David Penn

David Penn was born in Madrid in 1972 and has spent more than two decades as one of Spain’s best-known house producers. His way in was Todd Terry, Masters at Work, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales. He got to DJing through the studio: after releasing music for a few years, he watched how his records worked in clubs and decided he had to play them himself.

In the early 2000s much of his work ran alongside DJ Chus. As Chus & Penn they made “From Madrid with Love” and “Baila,” and “Will I (Discover Love)” with Concha Buika. With Halo, as Halo, Penn & Chus, they made “Music for Playgrounds.” In 2003, while vinyl was still the standard, he started Urbana Recordings to keep his own vision of house in one place, and it became one of the leading house labels. His Defected history goes back to “Esperanza” in 2005, and “Nobody,” in 2019, won him a new generation of listeners. He was also a member of the New Iberican League with DJ Chus and Abel Ramos. He has remixed Mariah Carey, Simply Red, Masters at Work and Candi Staton, and in 2007 Spain’s Deejaymag awards named his Montilla track “From the Stars” the best house production.

On Red Melon, Penn & Chus released From Madrid with Love in 2001, early-2000s tribal and tech house in three versions. The Distraction Dub rides continuous congas and dub-techno stabs. The long Stereo Mix carries the tribal peak. Between them sits Dano’s SF Love Mix, which opens beatless on drones and pads before the tribal groove comes in. That gives you a Madrid record and a San Francisco remix of it on one release.