Moonshake's Techy Grooves

Pro BMX biking, the dance-club Moonshake, and North Park boutique Hunt & Gather all have something in common: Lee Reynolds, also known as Dr. Indulgent.

While growing up in the United Kingdom, Lee gained notoriety in BMX competitions by attempting riskier tricks than most, including spinning 540 degrees in the air with his feet off the pedals. At age 16, Reynolds became British champion. He acquired bike sponsorships from Hutch, Haro, and was the first BMX biker sponsored by Airwalk. After breaking his ankle on two separate occasions, requiring two plates and 15 screws, Dr. Indulgent devoted more time to spinning vinyl rather than spinning himself in midair and moved to San Diego in the early ’90s. “I couldn’t get around too much...I was a stay-at-home dad. That’s when I mastered my DJ skills,” Reynolds tells me as we sit at the kitchen table of his Normal Heights home.

Many moons later, Dr. Indulgent, Mark E. Quark, and Bob Dazzla joined forces to form moveable dance club Moonshake, which recently celebrated a three-year anniversary at Kadan in University Heights. Avoiding terms such as techno and house, Moonshake flyers use the tag line “Future Disco, Spacey House, and Techy Grooves,” so as not to “conjure up images of diva vocals,” says Reynolds. “We play more avant-garde stuff from those genres.” Between Mark E. Quark’s 25-year history and Dr. Indulgent’s 18 years of DJing and organizing events, they manage to lure out-of-town artists such as Tim Baker, Android Cartel, and DJ Kaos of DFA to the intimate Moonshake shows. The Moonshakers also bring in an outside Turbosound system with warm sounding subwoofers, provided by Joseph Rosales. Bob Dazzla explains that some of the albums they play are from the late ’70s and require the right equipment to “sound the way they were meant to sound.”

A DJ setup resides at Reynolds’s Hunt & Gather, a clothing boutique owned by him and his wife Zoe. The shop contains jewelry by local designers, reworked vintage garments, and a selection of records. Zoe has been styling professionally, and Reynolds maintains that Hunt & Gather provides that vibe.

There will be a Moonshake New Year’s Eve, plus every first and third Friday at Kadan, no cover charge. Hunt & Gather is located at 2871 University Avenue and is open seven days a week.