I mentioned Trevor Combee as one of the inspirations for my recent “Now THAT’S What I Call Techno” mix, but really he is as responsible for the music i listen to now as anyone else. Trevor owned and operated HyperVinyl Records in Pittsburgh starting back in 1997 and later started the label of the same name. I can remember the first time i met him: I was a 17 year old sporting an A.C. t-shirt coming into his record shop back on Atwood St. in the college neighborhood of Oakland checking out Deadly Systems and Aphrodite 12″s. When I asked him about where I could find turntables for sale, he gave me the typically angry sounding Trevor blowoff. I knew right away that he was alright.
I can’t remember the first time I heard Trevor deejay, but I was immediately impressed. I knew little to nothing about techno at the time, but the of music he played was always good. My crew and I at the time were throwing parties of all sizes from house parties to 1000 person rave-esque events, and he played at every single one of them for us, always bringing crazy diverse shit to the table. The one set that really stood out though was a party we did at the legendary Irish Center in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in December 1999. We had some weird time slot problems, so his initial 11 PM set time kept being pushed back. When we told him this, he said “It’s no problem, just make sure we don’t run out of beer.” He finally went on…. at 8 AM. After drinking heavily ALL NIGHT LONG. He had to have killed a case of beer by himself, I can hardly believe he was still standing (well, wobbling). We were chilling outside when he dropped his first record, Walter Carlos’ “Title Music From A Clockwork Orange”. A bunch of us ran inside to find Trevor drunkenly grooving behind the decks to a room full of early morning dancers. He then proceeded to smash the place into bits with a ridiculous set featuring Dopplereffekt, John Selway’s “New People”, New Order’s “The Beach”, and Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing” amongst many other ridiculous techno, electro, and synth pop jams. It was unquestionably one of the best sets I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing live, and if I can find the mp3 of it I will post it up here!
He was a techno master, he could drop in tracks without using the headphones at all and use only the pitch fader to have it flawlessly in time within moments. He could bang it out, take it deep, throw in some disco, some house, some other weirdness. Whatever you can think of, really, he could do. He helped me buy my first techno records, Basic Channel’s “Phylyps Trak II”, Rhythm is Rhythim’s “Nude Photo”, Recloose’s Spelunking EP, and many more. HyperVinyl is where I met nearly all of my friends, and some of the best deejays I’ve ever seen. It was the hub of Pittsburgh’s dance scene during its most prosperous period. Now Trevor lives in Atlanta, and while music isn’t his livelihood anymore, you can’t take the kind of talent he possesses away from someone. A friend forwarded me a link earlier today to a mix he has online. It’s not quite as insane as his live mixes were, but it has all the hallmarks of what I would like to think is the Pittsburgh style of playing this kind of music: a nice mix-up of deep house and techno sounds that cover many years but still sound fresh as hell. It is guys like Trevor who may never get their props and then disappear but without whom your local dance scene wouldn’t be anything like it is today. Trevor Combee is a true Pittsburgh original. If anyone out there has any good Trevor stories, leave them in the comments section. I know I personally have enough that I could devote a post a day to them and it would take a long time to get through them all…..
Download the mix here. Edited on March 2, 2013 to add this rehosted mix link in memorial of Trevor. RIP my homie.
11 Comments
word. i never met trevor, but his stamp is all over this city and farther abroad. i’ve heard mikebee talk about him. as usual, ISM is on point.
man its been awhile since i’ve read this space and it seems i’ve missed alot…more posts to come after i’ve read all this.
at work,
marina
i was in hypervinyl once and trevor mentioned he had met a girl i worked with. i answered that she had been fired and added that she liked progressive house and speed garage. trevor replied “jesus! no wonder they fired her.”
I have a vivid memory of standing in the IC in a very altered state of mind and body and hearing the Clockwork Orange intro come on, was chilling and creepy and very cool.
I worked with Trevor here in Atlanta until his passing recently. Where should I begin?
First I never knew of Trevor’s past until his passing on the 27th Feb last Wednesday. It’s a shame such a hidden talent remained in the rough without him ever mentioning it. I must admit I was thrown back by the picture of him on this site and wasn’t aware of his past, but would like to tell you about him for the last part of his life as to ascertain the holistic picture of Trevor through and true.
We work at a technical computer company in Atlanta where he would work in burn-in area for the computer systems we built, and I worked in Support only to be separated by a piece of large glass windows. The glass was so thick as to hardly hear between the rooms. Mannerisms’ became the norm. I would always look back and see Trevor. Whether in pain, sorry or indifferent Trevor always wore a smile. I think to me this was the most I will take with me, always a positive force even in the worst of times.
I was asked to be a Paul Bearer to lay him to rest. I have been to one funeral in my life and didn’t enjoy it. I politely declined. Two buddies at work picked up my slackness and laid him to rest.
Trevor was always eager to learn and improve in his computer skills. A few months back Trevor approached me about buying a Mosin Nagant. The Trevor I knew was a gun lover. The only problem was the location to buy the gun was near my house and we planned the journey on a Saturday. I told him he could spend the night out at my house on Friday night and we would go Saturday morning. Of course having some beers that Friday night were on the menu.
Trevor shows up at my house that Friday afternoon…we started drinking. I told him “I’m having a load of firewood being delivered tonight”. About a six pack later the guy shows up with the wood. I unload the wood and pay the guy. He indicated that by sending him an email I may in turn be able to help him out with some computer issues he is having. I told him “I’ll run in the house and grab some pen and paper”. I walk into my living room. Trevor says “You getting a scope with the Mosin Nagant tomorrow?” “Not sure” I replied. On and on about the gun we discussed. Next thing I know I hear this knock at the door. Must have been 20 minutes…holy crap I forgot about the guy outside. I answered the door feeling like a total idiot. Trevor starts laughing…and laughing…laughing uncontrollably to the point of tears. He thought I didn’t pay the guy. Feeling so uncomfortable about the whole thing…I just started laughing to the guys face.
Later that evening (very drunk)…Trevor and I crash on my living room furniture near the fire place. Next thing I know my wife is awakening me. “Jay your friend Trevor is asleep in our bed!” “What?” I say. “Are you shitting me?”
What Trevor failed to tell me….he was a sleep walker. My wife told me that he didn’t try anything out of line. Of course he got a rude awaking from my bed that night and back on the couch. We laughed it off over some breakfast.
The 2 weeks before Trevor passed; he flew up to Wilmington Delaware. Trevor got pneumonia and was hospitalized in Delaware. Well enough he flew back to Atlanta. He was hospitalized again here in Atlanta. Trevor was found near his bed. I will always miss him….specially in the way he made light of others short comings. He is in a better place with God now. Ill see you again someday.
Rest in Piece my friend
Trevor was one of a kind a true friend. I miss him dearly.
I met Trevor while living in Pittsburgh briefly. We played records together at a place called Zythos, he introduced me to the local scene and we went to a few parties. I recently found out about his passing away, and it really hit me. I didn’t know him very well, but he was so passionate about his music, it was contagious. I still have the Hypervinyl records he gave me back then, and I’ll keep them for the rest of my life. Rest in piece Trevor, I’m thankful for knowing you.
RIP thanks for the comment
I grew up with Trevor north of Pittsburgh. Fraternity brothers at Grove City College. Such a fun dude. We enjoyed the same twisted sense of humor. All I had to do was hit him with some pointed gibberish and he’d be grinning ear to ear. He’d throw some back and we’d be cackling like hyenas…reveling in the dumbasses that we were.
And his moniker, The Instigator, aptly named. He loved to stir it up. I always appreciated that, even if I was the target. Not so much in an aggressive way, he knew his limitations. More so like, I’m dropping this on you, you’re going to react, and I’m gonna enjoy what ensues. I’m sure that mindset played into his deejaying. And speaking of:
I only knew him as Trevor, but the taste I did get was pretty cool. (He knew I was more into metal so he never really bothered breaking it down for me, although Ministry and NIN (Trent reznor grew up 5 mins away from us in Mercer) overlapped nicely for us). Anyway, my girlfriend and I checked out his Pitt vinyl record shop one day and then met up with him that night at a house party on the South side, Carson St to be exact. If you don’t know Pittsburgh, it has the most bars per capita in the country, and Carson Street is ground zero. Ya know how you’ve been to a handful of parties in your lifetime where you look back and think, you had to be there to give it a sniff of justice to anyone else? That was one for me. We step off the busy street and up this really thin stairwell, greeted into this packed apt by this smiling friend of Trevor’s who’s hosting and presses full solo cups of jungle juice into our chests. House was thumping. We made our way over to the big open windows overlooking Carson, plopped down with our drinks, legs hanging down the walls. The massive speakers were vibing this amazing house/techno energy for blocks. Everybody looking up smiling, prob wishing they were upstairs too but def appreciating the contribution to the weekend night scene.
RIP brother.
Thank you for the story!
I knew Trevor in Pittsburgh. I bought a lot of vinyl from him at hypervinyl. I saw him play many times. He was a nice guy and a hell of a good dj. Rest in peace.