WHEN YOU LIVE IN a city as musically blessed as Chicago, it's always hard to know how prominent your local heroes are on the national stage. So it wasn't until I started talking with producers and DJs from out of town that I realized what a treasure this city has in Mark Grant.

It was at a small club more than ten years ago that I first experienced his ability to pick up a party and drive it straight over the edge with his turntable skills and ear for selection. Today, Mark is known internationally as one of the hottest producers in House music, and credited by many as having resurrected vocal House in the 1990s when tracks were dominating the dancefloor. While touring the world and showing his skills as one of the most accomplished DJs to come out of Chicago in the last 25 years, his songs as a producer are burning up the charts on traxsource.com and other mp3 sites.

Mark worked with industry heavyweights like Lil Louis and Ralphi Rosario in the late 1980s and early '90s, but now finds himself on the other side of the equation: It's a mark of distinction for up-and-coming artists to say they've worked with Mark Grant.

Tell us a little about the early days and your own personal background. When did you begin DJing?

I started DJing at 12 years old. My oldest brother, Jerome, started experimenting with it. His DJ friend, George Little, made a tape that I listened to over and over again. My brother had one of those auto-reverse tape decks so I would go to sleep and wake up to the mix. After that I was hooked and wanted to DJ. My parents got me a mixer for my birthday in June and the turntables for Christmas.

Do you remember what your first paying DJ gig was?

My first gig was at 13 at Golgatha elementary school. Nobody danced, at least not that I remember. Everyone crowded around the table and watched. It was nerve wracking. I blew my brother's Panasonic Thruster speakers and I got paid $15. But I guess I did alright because they called me back to do a fashion show.

Who was that one DJ that made you want to master the turntable?

A couple of different ones over the years. But initially, Farley Keith made me stay up to 2 or 3 in the morning to hear his mixes on WBMX, because I was too young to go to a club. Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Lil Louis, and Louie Vega, among others, have had big influences on me over the years.

You carved out a huge reputation for yourself as a DJ before going into the studio. Was producing something you always saw as the next logical step?

I actually got into producing around 14 or 15. My middle brother, Brian, plays the guitar and had a 4 track, keyboard, and drum machine at the time. I would mess around with it when he wasn't. I would remake the House songs I liked and eventually started to make my own.

Some of your DJ residencies are part of the history of Chicago House, like Boom Boom Room. Do you miss setting your flag at one weekly spot and do you have any plans to do a local residency again?

There are some things I miss and some I don't. And the ones I don't miss don't have any relevance anymore, thank God!

I redirected my focus, concentrating more on traveling and mainly laying a foundation for Blackstone, my label. It's plenty of work. I've finally reached the point were the foundation is in place. I can now concentrate more on producing records and push the music through the system. I don't think I would have been able to create this system, produce records, play 3-4 nights a week, travel, and also achieve some of my personal goals at the same time, so residencies went on the backburner.

Now since I've accomplished those goals, I feel I'm more dynamic and I have more to offer to Chicago and for that matter the world. I've tried not to be non-existent to the Chicago club scene, making sure a play around the city every once in a while. If the right opportunity presented itself, I would consider doing a residency.

What do you look for in new music that makes the cut and gets into your sets?