Like many Toronto clubbers of past and present, Josh Obront still speaks fervently about our city’s rave heyday of the ’90s.

The man now known to friends and fans alike by his DJ and production tag, Jelo, may have taken some convincing at first to venture downtown from Thornhill (“I was really a shy, naïve kid”), but once he began attending raves in 1994, he fell even harder for electronic music and culture.

“I was that guy who’d be humping the speaker right next to the DJ booth and watching,” enthuses Obront. “I became completely immersed. I was out every Friday night to Sunday night.”

He also became obsessive about making mixtapes and DJed at house parties whenever possible. Once promoter Rob Lisi (founder of the highly influential Syrous and Renegades parties) heard one of Obront’s mixes and began booking him in ’96, we started to see the name “Jelo” on a remarkable number of flyers.

Obront was hugely popular in, and eventually became an ambassador for, this city. The love for his genuine, positive personality and tough, energetic sets — where the drums and mixes come fast and furious — continues to this day. He has also been known to spontaneously hit the dancefloor, jump onto speakers and even climb lighting rigs — all in mid-set.

“I never really thought that people should say anything about my sets except how much fun they had,” laughs Obront. “I dive into each show like nothing else counts. I’m giving my all when I’m there. I love music and I love my selections and I’m not afraid to put it up on display.
“One thing I’d like to believe is that my audience knows I’m being honest with them,” he continues. “I don’t play music I don’t believe in 100 per cent. I work hard on my programming because I don’t want the 45-minute mark to sound like the 120-minute mark. I welcome the chaos, the fast mixing, the hectic sounds.”

This approach is also apparent in Obront’s own productions. Since 1999, he’s released a stream of diverse, big-room singles for labels including Eastern Bloc, BugEyed and Hatrax.

“I am a man about the drum,” he tells me when asked what connects his catalogue. “I like them big. I like them hard, and I like my AC/DC. I like my rock ’n’ roll, and I think that a lot of the music that I do and that I play reflects that. I want to make you feel like you’ve shifted to fifth gear on the highway.”

He’s done so — and shifted his own career into overdrive — with huge, hooky high-charting collaborations “The Reward Is Cheese” and “Speakerhumper” (working with Deadmau5 and Hatiras respectively), and anthemic new solo singles “Awesomesauce” and “Can I Get Loud?” Due out shortly are remixes of “Speakerhumper” and a single called “Due to Love.”

“I’m working on that right now with the guy who produced the new Broken Social Scene record, and Kevin Drew sings,” Obront says. “It’s got a real electro-house-progressive feel. It’s still got the typical Jelo ‘ooof!’ drums, but it’s also a very melodic, groovy thing and Kevin is wicked. I’m really excited about it.”

He’s also hyped about an increasingly international touring schedule, which of late has included high-profile gigs in Asia, Mexico and the US. Come August, he’ll return to the Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man Festival, playing a series of gigs on the massive Root Society stage cum nightclub.

But first, Jelo will play a number of local gigs, including a full seven-hour set this Sunday at Footwork where he’ll be able to expand on his sounds and stories.

“All of it is a little bit magical for me,” says Obront. “I was a rave kid and I still am, obviously, even though I don’t wear the fun fur. I’m just happy that people want to put me on airplanes to have me go play music for them. Like, ‘Are you serious?’

“If you see me up there and I’m really excited, there’s a reason for it. It doesn’t matter if I’ve taken a 10-minute cab to Footwork or a 10-hour flight, that excitement is not going to change. That’s just me.”