JOLYON PETCH
Having played in some of the most exclusive & prestigious clubs around the world, 2008 has seen Jolyon's international career shift into top gear. From his late 90's beginnings in New Zealand, he quickly elevated himself to the top of his game in the local scene, garnering much respected residencies & touring the country.
Playing support slots for some of the world's largest party brands & super-clubs, it wasn't long until international DJ's & producers began to notice his skills & Jolyon began to look beyond local borders. With his international contacts, remix work for some of the biggest house producers started to come in, & in 2006 he picked up his first European residency in the main room at Ayia Napa's Castle Club - the largest club in Cyprus with a 3000+ capacity.
With a northern hemisphere base, Petch then set about exposing himself to some of Europe's premier cities, clubs & producers. His appearances to date have included Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Ibiza, Limmasol, London, Birmingham, Hastings & Leicester at some of the world's top clubs such as Pacha, Turnmills, Koko, Utopia, Baangalu, AIR & Mecca. Other notable performances have included; GodsKitchen, Slinky, Ministry of Sound, Hed Kandi, Gatecrasher, Funky4Love, Funkinyou, Miss Moneypennys & The Gallery. Jolyon's touring brand & record label, Club Luxury, has followed his successes, further building his profile & now has an impressive array of releases ready to launch in late 2008. These include his own productions working with respected artists such as Stonebridge, Soul Avengerz, Katherine Ellis, Abigail Bailey, Merenia Gillies, Moscomusic, Darwin & Backwall, Greg Stainer & more, as well as his own projects Elektrik Disko & Sound Conducterz.
Further afield Jolyon makes regular appearances in Dubai, bringing Club Luxury to Zinc in the middle-east, where he has also featured on Radio 1 UAE, & is presently working on another exciting project which will see his profile raise to the next level in this dynamic & rapidly growing region. Not forgetting home, he continues to headline New Zealand's largest New Year's event every year in Auckland, a privilege he has held since 2000. With his midnight set's having such a formidable reputation, it's the only dance-floor to be on to see in the New Year down-under! Production-wise, his discography to date is more impressive than you might realise & includes artists; Soul Avengerz, Beatfreakz, Agnelli & Nelson, Jason Herd, Ben Macklin, Paul Gardner, Deepswing, Jon Fitz, Steve Edwards, Peyton, Minimal Youth, Greg Stainer & more. As a DJ, he has played alongside the likes of; Groove Armada (live) , Freemasons, Boy George, X-Press 2, Armand van Helden, Judge Jules, Norman Jay, Mauro Picotto, Soul Avengerz, Felix da Housecat, Stonebridge, Carl Cox, Ian Carey, Junior Sanchez, Grand Master Flash, Armin van Buuren, Soul Central, Syke n' Sugarstarr, Bobby & Steve, Lucien Foort, ATFC, Grant Nelson & the Shapeshifters, among others.
Jolyon's passion for music & trademark professionalism have also seen him involved in other aspects of the industry, including launching New Zealand's premier nationwide entertainment & events guide 'Infusion Magazine', which has gone on to be even bigger through it's licensing to the United Arab Emirates. Prior to departing New Zealand he was also one of the country's most respected event promoter's, seeing him play in every significant centre in the country & bring a number of international artists to local shores. 2007 also saw Petch visit & perform at the Miami Winter Music Conference, further strengthening his international ties.
Looking to the future, Jolyon's energy is firmly focused on his international production projects, Elektrik Disko & the Sound Conducterz, having already featured on Ministry of Sound's 'Housexy' in 2007 & securing bookings across the globe. Keep your ears tuned for both their original productions & remixes on Hed Kandi radio, Passion FM, Radio 1 UAE, The Edge, George FM (NZ), & many more frequencies worldwide, including Club Luxury TV.
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ELEKTRIK DISKO
Elektrik Disko brings together a killer combination of musical experience and dance-floor destruction with the UKs Steve Richards and New Zealands Jolyon Petch. Each highly successful in their respective hemispheres, they have become a legendary duo on the decks and are now establishing themselves to an equal standard in the studio.
Having played in some of the most exclusive & prestigious clubs around the world, 2008 has seen Jolyon's international career shift into top gear. From his late 90's beginnings in New Zealand, he quickly elevated himself to the top of his game, garnering much-respected residencies & touring the country. Playing for some of the world's largest party brands & super-clubs, it wasn't long until international DJ's & producers began to notice his skills & Jolyon began to look beyond local borders. With his international contacts, remix work for some of the biggest house producers started to come in, & in 2006 he picked up his first European residency in the main room at Ayia Napa's Castle Club - the largest club in Cyprus.
It was here that the partnership with Steve Richards was cemented and their two styles combined to create the formidable dance-floor force - Elektrik Disko.
Steve is one of the most talented and versatile artists in the house and electronic dance music scene. His DJ profile has seen him tour the globe and perform at some of the worlds most prestigious clubs alongside A-list artists including Tiësto, Paul van Dyk, Judge Jules, Freemasons, Stonebridge, Soul Avengerz, Ferry Corsten and many more. Born in London and exposed to music from an early age, Steves sound has developed and evolved over the years to encompass all styles of House. His talent derives from 15 years mastering the art of mixing, the last 7 as a professional DJ, giving him vast experience in the global scene. It is these skills that have taken him from London to his first international residencies in Cyprus, before touring to New Zealand, South America and around Europe.
The Elektrik Disko live performance sets a new standard in energy and crowd interaction, featuring live effects, tricks and an unparalleled vibe. The duo has so far spread their style and sound to some of Europe's premier cities, clubs & events. Headline appearances to date have included Bangaluu Berlin; Turnmills, Koko, The Box, Warehouse & Pacha London; AIR Birmingham; Waves Limassol; and their summer residency at the Castle Club Ayia Napa. Further afield the duo have also performed in New Zealand at Spy Bar, Stonyridge, Space & Code Auckland; and Base - Christchurch.
Elektrik Disko also regularly feature on their own brands Club Luxury, Another Wild Night and Fight Night, as well as international brands Funkinyou and Funky4love.
Production-wise, Elektrik Disko have been remixing for; Agnelli & Nelson with a release on Deep Blue records, Soul Avengerz for Soda records, Jamie Wamie, Paul Gardner & Darwin & Backwall.
Bursting onto the scene, their first single featuring Katherine Ellis, entitled Nothing but Love, is a funk-fuelled big room summer, house anthem and due for official release on Luxury Records in late 2008. The track debuted with a live performance by Katherine Ellis to a full house at the Castle Club on August 12th, 2008. The Elektrik Disko live PA featuring Katherine Ellis is set to take bookings around the globe in support of this exciting release.
The duo are also working with other well respected artists including; Merenia Gillies, Moscomusic, Darwin & Backwall, Jojo Da Silva & more to be announced, in addition to their own projects, as well as working with and supporting the following artists: Stonebridge, ATFC, Mauro Picotto, Marco V, M.I.K.E PUSH, Soul Avengerz, Freemasons, Abigail Bailey, Bobby & Steve, Maximus, Hagennar & Albrecht, Mike Moscow, Jon Fitz, Jason Herd, Grant Nelson, Mr Arkoss, Katherine Ellis, Gavyn Mytchel, Super 8, Darwin & Backwall.
Keep an ear out for forthcoming Castle Club House Sessions compilation due to hit the shops winter 2008, mixed by the guys and featuring some of their very own originals and remixes.
2008 has been the most successful year to date for the Elektrik Disko boys, playing to sell-out 4000+ crowds in Ayia Napa every week, with appearances still to come this year at Pacha, Koko, Ministry of Sound, with more to be confirmed.
SOUND CONDUCTERZ
Sound Conducterz are Jolyon Petch & Luke Tomes.
The two of them have been producing House music together for since 2004, always staying true to providing Peak Time Party Anthems. 2005 saw them producing mashup's & assorted Bootlegs under their other project "Bootleg Kingz". This got the attention of Judge Jules who dropped their first ever production on the main stage _ The Homelands Festival UK, plus playing it live on BBC Radio 1.
After that most of Auckland's favourite party DJ's then started playing their various productions most notably Peter Urlich, Dick Johnson, Sample Gee, General Lee, Sam Hill, Bevan Keys & many more. Their first originals "Can't stop the funk" & "Summer Anthem" appeared on the Glamour Mix CD (Mixed by Jolyon Petch & Tim Richards)
Plus they hooked up with NZ Rn'B Diva - Nat Rose to record "Always There" which has been a party favourite in the Auckland clubs, followed up by the summery hit "Feelin' Me which featured Nat Rose & MC Bling.
The lads also found time to remix Tru Real's songs "Let it go" & L.O.V.E for their upcoming collaboration album.
In 2006 the boys recruited the talents of NZ born singer Merenia (Now living in Sydney), to record the Summer hit "Hold Ya Head Up". This track has been receiving lots of airplay on Peter Urlich's breakfast show on George FM. Plus it has been played in the top clubs & Bars in Cyprus. It has also been playlisted by the likes of Wawa, Stonebridge, Raul Rincon, Timmy Vegas and many more..
DJ/Producer/Remixer Stonebridge enlisted Jolyon & Luke to remix a single for his record label "Stoneyboy". Here they served up a slice of Peak time party mayhem with their take on "Third Member's - Tidal Flow"
The end of 2006 saw the boys head across the ditch to record some of Sydney's most talented musicans & again Mereniz for their 2 next singles "Sunset to Sunrise" & "That Monsta Latin Track" (Now named "Things are gonna change").
2007 saw the Sound Conducterz finish a remix for Soul Avengerz's latest single "One Luv" Feat. Katherine Ellis, which has been released on Milk & Sugar Recordings in Europe and ONE LOVE in Australasia.
Watch out in 2009 for their first Release - SOUND CONDUCTERZ Feat. Merenia - Hold your head up [LUXURY RECORDS]. Ft. remixes from Stonebridge, Elektrik Disko & Jolyon Petch.
SAM HILL
Sam has dedicated his career to playing dance music and he has performed at the most prestigious events, and infamous clubs in the history of New Zealand club culture. He has earned himself a loyal following and much respect among his peers.
Sam began listening to the SugarHill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa and Parliament, then having spent a handful of formative, pre-house years, soaking up the rhythms of hip-hop funk and electro in the mid 80s, moved on to the the ever-evolving electronic music scene.
At the beginning of 1990, Sam took up his first residency at The Siren alongside Roger Perry, Simon Grigg and Jon Davis as well as opening up Auckland's first true dance music vinyl emporium, Bassline Records with Grant Kearney. Sam Hill and Grant Kearney opened up this vinyl mecca after the demise of 256 Records. Situated in O'Connell St (where Karen Walker now resides) Bassline kept Auckland's DJs sorted for top tunes as well as hosting its own nights like Headstrong and Madchester at the Box. Bassline played host to the New Zealand DJ school and with the help of Jon Davis taught a lot of young students how to DJ. With its in-store pinball machine Bassline became a hang out for raverkids, club owners, trainspotters and anyone else with a vague interest in dance culture.
After Bassline Records closed in 1996 BPM records was opened and was owned by Simon Grigg, Tom Sampson and Sam Hill. With orders arriving almost daily BPM's shelves are always filled with the latest releases from around the world. The shop was run by top Auckland DJs Greg Churchill, Geoff Wright and Dean Webb who keep customers informed of what's hot and what's not.
At the start of the new millennium Sam released some dance compilations called Back2back, Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2 and did national tours to support their release and at the first and last NZ music awards in 2003 Sam came 2nd to Greg Churchill for the DJ of the year.
His salacious, anarchic DJing style has always inspired a keen following and he has moved into the music production field in 2006 and is non-stop in the studio producing his new fresh sound to unleash on the dancefloors in 2007. Sam Hill's DJ skills are also increasingly in demand both in NZ and Australia where his trademark sound always goes down a storm.
Sam has played alongside international DJs Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed, Fatboy Slim, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Armand Van Helden, Basement Jaxx, Carl Cox, DJ Sneak, Nick Warren, X-Press-2, Mauro Picottto, BT, Sander Kleinenberg, Dave Seaman, Junkie Xl, Doc Martin, Judge Jules, Tall Paul, Eric Morillo, Steve Lawler, Ritchie Hawtin, Giles Peterson, Andy Weatherall, Justin Robertson, Steve Hill, Agnelli and Nelson, Pete Wardman,Johan Gielen, DJ Jean, Barthezz, Ashley Beedle, Grooverider, Lucien Foort, Paul "Trouble" Anderson, M-People, DJ Heaven, Norman Jay, Brandon Block, Tomcraft, Jeremy Healy, Roy the Roach, Mrs Wood, PeeWee Ferris, axwell, Infusion, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and many, many more.
STAFFORD BROTHERS
The Stafford Brothers are sure sell-out headliners in every state around Australia They headline festivals in Australia, Their own productions and remixes peak at the top end of the club and dance charts and are hot request favourites throughout the Southern Hemisphere!
Proud Gold Coasters, Matt & Chris Stafford have been steadily rising to the top of Australias elite DJ forces since 1999, the year the brothers decided to shelve their solo DJing and pair up fulltime. Both standout DJs, Chris is an old hat at producing and a natural lyricist on the mic, while Matt is known for his lead guitar solos over sets and possesses business acumen to boot. All this adds up to the blood brothers combining as a powerful force in both the production and DJ realms and whether theyll admit it or not, as one of the main drivers of the Australian dance music scene. The nationwide fame of the Stafford Brothers seems to know
no limit. The brothers soared from a number 27 ranking in the Technics inthemix Australian Top 50 in 2005, to number six in 2006, to 2007 being ranked as the number one DJs in Queensland & number three in the country. With both boys possessing a natural drive to always reach the top of whatever they set their minds to, it shouldnt be long until the boys are claiming pole position. In 2007 The Staffords were signed to international dance identity Ministry of Sound, - Electro House Sessions. Their mix CD has since gone Gold & was sitting
pretty at #1in the country for three weeks running.
Multiple tours to Ibiza & main room club sets in venues across Miami, Las Vegas, London, Manchester, Dubai and Spains Malaga and Marbella have meant the Stafford sound has already successfully infiltrated overseas markets. When playing abroad, the boys are conscious to play plenty of Aussie productions, their own tracks, remixes and mash-ups as well as the latest floor- rocking tracks from around the world.
STONEBRIDGE
StoneBridge is an artist that needs little introduction. If youve danced in a club, the chances are youve danced to a StoneBridge production. His unique brand of sexy house music has ruled dancefloors for 20 years, regularly crashing into the charts across the world. As a DJ his ability to move a dancefloor has seen him travel the globe, rocking parties everywhere from Sydney to San Francisco to Seoul to Sao Paolo.
In October 2004, StoneBridge released a long awaited debut artist album Cant Get Enough. The album received overwhelming international acclaim, selling huge amounts and spawning the massive hit singles Put Em High and Take Me Away. Both tracks hit the UK Top 10 and to date have been released in 24 countries. With fans around the world desperate for more, in 2007 StoneBridge released his follow up artist album Music Takes Me to similar ecstatic reaction. The singles from the album SOS, You Dont Know and Close To Heaven have continued the StoneBridge success story, blasting out of radios everywhere and charting highly across the world.
Born in Stockholm, StoneBridge began DJing in the early eighties, spinning funk and disco at his own night, Fellini. After hearing the innovative sound of house music coming from Chicago in the mid 80s, StoneBridge immediately knew where his future lay and made an official switch to house, starting to remix tracks with a crew of other local DJs under the name SweMix. Their reputation grew and soon StoneBridge began remixing international acts like De La Soul, Titiyo and Rebel MC. However, it was with his remix of Robin S Show Me Love in 1993, that StoneBridge established himself as a world class remixer and producer. The record went on to become one of the biggest selling house records of all time and before long some of the worlds biggest names in music were looking for the magical StoneBridge touch to remix their records. The list of artists StoneBridge has remixed reads like a whos who of music; artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott, Robbie Williams, Simple Minds, Will Smith, Texas, Patti Labelle and Debbie Harry. Most recently it was StoneBridge who was asked to remix Gimme More the comeback single from Britney Spears connecting Britney to the dancefloors once again as only he knows how and more recently Usher 'Love In This Club', Natasha Bedingfield 'Pocketful of Sunshine' and Ne-Yo 'Closer'.
As head of his own highly successful label Stoney Boy Music, StoneBridge continues to release club anthems with his special brand of peak time house. Alongside his own album and singles, new singles Fudge Fruitcake and the collaboration StoneBridge & Wawa Let It Go are also set for release on this respected dance label.
StoneBridge's most recent mix album The Flavour, The Vibe was released worldwide in summer 2006 following the Dance Valley Sunrise double album in 2005. The album was well received, ending up as the soundtrack to house parties everywhere, leading to the second installment of The Flavour The Vibe scheduled for August 2008 release as well as a Best of Stoney Boy mix by StoneBridge that is out in July.
Aside from guest appearances on various radio mix shows in Europe, StoneBridge is also hosting a two-hour mix show for Sirius Satellite in the US (www.sirius.com) on the first Saturday of every month on Area 38, ten to midnight ET.
So, with a career that has already spanned two decades, StoneBridge shows no signs of slowing down, or losing the passion for house music that has given us so many great tunes. The StoneBridge story still has a long way to go...
SOLITAIRE
Lewis Denes Solitaire alias has already enjoyed a trio of chart topping and dancefloors filling hits with versions of You Got The Love, Thinking Of You, and - I Like Love (I Love Love). The latter a huge international hit, that spent 15-weeks in top 40 of the Australian sales chart, ending the year as the third biggest club record of 2003 in both DJ magazine and the Music Week club charts (it spent more weeks on the latter chart than any other).
Now joining forces with Albert Castillo (a Houston-based producer whos enjoyed crossover success in America as both Mynt and Al Be Rich), the two are currently reworking r&b hits into dancefloor club fillers withy much acclaim for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Danity Kane, Musiq Soulchild and Ciara, that look set to dominate in the coming months.
Add recent remixes for Jocelyn Brown, Pianoman, and the #1 club topping Audio Fraud with their version of Ride Like The Wind into the equation and Solitaire are on a roll. Not least as his upcoming collaboration, When You Love Someone, with Davidson Ospina and songstress Kate Smith under the guise of NY-Lon, is already being tipped for crossover acceptance.
Celebrating 10 years of club hits, Lewis Dene first reached the coveted #1 slot on the Billboard Dance chart in 1997 with That Sound under his Pump Friction guise. He again topped the American Dance Charts as principle remixer on Duncan Sheiks On A High under his progressive guise of Westway, and gave the Beginerz a Hype Chart #1 with his remix of Doin Me Wrong. A respected DJ for many years, Lewis has played across three continents a mixture of chunky disco-injected house and funky tribal soundscapes spinning at Erick Morillos Subliminal night at Centro-Fly in New York, MTVs Dance Zone party in Sweden, Nervous Records 10th anniversary party at the Ministry of Sound and Australias acclaimed One Love night in Melbourne. His second Australian tour in 2005 closed spinning at the prestigious 2 Tribes dance music festival in alongside the likes of the Prodigy, Armand Van Helden and Grandmaster Flash, and was backed with the release of the mix compilation - Tinted Beats, Breaks & Melodies Mixed by Solitaire & Static Revenger. With a background in radio - Lewis produced Danny Ramplings Love Groove Dance Party on Radio 1 for five years additionally working on the stations dance output with the likes of Pete Tong (news reporter), Judge Jules (producer) and the Essential Mix Live (producer). He initially started as a presenter on the now infamous pirate station LWR in the 80s; most recently presenting shows for Ministry of Sound and Trust the DJ, and a monthly guest on The Touch, Deli Gs Vibe 101 radio show. Lewis background also includes music journalism currently he writes for DJ mag, Update, and Blues & Soul magazine, and the BBC and Beatportal websites. He has also compiled and written liner-notes on over a 170 albums encompassing everything from electro, hip-hop and rap through to disco, Philly, Salsoul and house. Currently he also acts as an A&R consultant for several international labels.
GREG STAINER
What punctuates Gregs skills as a DJ is his capacity to not only incorporate diverse genres and styles, but to transcend them by infusing his music with pure emotion. Gregs talent is matched only by his passion.
Greg currently resides at Dubai's number one multi award-winning nightclub ZINC where he organises the world famous Ministry of Sound & Housexy events and the hugely successful Kinky Malinki PEACH & Conception tours. While in the Middle East Greg has been awarded with two DJ awards.
With Gregs musical career going from strength to strength it wasnt long before the FM broadcast industry started to show an interest. Since 2001, Greg has co-produced and presented prime time radio shows on London Underground, BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, and Passion 918. Greg currently produces and presents 2 weekly Club Anthem shows on National Radio1 UAE (104.1 & 100.5FM www.gulfnews.com)
DARWIN & BACKWALL
In December 2006 Darwin, more or less, forced Backwall to start producing electro house music with him. So it began more like a fun thing to do before going to work at the clubs where they play records. But after lots of positive feedback for their produced songs they decided to start sending them around to various record labels. A short time after, their first song Doesn´t Matter was signed by Monad Music and since then the boys have been busy with remixing for many European artists and DJ'ing around Europe & the Middle East.
David Sjodin began his career at an early age. When he was 17 years old he joined two friends and started producing in their own studio. In that very building, also people like Hux-Flux, Nightfly, Probspot and Pinocchio were working. It didn´t take long before the three of them started a record label called TAP records where David produced his first single called Through my mind. Meanwhile his work as a DJ began to take more and more of his time so he produced less. But in the year of 2006 he decided to start producing again. He has played records every weekend the last 6 years at clubs around Stockholm, but even at bigger events such as ClubRed, Another Wild Night (Cyprus) & Live for NRJ Extravadance.
Andreas Backwall started his DJ career by practicing at home at the age of 14, then playing at private parties etc. At the age of 18 he began to play at nightclubs which he has done 4 nights a week until now. Now (7 years later) he has played as resident DJ on, more or less, all of the biggest nightclubs in Stockholm including Café Opera, Solidaritet, Grodan & more.
