The hottest thing in warmup

Kazell arrives at Spundae’s VIP tent and quickly hands over his guest list, a crumpled half-sheet of paper containing six handwritten names. Wearing a black polo shirt, gray khakis and black, hybrid sport shoes, he rushes into the empty DJ booth and begins to shuffle through his aluminum record box, coming up with a CD-R containing ambient washes and drum-free synthetic brilliance.

His sound is spread out from pretty, melodic tech-house (think David Alvarado) to the tribal drums of modern progressive (Danny Tenaglia) to the charging, psychedelic techno of Southern California’s Moontribe DJs (Brad, Daniel, Trevor, John Kelley), with whom Kazell often plays. He spins the kinder, gentler genres during warmups (he plays BT’s vocal-trance hit “Mercury & Solace” at Spundae before handing off the decks to San Francisco’s Jerry Bonham), but rocks out when he’s the headliner (sporting a goatee grin, Kazell notches up the beats per minute and unleashes the sexed-up bass line of Lemon8’s “Lose Control” later at Insomnia).

Kazell is an opener -- among the best, able to add suspense and leave the climax to the headliner. It’s not about grandstanding. It’s about creating the appetizer for the evening’s journey.

On this evening, Herman McClain, 27, is the first paying customer. He hangs over the booth’s railing and studies Kazell as he operates the studio-size mixer, moving a level up a hair, tweaking the bass on time as two records spin in sync. By 11 the floor is raving, fists are shaking and more than 100 people wait in line outside. McClain, an aspiring DJ who wears silver headphones around his neck, says he takes a bus from Canoga Park each weekend to watch Kazell build the dance floor from calm to thunderstorm.

“I’ve seen his last three sets, and he’s really inspirational,” says the video game store worker. “He will start really low. He has a certain way of doing a build. He does long, funky mixes with lots of tribal sounds.”

Kazell started spinning vinyl in his childhood bedroom in Manchester, England, 12 years ago when “I should have been getting on with my life and getting a job,” the lanky, long-haired 30-year-old says with a shrug. He has no regrets, however. He holds down Los Angeles’ most coveted DJ “residencies” at Spundae and with the roving Liquified parties that are the Los Angeles home for British cover-jocks Sasha & John Digweed.

At the Hollywood mega-club he had warmed up the turntables for Carl Cox, often cited as the world’s top club-circuit DJ. With one of the West Coast’s most prestigious DJ resumes, Kazell plans to build on his rare record by touring more and producing his own tracks. “He’s really shy, and he’s not really aggressive like other DJs,” says GeorgeBennitez, longtime host of after-hours club Insomnia.

Kazell was part of a small exodus of influential Brits, including New York DJ DB, San Francisco’s Wicked crew trio and Moonshine Music’s Levy brothers, who came to the United States at the dawn of the ‘90s after English rave culture became overshadowed by gangs, drugs and violence.

“It was a dark place, man,” Kazell says. “It’s a scary thing when you go out in Manchester. I got mugged a couple of times.” He grew up on Happy Mondays, student nights at the Hacienda and hip-hop, although his teen-age fancy soon turned to spinning up-tempo “funky breaks,” a raved-up blend of house and rap. His mother was a university lecturer and his father owned an office cleaning firm, but Kevin Bazell -- his birth name -- forsook higher ed in favor of taking off for America with Manchester bud Damian Murphy in 1991. The two helped bring fledgling DJs Sasha and Digweed to the Southeast with roving Liquid Groove parties in Miami, Orlando, Fla., Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.

Little did they know that the duo would become the biggest names in worldwide mix-CD sales by the millennium. The relationship endured as Kazell and Murphy moved to Los Angeles in the mid-’90s, slotting Kazell as the L.A. opener for Digweed and giving Murphy’s renamed Liquified parties a virtual lock on the pair’s area appearances.

About two years ago, Kazell went to a newly opened vinyl shop asking for work as a buyer, and he ended up with another prized warmup job, this one at Spundae, a mandatory stop for jet-set jocks.

Neil Thomas, owner of the late Global Grooves record store on Santa Monica’s Main Street and a partner in Spundae Worldwide, was one of the principals who gave Kazell that shot at the 1,800-capacity club. “I have to have opening DJs who know how to warm up properly,” Thomas says. “He’s opened up for all the greats. He takes the time to research.... He takes the music very, very seriously.”

While Kazell appreciates the icy aggression of the Mancunian sound, he feels his mesmerizing blends and break-beat roots represent the toasted West Coast more than the industrial north of England.

“The Moontribe guys influenced me,” he says. “Doc Martin influenced me. DJ Dan, he influenced me. I thought his was unlike any house I’ve ever heard before -- West Coast funk. There seems to be a deeper level of interest in California. If you look for something deeper, more spiritual, you can find it here.”

*

Kazell with DJ Dan and DJ Guy Ornadel

Where: Spundae@Circus, 6655 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood

When: Nov 16, 9 p.m.-4 a.m

Cost: $10 before 9:30 p.m., then $25; ages 21 and over

Info: (323) 462-5508, www.spundae.com