Music : Progressive House, Tech House, Minimal Techno, Detroit Techno and Funky Techno
On May 1st this year Illicit Audio gets their second combined release in the form of the Scandinavian EP on Cubism recordings.
It is something we have all been looking forward to for a long time, and as it's such a special date in the calendar for us, we've got Cubism's main man Richard Belsom to throw some great techno into the mix.
Line up:
Richard Belsom (Cubism)
Lofty
Mike Mackeeg
John Kirven
Justin Steel
Biogs:
Richard Belsom
Originating from Maidstone in Kent, a town famed for generating an influx of talent currently flooding todays dance scene, Richard Belsom has established himself as one of the UK’s finest up and coming DJ’s/producers.
No stranger to the scene, his unquenchable passion for dance music stems from over a decade of treading the boards of various clubs and events across the globe. It was this passion that inspired Richard to combine his several years of classical music training with his love of dance music to fulfil a role that would place him on the other side of the turntables by becoming a DJ, producer, and most recently label partner in Cubism with Tony Thomas and Mark Gwinnett (Lunacy Sound Division).
Richard’s love for mixing started back in ’95 at the tender age of just 16, spending every space penny on vinyl. After a few months practice Richard decided to apply his skills to a live audience and got a residency at a local U18’s party, this was to earn him alot of experience and learning opportunity over the 3 years he held the residency. Eventually deciding that weekends were far too cherished for the likes of u18’s parties Richard left to pursue his other main passion - clubbing. This is where he discovered his love for house music, totally inspired by dj’s like Sasha, Digweed, Danny Howells.
Since finishing in the semi finals of the Rhythm Clash DJ competition a few years back (held in association with Pioneer and Club Class), Richard’s portfolio has seen him go onto play some of the biggest clubs and festivals in the UK and Ibiza including Ministry of Sound in London, Stealth in Nottingham, The Gallery at Turnmills, the Electric Gardens Festival (to a 3000 strong crowd), Es Paradis and Bar M to name but a few, as well as securing residencies with no less than four club nights across the South East, including Babyshake (as one of the Shake DJ’s), voted number one breaks night in the country by DJ magazine.
This portfolio doesnt just end there, seeing Richards success story go on to include warming up for some of the worlds finest artists including Peace Division, Layo & Bushwacka, Tom Middleton, Paolo Mojo, Ashley Caselle, King Roc, Nic Fanciulli, Klaus "Heavyweigt" Hill, The Electric Press, James Mowbray, Deepgroove, Simon Baker, Simon Morell, Luke Dzierzek, The Rogue Element, Elite Force, Precision Cuts and many more.
Richard describes his sound as ranging from laid back grooves, deep hypnotic minimal through to chugging tech house, breaks and techno. He also incorporates 3 cdj’s, keyboard, and Pioneer FX unit to push the boundaries of his sets to a new level.
Main influences include artists like Sasha, Danny Howells, James Zabiela, Justin Robertson, Peace Division, Nic Fanciulli, Paul Woolford, James Laville, Dave Clarke, Magda, Josh Wink, and Lee Burridge to name but a few.
On the production front Richard is constantly in the studio experimenting with sound and creating tracks around the genres he loves. His work has been signed to many labels including Jack Digitals, Ambiosphere, Cubic Records, New Era, Click Recordings, Send Records, Cubism, Fragile Recordings, S.P. Recordings and most recently Oliver Huntemann’s Confused imprint with a huge remix from minimal giants Piemont.
Richard’s production work has recieved support from various topjocks across the globe including Nic Fanciulli, Yousef, King Unique, Goldfish & Der Dulz, Nicolas Masseyeff, Oxia, Spektre, Larsson, Jamie Mchugh, Tom Stephan, Deepgroove (Who reviewed Rhythm in M8 magazine), Oliver Huntemann, Bedrock legend Pole Folder who recently featured "Surrender" on his radio mix (80hz Sessions), and Tony Thomas who has just featured Drums Go on his forthcoming Cubism mix album. Most recently Richard won a remix competition judged by Global Underground star Anil Chawla and Paul Lancaster, for his remix of Anil’s track fever. Richards remix will be released alongside the original in the forthcoming release. Also forthcoming, Richard’s track Banshee is due for an early 2008 release on Vinyl and digital on Oliver Huntemann’s Confused label.
Richard also recently went into partnership on a brand new label - CUBISM. Cubism was founded in May 2007 by Richard Belsom, Tony Thomas and Mark Gwinnett with a view to showcase some of the freshest electronic music by some of the worlds best upcoming and established artists, as a sister label to Tony’s already hugely succesful Cubic label. The Cubism sound will encompass the very best from deep electronic, minimal, tech house, progressive and techno. With around 12 storming releases already lined up and an evergrowing support list from some of the worlds leading DJ’s, including Carl Cox, Yousef, Pole Folder, Jon Gurd, Rob Mooney, Corrie, Perc, Chris Micali, Monoroom etc this is set to be a huge success.
Lofty
Lofty has been DJ’ing for six years, starting off at university in Southampton and then playing out at all the major venues in London in the last few years. He secured a residency at Sundazed at the White House in Clapham in October 2004 and with them he played numerous clubs in London including, Egg, The Cross, Hidden (Formerly Studio 33) and Pacha, as well as a week long tour in Ibiza in 2005.
Forming part of Illicit Audio, Lofty has also played under this guise for many promotions in London and has also secured a monthly residency in Southampton. Illicit Audio is all about blending the best bits of modern house music, and recently in 2007 he has taken to the studio with his fellow Illicit Audio DJ John Kirven and they have produced three tunes - Tear Out (forthcoming on Jack Digitals), Sweden and Denmark (forthcoming on Tony Thomas’ label Cubism).
Lofty’s musical style is all about music that gets people on the floor dancing, he can read the crowd and combine tunes he knows and loves to great effect. Lofty loves clubbing as well and is as energetic as he is on the dance floor as he is in the DJ booth.
Memorable moments in Lofty’s career to date include playing alongside Carl Cox and Paul Woolford at 2005’s South West 4 event on Clapham Common. Lofty has also warmed up for various other DJs including – Harry Choo Choo Romero and Jose Nunez (Subliminal), Danny Rampling, Brandon Block, Tim Sheridan, Paul Harris (Dirty Vegas), Soul Avengerz, Hoxton Whores and Copyright
Mike Mackeeg
Mike Mackeeg has been DJ'ing since 1999 cutting his teeth in Southampton's underground house scene. Playing all over the south led to his London debut in 2005.
Fast forward to today and Mike is one of London's hottest up and coming stars, A rare modern DJ in that he can be programmed into any time slot in a night and play with the professionalism and passion that he is known for.
Co-founder of the Illicit Audio DJ collective, Mike triumphs to be an adaptable, talented artist - blending together all his favourite sounds across the genres to create a dynamic contemporary sound.
2007 Sees Mike in the studio and to date having 3 tracks and one remix already signed, look out for his debut track with fellow Illicit Audio DJ Justin Steel called "Breathe" which is being released this autumn on Jack Digitals
Mike has had the honour of playing all over London including a year long residency at Egg, guest slots at Koko, Turnmills, Canvas, The Key and The Cross. He has also taken to the decks at the legendary Bora Bora beach bar and also currently holds a residency for the Illicit Audio flagship night at Junk in Southampton which is now in its 3rd year.
John Kirven
Since first stepping behind the decks in 1998, John Kirven has emerged as one of London’s brightest musical talents. With meticulous detail paid to both DJ sets and production, John really does stand out from the crowd. Never afraid to push boundaries, John brings a new dimension to any dancefloor, alternating and subtlety blending different styles of dance music.
John works closely with and produces alongside the highly acclaimed Soulshaker, achieving the second biggest dance music single in Britain in 2005 (as voted for by The DMC DJ Chart) with "Hypnotic Erotic Games". Behind the tag "Soulshaker", John has headlined at many of the most high profile nights in London and the South East including Sin, Be Good, and Excess Baggage, filling all venues to capacity, with both Live PA's and DJ sets.
John plays at many of England’s top club nights including Sundazed, My House, and The Rave, alongside DJ's including Brandon Block, The Soulseekers, Dirty Vegas, and Jo Mills. Most recently being added to the very highly acclaimed Illicit Audio DJ collective, John is set to continue to make waves across the house music scene. He also has a residency at Brixton event ‘Deeper’
With a passion and talent for music that is rarely seen, John Kirven delights any dance floor with his intricate blend or beats and grooves.
Justin Steel
Every now and then along comes a DJ who is the total package. Talented, charismatic and forever fine tuning his chosen art, while still remaining spontaneous and forward thinking. London based Justin Steel falls into this category and over the last few years his talents as a DJ have developed at an almost exponential rate playing at some of London’s biggest events. His CV is impressive having supported the likes of Hybrid, Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold and Luke Fair among others. With his style firmly meshed in all things house, this is one DJ who can make you feel like you’re on a sun drenched beach in Ibiza or the pits of a dark and grimy club about to lose your sanity. His mixes are highly regarded with a ‘Pick of the Month’ award in DJ Mag Summer 2007 and he’s also been asked to produce a series of podcasts for Progressive-Sounds.com.
He is also busy in the studio having studied Music Production at the Academy of Contemporary Music and his debut track entitled ‘Breathe’, produced with fellow Illicit Audio DJ Mike Mackeeg, was released on Jack Digitals in 2007. 2008 is shaping up to be a very exciting year with more productions on the way in the shape of EP’s signed to labels such as Jack Digitals and Cubism, receiving support from some of the industry’s big players. His remix work is also gaining recognition with releases signed up to Atlant Digital, Stripped Recordings, Jack Digital’s and Cristian Paduraru’s ‘Cristian Records’ imprint.
Email illicit.audio@hotmail.co.uk for £6 guestlist.
www.myspace.com/richbelsom
www.myspace.com/cubismuk
www.totalhousemusic.com
www.myspace.com/illicitaudio
www.junkclub.com
Door: Price TBC.
NEWS: THE CLUB IS NOW OPEN TILL 4AM
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