[HOUSE] Ravi Kroesen’s online biography claims he was “raised by wild sheep in the foothills of the Himalayas.” And, oddly enough, there’s a bit of truth in the statement: The 33-year-old house DJ did spend some of his formative years in said foothills. The son of “hippie parents” who adopted the Sikh religion when he was young, Ravi lived in a D.C.-area ashram (a spiritual commune) before being shipped off to boarding school in the Himalayas, where he spent seven years.

Considering his diverse upbringing, it’s no wonder Ravi now hosts an eclectic world-music monthly at gallery/lounge Pi-rem. But aside from holding it down behind the tables at Global Shakedown, Ravi has spun Chicago-influenced house and downtempo music at every major electronic club that’s existed in Portland over the past decade. He’s also been producing music for the past few years, and is now the promoter behind a house-centric weekly at Noir called Elbo Room.

It all started on Halloween of 1995, when Ravi—a raver since rave’s genesis in the early ’90s—bought his first set of tables. Twenty-one years old and back in the states, he decided it was time to step off the dance floor and, instead, try to make one move: “The music was changing, shifting, and I really didn’t like the direction that DJ-ing was going, as far as the people I was dancing to,” says Ravi, “so I decided to start DJ-ing myself.”

Now, Ravi proclaims, “House music means the world to me,” adding, “It’s been a love-hate relationship now for 12 years, and I have definitely thought about moving on to other things in life, ’cause I’ve already spent a large part of my youth in clubs and bars and warehouses.” But all this time in clubs and warehouses has left Ravi with a wealth of stories. When asked about his worst experience behind the tables, he laughs and recounts an outdoor festival near Seattle where one “really high kid” from the previous DJ’s posse refused to leave the stage for Ravi’s set. The offender’s stubbornness ultimately resulted in an onstage brawl between the kid, another DJ and the event’s promoter.

“I was into the third or fourth record and I turned to grab another one, and all of a sudden the music stopped. I looked back, and the guy had the volume on the master of the mixer all the way down, and was on his cell phone. All the people that were dancing just stopped and stared at him,” explains Ravi. So did he get to finish his set? “Oh yeah,” Ravi says assuredly, “I played fine.”

DJ Ravi plays with Mark Farina, Mercedes, Mena and Matt e Starr on Friday, June 29, at Ohm. 9 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show. 21+. Global Shakedown takes place every first Saturday at Pi-rem. 9 pm. Free. 21+. Elbo Room takes place every Thursday at Noir. 10 pm. Free. 21+. Photo: courtesty of the Portland Housing Authority’s MySpace.