicago and Detroit to play.