Not content with exposing quality club music to millions of people via her BBC Radio 1 show, the delightful DJ Heidi has launched her own travelling club event series called The Jackathon.
With two successful dates already down at Berlin’s high profile Watergate club, Heidi will showcase the coolest man in dance music, Seth Troxler, at Paris’ Le Régine’s club this Saturday. The Jackathon (featuring Heidi plus guests Claude VonStroke, Jamies Jones, and Matt Tolfrey) touches down at Manchester’s Sankeys on May 2, and then on May 28, Heidi, Solomun, and Benedict Bull jack their way into London’s T-Bar. (Further dates are listed on Heidi’s MySpace page.)
As Heidi explains, “The idea behind The Jackathon kind of came about through my radio show In New DJs We Trust on Radio 1. I just wanted to showcase the music I played and the DJs I’ve had as guests and bring it to a dancefloor.
“I was tired of going out to clubs and being bored with the music. I just really wanted to see people dancing and freaking out like the people in the video I’ve made.” - From Beatportal
Zed Bias is Dave Jones: producer, DJ and a prolific innovator from deep within the UK music scene. Zed lurks behind as many production names as he has musical styles. He’s Maddslinky for west London’s Sirkus records and one half of Phuturistix With Injekta . With Italy’s DJ Rocca he’s Daluq and alongside MC Juiceman and Simba has formed The Henchmen. To date Zed’s completed over 65 remixes. It’s all a far cry from his days as a local rare groove DJ.
Zed Bias is best known for his single "Neighbourhood", which reached #25 in the UK charts in July 2000. He has remixed artists ranging from Gabrielle, Kosheen, Maxim, Pharoahe Monch and the Streets. He runs the Sidestepper Recordings label. Zed Bias' releases which explore a more experimental or progressive side of the 2-step garage sound have been hailed as a crucial element in the establishment of dubstep as a definable sound or genre.
Eclectic house hero Riva Starr can do no wrong these days. After unleashing his debut album If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade on Made To Play earlier this year, he was then snapped up by Defected to mix their Miami album and play around the world for them (including at Pacha Ibiza). Not many artists can cover bases like that.
The next step in his plan for world domination is the long-awaited launch of his own label, Snatch! Records, home to housey and techy grooves of all sorts and with that sample-heav ethos that he so loves.
The first two releases are out now from Donk Boys and David Keno, and you can preview all of the tracks in the players below y'all. Support this far from luminaries like Claude VonStroke, Joe Hot Chip, Laurent Garnier, Sinden, Crookers, Thomas Schumacher, M.A.N.D.Y, Brodinski and Zombie Disco Squad.
You can grab a free David Keno cover of Love Shack HERE
P.S. He launches his label at T Bar on Friday 4th June - More details HERE
DJ Pierre is one of the hardest working men in the music business. After more than a decade of producing innovative and cutting edge underground house music, the master creator is at the height of his burgeoning career, and shows no signs of slowing down.
He has become one of the most in-demand producers and DJ's. He's constantly sought after in Europe, playing regularly in Germany, the UK, Italy and France. And he's a staple at the clubs in New York City.
In the next few months, Pierre plans to launch his own house music label, along with an R&B one. He'll also continue his successful work with Twisted America Records, Strictly Rhythm and the other handful of labels with whom he has become synonymous. And he only expects the pace to continue getting faster, both in his work. With LaVette, who co-writes most of his material, he hopes to focus more on vocal tracks, as well as the house sound for which he has become famous.
"House is always going to be here. There is always going to be some form of underground dance music. It's not going to snuff out. People will always have a need to express themselves," he says "I get a really spiritual vibe from what I do. With the right beat, the right flow, I get a hypnotic feeling from the music I produce. I could be doing something more commercial, but then it wouldn't be true".
(Sorry for the grainy pic, I just love it too much)
Marshall Jefferson is one of the founding fathers of house music as it is known today. Born in Chicago in 1959, Marshall was a central figure in the development of the Chicago house scene and produced seminal house anthems including ‘Move Your Body’, ‘7 Ways To Jack’ and ‘Open Our Eyes’.
He has worked with the best in the business, from fellow founding father Frankie Knuckles to Roy Davis Jr., Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Felix Da Housecat and Lil Louis. Marshall has had a leading hand in the growth of the acid and deep house movements and even today continues to evolve these genres amid dooms-dayers predicting their collective demise.
The Bears – Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard – first began crossing paths in DJ Booths. Straight Outta Brompton (well, Putney) Joe spends his time away from The 2 Bears as a producer, remixer, solo-artist and one fifth of an obscure outfit called Hot Chip; fellow Sarf Londoner Raf divides his time between club promotion, DJ outings as Greco-Roman Soundsystem, radio show hosting and artiste management.
The pairs DJ booth banter, soon led to a shared enthusiasm for house music and vague plans for a musical collaboration. Raf’s existence at the music industry coal face and first hand experience of the business’ financial travails, would make Sade’s When Am I Going To Make A Living a suitably irreverent subject for their first musical foray. So began several months of hanging out, making music ‘for the fun of it’ and ‘portamental’ arguments about obscure synths, that would wind up forming the 'Follow The Bears EP'.
Characterised by the hitherto untapped vocal stylings of Raf himself (Joe: ‘I didn’t know Raf could actually sing!’), the Bears have already received radio support from Annie Mac, Rob da Bank, Giles Peterson and Toddla T, drawn towards The 2 Bears 21st Century take on house, disco and everything in between.
RADIO SHOW – The 2 Bears have a weekly radio show ‘Follow The Bears’ on Ministry Of Sound Radio. During which you can expect to hear ‘Bear’ tunes, ‘bare’ tunes, some ridiculous anecdotes, and some extremely skilled (unskilled) technical radio know-how…!
Here is a mix for your blessed ears, originally for Plan B, by The Two Bears...
Gorillaz - Stylo Debruit - Dalston Airline 149 Plastikman - Plastik Syleena Johnson - Tonight I'm Gonna Let Go Lost Generation - Go Bad The Orb - Perpetual Dawn (Ultrabass mix) Rihanna - Sexuality Cutty Ranks - Hustle Hustle Amp Dog Night - I'm Doing Fine The 2 Bears - Mercy Time Riva Starr & Trim - Dance Me (Jesse Rose mix) Mandy & Booka Shade - Donut (Boy 8 Bit remix) UR - Transition Remake Musique - Jazz 008 Urbanworx - Gonna Be Your Number 1 (Todds dub) Martin denny - The Enchanted Sea
Cooly G (Merrisa Campbell) comes from Brixton. She’s often placed within the growing UK funky movement, and her tracks almost always include a dancefloor-ready bassline. Yet she wouldn’t describe herself as part of the scene, even though she used to rap for funky producer Fingaprint. Her dad had his own studio which she used to play about with, so she’d learned to DJ at the age of seven and was teaching music technology to men three times her age two months after she left school.
‘I’m more minimal tech, bit of dubstep, bit of this and that. Funky to me sounds fruity; it’s quick little beats and a little bit of vocal. I go deeper, I spend a lot of time on the production’.
Her debut, ‘Narst / Love Dub’ 12”/digital EP is released on Hyperdub records.
Jamie Jones is best known for the deep minimal track 'Amazon'. Released on Dan Ghenacia's Freak n'Chic output at the start of the year, the 12" has since become the label's biggest-selling single. 'Amazon' proved to be especially popular with the Germans, popping up on Tiesfchwarz's 'Fabric 29', closing out the RA.005 podcast by Kiki, and Steve Bug's 'Bugnology 2' compilations.
As a DJ, Londoners will recognise Jamie from his Sunday afterhours sessions here at TB/R and also his DJsCanDance parties where he plays what he describes as "a mixed bag of mainly deep house and techno", appealing to both the Crosstown Rebels mob and those who like their beats and bleeps served up on M_nus.
These days Jamie is also a regular at Fabric, touted as "one to watch" by the club's booking manager.
He shone in the world of Jazz at early age; he demonstrated he was a sensible & intense pianist.
This exeptional talent made him famous a few years later: Being a part of big Argentinean rock bands like “Jovenes Pordioseros” and “Intoxicados”, playing in some of the biggest stadiums in South America.
In 2006, life took him to a new path: Techno music; Curious, ironic & creative, fusing electronic music with his jazz & latin roots, Guti quickly became one of the most eager & interesting producer of the Latino American house scene.
He has showed his amazing live set in the best clubs of America & Europe.
Currently his music is running on Raum, Musik, Mupa & also Esperanza. Poducers & DJ like Carl Cox, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Steve Lawler, Guy Gerber & other international artists are playing his full of soul productions all arround the planet.
Finally, he has realesed a Stellar double EP on Loco Dice & Martin Butrich's label "Desolat".
Now Guti hits TB/R to showcase this intense live performance.
Having met in the early 90's, not long after they'd started discussing music Tom and Andy were promoting their first London club night together.
Called 'Captain Sensual at the Helm of Groove Armada' it took place at the Gardening Club 2, Covent Garden, getting off to a shaky start.
However it was this night in 1995 which led to a series of parties, a band and eventually a festival. All of these grew from strength to strength and continue to thrive in their individual rights to this day.
Both seasoned musicians before they met, it didn’t take much before their respective backgrounds as live performers combined with the energy of Berlin to spawn an electronic music group with an unprecedented take on the creative process.
After working alongside one another at a label, the two began producing and experimenting in their own free time, playing over ten live gigs before their first record release.
This musical world-view—that production and live performance have a symbiotic relationship—has guided Exercise One on their journey from underground sensation to heavy-weights in the Berlin electronic music scene, with their evolution as artists going hand-in-hand with their development a live act.
After spending almost 7 years on the dancefloor, Vera started buying records. Roman Flügel from Alter Ego was one of the first who invited her to play at Robert Johnson in 2003 and soon after she became Resident DJ at Robert Johnson, one of Europes most respected and authentic clubs.
Vera stands for sophisticated, deep, electronic dance music, somewhere between deephouse and techno. She has started to work on her own definition of house music – bridging classic house with new influences.
A taste for warm, heady and hypnotic grooves can be found in both his production and DJing, and is one that has seen him play the world over almost every weekend for the past ten years.
Preferring to stay out of the limelight and avoid press attention, Justin has managed to maintain a constant focus on underground music without being influenced by trends or fads. This has led to respect from peers, promoters and punters worldwide.
Like many aspiring DJ's, early gigs taught Jozif the humble art of playing to the smallest clubs, but also the attitude that an atmosphere is only what you make it. The belief that a good DJ plays to the best of their ability wherever they find themselves helped shape this consistent and captivating musician, who now rocks some our the most popular dance floors. His intense blend of juddering tech house and rich minimal grooves, have earned Jozif gigs at benchmark clubs such Fabric & We Love....@Space, Ibiza.
