16/3/2010 - Andy C +MC GQ @ Think Tank

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Hertz-u Sound System + Frontier Events

Andy C +MC GQ
Support:Fraher
Room 2: Nutronix
Fri 16th march @ Think Tank
Advance tickets €17.50
€20 on the door
Advance Tickets from usual outlets. Phone/internet bookings subject to
extra service charges.
www.ticketmaster.ie /24hr Hotline 0818 719 300
More info www.pod.ie

Andy C biog
Last year saw Andy C reign supreme once more as he was crowned Best DJ
by Drum & bass Arena for the 6th successive year; a record for the
drum and bass industry. He was the highest drum and bass
representative at DJs top 100 DJs Poll at number 28, and started the
year getting the ultimate accolade from the bible of dance music
Mixmag listing him in the top 10 of their Club lands Ultimate Power
List. While running his label, signing new talents, producing and
traveling across the globe to play some of the biggest clubs, Andy C
is a busy man, and one of dance musics best ambassadors.
Andys musical background started with nothing more than a drum kit
which he was bought by his parents when he was five years old. Like
most things Andy tries, it quickly became an obsession practicing at
any given opportunity. Andys fascination with dance music and its
culture came about largely thanks to his older sister who was at the
heart of its emergence in and around 86/87. One of the first tunes he
heard was the legendary Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald. When I
heard that something clicked and that was the start of everything.
Andy recalls.
Andy considers himself lucky growing up in Essex, as there were a few
good pirate radio stations to choose from including Centre Force and
Sunrise, broadcasting 24/7 and playing the latest dance music on
offer. It became an obsession. To Andys sheer delight it wasnt long
before his sister took him to his first rave when he was only 13!
However, it wasnt until 1991 that Andy decided he wanted to become And
DJ and create the kind of vibe that was making dancefloors erupt. He
became obsessive and quickly managed to get a slot with the late shift
on his local pirate station Cyndicate FM. Andy would play almost every
night of the week, which was usually followed by him falling asleep in
the studio, before he would walk home around the same time that the
majority would be getting up and going to work.
His first club slot was for a club night on Shaftsbury Avenue. On the
night his car broke down on the way in to town, and he had to hail a
cab and get a night bus back! Soon Andy was opening at Telepathy,
where he stayed from 10pm-6am for every event, so that if someone
didnt turn up hed fill in. This loyalty paid off, and Andy rightfully
earned his residency at Telepathy.
It was in 1993 that the scene started to explode; jungle club nights
and raves were packed out every week and Andy saw his bookings soar,
and he became part of the drum&bass family; every Thursday he would
meet up with Hype and Brockie. They would go to Section 5, Black
Market, Unity Records and end up down at the legendary Music House
cutting dubs. In parallel to his thriving DJ career, Andy was becoming
an excellent producer, teaching himself the basics of computer
programming and experimenting with beats. Friend of the family Ant
Miles a talented sound engineer heard one of Andys rearrangement of
Voodoo Ray and offered help. They quickly became a team: from his
relentless Djing Andy knew what music to do, and Ant knew how to make
it.
Their first release together was as Desired State. Soon Andy was
confident enough to produce on his own and, at 16, his first solo
effort the Sour Mash EP became the first release on his label Ram
Records, created thanks to a £1,000 loan from his uncle. Ant and Andy
went around the shops selling the EP themselves and to their delight,
it sold a promising 2,500 copies.
However, nothing could have prepared them for the consequences of
their first track as Origin Unknown, a piece of drum & bass history.
Valley Of The Shadows released in 1993 - became an absolute all-time
classic. The track was so popular that Andy was even being booked to
perform live P.As of the track which he confesses involved nothing
more than playing a DAT whilst standing next to unplugged keyboard!
The unstoppable rise of Andy C as a DJ, producer, A&R and label boss
kept on through the nineties. The Origin Unknown remix of Busta Rhymes
Woo Haa in 1996 added another skill to the 20-year-old producer, and
was followed by many more, for Reprazent and Adam F amongst others.
Enrolling new members, including old friend Shimon, Ram compiled their
first album Origin Unknown presents The Speed Of Sound, in 1996.
Another showcase of the Ram stable, Sound In Motion, was released in
1998 with No Reality, another landmark 12, produced by Andy, Ant and
Shimon as Ram Trilogy. It was followed by an album Molten Beats a year
later.
2001 was another stepping stone for Andy C as a track he recorded with
Shimon, an insanely catchy instrumental called Bodyrock, crashed into
the national charts at 28. The same year, Andy started to capture the
energy of his DJ sets through a powerful mix of Ram singles and EP
called Ram Raiders, and some stunning remixes such as Adam Fs Stand
Clear (featuring MOP) as Origin Unknown.
It was followed by a Drum & Bass Arena and a Fabric Live Mix CDs. The
concept stepped up with the release of the hugely successful Nightlife
mixed compilation in 2003, followed by Nightlife 2 A Drum And Bass
Odyssey a year later, getting the Mixmag LP of the month accolade. The
2003 Knowledge Magazine Awards were a consecration of Andy, winning
Best DJ for an unprecedented third time in a row, while Ram were
nominated for Best Single and Best label.
Since then, Andy has been in the studio, producing as part of Origin
Unknown (including Dynamite MCs Hotness in 2004) and Ram Trilogy. He
has traveled around the world a few times, and spends a lot of energy
looking after the Ram stable, signing new artists including the likes
of Subfocus to the ever-expanding roster. 2006 sees the release of
another installment of the classic Nightlife series, packed with
exclusive gems by the whos who of drum and bass worldwide.
When looking over Andy Cs career to date it quickly becomes clear that
he has worked extremely hard to get where he is today. Now known as
drum&bass superstar DJ who spends most his time touring the world
playing the music that he loves, it is important to note that he has
done every menial job there is in this scene just to be part of it.
Handing out flyers, selling records, reading instruction manuals,
doing night shifts, opening and graveyard slots, Andy has done it
Thats why, even widely acknowledged as the ambassador of drum&bass
worldwide, Andy is still working hard for the love of the music and
the respect of his massive audience all across the globe.

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