John Digweed | |
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 Digweed in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas John Digweed |
| Born | 1 January 1967 Hastings, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | johndigweed |
Thomas John Digweed (born 1 January 1967) [1] is a British DJ and record producer. [2] DJ Magazine voted him the World No. 1 DJ in 2001. [3] As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick Muir as Bedrock.
Digweed began DJing at the age of 15, and made a name for himself in his home town of Hastings, where he put on successful club nights, the most famous of which were his successful raves on Hastings Pier, [4] where the likes of Carl Cox and The Prodigy performed. [5] [6] His breakthrough came in 1993, when he sent a mixtape demo to Geoff Oakes, founder of the Renaissance nightclub in Mansfield, [7] who played it to fellow DJ Alexander Coe (aka Sasha). [8] The two DJs struck up a long-term friendship and working relationship, despite Sasha twice failing to turn up for gigs that Digweed had booked him for in Hastings.
In partnership with Sasha, Digweed is known for promoting progressive house and notable for producing the first commercial compilation for a nightclub, [9] when they released their 1994 compilation of mixes from Renaissance entitled Renaissance: The Mix Collection . Until then, mixtapes from clubs had only been circulated by DJs on an amateur basis. The Renaissance CD was the first time that a compilation CD had been planned strategically for marketing, from artwork to promotion. [10] The two DJs famously followed this up with their Northern Exposure compilations [11] and those on Global Underground . [12] [13]
Digweed then started the record label Bedrock Records to further promote the music that he was playing at the time. [14] He and his friend Nick Muir went on to produce under the Bedrock alias, [15] getting their big break when their first track "For What You Dream Of" was used in the film Trainspotting. [16] The Bedrock duo also produced the soundtrack for the MTV adult cartoon superhero drama series, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series in 2003. [17] In his sets, Digweed is noted for adopting tracks with new and different styles. [18]
Between 2000 and 2005, Digweed promoted his "Bedrock" sound with monthly club nights for club members and newcomers to the electronic music scene. He played on Thursday nights at Heaven in London, [19] and on Friday nights in a smaller club night at The Beach in Brighton. [20] These nights featured numerous guest DJs, including Danny Howells, Phil Thompson, Hernan Cattaneo and Chris Fortier. As Digweed's international schedule increased, these events drew to a close, although occasional reunions have been held at Heaven since. [21] He celebrated ten years of his Bedrock club night on 10 October 2008 at Matter in London, [22] with a near on ten-hour set. [23]
Digweed has enjoyed popularity throughout North America as well as Europe. He and Sasha established a monthly residency at the now defunct New York club Twilo, which proved a key location for the American electronic music scene. [24] The residency began in 1997 with a lukewarm reception, but grew into one of the most popular club nights in New York City by the end of its run in 2001. He also played in 2001 for 11 hours at the legendary club Cavo Paradiso, located at the island of Mykonos in Greece. [25] Sasha and Digweed played at Twilo on the last Friday of every month, [26] playing sets that lasted between eight and twelve hours. In early 2001, Sasha suffered an ear injury and was unable to play for their last four dates before Twilo was closed by the New York City authorities. Digweed continued to play the time-slot by himself until 6 May 2001, when Twilo was raided by the NYPD and subsequently forced to close down. [27]
Digweed has a cameo of himself playing music in Greg Harrison's 2000 movie Groove , which tells the story of an all-night rave in San Francisco. [28]
In early 2002, Digweed along with Sasha and Jimmy Van M undertook a six-week countrywide tour of the United States called Delta Heavy. The tour was promoted by Clear Channel and attendance reached 85,000. [29] It took place in a variety of venues but was completely self-reliant from a technical point of view; sound, lights, and visual setups were brought along to every gig of the tour. [30] Also in 2002, Digweed curated and compiled the soundtrack to the film Stark Raving Mad . [31]
From September 2000 to January 2011, Digweed hosted a weekly two-hour radio show on Kiss 100 in the UK, in which he played the first hour of music and a guest DJ played the second hour. [32] Beginning in September 2006, his show was available on all three Kiss radio stations. By that time, the show's name had become Transitions, which was also the name of a four-volume series of mix albums by Digweed that was released every six months during 2006–2008. [33] In January 2011, Transitions aired for the last time on Kiss 100, [34] but the show continues to be broadcast online. On December 27, 2019, Transitions aired its 800th episode. [35]
2008 saw Digweed and Sasha reuniting for a Spring Club Tour that once again featured performances all over North America. [36] In 2011, Digweed's music was featured in the film movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy . [37]
He featured among the top ten artists from 1998 to 2008 and was voted DJ Mag's number 1 DJ in 2001. In 2010, he was voted number 29 in DJ Mag's annual Top 100 DJs vote. In 2013, Digweed was ranked the number 17 best DJ in the world in Resident Advisor's top 100 DJ charts; [38] he currently is number 43 as of June 2016.
John is the brother of 28 times World Clay Shooting Champion George Digweed, MBE. [39]
Bedrock Records is an English record label for trance, progressive house and techno started by John Digweed. Its name comes from a long running and successful club night held in Hastings and also at Heaven nightclub, London – both also called Bedrock. Bedrock Records has released many singles from artists such as Astro & Glyde, Brancaccio & Aisher, Steve Lawler, Shmuel Flash, Steve Porter, Sahar Z, Guy J, Henry Saiz, Stelios Vassiloudis, Electric Rescue, The Japanese Popstars and Jerry Bonham. Bedrock is also the name that Digweed and Muir use as their production moniker.
Sasha & John Digweed are a British DJ duo comprising Sasha and John Digweed. Digweed had been DJing for ten years before getting a gig at Renaissance where he met Sasha, who had been working the past few years in various acid house music clubs and raves. Together, they honed their DJ skills, focusing on track selection and technical mixing abilities. In 1994, they released the triple CD mix album Renaissance: The Mix Collection on Renaissance Records. It contained many popular dance hits of the time from artists such as Leftfield, Fluke, and 2 Bad Mice as well as original productions and remixes from themselves. Two years later, the duo became "true superstars" (AllMusic) with the release of their double CD Northern Exposure on mega-label Ministry of Sound. This release was brought to the United States the next year in a single CD package on Ultra Records. 1997 saw the release of the Northern Exposure 2 double CD mix album, again on Ministry of Sound. Sasha and Digweed toured internationally, helping define the sound of progressive house & trance music in the late 1990s. In 1998, both John Digweed and Sasha released separate mix albums on Boxed as part of the Global Underground series with Digweed's GU 006: Sydney and Sasha's GU 009: San Francisco release.
Alexander Paul Coe, known professionally as Sasha, is a Welsh DJ and record producer. He is best known for his live events and electronic music as a solo artist, as well as his collaborations with British DJ John Digweed as Sasha & John Digweed. He was voted as World No. 1 DJ in 2000 in a poll conducted by DJ Magazine. He is a four-time International Dance Music Awards winner, four-time DJ Awards winner and Grammy Award nominee.
James Zabiela is a DJ and producer from Southampton, England. In his early years his signature style was a fusion of Breakbeat and Progressive House music; more recently, however, he is regarded as a Progressive House, Techno and Acid House DJ although his use of Breakbeat music is still key to some parts of his sets. He is known for his turntable skills, extensive use of loops and effects, and the use of Pioneer CDJ-2000s, EFX1000, RMX1000 as well as using Ableton Live with various controllers and sometimes an iPad.
The Zap was a beach-front nightclub and performance arts venue, in Brighton, England that became known in the late 1980s and early 1990s particularly for its acid house nights. It has been described as an "influential ... club which pulled together many of the underground strands of visual art, fashion, music, design, comedy, cabaret and theatre which were circling at the time".
Fabric 20 is a DJ mix compilation album by John Digweed, as part of the Fabric Mix Series. It was whittled down from a five-hour set based on Digweed's time at Fabric.
Benoît Franquet, better known as Pole Folder, is a Belgian electronic musician and live club performer, based in Brussels.
Danny Howells is an English producer and DJ. His music is often described as progressive house, though he prefers to associate more with tech house and is sometimes described simply as "deepsexyfuturistictechfunkouse". At performances, he is well known to interact personally with the audience. Howells has mixed several albums for Global Underground in addition to his Nocturnal Frequencies series. Howells is also a member of the duo Science Department with Dick Trevor, which has produced the singles "Breathe" and "Persuasion"/"Repercussion" as well as remixes for artists such as BT. From 2008 he has run his own record label, Dig Deeper - named after his long running club night.
Renaissance is a British electronic dance music club brand and record label. Renaissance was started by Geoff Oakes at Venue 44 in Mansfield, England in March 1992. Renaissance was Geoff Oakes' antidote to the sci-fi imagery and dressed down clubbers of the 'rave' scene. Early resident DJs at Renaissance were Ian Ossia, Sasha, John Digweed and Nigel Dawson; other DJs with long-time attachments include Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, David Morales, Anthony Pappa and Hernán Cattáneo.
Chris Fortier is an American DJ and founder of the Balance Record Pool as well as co-founder and owner of Fade Records. Fortier's DJing covers a range of styles from dark progressive to minimalist techno. He is well known for being a central figure in the development of electronic dance music in the United States as both a DJ and founder of the Balance Record Pool.
The Goa Mix is a two-hour DJ mix by British musician and DJ Paul Oakenfold. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as an Essential Mix on 18 December 1994 after the producer of the show, Eddie Gordon, chose Oakenfold to produce an eclectic DJ mix for the show which featured a burgeoning variation of electronic styles, having begun the previous year. Oakenfold had, at this point, developed his own unique Goa trance sound, influenced by his time at hippy gatherings on beaches in Goa, and employed it heavily into the mix, which also made pioneering use of film score samples. Oakenfold used the mix as an experiment in which he tried to fuse electronic music, especially trance music, with film score music, and then to overlay the result with vocal parts, samples and additional production. The mix was split into two parts, later referred to as the Silver Mix and the Gold Mix respectively. Reflecting the Goa influence, the album title did not evolve beyond its simplistic working name.
Steve Lawler is a British house music producer and DJ born in Birmingham, England. He is a five time DJ Awards winner and has held residences at many popular dance clubs such as Space, The End and Twilo. Because of his successful performances at Space in Ibiza, he was nicknamed "King of Space". Lawler has released several mix albums and is especially well known for his Lights Out series featured on Boxed. He currently runs the record label VIVa Music. He also founded the now defunct Harlem Records leaving a list of creditors in its wake.
Northern Exposure is the second mix album by British DJ duo Sasha & John Digweed. Released on 27 September 1996, it is the first in their Northern Exposure series, followed by Northern Exposure 2 in 1997 and Northern Exposure: Expeditions in 1999. There is both a British edition released by Ministry of Sound and an American edition released by Ultra Records in 1997. The British package contains both CDs, whereas the American only has the first disc. In 2013, the album was certified silver in the UK.
Renaissance: The Mix Collection is the debut mix album by British DJ duo Sasha & John Digweed. It was released on 14 October 1994 and was the first in a series of mix albums released under the brand of the Renaissance nightclub. Containing music from the house, progressive house and trance genres, it was intended as a sampler of the kind of music played by the club.
Nick Muir is a British musician, songwriter and electronic music producer. He is best known as one half of the electronic music duo Bedrock, which consists of himself and DJ John Digweed, although he also found success as a solo artist.
Wild in the Country was a music festival organized by record label Renaissance and held from 2004 to 2007.
Darin Epsilon is a music producer, DJ, radio personality, record label owner, and music critic from Chicago, which is widely considered the birthplace of House music. He lived in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2016 and currently resides in Berlin as of 2017.
Perspectives Digital is a record label for Deep House, Tech House, Progressive House, and Techno. Based out of Los Angeles and founded in 2010 by Darin Epsilon, the imprint is an extension of his popular radio show of the same name. In summer of 2017, DJ Mag nominated Perspectives for 'Breakthrough Label' in their first ever Best of North America Awards.
Austin Harlan Leeds is an American DJ, recording artist, remixer, record producer and songwriter. Leeds has had a number of entries on the Billboard 200 and his work was mentioned in publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard.
Guy Judah, known by his stage name Guy J, is an Israeli progressive house, techno and electro music producer and DJ who has released three albums and over 15 EPs since 2008. His recordings are noted for their diverse and wide range of musical styles, while his DJ work is known for creating immersive "journey-like" live shows.
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