François K

François K is the recording name of François Kevorkian, a DJ, remixer, producer and record label owner of Armenian descent. Born in 1954 in Rodez and raised in France, he moves to the United States in 1975 and begins working in New York’s underground club scene as a DJ around 1976 after first playing drums as a teenager. He is identified with house, deep house, tech house, techno and electronic music, and his work spans both club culture and studio production.

Early career and remixes

Kevorkian teaches himself tape editing and begins making disco medleys. He takes on A&R work for Prelude Records, which leads him into remixing. His first remix, of Musique’s “In The Bush”, becomes a major club and radio success. He goes on to help shape the sound of New York dance music through remixes for acts including D-Train and Sharon Redd, and in 1982 he has several number one singles in Billboard’s Dance Music Chart, including remixes of Yazoo’s “Situation” and Dinosaur L’s “Go Bang”.

During this period he plays as guest DJ at the Paradise Garage, The Loft, Better Days, Studio 54, Les Mouches, Buttermilk Bottom and AM-PM, and he holds a Friday residency at Club Zanzibar in New Jersey for more than a year.

Producer and studio work

Kevorkian moves into production with the Snake Charmer EP for Island Records, using a lineup that includes Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. He later works with a wide range of artists, including Eurythmics, Diana Ross, U2, Kraftwerk, Mick Jagger, Ashford & Simpson, The Cure, Midnight Oil, Jimmy Cliff, Foreigner, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, The Fatback Band, Bunny Wailer, The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys and Cabaret Voltaire. He mixes Kraftwerk’s 1986 album Electric Café and also works on Depeche Mode’s Violator and several of the group’s 12-inch club remixes.

He builds Axis Studios in the same building as Studio 54, and the studio becomes a major commercial operation. Around 1983 he stops DJing for a period so that he can focus on recording and mixing full-time.

Wave Music, Body&SOUL and later DJ work

Kevorkian starts playing records again in the early 1990s and travels widely as a DJ, including in Japan, London, Ibiza and Italy. In 1995 he founds Wave Music, an independent label that releases his own work, including the FK-EP, and records by artists such as Abstract Truth and Floppy Sounds.

In 1996, together with John Davis, he helps launch Body&SOUL, a weekly Sunday party at Club Vinyl in New York, alongside resident DJs Joaquin “Joe” Claussell and Danny Krivit. The event becomes associated with a soulful, organic blend of dance music and leads to a compilation series of the same name.

His sound later shifts toward a more electronic direction. The Sonar Music set in 2002 marks a change toward a harder, more futuristic style with more techno and dub influence than the house music for which he is widely known. In 2002 he also begins touring with Derrick May as Cosmic Twins, and the act is listed as a member credit for him. He starts the weekly Deep Space NYC event in New York in 2003, presenting a broad mix of dub, techno, reggae, hip-hop, drum and bass, house and disco.

Recognition and label activity

Kevorkian receives work on compilations and remixes for Moloko, Yoko Ono and Cesaria Evora, among others. He is inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as both a remixer and a DJ. His labels are associated with Prelude Records and Wave Music, and his career places him among the key figures connected to Larry Levan and the development of house music.