LA via Detroit producer Sport Wolf’s forthcoming EP, Esprit is due out October 13th via Detroit label Young Heavy Souls. Today, he gives us a taste of what to expect, with the single “No One”.

Sport Wolf is Devin Reed, a 23 year old who holds a degree in industrial design, but makes a pretty addicting form of melodic dance floor music. It goes down easy too, with Reed opting for short run times on tracks which is somewhat unique for this style. Reed literally grew up next door to Detroit dj legend Derrick May, and his parents were djs as well — so there’s an authenticity in the bloodline of his music that I think you can hear.

Reed self-released his first mixtape, Manchester Sounds, in 2014 and sees Sport Wolf alternating between both a minimal production style but with a warmth that’s bled through from his residence in LA. He cites the Detroit dance legends like May and Robert Hood as huge influences, with The Smiths and MJ Cole being other counterpoints as well.

Quote from Devin on “No One”:

“No One was my attempt at creating the most “open” track that I could in the sense that it provides the person listening with a feeling of something accessible to everyone. I produced this track at a pretty busy time in my life, so I wanted it to be something that I could listen and just chill out to for a bit.”

Sport Wolf grew up in and around Detroit, but spent most of his time in Hazel Park, Michigan. “I was lucky that my parents have always had good taste in music and are quite young. I grew up around a lot of Detroit DJ’s and artist (including my father), going to stuff life C-POP, and just hanging around a great group of really creative folks. I spent a lot of time with my father’s record collection and his Technique 1200’s, so I got into spinning records early and would occasionally DJ school events; which I would never do again (laughs). Hazel Park has a great music community, so I was involved in a lot of different bands and projects growing up. I got an MPC 500 when that first came out, and started sampling records. My mother then moved to L.A., so I also spent a lot of time there and was further influenced by everything out west. I took a musical hiatus for about 4 years, lived abroad for a year, and then started creating again after a conversation with YHS’s very own Norty, who I met through mutual friends. So for the past two years I’ve dove head first back into this wild world.