Spin city: a story by Dave Lindquist

Jackola

Jack “Jackola” Shepler was a fan of indie rock before he became a fan of electronic dance music.

The gloomy perspectives of Dashboard Confessional and similar acts gave way to brighter and more energetic sounds when Jackola attended Ball State University and found work as a DJ in a Muncie bar.

“I guess I just really like listening to music that’s more upbeat and happy sounding,” he says.

The 25-year-old specializes in a style known as tech house, and his busy 2008 has included sets at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Ky., the Monolith Festival in Denver and the hot Chicago dance spot Smart Bar.

Jackola doesn’t expect everyone to know the subgenres of his music, but he appreciates a gig where no one asks him, “Are you going to play techno all night?”

Despite its use as a blanket term for anything that throbs and doesn’t feature lyrics, techno is a specific style that emerged in Detroit during the 1980s. Tech house incorporates elements of techno with house music, a style that grew in popularity in Chicago during the 1980s. “It takes the soulful sounds of house music,” Jackola explains, “and mixes it with the repetitive, machine-like nature of techno.”

Jackola singles out venues Talbott Street and Forty Five Degrees, producers StarSteady and Adam Jay and fellow DJs Shiva and Seth Nichols for advancing the cause.

“There’s a lot more room to grow here compared to Chicago or Detroit,” he says.