Suade - Biography

Although he's a relative newcomer to the international techno scene, Newcastle, UK based producer Suade has been working with electronic music for over a decade. With a long background of playing in various bands and Djing on pirate radio and at house parties, he has always written music in some form or another. Suade's long-held fascination with music technology (and need to get his hands on a decent studio) led to studying and then teaching the subject at the University of Newcastle with which he still has ties as a composer. Given his family background in Detroit coupled with his interest in electronic sound it is not surprising that Suade found himself interested in techno music from its birth in the late 1980s onward. <br><br>

Towards the end of the 1990s with his musical style now focussed on techno Suade decided to present his own music to the public by starting a record label. The first Adapted Vinyl 12" featured tracks by both Suade himself and also Fast Breeder (an ongoing collaborative project with Insert Recordings' Paul Smyth). That first EP was released in 2000 and is still being played today by DJs such as Andrew Weatherall. Since then the label has been going from strength to strength and featuring an ever growing circle of recording artists including, Mindtours, Neil Iceton, Desmond Kodak, Access 58, Ian Void, Suibom Serum, Gamma, Artwhore and Tycho. Adapted Vinyl will be celebrating its 10th release in 2002 - a healthy sign of longevity in what is often seen as a volatile area.<br><br>

As a DJ Suade started young (his first professional gig was a summer residency in Portugal in 1985) but only began to take it seriously after launching the Adapted Vinyl record label. Since then his performances have met with a very positive response leading to gigs in New York, Detroit, San Francisco and Toronto as well as residencies in his home town of Newcastle at Fast Breeder (2000-1) and Reverb (2001-?) In this, as in his production work, Suade takes the techno ethos of continual development very much to heart. As a means of pushing the role of the DJ to a new level he has invented Rex - a device he has designed and built himself. A hybrid combination of sampler, mixer and FX unit all in one box, Rex allows Suade to extend his DJ sets into the realm of raw tonal manipulation. Working in this way the communication between the DJ and the crowd is heightened generating new levels of experience and excitement. With the merging of the mediums used by producer and DJ the creative process is re-defined once again.