Having first stepped behind the turntables at the tender age of 15, Dusty Johnston, (aka DJ Dusty) has become a fixture in the Canadian music community. With his first residency at the now legendary Thunderdome, he was one of the first people to bring underground hip-hop and electronica to the forefront in the Nation’s Capital of Ottawa.
This legendary house-of-mayhem led to a future residency at the now also legendary after-hours: Atomic Nightclub. These Saturday night after-hours sessions quickly cemented Dusty as a permanent fixture in the Ottawa music scene. From there, Dusty went on to DJ and host the city’s longest-running underground hip-hop night, which was based out of Bar 56/The Collection. Long lines and great times were the norm for this religiously attended evening.
On the DJ front, Dusty Johnston has opened-up for many international acts such as Q-Tip, DJ Z Trip, The Pharcyde, KRS-One, Coldcut, Kid Koala, The Beatnuts, Common, Boot Camp Clik, Jazzy Jeff, and many, many others.
Fresh-off a much talked about appearance on the Bacardi B-Live Tour this summer at the House of Blues in Chicago, Dusty is now set for a busy year of touring, production, and promotion for his first official full-length release “The Struggle and The Progress” which was released in August ‘09.
Recently, Dusty’s music has been featured on BBC Radio One, and premiere music blogs such as Discobelle, Hype ‘Em and Palms Out Sounds, to name just a few. Watch for him in your town…