I asked him if the explosion of the rave scene in the 1990s, which almost transformed DJs into godheads, was one of the culprits. He demurred. "You've really got to take the good with the bad," he explained. Rave parties "helped clubs get back to recognizing that the DJ is the backbone of the club, as opposed to the couches, nice lounges or what have you. But somewhere in that, some the DJs stopped believing in the music and made it about them."

As part of Marques' commitment, local DJs are invited behind the tables every six weeks to play and, hopefully, learn from playing before Deep's hard-vibing crowd. It's a part of giving back, he says, a part of building a culture that he believes goes beyond the confines of the dancefloor into the streets.

"It's about using the music to change society for the better," he says. Among his latest endeavors to remove the limits associated with House has been to open the doors to yoga, bringing the music into the studio and the practitioners into the club. "The two have much in common as far as nurturing the spirit and so forth," he says. "It's really a natural marriage."

Internationally, Marques is probably best known for the series of mix CDs he's released with Om Records. The most popular, Horizons, is an eclectic mix of styles that rarely mingle in the average DJ set. It opens up with a hard gospel vocal, merges seamlessly into a smooth Latin vibe and rolls from there into Mark Grant's smash hit "Girl With U".

"The relationship with Om was really good timing," he says. "I remember thinking I'd like to do a mix CD when Om approached me." The label, which had been associated with more of a techno sound, was looking to branch out into soulful House. "It really worked well for me, as far as getting my name out there. And it worked for them as far as bringing to the label more sounds from this genre. It's really been a family affair with Om."

As a producer, Marques' best known track is "For Those Who Like To Get Down," which brought the house down as a single and was later the featured track on a mix CD of the same name. He often previews his works in production at Deep to see the effect on the audience. "That's why I think its very important for any DJ or producer to really try to have a sort of residency somewhere. It's been very good to me and its very powerful.

"There are certain records that, when you play them, you don't think they're your records. You play them because they're good and you don't get tired of them. That's how you know that they're good - that you can play them and listen to them over and over and still think its a good record.

"I don't think my tastes are different from the man in the street who has never been inside a club before. The music that I play, I feel, is a reflection of myself. In that sense, it's a unique style and everyone has that within them."

His eclectic tastes have in a very real sense fashioned a whole new sound, a fusion of sorts, emanating from the West Coast. You can describe some of the common characteristics - a soulful vocal, an energetic drum - but it can't be copied or imitated without that extra something, that touch of Marques Wyatt's spirit. At a recent appearance at Chicago's Smart Bar, he amazed the audience by mixing in dozens of eclectic sounds into one tight set.

"I'm not one of those people that pigeonholes music," he says. "I see a set, everything, as limitless. If you don't put limits on something, then it will remain that way: limitless."