GOOD Producers, like policemen, get younger and younger these days, and at the grand old age of 27, Phil Cogan is already a veteran of the scene, running one of the North East's most successful hard dance nights, releasing a track on Do Not Bend records, and setting up his own recording label to celebrate his chosen musical genre.

Phil first got into dance music in the early 90s, listening to hardcore tapes from the notorious North East of England hardcore scene. After been given his first sampler aged just 13, followed by decks at 15, he began mixing Scottish hardcore in his bedroom.

In 1998 he decided to put his hobby into practice and took a course in Music Technology at Newcastle College. After experiencing the clubbing scene in Newcastle first hand, Phil saw a niche in the market and decided to fill it, setting up the now legendary Cause & Effect in August 2000 with Pete Wallis. Starting life as a one-off birthday celebration, C&E soon became a stalwart on the underground Newcastle scene, providing a welcome relief from commercial gubbins to a loyal army of followers. Newcastle was an ideal springboard for Phil's plan to achieve world domination, as in Feb 2002 he moved into production, releasing Crazy Fresh DJ, his first track on Aztec Records. Concentrating this aspect of his talents paid off, and in May 2003 Friday the 13th was released on 12inch Thumpers. This tune got massive play from Ben Stevens of Vicious Circle, and was included on a Vicious Circle free mix CD.

New year, and new ideas in 2005 saw the start of Phil's new project, 56k Recordings. A recording label yes, but with a difference. The tracks produced are not on vinyl but as mp3 download only. The first two 56k releases set the standard, with Pete Wallis, Buzzclart, and a joint effort from Phil Cogan & Janet Jinx, Gatekeeper. This tune received massive play from Tara Reynolds, featuring in her Guest mix on the Tidy Boys' Galaxy radio show. Jedi hard house producer Eufex was also a notable addition to the 56k stable, releasing “House is Yours” with Cogan.

2005 was also kicked off to a good start, with the release in January of Phil's remix of Lisa Pin Up tune, Party Tonight, which also had the honour of being the first release on Lisa's new label, Pin Up Records. More remix action followed with Phil and label mate Pete Wallis remixing “Twisted and Evil” for Dual Cyclone Recordings Digital, Dan Dyson digital label. This remix gained huge support from the USA hard dance players. Collaborations with Eufex “Ruffneck” and “House is Yours” also earned Phil a place at number 1 respectively in the tidy.com and trackitdown.net download charts. Moving into 2006, Phil bid farewell to the wheels of steel to concentrate on his production. The sacrifice obviously paid off, with “Alley Cat” released on hard dance guru Karim's label, “Do Not Bend”. Phil was also joined in the studio by Paul Maddox, of Tidy fame, working on a new tune “Heavy Bass”. Which is getting heavy play from the likes of Paul Glazby and Amber D and is getting released on “Flashpoint Recordings” in march 2007.

2009 is seeing Phil release more material on his label First Class Recordings, including a remix from Paul Maddox for the 2nd release "Voodoo Magic".

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