James Holden (tech/progressive house/ambient)

[Asteroid]

As a dance music producer, james holden needs no introduction. the original bedroom producer wunderkind who first burst into view in 1999 aged only 19 with the now classic “horizons” has in just four years made an impact on the scene of which many and older producer can but dream, with a string of consistently stunning tracks and remixes for just about every label that matters – loaded, bedrock, london, positiva, lost language, direction, nu life, perfecto, hope, deviant. the revelation that they were all made using merely a PC and freeware music production software which anyone can download (legally!) from the internet sent waves across the old skool production industry and went a long way towards opening doors for a whole new generation of young producers to follow him. with his own tracks a fixture in the sets of every major dj from sasha, digweed, garnier and warren to tong, oakenfold, tiesto and armin, his collaboration on the track “bloodlock” appearing on sasha’s “airdrawndagger” artist album, his recent full vocal track hit “nothing” with julie thompson and his own brand new buzz label border community, holden has cemented his reputation as quite a force to be reckoned with in the production world. many people would be satisfied with that, but with a period of hard work behind the turntables and heavy tours across the world now behind him, people everywhere are now beginning to sit up and also take notice of james holden the dj.

guesting on oxygen fm and in various clubs around the oxford area whilst at university, the demand for james as a dj grew naturally as word of his phenomenal productions spread. he has since played in north america, asia, australia and all over the uk and europe, including residencies at amsterdam’s kremlin and the uk’s passion, and regular appearances at clubs as diverse as plus soda (athens), the now legendary elements (london), slinky (bournemouth and bristol) and the club which started it all off, slide in oxford. with plans for first tours of the united states and south america in late 2003, james is very much a dj to watch for the future, one of a handful of young djs of a similar age to the majority of club punters who’ve been allowed to rise up the ranks in recent years. melodic and driving, dubbed out and hypnotic, his sets take in techno and deep trance along with his own tracks, special edits and remixes put together in his studio and a good deal of sampler wizardry, making his sets every bit as individual and genre-defying as the sound of his productions. it is this often unorthodox coupling of tracks which the purists have traditionally grouped into distinct genres along with james’ dedication to hunting down exclusive new tracks from astounding yet undiscovered young production talent which makes Holden’s sound a unique one as yet unrepresented across the musical spectrum. a dj who has in the past often be inaccurately pigeonholed as “progressive” or “trance”, james holden is through hard work, dedication and an unerring belief in his own vision slowly converting all those who take the time to actually listen to his sets to his own as yet unclassified hybrid of the music we call house.

what is increasingly being recognised as a unique musical vision is now brought to life with holden's brand new record label border community, his first wholly independently owned and run label venture. border community promises to merge the more leftfield sounds which james listens to at home with a dancefloor dynamic akin to what he usually plays in his dj sets, a concept perfectly illustrated in the form of dancefloor and ambient mixes of first release, and first solo track from james holden for well over a year, "a break in the clouds". with plenty more exciting new releases lined up over the coming months, border community looks set to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with within the dance scene, providing an outlet for holden's more underground productions and hopefully kickstarting the careers of a host of talented young producers along the way.

"james holden is the man!" - sasha
"james holden is absolutely amazing!" - nick warren.
"man of the moment!" - pete tong.
"the best new talent to emerge in 1999" - dave seaman.
"give that man a first!" - mixmag

www.jamesholden.org.uk