The chemical brothers

Since they first met a decade ago, the Chemical Brothers have been on a mission. Their aims: to find the sounds no one had heard before, to push their music as far as it will go, to make each record fresher and more exciting than the last. And from "Song To The Siren" in 1992 to the brain-blitzing mutant psychedelia of their third album, Surrender, that's what they've done. On the way they've invented (and transcended) big beat, toured the globe, remixed the world and his brother, soundtracked some of the messier nights out of the last few years and made some of the most influential music of the decade.

Ed Simons (tall, curly hair) and Tom Rowlands (taller, long hair) met while studying history at Manchester Poly in l989. They'd come from the south to Manchester for the music and launched themselves at the club scene with a vengeance. From nights at the legendary Hacienda, to raves in Blackburn and misbehaviour at clubs like Justin Robertson's Spice and Most Excellent they soaked it all up. When they started to DJ ("borrowing' the name the Dust Brothers from the American producers of the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique), they put their own spin on things.

During their first residency at Naked Under Leather (as debauched as its name suggests) they established a party-starting reputation for going where most other DJs feared to tread: joining the dots between acid house, hip hop and rock.

Tom was already part of struggling Henley-on-Thames Balearic band Ariel, but when he went into the studio with Ed in 1992 everything clicked into place. The result was "Song To The Siren", a record that mixed breakbeats, sirens, shuddering bass and ethereal indie vocals. They sent one of the 500 copies to Andrew Weatherall, who played it every time he DJed and signed the duo to his Junior Boys Own label.

1994 was the year that the Chemical Brothers changed dance music. For starters, there were the groundbreaking "14th Century Sky" (featuring Chemical Beats) and "My Mercury Mouth" EPs and a track donated to the charity album Serious Road Trip. Rapidly becoming the most in demand remixers in the country, they also reworked everyone worth reworking, from the Manic Street Preachers to Saint Etienne.

In one fortnight alone they tackled Prodigy, Primal Scream and the Charlatans and came out on top every time. They also made their live debut at Weatherall's Sabresonic club. Finally, for 13 weeks that summer and autumn, they helmed the decks at London's notorious hedonism hotspot the Heavenly Social and introduced everyone who could get in (including Paul Weller, Tricky and Primal Scream) to the delights of dancing to Barry White, Oasis, Chicago acid and Eric B & Rakim all in one night.

The duo also played acetates of tracks from their own forthcoming debut album, Exit Planet Dust. Signing to Virgin, the Chemical Brothers (now renamed after a dust-up with the original Dust Brothers) finally released it in June 1995. It sold 275,000 copies in Britain alone and over a million copies worldwide, while the singles "Leave Home" and "Life Is Sweet" both went Top 20 in the UK. With guest vocalists Tim Burgess and Beth Orton, the album captured everything that was exciting about the Social: messy, ferocious and often emotional.

Other producers soon copied the Chemical formula and the duo inadvertently spawned the entire big beat movement, with artists like Fatboy Slim still citing them as the original inspiration. Two years later, even U2 were making Chemical-style tracksThe next stage was the limited edition "Loops Of Fury" EP in January 1996. The title track appeared in the suitably frantic Sony Playstation game Wipeout 2097/WipeOut XL and "Get Up On It Like This" was reincarnated a year or so later on their second album.

Much of '95 and '96 were spent either on the decks (at the now weekly Heavenly Social, the DJ mix album Live At The Social Volume One and an acclaimed Radio I Essential Mix), on the road (America, Europe, Tribal Gathering, Phoenix, Ibiza, supporting Oasis) or in the studio looking for a way to get everyone excited all over again. They slowed the flood of remixes to a trickle and the Manics, Method Man and Dave Clarke were the three lucky recipients, with the Manics remix making an appearance on Playstation's Gran Turismo. Meanwhile, Tom briefly moonlighted with the Charlatans on their contribution to the charity album Help and their next single, "One To Another."

Before the year was out, though, the Chemicals were back in force with Oasis top man Noel Gallagher and the car crash on vinyl of "Setting Sun." To their amazement it rocketed to the top of the charts and became the most punk number one of the year. They celebrated with a sell-out four-date British tour and a return to the States, where Exit Planet Dust had sold an unexpected 150,000 copies (it has now sold twice that amount).

Spring 1997 brought Dig Your Own Hole, the Chemicals' second album and one which confirmed their status as one of the best bands in the country. "Back with another one of those block rockin' beats," promised the opening track, which swiftly became their second number one UK single. But there was a lot more to the album than that. As well as Noel, Beth Orton appeared again, and cult American band Mercury Rev contributed to the album's epic showpiece, "The Private Psychedelic Reel." It was their finest moment yet and finally replaced "Chemical Beats" as their set-closing anthem. "I think the key is to change how you make your music and how it sounds but still keep what was good about it to start off with." reasons Tom.

The rest of the year was spent on a mammoth world tour that included a residency at Tokyo's Liquid Rooms, a triumphant set at a swamplike Glastonbury and climaxed at the Brixton Academy in December. Two further singles, "Elektrobank" and "The Private Psychedelic Reel", were released off Dig Your Own Hole. Somehow, Tom and Ed managed to squeeze in a remix of spacerock gospel heroes Spiritualized, done at their own request.

1998 was meant to be a quiet year for the Chemicals, working on the next album and getting back to their roots as DJs. Such was the anticipation for their deck skills, though, that every DJ appearance - from the Heavenly Social's third birthday party to Glastonbury - became an event in itself. Apart from remixes of Mercury Rev and the original Dust Brothers, their only release of the year was Brothers Gonna Work It Out, released on their own Freestyle Dust subsidiary of Virgin.

www.chemicalbrothers.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atNMZS7Rfuw

Jamiroquai

Although some choose to pass off Jamiroquai as a Stevie Wonder-clone, the band has amassed a steady stream of hits in its native U.K. and has experienced chart success in just about every other area of the world with an irresistible blend of house rhythms and '70s-era soul/funk. The band has gone though several lineup changes during their career, but through it all their leader has remained singer/songwriter Jason Kay (aka J.K.). Born on December 30, 1969, in Stretford, Manchester, Kay's mother, Karen, was a jazz singer who regularly performed at nightclubs, and in the '70s had her own TV show. After leaving home at the age of 15, Kay found himself homeless and in trouble with the law (by committing petty crimes to get by). After a near-death experience (where he was attacked and stabbed) and being arrested for a crime he did not commit, Kay decided to return home, where he chose to pursue a legitimate career over crime: music. Kay didn't have a band to back up his compositions, but he quickly came up with his future project's name, Jamiroquai, a name that combined the name of a Native American tribe (the Iroquois) along with the music-based word, jam.

Kay's home demos caught the attention of the record label Acid Jazz, which issued Jamiroquai's debut single "When You Gonna Learn?" in late 1992. With Kay enlisting the help of others (Jamiroquai's best-known lineup included drummer Derrick McKenzie, keyboard player Toby Smith, bassist Stuart Zender, and vibraphonist Wallis Buchanan), the single was a success and was soon followed by a long-term and lucrative recording contract with Sony. Jamiroquai's full-length debut, Emergency on Planet Earth, followed in 1993 and became a major hit in their native England (peaking at number one on the charts), spawning such Top Ten hit singles as "Too Young to Die" and "Blow Your Mind." The band's second release, The Return of the Space Cowboy in 1995, managed to steer Jamiroquai clear of the sophomore jinx that affects so many up-and-coming bands by out-selling its predecessor in Europe and was a sizeable hit in Japan, as well.

But the long wait between albums seemed to kill Jamiroquai's momentum in the U.S., where a fourth release overall, 1999's Synkronized, was largely ignored (yet back home and across the globe, it was another major commercial success). Subsequently, it appeared as though the majority of Jamiroquai's U.S. media attention focused on non-music related events, such as the band turning down a million-dollar offer to play at a concert on New Year's Eve 1999, and when Kay was accused of assaulting a tabloid photographer (with the charges later being dropped). It didn't take Jamiroquai as long the next time around to issue another album, with A Funk Odyssey hitting the racks two years later in 2001. Kay also helmed a volume in the mix-album series Late Night Tales. From there, Jamiroquai spent the next two years gathering material for a sixth studio album. Dynamite, which was finally released in 2005, was written and recorded in Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Scotland, New York, Los Angeles and Jamiroquai's own Buckinghamshire studio. Greg Prato, All Music Guide

www.jamiroquai.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJmX1z1NY2c

Danny tenaglia

The tale of Danny Tenaglia's love affair with music, and the world's subsequent romance with him, is one of the critical veins in the body of dance music. He is every dancer's secret discovery; a random purchase at the record store, a reluctant night out that unexpectedly turned magic. Explosive success came not behind a major label release, or a world tour, or a radio hit remix: It happened when enough people had the private Tenaglia experience for themselves.

The momentum started building in early '70s New York, when a barely 10-year-old Danny first got the feel of vinyl in his hands. Enthralled by the music of artists like Philly Soul's The Trammps, Motown's Marvin Gaye, African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, and disco producer Giorgio Moroder, he started to collect records, plumbing the depths of each one, and frequently finding that he preferred the B-side to the A. It was 1979 when he discovered legendary nightclub Paradise Garage, where DJ Larry Levan's rich, genre-less blend of music seemed to mirror his own "no boundaries" policy. It was here where Danny found the club model he would one day emulate: Levan's bold style, the venue's plain décor, and the party's warmth and inclusiveness.
Danny left New York in 1985 and launched a successful DJ-ing career in Miami as a resident at Cheers nightclub. There he schooled the locals in classic New York and Chicago house, but five years later he returned home, tired of only playing other people's music. He started to assemble an impressive roster of remixes, including Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" (1991), Jamiroquai's "Emergency on Planet Earth" (1993), and Madonna's "Human Nature" (1994). But his first epic was The Daou's "Surrender Yourself" (1993): With the kick in the bass and the underlying rhythm as the foundation, Tenaglia blanketed Vanessa Daou's wispy vocal with grand, thick chords, a combination of classic groove and modern club-ready depth that was, at the time, entirely new. The title of his 1995 debut artist album on New York's Tribal Records described it perfectly: Hard & Soul. But even if the cocktail was his own, Tenaglia never hesitated to declare how heavily his influences weighed in his productions - everyone from Patti LaBelle to Kraftwerk, with countless lesser-known Soul, R&B, Latin, Samba, and Disco artists in between.

In 1996, after a brief stint at New York superclub Roxy, Danny landed a Saturday night residency at white-hot Twilo, a position that upped his profile but didn't satisfy his expanding artistry as a DJ and producer. While New York swooned for big-room diva anthems, Danny was turning his ear toward the more minimal, tech-y grooves originating in European production studios. This period produced solid remixes like Grace's "Not Over Yet" (1996) and Janet Jackson's "The Pleasure Principle" (1996), but by the time he moved to Tunnel in 1998, Danny had already created "Elements," an instant classic that caused the dance scene's collective jaw to drop. With his own warped voice providing the narration, "Elements" (one track off full-length Tourism) walked the listener through the different components of a dance track in real time, going from kick to drum loop to snare hit, letting each layer over the other until the track exploded with dark, drum-heavy energy. Next to ostentatious radio anthems, its simplicity was a revelation.

It was around this time that the murmurs started to get louder: Who is this Danny Tenaglia, and just what does he do to people? Clubbers reported seemingly inhuman mixing capabilities, booth-to-floor telepathy, and the grittiest "modern yet classic" grooves they had ever heard come out of a speaker. A trio of label compilations - Mix This Pussy (1994) and Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? (1995) for Tribal, and Gag Me With A Tune (1996) for Maxi - were the first Tenaglia sets clued-in clubbers could take home to dissect, but the release of his first installment in the UK-based Global Underground series of DJ mixes, titled Athens (2000), lit the international fire. Athens (meant to reflect the set he played at the Greek capital's club King Size) remains one of the darkest, strangest, sexiest sets ever released, and its tame cover photo of a gentle-looking man in a Yankee cap just didn't seem to fit. DJ dates across Europe dispelled the mystery and started the spread of the infectious Tenaglia fever.

Back in New York, Tenaglia was tiring of the cavernous gloom of Tunnel and longed for a weekly home that better resembled where the DJ bug first bit him - the Paradise Garage. He landed at Vinyl, a black-walled, single-environment, no-liquor club about one-quarter the size of Tunnel. He named the night "Be Yourself," after the self-affirming, heavy-bottomed vocal track he had recently recorded with Chicago's Celeda. And he took the name to heart: Without the pressure of bar minimums or an expectant crowd, Tenaglia spread his DJ wings. Next to new tracks by young producers like Rui Da Silva, Peace Division, and Saeed & Palash, he played the artists of his youth, with nary a beat dropped. If he wanted to launch into a two-hour set of straight-up techno, he did. If he wanted to play old Michael Jackson records, he did. If he wanted to get on the mic and tell the crowd the name of the sound he was about to play, or who next week's guest opening DJ would be, or just give everyone a "verbal handshake" to welcome them to the club, he did. And a city tired of drama embraced the barebones, music-centered night.

The world caught up to Tenaglia in 2000. His annual party during Miami's Winter Music Conference outgrew its home at the cramped Groovejet and moved to just-opened superclub Space. DJ giants like Carl Cox danced on top of the speakers with the Deep Dish boys, Fatboy Slim mingled on the patio, and for a day the ego inherent to DJ culture evaporated: Tenaglia was hailed as the undisputed king, the "DJ's DJ." His roof-raising revamp of Green Velvet's "Flash" won "Best Remix" at the UK's Muzik Awards, where he was also awarded the "Best International DJ" prize.

In the two years that followed, Tenaglia released another Global Underground installment (London); toured the world, took the party island of Ibiza by storm, remixed Billy Nichols' "Give Your Body Up To The Music" (a Garage anthem); got nominated for a Grammy (for his remix of Depeche Mode's "I Feel Loved," also nominated for Best Dance Song); returned to Twilo for two special gigs - a President's Day marathon with Carl Cox that shattered all its attendance records, and the club's sixth anniversary party with John Digweed, which turned out to be even more meaningful than it seemed at the time (Twilo was shut down permanently a week later); graced the cover of every major dance music magazine; and won a Dancestar Lifetime Achievement award... all while keeping the "Be Yourself" party buzzing every Friday.

In 2003, Danny came full circle with the release of Choice: A Collection Of Classics, a two-CD mixed compilation that let him pay direct tribute to many of the artists who had influenced his sound and style. It featured everyone from Blaze to Adeva to Imagination, as well as hefty liner notes explaining the significance of each track, penned by the man himself. He also remixed another Garage classic (Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice," which became her first Billboard number one ever), opened another Space during Winter Music Conference (the new location down the block), and took another Dancestar award, this time 'Best Party' for "Be Yourself."

"Be Yourself" took the same honor again in 2004, but this time the win was bittersweet. At the time of the ceremony, Vinyl, now called Arc, had already been sold to condo developers. Danny closed the classic club on Sunday, April 25, 2004, with an emotional set that lasted well into Monday afternoon, and culminated with his mix of Kings Of Tomorrow's paean to unending love, "Finally."

Since then Danny has remained prolific in the clubs and has graced the decks in all the big rooms in NYC including Avalon, Crobar, Pacha NYC, Roxy and Webster Hall. Now after a long studio silence, Danny re-emerges in 2008 with his newest single on Tommy Boy Records, "The Space Dance", named in honor of his first weekly residency at renowned global clubbing institution Space Ibiza to begin in July 2008. Immediately following that, Danny will release his first compilation album in five years, entitled "Futurism" also on Tommy Boy, with a nod to the modern dance floor and Danny's outlook for tomorrow's sounds programmed to captivate the next generation.

www.dannytenaglia.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtcpur7KSmY&feature=related

Terry Francis

Since winning Muzik magazines "Best New DJ" award in 1997, Terry Francis has had what can only be described as a meteoric rise to fame. To those previously unfamiliar with his flawless mixing skills and instinctive ability to work a crowd it probably seemed as if he'd arrived out of nowhere. Fact is though, he had been blazing a trail through the underground for no less than ten years before the world at large sat up and took notice. And perhaps more than anything else it was unanimously praised "Architecture" mix album that really put him on the map.

A seamless mix of deep duby house, celestial breaks and ethereal vocals - it wasshot through with the kind of shimmering techno sensibility that really marked it out as something special. Some called it "tech house", whilst Terry himself jokingly described to it as "house no".

Ultimately though, any labelling of Terry's style is fairly pointless because what he does is what all the very best DJ's do. He blurs the lines between the past and the present to create the future and always plays from the heart. Crucially though, he does ft just that little bit better than almost anybody else.

From that point on Terry was a confirmed house music lover and within a couple of months he'd managed to secure a residency at a bar in Leatherhead, the town where he grew up.

"It was downstairs in this mad basement at a rockers bar and they were all swearing at me and slagging off the music." he laughs. "Two weeks later they were all jumping about and up to all sorts."

From there Terry moved on to a residency at the legendary Stems Club (spinning alongside the likes of Colin Dale, Mr C and Eddie Richards), played extensively on the south coast and did numerous guest spots at parties like London's Heart & Soul.

By 1994 he felt the time was right to set up his own night and in March of that year Wiggle was born. A joint operation between Terry, Nathan Coles and their respective partners. Wiggle is a night like no other. Still, probably London's best loved underground house event. Wiggle is one of the only nights in the country that has always remained true to the original spirit of acid house, and that fact that it has sold out every time since it started pretty much speaks for itself.

Aside from the continued success of Wiggle and the release of his "Architecture 2" mix album on Pagan, the last few years have seen Terry's career continue to bosom. He's constantly toured all over America, Australia, New Zealand and the far East, made weekly trips to just about every country in Europe and still found the time to record for labels like Hooj Choons, Yoshitoshi, Alien and Primal US.

In October 1999 he started a residency at London's Fabric, where he continues to delight both old hands and new comers alike each and every Saturday night. He's recently started a new vocal based project for Pagan, remixed Didier Sinclair's "Lovely Flight" and is presently recording his debut 'artist album' for Eukahouse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZGw75OaGLk&feature=related
http://www.fabriclondon.com/club/profile.php?id=2

Asad rizvi

Throughout his eleven-year career in dance music, Asad Rizvi has maintained the uncommon position of being a DJ and a producer who is respected equally in both crafts. But this is no fluke: years of hard work, an unbending dedication to his art, and an uncommonly versatile talent have yielded a career that only few can boast.

Since his debut release back in 1995 (with Ian O’Brien), Asad's contribution to underground dance music has been second to none. With over 90 releases and remixes to his name, his recordings have gained a reputation for their diversity, warm production and dynamic, be it on the dance-floor or off. The broad-minded aesthetic of his music is clearly reflective of early years spent in an assortment of countries and a musical backdrop that was no less colorful. His taste for musical creation was developed on school and college recording facilities from the age of 13 onwards. The combination of musical theory, technical knowledge and an early exposure to the workings of music industry gave him an edge that has since been developing leaps and bounds in every sense. Effortlessly capable of creating anything from lush Brazilian-influenced vocal melodies to spine-chill-ing electronic basslines or Chicago inspired jacking beats to blissed-out down-tempo backing sections, Asad is more than your average producer. He has music and rhythms running through his veins.

His DJ career, that began in 1994 in the humble studios of a West London pirate radio, began its bloom towards the end of the nineties, taking him to hundreds of venues across five continents, including some of the worlds most well respected clubs including Fabric (London), Pacha (Buenos Aires), Stereo (Montreal), Folies Pigales (Paris), Roxy & Mecca (Prague), Crystal (Istanbul), The End (London), and playing to crowds of up to 20,000 people. His infectious yet eclectic slant on House music regularly allows him to satisfy the most purist dancefloors on the scene to the most up-for-it commercial crowds.

Having been dubbed a "new school hero" by Muzik magazine in 1998, "Producer for 2000" by Mixmag, and a "DJ for 2000" in The Face; a "Best Compilation of 2003" in M8, his distinctive sound has consistently won him support from the industry’s leading music publications and DJs alike. Over the years his work has won the avid support of jocks as diverse as: Danny Tenaglia, DJ Heather, Laurent Garnier, Terry Francis, Tom Middleton, Doc Martin, Adam Freeland, Gilles Peterson, Fred Everything, Danny Howells, Desyn Massiello, Mr. C and seemingly countless others.

Recording under a number of guises as well as his own name, Asad’s sprawling discography covers a multitude of well-respected labels including Om, Global Underground, The End, Loaded, Honchos, Visitor, SoCo Audio, Matter/:Form, Urbantorque, Eukahouse, as well as his own imprints Wrong and Reverberations, both of which are more active than ever.

As a remixer he has laid his magic finger on artists such as the old-skool hip-hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, the legendary Miami house outfit The Fog, NYC kings of vocal House Blaze, US underground legends Iz & Diz, San Francisco deep house whizzkid Charles Spencer, the ever ubiquitous Mr. C, Sheffield’s Swag and many, many others. The credentials, including three mix CDs and countless compilation licenses are just too long to be mentioned here.

Late last year, Asad joined forces with the reknowned DJ Ashley Casselle and vocalist Ben Lost to form The Remote, intially to aid competion of their album on Global Underground, but now as a full member of the group. "Too Low To Miss" was released to critical acclaim including Album of the Month in DJ and entered the top 20 dance albums on iTunes. The trio are now taking their show live and working on a new album project for release next year.

Having recently been invited to be the Om Records London resident, Asad’s DJ schedule is getting no less busy with addtional new residencies Brighton and Bulgaria, as well as at his own Reverberations parties in London. With a string of new releases and remixes, a new mix CD and more material from The Remote, Asad is set for yet another busy year in 2007.

http://www.myspace.com/asadrizvi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ER0SLtQRs

Dave mothersole

Taking his early influences from the beach parties that so amazed him in Goa during the middle to late eighties and combining them with the original spirit of acid house, Dave Mothersole started Dj'ing in 1990. He initially made a name for himself on the early tech house scene playing at parties like Wiggle and Heart & Soul. He quickly developed a style that defied categorisation by seamlessly fusing deep soulful techno and gritty bass line fuelled house with ethereal otherworldly electro .

Unpredictable but always exciting, his driving tech-y rhythms, emotive melodies and psychedelic trance like keys have seen him captivate crowds at many of the worlds leading clubs. MOS, Fabric, The End, Zouk (Singapore), Amnesia (Ibiza), Love-e (Sau Paolo), Fuse (Brussels), Dance Valley (Holland) and Homelands are just a few of the venues he's played, having taken taken his unique sound to parties in over 50 different countries.

Dave lives in Croydon, South London with his partner Joanne and two kids.
http://www.myspace.com/davemothersole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4Ng3lKccw&feature=related

Richie hawtin

Revered as one of the most influential and recognizable faces in techno, Richie Hawtin understood the symbiotic relationship between music and technology and embraced both from a very young age.

Born in Banbury, England, on June 4, 1970, Richard Michael Hawtin grew up fully immersed in technology as his father, a robotics technician, was always fiddling with electronic gear at home. When Hawtin was nine, he and his family emigrated to LaSalle, Ontario, Canada, where his dad took a job with General Motors in nearby Windsor. The elder Hawtin had a passion for music and he exposed both of his children to experimental rock and electronic sounds of the 1970s and 1980s--from Kraftwerk to Pink Floyd to Brian Eno. His adventurous tastes had a significant influence on his son's musical endeavors.

While Hawtin's high school peers preferred the hard rock anthems pumped from powerhouse radio stations across the river in Detroit, Michigan, he found solace in the electronic dance music of New Order, Depeche Mode, and Skinny Puppy. He also paid close attention to a new and emerging form of radio programming--the late-night mix show. Jeff "the Wizard" Mills and Charles "the Electrifyin' Mojo" Johnson held court on stations like WJLB, WDRQ, and WGPR when top 40 listeners went to sleep and Detroit's airwaves were left open for more original programming. Mills's and Johnson's mixes--combining Alexander Robotnik and the B-52's with local techno producers like Juan Atkins and Derrick May--had quite an impact on Hawtin and he began deejaying at local parties and teen night clubs in Windsor.

Began Crossing the Border
When he was 16, Hawtin began venturing across the border to Detroit to attend warehouse parties and clubs including the Music Institute, where he experienced the likes of May, Kevin Saunderson, Alton Miller, and other techno luminaries. He also began hanging out at the Shelter, a club in the basement of St. Andrew's Hall that featured gothic and industrial music. By the time he was 17, Hawtin was a resident deejay, collecting the handsome sum of $20 per night--just enough to cover his gas and border tolls to and from the club.
While Hawtin didn't make a lot of money playing the Shelter, his experience there would soon prove its own reward as he met Detroit's Kenny Larkin and fellow Ontarians John Acquaviva and Dan Bell. Hawtin and Acquaviva soon began tinkering with cheap keyboards and computers, drumming up their own rudimentary techno tracks. They tried shopping their songs to Detroit labels, including those of May and Atkins, but were ultimately turned away as those deejays didn't even have time for their own record labels since their overseas tour schedules were so overwhelming. As a result, in 1990 Hawtin and Acquaviva decided to start their own company, which they called Plus 8 Records after the eight-percent pitch adjustment on a turntable.

Elements of Tone, Plus 8's first 12-inch release, was a collaboration between Hawtin and Acquaviva, who recorded as States of Mind. Kenny Larkin's We Shall Overcome was recorded soon afterward. The label's third release, originally titled The Future Sound of Detroit--got Plus 8 noticed in a way that its proprietors hadn't quite planned.

"The Future Sound of Detroit"
Plus 8's claim that they were going to author the future sound of Detroit from a small Canadian city didn't sit too well with members of Detroit's predominantly black techno community. "To us, it was our future sound of Detroit," Hawtin told Saturday Night's Margie Borschke. "[Detroit] was where I DJ'd, where I drew my inspiration from, and where it really started to happen for me. [We took] the sound of Detroit and mutated it into our own form." Dan Sicko, author of Techno Rebels, claims the incident left Detroit's techno community suspicious of Plus 8 for years afterward. The controversy, however, bred one of the label's first big successes: When the questionable record was officially released as Technarchy, a collaboration by Hawtin and Bell under the name Cybersonik, it sold around 20,000 copies worldwide and established Plus 8 as a serious player on the international techno scene.

The label--and Hawtin's performing career--grew so quickly that Hawtin dropped out of the University of Windsor's communications program to concentrate entirely on his musical endeavors. Soon the Plus 8 roster expanded to include Rotterdam's Jochem Paap (a.k.a. Speedy J,) Japan's Ken Ishii, and others from both sides of the Canadian/American border.

Hawtin began to work on solo material in his UTK studio, so named because it was located "under the kitchen" of his parents' house. He released his first solo efforts under the pseudonym F.U.S.E., an acronym for Further Underground Subsonic Experiments. His album Dimension Intrusion also featured the minimalist artwork of his younger brother Matthew. F.U.S.E eventually gave way to Plastikman, the moniker for which Hawtin would become most widely known.

Sheet One, the first full-length Plastikman album, came out in 1993 on Plus 8 and was licensed by NovaMute, a subsidiary of London's Mute label. Within a year Hawtin released the follow-up LP Musik, which further pushed his experiments with mutant acid house and the Roland TB-303 synthesizer. "That [TB-303] was the box that was used on every album," he is quoted in the NovaMute press release for Closer. "And over the last 10 years, each time I found I had something more to say under the name Plastikman, each time I had a new theme to explore, it was also around the same time that I'd come across a new piece of equipment, a new way of processing that box."

When Detroit's "Big Three" triad of deejays--May, Atkins, and Saunderson--began jet-setting to gigs in Europe in the early 1990s, they left a void on the local scene. Plus 8 happily stepped up to fill it. Not only did Hawtin and Plus 8 become known for redefining the genre in terms of its recorded output but they also reinvented the live experience with their parties in abandoned factories in Detroit and Windsor.
Rather than simply setting up a mixer and turntables, they created a new physical space for attendees, dressing the walls in special materials and reshaping the rooms' dimensions. Hawtin's tours, though rarely as elaborate as his hometown gigs, were also great successes, despite the fact that he was performing all of them without the proper work permits.

Forced to Stop Performing
In April of 1995, on his way to a gig in Brooklyn, Hawtin's luck finally ran out. Border officials at the held him for questioning and eventually got him to admit that he had been illegally performing in America. He was sent back to Canada and warned never to attempt to enter the country again. "It was a very strange time. Besides my family, I didn't have that many people in my life from Windsor. Everyone I'd been doing parties with was in Detroit. My girlfriend was there. My friends were there. Everything. Access to all these different things, all my inspirations--I was cut off from it all. My world got a lot smaller that day," he told Borschke.
After rethinking his game plan and recovering from the initial shock of his visa problems, Hawtin withdrew from the performance realm almost entirely and took a new approach to his studio work. The result was a 12-record collection called Concept. Each limited record was produced and released on a monthly schedule for one year and bore a time-coded title like "96:11:22:00." Hawtin also began work on his critically acclaimed Consumed album during this period. Finally, at the end of 1996, he was readmitted to the United States after securing a work visa.

Consumed, the first release on Hawtin's new experimentally minded imprint Minus, hit stores in 1998. The Consumed recording sessions also yielded 1999's Artifakts [bc] record--representing the period before Consumed. "Artifakt is about the exile," Hawtin explained to Borschke, "whereas Consumed is a product of that exile. It wouldn't have happened without [my] getting thrown out of the States."
The glowing reviews that Consumed earned from Rolling Stone and Spin upped Hawtin's profile even further. In 1999 he was invited by the French government to contribute to their millennium celebration "La Beauté," where he presented a sound installation alongside the works of visual artists Jeff Koons, James Turrell, and Anish Kapoor.

Hawtin's fascination with technology is evident in all of his work. His patented performance setup of "Decks, Efx & 909" (turntables, numerous electronic effects boxes, and a Roland TR-909 drum sequencer) was in full swing on his late 1990s tour dates and, under his own name, he recorded a mix disc titled Decks, Efx & 909.
To augment the DE9 schematic, Hawtin added Final Scratch, a program that he officially road tested for the N2IT software company. It allows a deejay to manipulate digital files on a computer by using a turntable. The technology also spawned a Richie Hawtin album, DE9: Closer to the Edit, which Spin called "the year's most intriguing deejay mix up," and listed as their number eleven album of the year for 2001.
Of his hybrid live/deejay performance style, Hawtin told Billboard: "I'm into the type of deejay performance where I'll play some records that people will recognize, but with the technology I'm adding, I'm pushing it into an entirely different direction. I like it when it gets to the point where people have to ask you what you're doing."

The Return of Plastikman
In 2002 Hawtin left Windsor for New York where he began work on the first Plastikman album in five years--2003's Closer. He soon noticed, though, that the distractions of New York overwhelmed his recording schedule and, with a new set of experiences from which to take inspiration, he moved back to Windsor to finish the record in the city's quieter confines. Though occasional snippets of vocals permeated Plastikman's mostly instrumental records, Closer was the first to feature Hawtin's own voice on the recording.
"With this one, though, I definitely feel more vulnerable than I have before. I don't know if that's because of the vocals on there, or because the wall between me and the audience has, over the last 10 years, slowly come down and brought me closer and closer to them. But listening to what's on this album, sonically and vocally, it's as close thus far to how my mind really works," he said Novamute's press release for the album.
Hawtin's evolution as an artist continues to progress with each new technological advancement. "Unlike other artists who have quenched the global thirst for dance-music culture--a multibillion-dollar industry based on club nights, global festivals and record sales--Hawtin is one of that culture's true visionaries," proclaimed Malik Meer in Time International.

by Ken Taylor
http://www.richiehawtin.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB64GWW8YfA&feature=related

TrentMoller

Trentemøller made his debut in 1997 together with DJ T.O.M. when they formed the first live-house act in Denmark, Trigbag, and started playing concerts all over the globe. Trigbag’s single “Showtime” was played by international DJs such as Alex Gopher, Laurent Garnier and Etienne de Crécy. Trigbag dissolved in 2000.

Trentemøller returned on Naked Music in 2003 with his The Trentemøller EP including the tracks “Le Champagne” and “Work in Progress”. Trentemøller received the award “Up Front Release of the Year” at the Danish DJ Awards in February 2004 for the Track “Le Champagne”.

In late 2004 he and his friend and partner, DJ Buda, issued a white label remix of Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker”, under the name “Run Jeremy”. Together they’ve also made other great tracks such as “Gamma” and “25 Timer”. Furthermore, Trentemøller has worked together with DJ Buda and DJ T.O.M. on another track on the upcoming and much anticipated Lulu Rouge album entitled “Bless You” which will be released in May 2008.

In February 2005 Steve Bug released the renowned Trentemøller EP “Physical Fraction” on his label Audiomatique. This release put Trentemøller on the map of internationally successful producers, and was followed by three releases on Bug’s main label Poker Flat: Polar Shift, Sunstroke and the Nam Nam EP. Many reader polls awarded him as the Best Newcomer of the year 2005.

Trentemøller is also a much demanded remixer. Highlights have been his remixes for Martinez (“Shadowboxing”), Sharon Philips (“Want 2 Need 2”), Röyksopp (“What Else Is There?”), The Knife (“We Share Our Mother’s Health”), “Sodom” for the Pet Shop Boys, and Moby’s hit “Go”. “Go (Trentemøller Remix)” charted at #38 on the Australian ARIA Club chart in October 2006. In 2006, Trentemøller also released a remix of Chris Isaak’s 90s hit “Wicked Game” under his alias “Businessman”. The single was called “Dubby Games” and was a major underground tune that year.

Anders’ debut album The Last Resort was released on Poker Flat in October 2006. German magazine Groove Mag and French magazine Trax both voted it as “Record of the Year” in November 2006.

His Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1 was voted Essential Mix of the Year by listeners in 2006.

www.myspace.com/trentemoeller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvfZaNRpIOA

louis Vega

A New York, USA-based DJ, Vega's career began at high school at the age of 18, after watching his friends spin records. He played high school parties before eventually establishing his own label. He went on to DJ at the Devil's Nest (regarded as the birthplace of the New York 'freestyle' approach, alongside TKA and Sa-Fire), then Hearthrob and 1018. By the time he had reached the 4,000 capacity Studio 54 Todd Terry passed Vega his new mixes to try out on the crowd. His first remix job was 'Running' by Information Society, then Noel's 'Silent Morning'. He even worked Debbie Gibson 's first record. He began his own-name productions with the instrumental 'Don't Tell Me' for SBK Records in 1989 and 'Keep On Pumpin' It Up' (as Freestyle Orchestra), before signing to CBS Records' subsidiary WTG Records with Latin singer Marc Anthony. He had previously been commissioned to write songs for the movie East Side Story, where he first met the singer. Together they hooked up for a Latin R&B flavoured album and single, 'Ride On The Rhythm', a huge club hit. He also worked with India, his girlfriend, and Todd Terry for the latter's 'Todd's Message'. Together with Barbara Tucker, Vega instigated the Underground Network Club in New York (he has also produced 'Beautiful People' for Tucker). Despite this background as an established house star, he is probably best known now for his work alongside Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez as half of the Masters At Work remix team. He is not to be confused with Chicago house veteran Lil' Louis, or, for that matter, with the Louie Vega who remixed for Lakim Shabazz, despite the fact that both shared the same management. Vega's most recent remix clients include Juliet Roberts and Urban Species.

www.mawrecords.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxmJfDLKG7Q&feature=related

Dousk

John Douskos aka Dousk is a Greek-born artist. In 1999, at the age of 20, he had already completed his studies in classical music, which comprised of classical piano, jazz and electronic music production and engineering. However, even as early as 1998 he had already started his music career as a music producer for radio and TV ads. Currently, he is studying economics at the University of Patras, although he spends most of his time either on his computer or in his studio, working on his favorite occupation ' music. Moreover, he is one of the three founders of the band/project JDK along with Jose Zamora and Chris Nemmo.
His influences originate mostly from the electronic genre, whether be it in the form of 60's and 70's psychedelia and experimental electronic music, or even the late 70's disco, and moving to 80's progressive rock and avant-garde electronic music or even 90's techno and breakbeat among other dance music forms. Being an avid fan of technology and computer games, he finds influence even in the music of these games and also at computer demo soundtracks.

www.myspace.com/dousk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhL6TG9Vvo&feature=related

The highlight tribe

Natural Trance is a patchwork linking modern culture with ethnic sound. The Hiliight Tribe, five musicians and one sound doctor at the mixing desk, play a live performance for the dancefloors of the 3rd millenium. Digeridoo, Djembe, Guitar, Congas, Drumset or Bass , among others, come in synchronization with the Drum kick. Travelling the world is part of the deal, that's how the band finds its happinness, inspirations and way of life!

www.hilight-tribe.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6znWoiVURk&feature=related

Johnny fiasco

chus ceballos

Anyone who considers himself to be a serious lover of House music has spent many magic hours embracing the infectious sounds of Chus & Ceballos.

Hailing from Spain, this dynamic duo has effortlessly carved out a secure slot amongst the elite with numerous slices of picture perfect modern House on their very own imprint STEREO PRODUCTIONS. In addition to these original epic productions, the crew has also revamped many special projects on such labels as Yoshitoshi, Shinichi, Skyline and on and on.

Famous for their trademark Iberican sound, a delicious blend of hypnotizing, warm, inviting tribal soundscapes laced with a brilliant use of modern tech elements, Chus & Ceballos have figured out the formula that easily satisfies every punter within the clubbing collective.

It is not only the starry eyed clubbers that worship at the altar of Chus & Ceballos. The worlds most celebrated DJs rely on this duo to fill their box with some of the most essential late night grooves known to man.

In a time when dark, brooding prog threatened to rule the scene, Chus & Ceballos vision was, and continues to be a much welcomed breath of fresh air.

With a list of credentials as impressive as that of these likely lads, it is no mystery as to why Chus & Ceballos are some of the most in demand DJs on the global circuit.

Apart from satisfying the on-going demand for their DJ services, Chus & Ceballos have not skipped a beat regarding their studio efforts.

As their legend continues to flourish, the team find themselves collaborating with some of the other heavy hitters on the scene. The House lovers of the world anxiously await these definite future classics with baited breath.

Truer words have never been spoken!
www.stereo-productions.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2sQ1jmSaIk&feature=related

Beck

One of the most inventive and eclectic figures to emerge from the '90s alternative revolution, Beck was the epitome of postmodern chic in an era obsessed with junk culture. Drawing
upon a kaleidoscope of influences -- pop, folk, psychedelia, hip-hop, country, blues, R&B, funk, indie rock, noise rock, experimental rock, jazz, lounge, and Brazilian music -- Beck created a body of work that was wildly unpredictable, vibrantly messy, and bursting with ideas. He was unquestionably a product of the media age, a synthesist whose concoctions were pasted together from bits of the past and present, in ways that could only occur to an overexposed pop culture junkie. His surreal, free-associative lyrics were laced with warped imagery and a sardonic sense of humor that, while typical of the times, only rarely threatened the impact of his adventurous music. Beck appropriated freely from whatever genres he felt like, juxtaposing sounds that would never have coexisted organically (and his habitual irony made clear that he wasn't aiming for authenticity in the first place). If his musical style was impossible to pigeonhole, his true identity lay in that rootless, sprawling diversity, that determination to acknowledge no boundaries or conventions; everything he did bore the stamp of his distinctively skewed viewpoint. Beck caught his big break when the bizarre Delta blues/white-boy rap pastiche "Loser" spawned a national catch phrase in early 1994. His debut album, Mellow Gold, became a hit, and the official follow-up, the Dust Brothers-produced Odelay, was widely acclaimed as one of the decade's landmark records. Beck followed those touchstones with genre exercises in folk and funk that still managed to dazzle with their variety, solidifying one of the most creatively vital oeuvres in alternative rock -- or all of modern pop music, for that matter.

Beck David Campbell was born July 8, 1970, in Los Angeles, and came from strong creative stock. His father, David Campbell, was a conductor and string arranger (who later worked on his son's records); however, he left the family early on, and Beck adopted the last name of his mother Bibbe Hansen, a regular on Andy Warhol's Factory scene who appeared in the Warhol film Prison. Moreover, his grandfather Al Hansen was an important figure in the Fluxus art movement, best known for launching the career of Yoko Ono. The young Beck Hansen grew up mostly in Los Angeles, also spending some time with both sets of grandparents (Al Hansen in Europe, and his other grandfather -- a Presbyterian minister -- in the Kansas City area). He dropped out of school in tenth grade, and began playing acoustic blues and folk music as a street busker, as well as trying his hand in the poetry-slam scene; in 1988, he produced a cassette of home recordings called The Banjo Story. In 1989, he moved to New York and tried to break into the city's short-lived "anti-folk" scene, a punk-influenced movement of acoustic singer/songwriters that included Roger Manning and Michelle Shocked. Finding the going tough, he returned to Los Angeles after about a year, and attempted to gain exposure at rock clubs by playing a few songs in between the regular sets.

In the summer of 1991, Beck was discovered separately by Bong Load label owners Tom Rothrock (at one of his club performances) and Rob Schnapf (at the Sunset Junction street fair). The two approached him about cutting some folk songs backed with hip-hop beats, and Beck agreed. Gathering in the kitchen of up-and-coming hip-hop producer Karl Stephenson, Beck recorded "Loser" and a selection of other tracks. In 1992, Beck traveled to Olympia, WA, to record for Calvin Johnson's K label, and also inked a publishing deal with BMG. At the beginning of 1993, Beck finally saw his first official releases: the single "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" on Flipside, and the full-length, cassette-only Golden Feelings on Sonic Enemy. In September, Bong Load finally released "Loser" as a 12" single, and it became an instant smash on L.A.'s independent radio stations, so much so that Bong Load had trouble pressing enough copies to keep up with the demand. Combining a funky drum-machine track and Beck's nonsense raps with bluesy slide guitar and a sample of Dr. John's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters," "Loser" sounded like nothing else. Word spread quickly, helped out by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, who raved about Beck after seeing him perform at a backyard party. A major-label bidding war ensued, and Beck signed an innovative contract with Geffen that allowed him to continue releasing uncommercial material on smaller independent labels. In the meantime, another indie album, the 10" record A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight, was released in January 1994 by Fingerpaint.

Beck's major-label debut, Mellow Gold, was released in March 1994, and Geffen also reissued "Loser" on a national level. Instantly labeled an anthem for the so-called slacker generation, the song was a sensation, climbing into the Top Ten and hitting number one on Billboard's modern rock chart. Mellow Gold was a hit, climbing into the Top 20 and eventually going platinum. Initial reviews were somewhat mixed; many critics raved over the album, but others were reluctant to lavish praise on an artist they weren't sure would ever be anything more than a one-hit novelty. Meanwhile, Beck immediately took advantage of his Geffen deal to release two more indie albums in 1994. Stereopathetic Soul Manure, issued on Flipside, consisted of lo-fi noise rock, while One Foot in the Grave -- which included the material from Beck's 1992 session for K Records, fleshed out with new recordings -- was a bare-bones acoustic folk collection. Later that year, Bong Load released another indie single, "Steve Threw Up." Beck's low-budget body of work, especially his indie recordings, seemed to place him as part of the emerging lo-fi aesthetic, whose other adherents included Pavement, Sebadoh, and Liz Phair.

In the summer of 1995, Beck undertook his first major promotional tour, appearing as part of the fifth edition of Lollapalooza. For his second major-label album, he entered the studio with producers the Dust Brothers, who'd been a significant force behind the Beastie Boys' groundbreaking masterpiece Paul's Boutique. Odelay was released in June 1996 to massive acclaim, and wound up topping many year-end critics' polls; it was commercially successful as well, reaching the Top 20, selling over two million copies, and spinning off a string of MTV hits that included "Where It's At," "Devil's Haircut," "Jack-Ass," and "The New Pollution." "Where It's At" went on to win a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal, and Odelay also won for Best Alternative Music Performance. Late in 1997, Beck contributed the single "Deadweight" to the soundtrack of the film A Life Less Ordinary, which starred Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. In the spring of 1998, Beck's artwork was featured in a joint show with that of his late grandfather.

Also in 1998, Beck began work on a new, folk-styled album -- in the vein of One Foot in the Grave -- that was originally slated for release on Bong Load. However, excited by the results and the presence of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Geffen stepped in and released the album themselves that November. Titled Mutations, the record's quiet, gently trippy tone and relatively straightforward approach made it an unlikely progression from Odelay, and indeed both Beck and Geffen made it clear that the record was never intended as the official follow-up. Although everything about Mutations was low-key, it still became Beck's third straight Top 20 major-label album. In early 1999, lawsuits between Geffen, Bong Load, and Beck began to fly over the abrupt release change of Mutations, but were eventually worked out in friendly fashion. That summer, Beck recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris on "Sin City," a track featured on the Gram Parsons tribute album Return of the Grievous Angel.

The official follow-up to Odelay took an exhausting total of 14 months to record. Released in November 1999, Midnite Vultures was designed as a party record, running the gamut of variations on funk and allowing Beck to play the roles of R&B loverman and horny Prince disciple. Reviews ranged from glowing to indifferent, and Midnite Vultures didn't sell quite as well as its predecessors. Mutations won Beck another Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in early 2000, and he embarked on an extensive international tour in support of Midnite Vultures. In 2001, Beck recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" with cutting-edge hip-hop producer Timbaland, and also contributed to French electronic popsters Air's 10,000 Hz Legend album.

www.beck.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJN3PGqDRNg

Jesse Garcia

The momentum for Jesse Garcia as a DJ started building in 1987 when he followed his vocation and submerged in the magic world of music. To satisfy his expanding artistry, apart from working as a DJ and producer, Jesse currently feels a position of A&R at two record labels: Tribal Spain and Electric Spain Recordings.
As a result of the labels’ successful performance, and Jesse’s work as producer for the labels, Jesse Garcia has become one of the most popular DJs at the national level. Besides, his professionalism can be appreciated from numerous solid remixes he has made for such internationally famous artists like Lee Cabrera, Harry Chocho Romero, Copyright feat. Showell, Steve Angello, Celeda, Peter Presta, Milk&Sugar , Frank'o Moriagui, Dub Deluxe, just to name a few.

During his performance as a DJ, playing in the best world night clubs, Jesse shared the turntables with DJ giants like Roger Sanchez, Axwell, Martjin Ten Velden, Bush ii Bush, David Vendetta, Jerry Ropero, Gaudino, Sara G, Dean Coleman, Tom De Neef and many other DJs.

Jesse’s work was rewarded on various occasions. At an early stage of his career, in 1990 he became Vice-Champion of Catalonia at the prestigious championship Turntable of DMC (Disco Mix Club). The year 2005 proved to be one of the peak years of Jesse’s career: he was awarded by Technics DJ Awards for his great contribution to Tribal House genre, and also earned a Deejaymags nomination in "DJ Revelation" category. A year later Jesse was recognized for his production skills with another Deejaymags nomination for his remix of "Underground" by Celeda.

At present, Jesse Garcia collaborates with international
www.jessegarcia.info
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8uKFk5ODQE&feature=related

Mos def

Los amigos invisibles

www.amigosinvisibles.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NONuZ5PVm8I

Plump djs

Plump DJs (Lee Rous and Andy Gardner) are a popular DJ and producer team of Nu skool breaks, a style of electronic dance music. The duo's first record release was a 1999 double single "Plump Chunks/Electric Disco" on Finger Lickin' Records. The next year, they released their first album A Plump Night Out on Finger Lickin' and Nettwerk and its singles "The Push/Remember My Name". The album stayed in the top position of DJ magazine breakbeats chart for three weeks. A Plump Night Out was issues as a continuous-mixed CD edition and an unmixed vinyl edition. Soon after they were approached by dance music culture magazine, Mixmag, to mix one of their February 2001 cover CD. The mix, titled Elastic Breaks, featured tracks from from Freq Nasty, General Midi and Proper Filthy Naughty among others. On May 21 2001 they released a two CD mix compilation called Urban Underground and is known for its distinctive desert-camouflage artwork that covers every surface of the release. In late 2002 they were asked to make another mix for well-known super club Fabric, for their FabricLive series of mix CDs. In February 2003, they produced and released the 8th album in the series. They released their second artist album, Eargasm, on July 7 2003. It featured collaborations with Gary Numan and Louise Robinson (Formally Rhodes) of Lamb. Following the release of Eargasm, they established a quarterly night club night of the same name at Fabric in London after the popularity of their FabricLive mix CD. On 4 July 2005, they released Saturday Night Lotion. It is considered their third artist album, due to the sheer number of original productions included on it. Soon after the release of Saturday Night Lotion, they were called upon to precide over the mixing duties of Mixmag's 'Breakbeat Annual 2005' which was to be included in their upcoming November issue. They are one of the few breakbeat acts to have songs that have broken in to more mainstream radio programs. In addition to producing, they have toured outside the UK to DJ at breaks events around the world. In early 2007, they released a single titled "Mad Cow" on Fingerlickin' Records.

www.plumpdjs.co.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmlQ68AzGM&feature=related

Bill laswell

Few people on this sphere truly deserve to be called a genius. But if the definition refers to one with a rare gift for transforming the intangible into the tangible and seamlessly combining that which is ostensibly disparate, then Bill Laswell may very well qualify.

The New York-based producer, bassist and visionary is responsible for some of the most interesting and influential recordings of the last 20 years. But unlike other sonic architects, he has no rulebook or pre-defined codes. Rather, Laswell works largely from instinct. And if that instinct calls for fusing rock with turntablism, tablas with reggae, ambience with noise, jazz with Moroccan trance music or all of the above, so be it.

Laswell's first musical forays in the late '70s and early '80s set him on the eclectic trail he travels to this day. That period found him working with the likes of Daevid Allen in New York Gong, Brian Eno and David Byrne. It also saw him establish Material, an amorphous musical collective with a chameleon-like propensity for shifting between genres and styles on any given album.

The musician's first big public splash came after working with Herbie Hancock on the seminal hip-hop-funk classic "Rockit" from 1983's Future Shock. And although Grandmaster Flash's "Wheels of Steel" served as the original DJ manifesto, "Rockit" established the first real relationship between turntablism and mainstream music.

Since "Rockit," Laswell, 44, has worked with some of the best and brightest. Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, Mick Jagger, John Zorn, Pharoah Sanders, Zakir Hussain, Tony Williams and Ginger Baker represent just a few of the legends he's collaborated with. Even more important may be the lesser-known faces he's helped bring to public attention such as Buckethead, Nicky Skopelitis, Sonny Sharrock and The Last Poets.

Laswell's production interests go beyond creating new music from scratch. He's behind controversial remix projects involving the works of Bob Marley and Miles Davis. For instance, his 1998 Panthalassa release saw him reconstructing and recontextualizing early-'70s Davis jazz-rock tracks. Specific examples of his "mix translation" efforts included moving the music's proto-hip-hop percussion and funked-out basslines to the fore, and excavating previously buried and unheard passages.

In between his countless other projects, Laswell has found time to record several solo albums that traverse the intersections between ambient, world music, dub, jazz, and drum and bass. His latest, Invisible Design, finds him veering into the realm of composition-albeit in an unconventional sense. Self-performed and produced, the cinematic, moody disc focuses on melodic basswork built on top of a wide range of swirling atmospherics.

Innerviews began its conversation with Laswell by discussing his compositional approach. We also explore Sacred System's Nagual Site, a recent Laswell-helmed worldbeat fusion project that concentrates on mesmerizing rhythms and textures, and future remix efforts involving Blind Willie Johnson, Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana.

In this, there were actually particular lines that existed in memory that were applied to tape and then juxtaposed from that point. In most cases, there was a fixed sort of structure or matrix for different combinations of sounds. It wasn't arbitrarily throwing things on tape. I'm playing the things that I felt comfortable playing at that moment. It's intuitive, but it's also a collection of ideas that I wanted to put together in one place. Each piece existed as a loose structure-some more organized than others, and I guess that's why it applies to a composer series. There was a memory of a pattern and a sequence that dictated that it is composed. It creates what people would call a composition-not academically, but musically.

In 1999, composition means the make-up, the putting together of elements-sound elements. What I'm dealing with is sound. I don't pretend to be dealing with music. I'm just dealing with sound elements, textures and sounds. In the collage system, composition means when it's put together and decorated. You start with the basic skeleton and you decorate that and construct it. Once you call it finished, that's a composition. Otherwise, composition is an academic term related to notation. For me, notation exists to respect or fulfil memory. But tape can fulfil memory too. Once it's recorded, it's a composition. It's based on catching and capturing sound elements and combining those with other sounds and structuring it towards a finished result. It's not like writing for a symphony orchestra-which I'm not interested in-because that's an older, academic way of doing music.

Those notes sort of represent the structure that exists from moment to moment. It's not really a score or anything-just notes on texture and references.

That piece is influenced and inspired by them. This Heat happened in the late '70s or early '80s-the drummer was Charles Hayward. I've always liked this kind of intense push and pull of release and sound that they have-there's a silence and then a stab. I wanted to emulate that.

Yeah, but I'm not really playing. I don't really play upright bass, so it's just more for the texture of the sound. I just use it like anything else to create a sound.

Yeah, exactly.

It's a recent fascination with creating melodic lines based on influences and references that make up your repertoire or language. I think it's the product of trying to push that to the extreme. There are a lot of influences. They come from hearing other musicians play lines. Everyone has been influenced by somebody, so you get that coming out. The melody being there is also because there's nobody else playing on the record. I can't lean on a saxophone or guitar or something or someone to do that. So, I have to try and manifest that myself as well. That style or direction also comes up a little bit in Arcana with Tony Williams. In this kind of project, I'm just using the instrument to create music, you know? I don't know what the difference is between melody and rhythm in that sense.

As far as bassists playing melody or rhythm, it comes down to whatever the project is. If someone is playing melodically great bass, that's a positive I think. I'm more critical of acrobatics and not knowing how to create a feel or a memorable line. Jaco Pastorius used it as a melody instrument and did phenomenal work with it.

Possibly. [laughs] There's nothing too deep at work. The idea is that it's subliminal. There's a shape that's kind of hard to see at first. And if you look closer, you see it.

On Nagual Site, I had a lot of support track-by-track from different people. It's very much a collaboration and a collective effort. It included different people like Bill Buchen, who's a percussionist and Gulam Mohamed Khan, who is a harmonium player. They constituted a great deal of the emotion and feeling of the music, and they contributed pieces too. "X-Zibit-I" was very much a feature for Zakir Hussain who is obviously a master tabla player. Fortunately, for the rest of the world, he has a sense of humor and doesn't mind playing with the beat. So, he did that. It's phenomenal work in terms of time playing. The idea was to create textural chord patterns that weave in and out. They were manipulated by Graham Haynes who worked with Craig Harris who's a trombone player. I guess I gave the direction, but the actual note configuration and arrangement comes from Graham Haynes.

Zakir is a master drummer. There's no-one better in the world playing rhythm on any instrument and he's quite willing to sit down and play with a click track or tape loop and laugh about it. It's very inspiring. He could afford to have an attitude where that means nothing to him because he's above it like people lesser than him musically who have an attitude. He's quite open minded and willing to try anything in a recording situation and have fun with the whole idea.

Exactly. I think with Zakir it's almost always the case. He almost always doesn't know what it's for. We just say "Zakir, here's three tracks we're working on this day. We do the business, you play the tabla and we see what comes out next time." I'm in the middle of a project solely featuring him called Tabla Beat Science which we recorded about six months ago. It started when we were on Island and then the whole Polygram thing changed, so now that project has moved to Palm Pictures, which is Chris Blackwell's new company. Talvin Singh is interested in helping manipulate some of the music. We're in the process of making the transition from where we were to where we will be.

Oh, it's happening right now. But again, it's Zakir recording a lot of stuff and not knowing exactly what it will be. [laughs] At the moment there's some phenomenal tabla playing that we have to figure out how to construct and put into place. Once it's done, we'll go back to him and see if he agrees. Sultan Khan already played on some things and Talvin will work on some things and we'll try to make it a feature for Zakir's playing-a phenomenal presentation of modern tabla playing.

You identify with spirituality naturally, Eastern or not. Ummm. [pauses] I just have a lot of respect for the quality of people. For example with Zakir Hussain, there's just an immense quality to that person that has made him what he's become. There's an integrity that went into the devotion to his instrument. I don't go much beyond that. I don't pretend to be enlightened on any level beyond the sound or the integrity that goes into manifesting the sound. I'm familiar with different teachers and interests and pursuits and devotions, but I'm still amazed and stuck in the routine and concept of trying to deal with sounds and manifest sound. I haven't gone from recording music to that other area where I'm obsessed with someone's idea of good and bad or right and wrong or where to put your energy.

I know less about science than I know about spirituality. I don't claim to know anything about spirituality. So, it's hard to talk about how they meet. I think it's just erasing thought and trying to disconnect the brain to just feel things. I don't know what that has to do with science and I don't know if it has anything to do with spirituality. It's just intuition. It's just music. Sound comes out of a life experience, so when you play something or manifest an idea through an instrument or sound, it's not just a transmission of sound from an invention which is the instrument. It has to do with the life experience based on what you've become, what you've learned, what you are spiritually and everything else. I don't know how to divide science and spirituality. I don't know how to measure in that way. I think it gets down to who you are. When you say "My name is this. I do this," that's the only clarity I have.

Well, "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" is the classic piece of all time. That's the power. So, whatever I can get back from that is what I'll try to go into—the darkness.

[laughs] I have no idea. I'm trying to figure that out. I don’t have a handle on it right now. So, I don't have an answer. But I'm trying to find a way. I'm just experimenting and trying to get the noise out of the records. The first thing is to minimize the noise. The noise is as loud as the music on the 78s.

I have a very interesting remix thing which is Tony Williams Lifetime’s Turn It Over, which to me was a very important record. It was very badly recorded and mixed. I have those tapes and it’s pretty clear that I can make a bigger sounding record and a better sounding record—for Tony, anyway. It’ll be something special. I’m pretty positive that can translate. That’s for Verve. I’m also talking to Carlos Santana about his work with Alice Coltrane and John McLaughlin. I’m pretty positive about that too.

Step by step. I just try to go into it, open it up and see what's there and try to expand the space of it. I don't know. I gotta get into it. The albums are Illuminations with Alice Coltrane and Love, Surrender, Devotion with John McLaughlin.

Yeah, it’s very spiritual music from that time. That spirituality relates even more to what’s going on right now. It takes spirituality to another realm—not just a yoga or new age mentality. It’s on a rougher realm in terms of sonics. But again, it’s very devotional music.

No, I'll try to do it and we'll be in touch about it. We’re talking though, and based on our conversations, he understands the motive.

The motive is to go into the music, examine the space and extend that space. It’s to re-examine the drone, spirit of it, tonality, the texture and to try to elongate the spirituality of it—the sound. It’s to see what's there and pull things in and out. There's a lot of music there. It's all compacted into the experience that we felt when we got the release of a record, but a record is always just a version of what exists in terms of sound. So, versions are endless.

I don't really pay attention to that. But in terms of Santana, I know that he will be positive because I know where he’s at musically. For audiences, that will be up to them. With Miles Davis, we had a very positive reaction from people—mostly from people that’d never heard of Miles Davis. That’s a good start. So, you keep going.

Yeah, it's good for Miles. That’s what he was about. He'd be into that.

…remixing a remix. [laughs] Yeah, but a lot of it isn’t related to Miles so much. I'd say 80% has very little to do with Miles. It has everything to do with remix culture. I did quite a long piece of unreleased stuff from On The Corner just for the heads—for people that were really into that album. The piece is based on the energy and the concepts that were being developed with On the Corner which to me was already a very revolutionary record—very important. I just tried to extend that energy and experimentation myself with a 16 minute piece of outtakes which should be viable for people interested in that world of Miles Davis. Beyond that, the rest of it is people interpreting whatever tape they were given the way they would interpret whatever tape they were given, which has very little to do with Miles Davis.

Oh no, no, no. I would have done a whole remix album of just On the Corner. I would put out one a week indefinitely. There's so much music from that. Musically, I'm happy with the piece I did. The rest of it? I don't know what it is. I don't know what it has to do with Miles Davis. It's probably trying to get more contemporary DJ-related whatever people involved in it to attract attention to another audience. There'll be people that buy it because they see the name of whoever and will buy it without knowing the difference between Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. So maybe it's positive. It helps the work and the label to push the thing. It's all good. But it's loops and sampling. And there's no spirit of Miles in it. It's not the same thing. I tried to retain the spirit of Miles in my thing because that's whose record I thought it was.

No, I don't define the spirit of anybody or anything. I just try to move to action and that's what I did with Panthalassa and the tapes I work on. I'm not able to explain or clarify, but intuitively, I knew Miles. I know that music and I was there when it came out and that was very important to me. It made me, so I'm trying to remake it in my own way.

So far, every track involves a vocalist and it’s a record based on the hip-hop sort of tradition—a rap direction. There’s Kool Keith from Doctor Octagon, Ultramagnetic, Killah Priest from Wu-Tang and Flavor Flav from Public Enemy. There’s also Zulu Nation, Lori Carson, Dana Bryant and a singer called Blue who also worked with Wu-Tang. We’re talking to Company Flow too. Right now, there are twelve pieces that exist.

I'd say nothing at all, yeah.

Well, I dunno. I'm waiting to find out. [laughs]

It's through Axiom, but with Palm Pictures. I've done a deal for two records. One is this Material record and the other is the project with Zakir, Talvin and Sultan Khan. We're doing Axiom/Palm for these two and we'll see how it goes. The catalog is still tied up with Polygram. I think I'll get it back soon. I'm trying to work it out. I'm not pushing it too hard. I'm waiting for the smoke to clear at Polygram. There are 30-some titles there and I'm trying to get them back. There are a lot of labels in limbo there. They pulled the plug on everything. They pulled the plug on the entire company. Chris left. There was a buyout—Seagram's bought Polygram, so everyone was fired and everything fell apart. Everyone left. We're in a rebuilding time now—a reinvesting time, a reassessing time. New money's coming in. Everyone that was fired is getting hired and everyone getting rejected is getting signed. It's all good. It'll all come back around. It's just one of those kinds of times. It's a cleansing period. It's good to reassess.

No, not at all. But there's always been a very strong loyalty to Chris. He made Axiom happen. A lot of money was spent there and I regret we didn't immediately go with him, but he's starting again with a new concept and a new program. I just don’t want to burden him. We're starting small with him. It’s not like he's starting a huge catalog. It’s just a record-by-record, few-things-at-a-time thing. The catalog is immense and we're working on getting that back and finding a place for it, which we will. I'm close to finalizing that.

It was just really important to work with Tony [Williams] and I felt that Tony played phenomenally. It was great that we even got to do it and hear him playing with that velocity, force and aggression. It was a phenomenal achievement to get him to do that. We had decided to maybe create a live band and do that more and more, but he died before we could realize that.

The whole thing with Ginger came out of John Lydon suggesting playfully that he wanted Ginger to be the drummer in PiL and I thought that was a great idea, so I was stupid enough to go to the North of Italy and find Ginger. I kind of brought him out of retirement and brought him back to New York and we did these tracks with Lydon. I kept the contact and immediately after that, I convinced John Caracas, who was running Celluloid, to do a record with Ginger. So, we put Ginger in the Power Station studio and I brought in some friends like Daniel Ponce, Aiyb Dieng and Nana Vasconcelos to play rhythms. We threw the record together as a rhythm album. It was done quite quickly and spontaneously. I always liked the tribal aspect of Ginger's playing as a rock drummer. That came from his interest in African music. He really has a tribal characteristic to his drumming and that record is a product of that fascination. It was an opportunity to get him not to play in the song form of a rock band.

People that were normally living in the East Village immediately got a record deal and saw money for the first time. I was able to hire some real musicians and just work like I normally would, but I think it was very new to them. Also, the label folded a few minutes after the record came out, but I wasn’t unhappy with the work.

I can't remember because I only played on those records. And I’ve played on so many Palominos records that I don't remember one from the next. It was always just a question of me coming in when Anton [Fier] was doing the record. There would usually be just a drum beat and I would play to the drum beat first and they would write the song after that. I never knew what the music was.

We just bought that back and it's now owned by Higher Octave, so they'll release it. It will live. Giant Robot will walk the earth. Crazy record. It’s Buckethead's dream. It's his vision. I just wanted to support his vision. I didn't fight him on anything. He had an idea—a vision—and I just helped him realize it. I fought Sony pretty hard on it for him because that's what he wanted. And I don't regret anything. So, it’ll come out and be part of his legacy—if he has one. He'll get there.

That was 1979—a long time ago. I used to live on 18th Street in New York City and Brian Eno used to sort of live next door. So, every day I would go out and play, try to get gigs and try to get started. I would see Eno every day and say "Get me a gig. Let me do some recording. What’s up?" I was just trying to hustle anybody I could. I started playing in clubs and doing things and he would see that I was playing around. One day, he said "Okay, I’m doing a session, come over to RPM Studio on 12th Street." The night before, I was playing at CBGB with Denardo Coleman, who’s Ornette Coleman’s son. They took all my equipment back to the East Village and my bass got stolen out of the van, so I had no instrument. I borrowed an instrument from a kid. I said "I’m doing a session tomorrow with these guys Brian Eno and David Byrne, bring me a bass! I don’t have a bass!" So this guy brought one from the Bronx to me and it was a cheap bass with a sticker on it that said Devo! [laughs] It was kind of embarrassing. So, I’ve got this bass and I brought it in and I didn’t even know how to play it. I think David Van Tiegham was playing drums and there was a girl they found in Western Square Park playing congas. She kept playing these sort of funk beats and I knew the rhythm, so I played with her. When we started, they would always say "No, no. This is too syncopated. We want to do a very European record." They were looking for Neu or Can—this very European sound. But this girl kept playing this stuff and I kept playing with her. To be honest, she’s the one that started that whole feel that made Bush of Ghosts. It turned out to be this very syncopated, Black music-related record. Before that, that wasn’t really their concept at all. So, we did that for a few days and then I came back to them at Blue Rock Studio and played again, and the record came out after that.

I met a guy called Tony Myland at the Roxy when [Afrika] Bambaataa and everyone used to dominate that scene. It was 1982. He said he was trying to get tracks together for Herbie and I said we could do something. I asked Bambaataa "Who's a good DJ? I want to make a track with a DJ playing in time." He recommended Whiz Kid and DST. Whiz Kid was out of town, so I went with DST and we put together some beats in a couple of hours. Then we flew to LA. and made two tracks. One was called "Earthbeat" and one was called "Rockit." Herbie played on it five minutes. We mixed it, came back to New York and all of sudden there was a big interest. It spiraled from there. We’d made this freak hit record. But it was just an experiment based on the information we were getting from DJs at the time.

I've got a proposal with Sony to do a whole remix of that project with all the new DJs. I did this deal with Sony to do three remix projects. One was Miles, one was Santana and the third was Herbie. The idea is to do a double CD of remixes of Sextant and all these things of Herbie's, including "Rockit" with Q*Bert, Mixmaster Mike, Roc Raida, Rob Swift and everybody. Originally, the idea was to create a track where the turntablist would cut the same way as an alto or horn player would in Bebop—16 bar solos. It’s a soloist format for the turntable. I want to get back to that, so I have a proposal to do it again with all the people I’ve been working with in the last three or four years which are these guys—the new generation of turntablists.

We haven't even talked to Herbie because to be honest, he didn't know what was going on when we did the first one. [laughs] So, it's more like if Sony reacts to it, it'll be cool. Herbie wouldn't know the difference.

Dealing with Pharoah has always been a challenge. I brought Pharoah kind of back out of obscurity and we did a record called Message from Home. On Save Our Children, we tried to bring more Indian sounds in with Trilok [Gurtu] and Zakir. It was kind of hard to put together when dealing with Pharoah’s concentration and commitment to it. I don’t really have an overall feeling of how it came out. I just know that a lot of effort went into doing it and that it was a challenge to make it happen. It took a long time to manifest what we made.

Well, he never plays live what's on the record. Pharoah’s not the guy who's gonna put together a band to promote anything. He's Pharoah. He’s gonna play Pharoah. It defeats the record company and the record company defeats him. It's not promotional in any sense. A lot of people would like to hear Pharoah blow his brains out and play aggressive. I would too, but I understand that he's done that and we can't make him do what he doesn't want to do. He’s still a presence and he's still a great voice on the tenor saxophone. Records are just moments of achievement. They’re like receipts for work done. Time goes on and people keep playing music. On any given day, Pharoah could be incredible and another day he could be totally complacent, boring, pointless and not even play the instrument. The next day he could be phenomenal. If we capture that one day on record, it’s gonna be part of a good history and not the mundane.

It's mixed up. It's a balance. It's mostly me just trying to get it done and balance his energy. Doing that is not fun sometimes. It's not my vision. I wouldn't do a record like that. If I was gonna do a record like that, I would do it and have him come solo on it. It would be a very different record. So, I can't say it's mine. But, it's not really his either.

It's responsibility really. A lot of it has to do with commitment. A lot of it has to do with the responsibility of helping people resolve or realize something. There's a part of it that's me just trying to get it done because I have that commitment. And certain times there's money involved. I have an overhead, so I have to create projects. The only way I make money is by making records. I'm not from a family of money. No-one's given me anything. I have to pay people, so I have to produce. I have to make records. That’s combined with helping people who realize they’re in trouble—you know, somebody from somewhere needs a record deal so they can have a family, so they can have a life. That's all part of it. So, we just keep pounding away to get everybody in place, including myself. It's not that I’m obsessed with an overabundance of activity. It's all just responsibility and commitment to staying alive—to keeping everything in place, not just for myself, but for a great deal of people. So, when people review things, they may not be talking about an artist who sat down and figured out something and said "This is my goal. This is what I want to do and I’m trying to impress somebody." It might be reviewing somebody who’s trying to save somebody’s life. So, good or bad, it means absolutely nothing compared to life. You’re just trying to help.

Life? This is life. Outside of this stuff, there's the stuff. I don't try to separate what I do from what it is, you know? So, that should communicate. It's 24/7. This is what I do.

Dj heather

The Chicago house community has brought greater attention to all the city''s great djs, including the genre busting DJ Heather. Widely regarded as one of the premier selectors in the nation, this Chicagoan demonstrates her skills and sharp deck acumen for the masses throughout the Windy City and the world at large with verve and undeniable talent.

Her interest in music was sparked early on by her parents' eclectic music collection. A full spectrum of jazz, blues, rock, soul and folk was part of the Robinson household. With a foundation set, she began to discover her own tastes ranging from the Jackson 5, Chic, Blondie and Kiss. The British New Wave, Ska, Punk the burgeoning Hip Hop and Industrial movements further sparked her enthusiasm for music.

"I felt as if I was on a mission of discovery. Vintage Vinyl and Big Daddy's in Evanston became my haunts. I loved finding new bands and sounds such as Depeche Mode, The Specials, Black Flag, Treacherous Three and Ministry making them my own. I would then share them with friends by making tapes. "Medusa's presented a true club experience to underage kids. I think the teens of Chi-town felt that they weren't really missing out on what the adults were doing. That was undoubtedly our own world. If we were lucky enough to sneak into clubs like La Ray's, Warehouse and The Music box that made our dance music experiences all the more meaningful"."

Primarily known in the Chicago dance community as a "hip hop" dj, she began a shift in the material she played. "It was never a intentional choice to spin house music instead of hip hop. The demand simply seemed to intensify after each gig. Over time she moved on to specialize in house and maintains a soulful head-bobbing approach. Heather''s track selection sends a nod of respect to the forbearers of Chicago's signature sound. "Many things influence me, more than one sound" She fuses disco, classic house and techno. She drops tracks by producers who understand the forward curve of the electronic music scene. Commanding the crowd's attention and keeping their feet moving. Soon her presence within the Windy City scene began to solidify and her reputation nationally began to grow. "Getting a chance to play outside Chicago definitely has been a combination of luck and timing. Friends, acquaintances and follow djs have looked out by suggesting me for gigs. Promoters, thankfully, trusted their opinions." That kind of luck would play a big part in her first gig in Europe. By chance a tape was passed on to a promoter and lead to a trip to Paris.

In 1998 she was asked by San Francisco transplant and fellow Chicagoan Mark Farina to support his Mushroom Jazz 2 cd tour. Truly the ultimate compliment." She would later join him on the road in support of the third and fourth installments of the Mushroom Jazz series. As well as the house release San Francisco Sessions for Om Records in 1999. The cd also featured "Something Else" her first of three collaborations with 2nd Shift (JT Donaldson and Tim Shumaker) originally available on Seasons Recordings.

A year later Heather released her own officially licensed mix "Tangerine" for the Chicago based Afterhours label.

""With my debut compilation I hoped to simply illustrate that I could program and mix. I think I achieved that"."

With stand out reviews she hit the road on her own. That same year she returned to Chicago club staple Smartbar to begin her second residency at the venue. 2002 marked her inaugural trip to South Africa. That year Heather also began her relationship with the London club Fabric.

Named after her favorite soy yogurt, Blackcherry Recordings, made its debut with the buzz worthy single "Picture of You" featuring Heather along with D.C.'s own Eastcoast Boogiemen. "

2005 also marked Heather's installment to the much heralded Fabric CD series, for the club of the same name.

With 15 years of experienced behind her Dj Heather has grown to become one of the Windy City's main Dj exports. She is an artist who defies conformity, defines quality and continues to nurture her solid skills for soul music of the technological generation.