Kellen James

Long story but here it goes!
I fell in love with electronic music in 2008 when I moved to Long Beach for college and I instantly became obsessed with DJing. Countless club nights, raves, festivals, house parties and undergrounds later I realized how important a proper dance floor is.

In 2013 I decided to start a monthly party in Long Beach. House music was practically nonexistent and our crew was constantly going to LA, SD and @focus_oc to hear proper tunes. During this time I became good friends with @billmeripol. We had the same taste in music and always ended up DJing together. I found a venue and we partnered up to throw a party called “Fusion”. The name derived from wanting to fuse our city with the thriving music scenes north and south of us.

We had some rippers and had some parties fall short. We almost always lost money but it didn’t matter. We loved DJing, dancing, being with our friends and meeting new ones along the way. We brought in DJs we respected and tried to create a vibe we would enjoy. As time went on the party became more work than it was worth and we wanted to direct our focus on producing.

When we weren’t working together, and Splice wasn’t a thing, we had to upload project files back and forth from a USB to our computers. We would label projects as “Kell” or “Bill” or “Kell & Bill” to keep them straight. We started getting booked for gigs together and decided Kell Bill would be our moniker. We played some insanely fun shows, spent countless hours working on music together and were able to sign a few tracks to @desertheartsrecords and @percomaniacs who we both love and respect so much.

In February 2020 Bill and his wife had their first child. One night before he was born Bill told me he needed to step away from the Kell Bill project and for me to continue to run with it. Little did I know Covid was right around the corner and we all know what happened next.
I took that opportunity to appreciate slowing down, spend time with my amazing wife and keep my business afloat while still working on music as much as possible….

Continued in comments ⤵️