In the world of electronic music, there are few bigger names than that of Andy C.
Regarded as one of the greatest DJs ever to touch a turntable, the Ram
Records founder has relentlessly dedicated almost two decades of his
life to the music he loves, flying across the globe week in, week out,
to demonstrate a mastery of craft that has earnt him a status as one of
the most iconic and important figures in global dance music culture.
Much more than just a DJ, Andy C is a true figurehead for the drum
& bass movement, within which he has been an instrumental player
since its very beginnings; his DJ sets and own seminal productions
helping to evolve the genre through the many stages of its evolution.
Andy’s dedication to dance music is only matched by his list of
achievements, and his is a journey that has taken him from sneaking into
raves in barns as a 13 year old, to the glamorous terraces of Space in
Ibiza and being invited to speak at Oxford University.
Growing
up in Hornchurch, Essex, the young Andy got his first taste of the rave
culture that was sweeping the UK in the late-1980s from his older
sister, Sarah. At just 12 years of age, Andy would obsessively educate
himself by listening to her rave tapes and local pirate radio, eagerly
absorbing the sounds of the nascent rave scene and desperate to become
involved in its rapidly emerging culture.
At 15, Andy first
met Scott Bourne (Red One) through a school work-experience placement.
The slightly older Scott ran a rave called Imagination in Bishopsgate,
London, and it was here that Andy’s attention was first captured by the
DJ controlling the crowd. After buying a cheap pair of decks, plenty of
sleepless school nights spent practicing, and endlessly mailing out demo
cassettes; luck struck and Andy was asked to play at Elevation on
London’s Shaftsbury Avenue. Residencies at legendary raves such as
Telepathy followed and, as Jungle emerged from Hardcore, Andy C became a
name to watch.
With his career as a DJ taking flight,
although still yet to finish school, Andy was also busy cutting his
teeth as a producer, grappling with the rudimentary music-tech of the
early-90s under the guidance of family friend Ant Miles, and creating
his own tracks on reel-to-reel tape players and monophonic samplers.
Having spent months working on the four-track ‘Sour Mash’ EP, the young
DJ was determined the tracks should find a release. As such, just one
week after finishing his GCSEs, Ram Records was launched, taking its
name from Andy’s star sign (Aries) and with a logo hand-drawn by his
sister on the kitchen table at home. Little did anyone involved realise
then, but what would go on to become one of the biggest and most
powerful brands in dance music had just been born.
Ram’s third
release, the classic ‘Valley Of The Shadows’ (with Ant Miles under the
Origin Unknown moniker) in 1993, assured Andy a place in the history of
dance music at the age of just 16, but the teenager from Essex wasn’t
about to rest on his laurels. As the 1990s went on, and Drum & Bass
emerged from Jungle, Andy’s impeccable DJ sets consolidated his status
as an essential at any big rave, while Ram continued to develop into one
of the most forward thinking and consistent labels in dance music.
Two albums followed for Origin Unknown, ‘Speed Of Sound’ and ‘Sound In
Motion’ in 1997 and 1998 respectively, before Andy and Ant linked up
within another longstanding local friend, Shimon, to form the mighty Ram
Trilogy. In 1999 the trio released ‘Molten Beats’, a landmark drum
& bass album that signified just how far the genre come in the few
short years since the emergence of Jungle in the early-90s.
Over the following decade both Andy and Ram refused to let up. DJing
more than ever, in almost every corner of the planet, Andy was - and
continues to be - repeatedly voted Number One at every D&B awards
ceremony going, confirming his reputation for near super-human skills
behind the turntables with every set, and demonstrating a technical and
musical erudition that led to his fond labelling as a ‘robot’ by the
fans that religiously attended the packed-out Ram events at The End
nightclub in London’s West End.
In 2003 Andy released the
first in his ‘Nightlife’ mix series, winning universal acclaim for its
selection and construction and spawning four further instalments over
the years that would follow. While Andy kept himself busy with a
tireless DJ schedule during the first decade of the new Millennium, Ram
was busy too – signing up the brightest sparks from D&B’s new wave
of producers. Among these were two names that have since become some of
the biggest producers working in electronic music today; Sub Focus and
Chase & Status, who have both gone on the record to expressing their
gratitude for Andy’s role in their unprecedented success as producers.
Despite this incredible career, the future is set for only bigger and
better things for a man who has dedicated the vast majority of his life
to the music he loves and believes in. After a year that saw him unleash
the latest ‘Nightlife’, moving the Ram nights to London’s Fabric
superclub, signing a whole raft of fresh talent to the label and even
lecturing at Oxford University, as the new decade develops the man they
call ‘The Executioner’ isn’t softening up… in fact, he’s sharpening his
axe.
Awards & Honours:
DJ Mag Top 100 Best D&B DJ - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
National D&B Awards Best DJ - 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Drum & Bass Arena Awards Best DJ - 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010
Knowledge Mag Best DJ - 1999, 2000, 2003
Accelerated Culture Best DJ - 2002, 2003, 2004
Mixmag Greatest DJ Of All Time - No.4
Southwest Awards Best DJ - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
DJ Mag Top 100 Highest Climber - 2010
Accelerated Culture Outstanding Achievement - 2004
National D&B Awards Lifetime Achievement - 2008
National D&B Awards Best Album - 2011
BBC 1Xtra Icon Award - 2007
Drum & Bass Arena Hall of Fame - 2009
Future Music Awards Best International DJ - 2009
Hardcore Dance awards Best DJ - 1997
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