JOHN DIGWEED (OF BEDROCK)
John Digweed had been DJing for close to ten years when his remix tape caught the ear of Renaissance promoter Geoff Oakes. He was soon working alongside another popular Renaissance DJ, Sasha. The new position gave the DJ what he needed for his big breakthrough, and he has continued to prosper ever since. Soon a Renaissance CD compilation containing some of Sasha and John’s best remixes was released. The album was a surprise huge seller, warranting a follow-up, Renaissance 2, which soon approached gold status in Europe. Like Sasha, Digweed isn’t limited to remixing other people’s records. He promotes shows in Europe under such pseudonyms as Babealicious and Northern Exposure. Sasha and Digweed continued their collaboration with the Northern Exposure series, compiling the duo’s best remixes for other artists (the second volume was released in 1998 in completely different East Coast and West Coast editions). He scored two Top 30 hits in 1997 with remixes of Chakra’s “I Am” and Bedrock’s “For What You Dream Of” (featured in the hit movie Trainspotting). Digweed also bought a dance club in the south of England in order to perform there on a weekly basis. Via the Global Underground mix series, he released volumes recorded in Sydney and Hong Kong during 1998, then premiered Bedrock — his combination label and production concern — in late 1999. A starring appearance in the American rave movie Groove also increased his stateside visibility. The new millennium saw another release from Bedrock, a double disc of fresh singles and collective new cuts called Foundations. Digweed recorded his third volume in the Global Underground series for a 2001 release; another mix album, MMII, appeared one year later.

MIX MASTER MIKE
Mix Master Mike (born Michael Schwartz) first attracted attention as a member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, one of the most acclaimed DJ collectives of their era—three-time winners of the annual world scratching competition, they were eventually barred from entering as a result of a lack of any solid competition. Debuting in 1996 with Michristmasterpiece Muziks Worst Nightmare, Mike’s skills eventually brought him to the attention of the Beastie Boys, who recruited him to serve as the DJ on their 1998 LP, Hello Nasty, and on tour. His second solo record, Anti-Theft Device, appeared that same summer.

MARIO CALDATO JR.
Multi-faceted musician and producer Mario built Delicious Vinyl Studios with label founder Matt Dike and went on to record the first LPs for both Tone Loc and Young MC. In 1989 he produced the classic “Paul’s Boutique” by the Beastie Boys (Mario would eventually build G-Son Studios with the band). He also worked on their “Check Your Head,”“Ill Communication” and “Hello Nasty” LPs. Mario has worked with Beck, John Lee Hooker, Los Lobos, Money mark, Soulfly, Moby, Bebel Gilberto, Ozomatli, Super Furry Animals, as well as a host of other diverse artists.

HERBERT
Although his methods may provoke more discussion than his music (at least among chin-stroke types and the British and American dance music presses), Matthew Herbert is an experimentalist of a subtle stripe, combining his love for all styles of dance-based electronic music with a desire to push their modes of expression into new areas. And while he studied music formally, much of his creative impetus has been provided by the compositional potential of digital sampling technology, which he liberally applies to such genres as house, electro, ambient, and techno, fashioning tracks of detail and originality from such mundane objects of everyday life as kitchen flatware, crockery, and even his own body. Herbert’s first 12-inch tracks were released through the Universal Language associated with Global Communication. He has since released a flood of material on the Clear and Phono labels, as Doctor Rockit and Herbert, respectively. With Doctor Rockit, Herbert focuses on old- and new-school electro-funk and housed-up techno, fusing clangy, rattling beats with humorous melodies and left-field samples and vocal snippets. With his eponymous project, Herbert releases the unlikeliest of experimental house tracks, working within the genre’s feel-good, four-on-the-floor arrangements while drastically tweaking its modus operandi. His signature approach gave post-rave house’s stale comportment a badly needed shot in the arm, and (somewhat inexplicably) was widely embraced among mainstream and underground house audiences alike. While continuing to record for both Clear and Phono (almost a full dozen of his tracks appeared on Phono’s two-disc compilation The End of the Beginning), Herbert also applied his remixing skills to a number of notable artists, including friend Jonah Sharp of Spacetime Continuum, Harold Budd, Atom Heart, Moloko, Motorbass, Super Furry Animals, DJ Food, Hardfloor, and Presence, among others. Vocalist Dani Siciliano joined Herbert for the 1998 LP Around the House (chock full of domestic sample sources), an association that continued with 2001’s Bodily Functions (no explanation necessary) and 2003’s Goodbye Swingtime (credited to the Matthew Herbert Big Band). Herbert also released a mix album, 2000’s Let's All Make Mistakes, which appeared on Tresor.

URSULA 1000
Ursula 1000 is a stylish American DJ who spins (and records) sampladelic easy listening breakbeat tracks in a style similar to continental popsters from Pizzicato Five to Dimitri From Paris. Born Alex Gimeno, he was raised in Miami, where he studied commercial art and owned a comic book store before joining the local band 23 as a drummer. Determined to make some money from his huge record collection, Gimeno bought turntables and a mixer, learned to spin, and began DJing at a local college station, as well as Miami nightclubs. He began recording as well, and moved to New York to further both his mixing and production career. After negotiations with Island’s Palm Pictures broke down, Gimeno signed to the Eighteenth Street Lounge label run by D.C.’s Thievery Corporation. The New Sound of Ursula 1000 appeared in 1999, followed by the mix album All Systems Are Go-Go one year later. Ursula 1000 has also remixed tracks for Thievery Corporation, The Faint, and Montefiori Cocktail.

LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES
A performance-oriented Latin dance band from Venezuela heavily indebted to funk and disco (with a dash of acid jazz), Los Amigos Invisibles made a big splash in their homeland in 1995 with their debut album, A Typical and Autotonal Venezuelan Dance Band, which featured odd Japanese animé-style artwork. Band members Julio Briceño (vocals), José Luis Pardo (guitar, songwriting), Armando Figueredo (keyboards), Mauricio Arcas (raps), José Rafael Torres (bass), and Juan Manuel Roura (drums) supported their growing reputation with a series of underground dance parties at the mostly deserted clubs of Caracas. However, financial difficulties led the group to move to New York in 1997. They signed with David Byrne’s Luaka Bop imprint and released their American debut, The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera, in 1998. Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey into Space was release two years later. They have also done remixes for Dmitri from Paris, Clinton, and the Fantastic Plastic Machine.

SOULIVE
Brothers Alan and Neal Evans, on drums and Hammond B-3 organ respectively, form two-thirds of the soul/groove trio Soulive. Rounding out the group is Eric Krasno on guitar. The band was formed in the late ‘90s when all three members were under 25 years old. However, each already had substantial backgrounds in the “jam band” scene. Alan and Neal are former members of Moon Boot Lover and Alan also played with the Greyboy Allstars. Krasno founded the super-funky Lettuce, a wildly popular Boston-based band. Though originally from Vermont, Soulive is essentially Boston-based as well. The band toured with and/or opened for a number of notables (including John Scofield, Maceo Parker, Los Lobos, Derek Trucks, and Robben Ford) before headlining their own shows and releasing their introductory EP Get Down in 1999. Their debut full-length release, Turn it Out, followed the next year. Doin' Something, featuring John Scofield, was issued in March 2001. That release generated such a buzz that they were promptly picked up by Blue Note, who released Doin' Something in early 2001. About a year later, Next was released, followed by Soulive in 2003. Soulive is all about danceable, organ-driven instrumental groove-jazz. Their success is a result of fusing the soul jazz of the past with a modern hip-hop feel. Krasno’s spidery yet very direct guitar lines recall Grant Green. The rhythmic concepts employed date back to those learned from artists such as James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Sly Stone.

TJINDER SINGH / CORNERSHOP
It may have taken Cornershop a few years to perfect its innovative hybrid of Indian music, British indie rock, and contemporary dance, but with the release of a third full-length album, When I Was Born for the 7th Time, the racially integrated group’s multi-cultural fusions made band instant critics’ darlings. Taking their name from a common stereotype of Indians in England — that they all own small, corner grocery shops — Cornershop was formed by singer/songwriter, guitarist, and dholki player Tjinder Singh and guitarist, keyboardist, and tamboura player Ben Ayres after the 1991 breakup of a previous group, General Havoc. The remainder of their initial lineup featured Singh’s brother Avtar on guitar and former Dandelion Adventure drummer David Chambers. Following the group’s first gig in Harlow, they signed with the small indie label WIIIJA. Cornershop issued two EPs over the course of 1993 (In the Days of Ford Cortina and Lock Stock and Double Barrel, later collected as Elvis Sex-Change), but attracted more attention for their strong anti-racist politics—specifically, their public denunciation of indie icon Morrissey. In response to Morrissey’s flirtation with skinhead imagery, the group blasted him in the press and took to burning pictures of him in concerts, at press conferences, and even outside the offices of his record label. The backlash in the British music media suggested that Cornershop was nothing but publicity hounds, pointing to the amateurish, messy qualities of the band’s music as evidence (indeed, the group even took a certain pride in their lack of technical know-how during their early days, although they would later become much more accomplished). Fairly or not, Cornershop was, for the most part, dismissed as incompetent. Through all the controversy, the group kept honing it’s sound, adding sitarist Anthony Saffery (who also played keyboards and harmonium) and guitarist Wallis Healey for their 1994 debut album Hold on It Hurts. Chambers and Avtar Singh both left the group in 1995 and the new, reshuffled lineup brought on drummer Nick Simms and percussionist Pete Hall. The same year, David Byrne’s world beat-oriented Luaka Bop label signed Cornershop to a deal and released Woman's Gotta Have It, the group’s first widely accessible album. Singh’s playful humor and English/Punjabi lyrics spoke to the inclusiveness of the band’s vision and hypnotic tracks like “6am Jullandar Shere” attracted positive word-of-mouth from critics and luminaries like Brian Eno, helping land the group on the second stage of that year’s Lollapalooza. Healey and Hall both left following the record’s release, however, and percussionist Peter Bengry took the latter’s place. The reception afforded Woman's Gotta Have It set the stage for the breakthrough of When I Was Born for the 7th Time. Released to hugely positive reviews in 1997, the album mixed pop songs with hypnotic, hip-hop-flavored instrumentals and featured guest spots from Allen Ginsberg and Tarnation’s Paula Frazer, plus production contributions from Dan the Automator. The catchy single “Brimful of Asha,” a tribute to the prolific Indian film singer Asha Bhosle, became a hit in the U.K. after a remix by Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) and actually hit number one on some charts in early 1998 — a far cry from several years before. The success led to an opening slot on Oasis’ American tour and Spin magazine named When I Was Born for the 7th Time its Album of the Year. In the wake of this success, Singh and Ayres put the group on temporary hiatus and returned to their more dance-oriented side project, Clinton, which had released a couple of singles in 1995-1996. The debut Clinton full-length, Disco and the Halfway to Discontent, was released in the U.K. in 1999 and picked up for American distribution by Astralwerks.

SAID MRAD
Born in 1968 in Ferzoul, Lebanon, Mrad’s career in the music industry dates back to 1989 when he first started as a DJ, playing music in hit nightclubs. Through the years, he acquired an admirable sense for music and grew to learn exactly how to serve the needs of the public.  He worked as a DJ on radio in 1992 & 1993. Along with his producer Jean Mouawad, he kick started his new profession in the realm of music by remixing the music of famous Arabic artists like Oum Kalthoum and many others. His first album 2001 Nights, which was released in 2001, included 8 tracks. The hit song “1001 Nights” was supported by a video-clip, as well as the track “nibtidi mnein el Hikaya” and broadcasted on local TV and satellite

MARC CAZORLA
Marc is a multi-instrumentalist playing piano, keyboards, drums, percussion, banjo, and guitar as well as serving as Producer on this record. He spent time in Nashville as a session pianist and drummer. Marc spent time on the road with Stiff and the two of them have collaborated musically for the past 8 years on various projects. He was an assistant producer on the latest Quincy Jones’ album, Love, Q and also runs a small recording studio in Los Angeles, CA.

ECHO
Echo is the duet project between the under appreciated singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joy Askew (known to some as the essential keyboardist and backing vocalist in bands led by Laurie Anderson, Joe Jackson, and Peter Gabriel) and Japanese producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and songwriter Takuya Nakamura. There are other players involved as well, but the closest co-collaborator is Roli Mosimann, best known as a founding member of the late, great Swans. Like everything Askew does, Echo is a deeply sensual project; feelings and sensations are embedded in the songs because the grain of her voice eases deep into the sacrum of the listener and remains there. Joy was also signed for a period to Quincy Jones Music Publishing and was a solo artist, releasing Tender City on BMG/Private Music.

STIFF
Alex Stiff a.k.a. STIFF, a native of Philadelphia, is an accomplished producer/songwriter/guitarist. Within a year of relocating to Los Angeles in 1999, he landed a record deal with Interscope Records as guitarist for LA-based hip-hop group 4th Avenue Jones. One recent writing collaboration, “Mama’s Just A Little Girl,” can be heard on 2Pac Shakur’s double-platinum album, Better Dayz. He also wrote and produced a song, “Workin’” which was just placed in the latest Miller Genuine Draft commercial campaign. Stiff’s songs have also been placed on TV channels such as ABC, Lifetime Network, and the WB.