DJ ROACH
Now known as the Second Summer of Love, a new culture that began in the late 80s and sparked a social phenomenon that swept across England and the wider United Kingdom. This new culture saw the rise of acid house music and unlicensed rave parties. It was during this time that Mr Roach (then Dj roach) became interested in going to parties that played electronic dance music, by 1990 he got his first pair of belt drive turntables and eventually began DJ-ing at local house parties in and around east London.
As Acid House was morphing into Hardcore and then later jungle he developed a keen ear for the way a Dj would mix and deliver the tracks during a set. He was heavily influenced by Dj’s who had a certain finesse with the turntables as well as unique style of mixing. Being exposed to live sets from Dj’s like lipmaster Mark, Fabio, Carl Cox and DJ Hype made the transition from raver to Dj inevitable.
In the beginning there was House - As the technology improved so did the music, Hardcore, Jungle, House&Garage, UK Garage etc. Atari ST and Commodore 64 evolved into Macintosh and Windows which gave rise to so many variations of dance music that have kept him occupied for years. By 1995 he was playing House & Garage and was able to get a regular weekend radio show on a well-known London pirate station, this was held for 10 years. However, by 2000 he’d become somewhat disenchanted with the then Mc dominated garage scene. So ... after a short hiatus, he dropped the DJ Roach for Mr Roach and while one day viscously throwing down his box he declared “Let there be House”
Mr Roach rarely ever strays too far from the sound and feeling of that ever so important groove, soulful deep house seasoned with a blend of different styles that serve to create a synergistic web between deep soulful, jackin, afro, progressive, Nu Disco and Broken House.
The golden years of the Garage music scene produced many memorable and special moments and enabled him along with many other London Dj’s to clock up Dj air miles for the first time, Spain, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Pathos and Aiya-napa were just some of the destinations where he played.
He cites feeling fortunate enough to have performed for Telepathy, Raindance and Amensia House during the early to mid-90s. Although they were not headline or even main arena bookings, they stand out as profound nostalgic moments and represent personal achievements
Mr Roach has produced and released and various garage tracks in 1998 -99 as part of a collective called BoomBeat Productions. They released tracks like: I Can’t Get Enough, You Don't Know / U Know What's Up Remixes, 702 - Donal Jones Remix, Wanna know you better, Champagne Party and Nite life love affair.
Mr Roach is currently in the lab! Working on some new Roach Material.
