CHRIS COCO & MARK RAE
Chris Coco is one half of Radio 1’s ‘The Blue Room’ with Rob Da Bank, and also happens to be Robbie William’s Tour DJ! And Mark Rae is responsible for Grand Central Records and is one of the duo ‘Rae & Christian’. Expect funky house and nu-jazz funk.

CHRIS COCO - www.chriscoco.com

Raised in Sussex, Chris was a prime mover in the acid house boom of the late Eighties. His Frenzy and Coco Club nights turned Brighton's Zap Club into the South Coasts party epicentre. His DJing inspired him to make the enduring party classic ‘Feel It’ by Coco Steel & Lovebomb.
But Chris more complex, downbeat side was already starting to emerge on the groups debut album It, released on Warp Records in 1994. Drawn to increasingly chilled sounds, Chris reconnected with a passion for moody electronica, dub reggae and film soundtracks first nurtured as a youthful fan of New Order, Kraftwerk and The Velvet Underground.

Chris then spent the late Nineties juggling multiple careers. He was the editor of dance music bible DJ Magazine but it was under his Chris Coco guise that he became a globe-trotting chillout champion, spinning everywhere from sunset parties in Ibiza and Brazil to fashion parties for Fendi in Tokyo; from film parties on the beach in Cannes to theatre launches is London; from big sunny outdoor events in Sydney to smoky after hours clubs in Naples. He also made two experimental electronic albums as Coco, Steel & Lovebomb, New World (1996) and The Sun Set
(1998), and the lounge classic Yachts (1999) for A Man Called Adams Other label.

While still collaborating on upbeat club anthems with Rui Da Silva and Stonebridge he compiled the more mellow and relaxed Solar Spectrums, Real Ibiza and Acoustic Chill collections. He also remixed tracks by Doves, Afterlife, Giorgio Moroder and others and did a chillout radio show for London’s Jazz FM.

Then, in 2002, he released his first solo album project, the critically acclaimed Next Wave, on Distinctive Records. That set included collaborations with singer Nick Cave, author Iain Banks, actor Patrick Bergin and a version of Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross featuring original guitarist Peter Green.

2003 and 2004 saw the release of a Blue Room compilation for BBC Worldwide and and the double mix CD set Chillin At The Playboy Mansion with Chris Coco in the States as well as live radio broadcasts for BBC Radio 1 from festivals like Glastonbury and Sonar and plenty more gigs
around the world including a successful tour of Australia and China and several trips to Moscow.

2005 was packed with the release of more new material. ‘Remasterpiece’, an ambient reinterpretation of various classical pieces with pianist Sacha Puttnam, was released on venerable old label EMI Classics; ‘Heavy Mellow’, another artist album with accompanying art visual DVD, came out on Distinctive; and ‘Dub Club’, Chris’s compilation of reggae and dub was released by legendary reggae label Trojan. Chris also DJed for global megastar Robbie Williams and perfomed in his band at the MTV Europe awards (to an audience of about a billion people).

2006 is shaping up nicely with more work with Mr Williams, another Blue Room compilation, and a new artist album in the pipeline.