Origins: Juheun on culture, craft, and connection with the roots behind ‘Exhale’
- Undrtone Blog
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Juheun’s story is one of evolution, community, and curiosity. Born in California to South Korean parents, he grew up between two cultures that shaped his identity both as a person and an artist.
“I am first generation,” he says. “Growing up was tough because I was always made fun of for being Asian. Looking back now, I think that pushed me to stand out and do something special. I was into arts and music from as early as I can remember, playing piano, painting, and drawing. But it was not until I started DJing abroad that my parents really understood what I was doing. That is when my mom told me my dad used to DJ in coffee shops back in Korea.”
Music was always present in the house. His father’s record collection, from Prince and Michael Jackson to The Rolling Stones, left a lasting mark. “He had this huge Hi-Fi system. I did not know why he had such a diverse taste until I learned he had been a DJ himself,” he says. “That explains a lot.”
Like many of his generation, Juheun found dance music through the early internet. “Back in the LimeWire and Napster days, I would download these hour-long audio files that took all night,” he laughs. “When they finally finished, I would realise they were DJ sets, live recordings from clubs and festivals I had never heard of. That is how I discovered Digweed, Sasha, Paul Van Dyk, Richie Hawtin, and Bad Boy Bill. The first time I saw Bad Boy Bill and DJ Dan live, everything changed for me.”
Before techno, there was house. Under his first alias, DJ Tranzit, he spent over a decade building a reputation across the Midwest. “I moved to Chicago in the late 90s to learn how to mix on vinyl and be closer to the birthplace of house,” he says. “But when the sound evolved into EDM, it lost its edge. I would sneak techno into my house sets, but eventually realised I needed a new identity. Around 2010, I started Juheun and began pushing a more underground sound.”
That same year, he and his partner Michelle Sparks founded Circuit in Arizona, an event brand that would become a cornerstone of the state’s techno scene. “Back then, Phoenix was mostly EDM and dubstep,” he explains. “We wanted to bring the same energy we had experienced at places like Movement in Detroit or ADE in Amsterdam. Phoenix has always had an electronic music history, even in the 90s, but not much techno. So we decided to build that space ourselves.”
Known for his obsession with hardware and a hands-on approach to sound, Juheun still finds inspiration in the physical act of creating. “I am a huge gear head,” he says. “I have got a solid collection of synths and drum machines, but I could not live without my turntables. That feeling of dropping the needle on vinyl connects right back to my childhood sitting in front of my dad’s Hi-Fi system.”
When he is not in the studio, he is working under the hood of classic Japanese cars, a passion he links closely with music. “It is a balance,” he says. “I spend so much time on digital gear that I need something physical to offset it. Building and modding cars is therapy for me. It is creating in the real world, not just on a screen.”
His new EP ‘Exhale’, landing on 21st November on Tronic Recordings, channels everything he has learned into two tracks that hit as hard emotionally as they do physically. “Music has always been about losing yourself,” he says. “With the way the scene is now, I feel like we have forgotten that. The words in ‘Exhale’ are about disconnecting from the noise and focusing on what matters, the music.”
Pre-order 'Exhale' here: https://www.beatport.com/release/exhale-ep/5552164
To close our conversation, we asked Juheun to pick the tracks that best capture his journey so far. From early influences to career-defining moments, these are the records that built his foundation and shaped the sound of Juheun today.
Richie Hawtin – ‘Minus/Orange 1’
“I first heard this track on Bad Boy Bill’s mixtape Bangin’ The Box Vol. 4. At the time, I was deep into house music, and hearing something this raw in the mix was such a shift. It stood out immediately. Even though I was already exploring underground sounds like progressive house and DJs like Digweed and Sasha, hearing something with this level of rawness felt refreshing and really resonated with me.”
ZR – ‘Structure (CZR Edit)’
“After moving to Chicago in the late 90s to get closer to the birthplace of house music and learn to DJ on vinyl, I started hitting underground warehouse parties all over Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. I wasn’t 21 yet, so these were my only options to experience the scene properly. I can’t remember which DJ played this track for the first time, but I’ll never forget how it made me feel. Things were very fuzzy back then.”
Jark Prongo – ‘Movin’ Through Your System’
“During my early rave days in Chicago, I heard this track in a warehouse packed with thousands of ravers. I was deep in the scene by then, and I don’t think it had even been released yet because I went to every record shop the next day looking for it, and nobody had it. It must have been an early promo. The vocals and that grungy, driving rhythm completely hooked me. It really shaped my sound at the time, and I couldn’t get enough.”
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