John Digweed

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John Digweed
Digweed.jpg
Digweed in 2014
Background information
Born (1967-01-01) 1 January 1967 (age 57)
Hastings, England
Genres House, progressive house, tech house, techno, progressive trance
Occupation(s) Disc jockey
record producer
Record Label Owner
Years active 1989 – present
Labels Bedrock Records
Global Underground
Renaissance
Associated acts Sasha & John Digweed, Bedrock
Website JohnDigweed.com

John Digweed (born 1 January 1967 in Hastings, England[1]) is an English DJ, record producer and actor.[2] He was voted World No1 DJ in 2001 by DJ Magazine.

Biography

Digweed began DJing at age 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 successful raves on Hastings Pier where the likes of Carl Cox and The Prodigy performed[citation needed]. His breakthrough came in 1993 when he sent a mix tape to Geoff Oakes, the founder of Renaissance Club in Mansfield who played it to fellow DJ Alexander Coe (aka Sasha) heard his demo. 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 when they released the 1994 compilation of mixes from the nightclub 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 first time that a compilation CD had been planned strategically for marketing from the artwork to promotion. The two DJs famously followed this up with their Northern Exposure compilations and those on Global Underground.[citation needed]

He then started the record label Bedrock Records to further promote the music he was playing at the time. In addition to starting the Bedrock imprint, he and friend Nick Muir produce under the Bedrock alias getting their big break when their first track 'For What You Dream Of' was used in the film Trainspotting.[citation needed] The duo produced the soundtrack for the MTV adult cartoon drama Spider-Man, which was created as a miscellaneous promotion of the Spider-Man film continuity.

In his sets, Digweed is noted[citation needed] for adopting tracks with new and different styles.

Between 2000 and 2005, John Digweed promoted his "Bedrock" sound with monthly club nights for members and newcomers to the electronic music scene. He played Thursday nights at Heaven in London and Friday nights at a smaller club night at The Beach in Brighton. 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 are still held at Heaven. Digweed celebrated 10 years of his Bedrock club night at Matter, London on 10 October 2008 with a near on 10-hour set.[citation needed]

Digweed has enjoyed popularity throughout North America in addition to Europe. Digweed, as well as Sasha, established a monthly residency at the now defunct New York club Twilo, which proved a key location for the American electronic music scene. The residency began in 1996 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. Sasha and Digweed DJ'd at Twilo on the last Friday of every month, playing sets that lasted between 8 and 12 hours. In early 2001, Sasha suffered an ear injury and was unable to play for their last 4 dates until Twilo was closed by the New York City authorities.[citation needed] 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.

Digweed DJed as himself in the Greg Harrison's 2000 movie Groove, which tells the story of an all-night rave in San Francisco.

In early 2002, Digweed underwent a six-week country-wide tour of the United States with Sasha and Jimmy Van M called Delta Heavy. Promotion of the tour was done by Clear Channel and attendance reached 85,000.[citation needed] The tour 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. Also in 2002, Digweed created the soundtrack to the film Stark Raving Mad.

From September 2000 to January 2011, Digweed hosted a weekly two-hour radio show on Kiss 100 in the UK, in which Digweed played the first hour of music and a guest DJ played the second hour. Beginning in September 2006, John Digweed's show was available on all 3 Kiss radio stations. By that time, the show's name became Transitions, which was also the name of a four-volume series of mix albums by Digweed released every six months during 2006–2008. In January 2011, "Transitions" aired for the last time on Kiss 100.[3] The show continues to be broadcast online.

2008 saw Digweed and Sasha reuniting for a Spring Club Tour that once again featured performances all over North America. In 2011, Digweed's music was featured in the film movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy.[not in citation given]

In 2013 John ranks No. 17 best DJ in the world in the Resident Advisor top 100 DJ charts. In 2010, he was voted the number 29 DJ in DJ Mag's annual Top 100 vote. He has been featured in the top 10 from 1998–2008 and was voted number one DJ in 2001. In 2009, he started coming down the Top 100 Djs list drastically. He currently ranks No. 98, 43 spots below his last ranking of No. 55.[4]

John is the brother of 25 times World Clay Shooting Champion George Digweed MBE.[5][not in citation given]

Discography

Compilation albums

Singles

  • 1993: Bedrock – "For What You Dream Of" (Stress Records) (UK #25)
  • 1997: Bedrock – "Set in Stone" / "Forbidden Zone" (Stress Records) (UK #71)
  • 1999: Bedrock – "Heaven Scent" (Bedrock Records) (UK #35)
  • 2000: Bedrock – "Voices" (Bedrock Records) (UK #44)
  • 2001: Bedrock – "Beautiful Strange" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2002: Bedrock – "Emerald" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2003: Bedrock – "Forge" (Bedrock Breaks)
  • 2005: Bedrock – "Santiago" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2006: Bedrock – "Warung Beach" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2007: John Digweed – "Gridlock" (Renaissance)
  • 2009: John Digweed & Nick Muir – "Tangent" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2010: John Digweed & Nick Muir – "Satellite / Meteor" (Bedrock Records)
  • 2010: John Digweed & Nick Muir – "Satellite / Meteor (Remixes)" (Bedrock Records)

DJ Magazine Top 100 rankings

  • 1997: No. 12 (First year that DJ Mag poll was changed to a readership vote)
  • 1998: No. 7 (Up 5)
  • 1999: No. 6 (Up 1)
  • 2000: No. 3 (Up 3)
  • 2001: No. 1
  • 2002: No. 3 (Down 2)
  • 2003: No. 5 (Down 2)
  • 2004: No. 8 (Down 3)
  • 2005: No. 6 (Up 2)
  • 2006: No. 8 (Down 2)
  • 2007: No. 3 (Up 5)
  • 2008: No. 9 (Down 6)
  • 2009: No. 17 (Down 8)
  • 2010: No. 29 (Down 12)
  • 2011: No. 55 (Down 26)
  • 2012: No. 98 (Down 43)
  • 2013: Not on List
  • 2014: Not on List
  • 2015: Not on List

DVD

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ IMO Records. "John Digweed Biography", IMO Records' Retrieved on 29 February 2011.
  3. ↑ Twitter: DJJohnDigweed
  4. ↑ DJmag.com: Top 100 DJs – Results & History
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by DJ Magazine Number 1 DJ
2001		 Succeeded by
Tiësto
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