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{Producer of the Moment #2} - John Askew
[DISCOVER A&R
HOST OF: KISS 100 RADIO MONDAY NIGHTS 23:00-01:00 GMT
RESIDENT AT: THE GALLERY @ TURNMILLS (London), MINISTRY OF SOUND (London)]
John Askew is without doubt one of the hottest tech/trance producer/djs in the UK, if not the World, right now. After the huge success of his debut single “Vellum” in 2001, he has delivered release after release of consistently high quality club music – either on his own Discover label or via one of his many remixes for high profile labels such as Duty Free, Ministry of Sound, Euphonic and Paul van Dyk’s legendary Vandit. See discography below:
From guest appearances on BBC Radio One, to London’s prestigious Kiss 100 offering him his own show; from exclusive residencies at 2 of the World’s most influential clubs (The Gallery and Ministry of Sound) to an ever increasing diary of guest slots around the world, John Askew is now enjoying the rewards for over a decade of consistently hard work.
[Biography]
After spending most of his teens playing guitar in a variety of local rock bands, John’s musical alliance was suddenly disrupted when he attended a rave in Cornwall in 1993. He immediately ditched both his band and traded his guitar for a set of decks.
In 1994 John made his club debut at a then notorious Acid House venue in North London. A few months later he took up a residency for the infamous Wiltshire rave sound system “Code Red”. This position gave John the opportunity to regularly play to literally thousands of underground followers that would loyally make their way out into the countryside every weekend. His sound was influenced by a mixture of the melodic German music that had put Frankfurt on the map as the capital of trance, and the tougher, more pecussive sounds of artists like CJ Bolland.
At the end of 1995 overwhelming pressure from the police led the organizers to move the parties from the fields into the clubs. With this move John started warming up for a host of top international techno names such as Billy Nasty & Dave Angel. He quickly established a name for himself and was subsequently booked to play a number of other high profile club nights including Universe's legendary Final Frontier where John rocked the decks along side Paul Oakenfold and Carl Cox.
Over the next few years John found himself starting to regularly frequenting Heathrow and Gatwick, traveling to Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, France, Ireland and Amsterdam to deliver his now trademark sound.
A sound and style that one Swedish journalist summed up as “…..like watching Jeff Mills mixing but using Paul van Dyk’s records!!”.
John’s debut appearance at The Extreme Club in Bratislava (Slovakia) was simultaneously broadcast on the national radio station Fun FM. Two hours into the set and there were still 1000 people waiting outside on a “one in one out” basis. This night was to be a huge turning point for John as it was the one event that began his obsession with radio.
The next 5 years brought John residencies and guest slots at some of the coolest club nights in the South of England not to mention his regular trips abroad. In 1999 John teamed up with Bristol's most respected techno dj, Simmer, to form Shimmy recordings. With highly acclaimed reviews from the national dance press and a huge underground following in the West Country, John began to gain a reputation for his unique writing and production skills which combined euphoric melodies with hard punchy beats.
In 2000 John took up a touring residency for Universe (of Tribal Gathering fame). In one month john played 21 gigs across the country along side many of the world’s finest djs including Carl Cox, Timo Maas, Danny Rampling, Danny Howells, Way Out West and John "00" Fleming.
On NYE 2000 John rocked the main stage at Ministry of Sounds’ infamous event at the dome. His technical wizardry on the decks in front of 26,000 clubbers led Ministry to offer him a residency at their world famous club – Ministry of Sound - London.
For 2 years John has rocked the main room at Ministry with his legendary, end of the night sets.
Since 2001 John has also been pushing his distinctive sounds to the masses through his record label - Discover - which has seen releases from the likes of The Thrillseekers, Pablo Gargano and Germany’s Kyau vs Albert to name but a few.
Today, Discover is often credited in the press as a trend setting label that enjoys an almost Cult status. Its strict music policies, instigated by John, firmly oppose “cheesy melodies, predictable clichés and horrendous, meaningless female vocals that in John’s mind have tarnished so much of the scene today.
John’s dj sets reflect his highly opinionated views on music. His ear for high quality music, without always taking the obvious anthemetic route, and subtle, yet highly emotive melodies, derived from years of song writing in a plethora of rock bands, makes each and every one of John’s sets unique.
[Discography]
2001
John Askew – 'Vellum' - Discover
2002
John Askew – 'New Dimension'/ 'Are You Reading Me?' - Duty Free
John Askew – 'The Door'/ 'Shadows After Dark?' - Discover
2003
John Askew – 'Skylab' - Discover
[Remixes]
LHB – 'Everybody Sees It On My Face'(John Askew remix) - Telstar
Godspeed – 'Godspeed' (John Askew remix) - Duty Free
Malaysia – “Malaysia'(John Askew remix) - MOS Germany
Graham Fee – 'Forever'(John Askew remix) - Discover
Ronski Speed – 'Iris' (John Askew remix) - Euphonic
Terry Bones vs Fred Baker – 'Introspection' (John Askew remix) - Vandit
Skylab is just out on vinyl, and the highly anticipated Introspection is on its way and doing its rounds with the top jocks! This man is on fire and will be the future of our music to come!
...any comments?
peace.
Steve
Go to Recover World for more info/dates, etc!
Last edited by Steven Hays on Sep-02-2003 at 14:18
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But he pulls it off so well. cant wait to go back and see him again. As for his productions.. well introspection is probably my tune of the year so far.
