After being introduced to Dance music via early Hip Hop and electro, his tastes were later influenced by the Sheffield illegal party scene in the late eighties, where the Forgemasters DJ's would be instrumental in his musical education. Chris has been playing music as a D.J since 1989, keen to play the music he heard outside his home town, alongside the by now famous 'Sheffield sound'. His first residency was at the Limit club in Sheffield, the night went from 150 to 1200 people in three weeks, and became something of a legendary event. Further guest slots, support DJ tours with Warp (Chris worked as dance buyer in their record store for five years) and Phono, various residencies and eventually, the recording studio followed.
In 1991 Chris began releasing his own music, first on the Warp affiliated Nucleus label and later on the Warp label itself. The RAC project was well received by music lovers and the press alike, it also introduced Chris to Richard Brown, whom he has worked with ever since, this was the start of a long and extraordinary production relationship, which has seen them introduce their acclaimed SWAG sound to the world. Their first four releases for Junior Boys Own and their Jus' Trax subsidiary achieved huge club success. After the Warp shop closed in late 97, Chris found he could devote all his time to running his new 'Primitive' label and step up the DJ and recording schedule. Releases from himself and Richard, and local talent got the label firmly established. More recently the 'Odori' label was started to release the more house orientated tracks.
SWAG released their debut long player 'Felony Funk in 98, on their newly established 'Version Music' imprint, the acclaimed album opened up new opportunities for the dynamic duo to spread the ever versatile SWAG vibe far and wide. A Live/DJ set has rocked clubs from Tokyo to Madrid, not forgetting legendary UK events like Basics and the Sub Club, this and the modest chalking up of over 30 releases together as well as an endless list of remixes for artists like Bjork, Ian Pooley, Herbert and Blaze.
Further collaborations with other labels and artists are under way, and the future promises more quality material from both Primitive, Odori, and of course the flagship Swag project, as well as Important album releases and Promotional D.J and Live tours.
As for his d.jing, Chris tries to stick to the music he believes in, the response to his style in clubs across the globe has been amazing. Real house and electronic grooves played with the maximum funk....
House Chillout Downtempo