DJ Dave Angel Profile

I was born in Chelsea in 1966. My mother was a housewife and my father was a jazz musician. So music was in my veins since birth really! My first musical instrument was a drum at the noisy age of eight. I didn’t get on well with school, and spent little time there, preferring truancy to chemistry and the music room to the classroom.

My uncle had a reggae sound system, so I was always into the one-turntable side of DJing. I must have been around 11 or 12 years old. When I was around 15, a group of friends and myself got together our own little sound system, playing mainly for free at little parties. When I was 20 I auditioned for Phase 1 radio, who were one of the leading pirates at the time of the acid house explosion, and I was really excited when I got the slot. I was a real radio DJ!

Before that, my father had given me the first turntable that I ever had; it was a Garrard belt-drive thing, so it was no good for mixing. I didn’t know anything about mixing at that time anyway so I was happy plugging away pretending to be a radio DJ, with my one Garrard deck. A few years later it broke; my then girlfriend, who is now my wife, bought me a Technics 1210. At this point I wanted to learn how to mix. So I traded my favourite leather jacket for a Marantz turntable; it wasn’t great but at least it had a pitch control! I spent endless hours practising by myself until I got it right.

Everything went mad with the technology around 1987 and I started producing. My first production was a remix of the Eurhythmics track "Sweet Dreams". There was no specific strategy behind me doing that track, I had beats and a bassline and a riff, and then I looked through my records and pulled out that track. When I bootlegged it, the track got so much attention that the next minute I had lawyers from BMG out looking for me. But thankfully I got put into a real recording studio with Dave Dorrell and the "Sweet Dreams Nightmare Mix" was made. And I got a nice cheque. And suddenly I was a producer as well as a DJ. It did pretty well in the charts – number 23, my highest so far – but I have never made a record just to be a hit. I make records because I enjoy it but yeah it is about you getting paid.

I never bootlegged another track and now I know the proper channels I wouldn’t do it again. But saying that, for anyone else who doesn’t know the right channels; I say do anything once, ha ha ha!!

That success gave me the drive and confidence to start producing bolder tracks and that set me on the path to defining my own sound. It’s true, the whole Atkins/May/Saunderson Detroit thing has certainly been an influence, but it’s by no means restricted me to one vibe. I’ve had singles and EPs out on Polydor/Love, OuterRythum, FNAC, R+S, Outrage and Apollo imprints, all of which have sold well and received decent critical acclaim. Later, I made the "Sea of Tranquillity EP" which went down really well with the heads. Sea Of Tranquillity achieved what I was trying to do – ie to establish my Rotation imprint with good quality music. I always knew that release in particular was pretty special.

I’ve put my hand to a fair few remixes too, for bands and producers like Orbital, Sun Electric, Carl Cox, Robert Armani, The R+S Project, Juan Atkins, Spooky, Echobelly, James, Underworld and others. The list goes on and on but you can find the rest in my discography! To me remixing and producing are just the same; if I remix a track I’m injecting my production into it, sometimes it is all my own production with mainly one sample from the original.

I signed up with Island Records with releases such as "In-flight entertainment" (1994), and "Handle with Care" (1995). I put my first album out through Island in 1995 - "Tales of the Unexpected". That one went down well with the media: "Angel concocted an album which will stand the test of time", commented the Guardian. "Where techno went wrong in 1995, heaven certainly sent an Angel". It’s really great to get flattery like that, but I always think of myself as a perfectionist so I always want a little more from myself. With this album I was trying to express myself musically because the album was totally sample-free apart from a few vocals. Everything was produced and mixed by me. I also wanted to sow people that I am more than just a techno artist, that my musical talents go further. Everyday life influenced me on that album; my family, the problems with the world, past and present situations and things happening around me.

I released my second album, "Globetrotting" for Island Records with tracks that were more dancefloor-orientated but still quite cutting edge. This album was designed to be more club-orientated which enabled me to take the album on live tours; I was very pleased with it. It took me around six months to complete – but I was being rushed by the label!!

After three long years, Island Records and I parted company and I started working on tracks to put out through Rotation my own label. Splitting with Island also enabled me to work for other cool labels who I’d been making promises to for years, but been held back by the Island exclusive contract. This left me in wondering whether to sign to another major or to freelance for a while. The freelance option sounded better so I went back in the studio and got on with it.

In 1998 I finished off what was to become "39 Flavours of Tech-Funk" on React and it received wicked reviews across the globe, including a particularly flattering quote from Upfront Magazine; "Dave Angel has been at the forefront of Techno for nearly a decade". This comp had the cool but hectic effect of clogging up my diary with bookings, which meant more time in airports and even more time in the passenger seat of my driver’s car. Not that I’m complaining though!!

The kind of music I think I play is, in a nutshell, ‘funky’. Sometimes I get a better opportunity to go through my collection in a bit more depth – like when I play for Bukem at Cookin’ At The End where I can just do whatever I feel – but no matter what, it is always funky.

The Knockout EP was a production we put out in 1999 – I made it with Jamie Anderson. I got the idea for the name from playing a video game called Knockout Kings on the Playstation and I thought it would be a good theme. I was really happy with this release; Body Punch Funk was really popular and got licensed all over the place. I first met Jamie when he contacted me to do a mix for his label. I had known about his Artform imprint for some time, and I liked his sound, so I obliged and said that I would do the mix. We’ve been good friends ever since, doing stuff for each other’s labels. My office manages his DJ bookings too. Jamie was on my second Knockout release called The Rematch (2000), and we’re working on future projects.
I love playing in England as I don’t have to fly – which I hate!

But to me a good gig is when you have a good sound system with a really up-for-it crowd. The downside to it all is lots of late nights and a messed-up body clock. When I’m on the road I tend to stay in my hotel room with my laptop chopping up loops and using them as scratchpads or templates for new tracks. This is my relaxation. My future plans are to complete my third album and to continue spreading my sound globally, so I’ll see you out there!!

Discography

1st Voyage R+S Records
2nd Voyage R+S Records
3rd Voyage R+S Records
Family EP R+S Records
Outrageous Angel R+S records
Classics Album R+S Records
Rolling Thunder OuterRhythum Records
Never Leave / Joie De Vivre Love/Polydor Records
Atmosphere Love / Polydor Records
Original Man Aura Records
New Orchestrations Fnac Records
Royal Techno EP Rotation Records
Seas Of Tranquillity Rotation Records
Sound Enforcer 3: The Missing Link Phuture Trax Records
Sound Enforcer : The 2nd series Island Records
Sound Enforcer : Flys and cows of Coldharbour Lane Kickin Records
Sound Enforcer : Icons EP Island Records
Law , Order and Sound Enforcement Primate Records
InFlight Entertainment EP Island Records
Handle With Care Island Records
Tales Of The Unexpected Island Records
Timeless "The Remixes" Island Records
Disco "The Remixes" Island Records
Tokyo Stealth Bomber "The Remixes" Island Records
Globetrotting (Album) Island Records
Funk Music "The remixes" Island Records
Richard Sent Me Mayday Records
Insights EP Rotation Records
Excursions Jericho Records
Sky The End Recordings
Knockout EP Rotation Records
Knockout EP, The Rematch Rotation records
Gorgon, Rotation records

Remixes

Eurythmics SWEET DREAMS (Nightmare Mix) RCA
Orbital STEEL CUBE IDOLATRY(DA mutation) FFRR
Bizarre Trax Vol .1 SENSORY DELIGHT(Angels Delight Mix) Lemon Sol
Golden Girls KINETIC R+S
Sun Electric ENTRANCE R+S
The Point DANCE IS THE NU SEX IRS
Transformer 2 PACIFIC SYMPHONY Antler Subway
R+S Project UNDERGROUND TURBULENCE DAT
KATANA Eastern Block
Paul Hazel GO Rotation
Towering Inferno KADDISH Island
SPEAKING IN TONGUES Island
MLO SAMARKAND Aura
Robert Armani FROZEN ACV
Kenishi OVERLAP R+S
Hardfloor BEAVERS AT BAT IQ
Duke SPLASHING WITH PD Pagoda
Fourhero JACOB'S OPTICAL STAIRWAY R+S
Dave Angel TIMELESS Island
Dave Angel RUDIMENTS Island
Doi-ing SYNTH LOOP Open
Spooky FINGERBOB A+M
Billy Nasty MAZZOSLAMMA Hardhand
Dave Angel AIRBORNE Island
Mikrobonics SCHATTENMUND Undercover Music
Eat Static HYBRID Ultimate
James SHES A STAR Mercury
Earl Grey BACK TO MY ROOTS Ultimatum
Dave Angel DISCO Island
Dave Angel TOKYO STEALTH FIGHTER Island
Billy Nasty DISCOTAMINATION Tortured
Joey Beltram TIME Mute
Warp 69 NATURAL HIGH Death Becomes Me
DJ Krust / Roni Size MAINTAIN V Rec
Gary Newman WARRIORS Beggars Banquet
Jamie Anderson DOLPHINS Artform
Echobelly HERE COMES THE BIG RUSH Sony
Vitro SET IT DOWN Independiente
Mark NRG DONT STOP Mercury
Dan Curtan SWORD OF ORION Music Mine(Japan)
Rene De Gaston COUPE DE BRESIL Touche - Vernoth
Ian Pooley GIMME SOUND NRK
Praga Khan LUV U STILL Antler Subway
DJ Sia - Mac FAITH HEALER Fuel Records
Twister SEQUENCE 23 Response Audio
Protein Boy WANNA GO BANG Checkpoint
Underworld KING OF SNAKE Jnr Boys Own
Carl Cox LATIN THEME Ultimatum
Halo BIGHAIR Undercover Music
Oliver Lieb EVERLAST Big Hair Rec
Stacey Pullen DUKE Virgin Rec
Kenishi Extra R S Rec
Francessco Pico Magnitude Good as Rec
Jamie Anderson Can't Stop Artform
Baz Believers One Little Indian
The Hacker Just Play Rotation Rec
Fifth Level Jump Up Vapour
Juan Atkins Wanna Be There R S
DJ Marky LK V Rec