Our History

Ottawa. Toronto. Detroit. Chicago. Tel-Aviv.

No matter who or where you are, we might be among you. We are electronic music lovers; the geeks, the dorks, the professionals & academics.

Born a brainchild of some weirdo music junkies in Ottawa, Ontario in the fall of 1998, VinylVortex was created as a medium to share the music we so loved with the masses, using the then emerging technology known to the world today as streaming, and more specifically Shoutcast. With the original hosts Juiced, XraySpek, and Phuzz regularly producing live shows, a mix of music and random pointless banter, a small but loyal band of VVers began to accumulate from the depths of the internet, gathering on IRC (internet relay chat) to discuss the music and the topics we all seemed to share an affinity for.

As the years passed, the live shows became more scarce, the original hosts finding themselves busy with other endeavours. During this time VinylVortex continued to stream a variety of progressive house and trance sets and continued to enjoy a modest popularity in the shoutcast world. In late 2004 it was decided that VinylVortex would focus its efforts on new projects and the 24/7 stream was decommissioned.

Throughout it all, the VV community remained, still gathering to chat each day. In an age of twitter and facebook, texting and BBMs, the old technology we so loved remained core to who we are. IRC brought us together from all parts of the world. Individual lives forever connected by a text prompt. OMG. BRB. SRSLY. It’s a way of life. You wouldn’t understand.