Blame

One of the original hardcore pioneers, Blame has taken his music to new heights recently as his sound continues to evolve. In recent years Blame’s hard work and skills have gained him a steadily rising profile, as a producer, remixer and DJ. As well as running his own imprints 720 Degrees and Blame Music, Blame has released on the biggest labels in drum and bass, including Moving Shadow, Good Looking, Metalheadz and Hospital, and developed a reputation for consistently breaking boundaries with fresh and dynamic new music.
The man behind the massive anthems 'Stay Forever' and 'Because of You' has much more in store for 2009, including a further single (‘Set Me Free’) plus live showcase appearances alongside Selah. Remixes for Robin S (‘Show Me Love’), VV Brown (‘Shark in the Water’) and Alesha Dixon (‘Lets Get Excited’) have already hit the dancefloors and a major album project is underway, due for release in August. With support from a whole host of top BBC Radio 1 DJs, Blame is going from strength-to-strength and enjoying one of his busiest years yet.

Extended biography:

It all began over 18 years ago when Blame, in the studio with college friend Tony Justice, started to create tracks which would become synonymous with the early hardcore scene. ‘Music Takes You’, a solo project for Moving Shadow, saw him break into the UK charts and reach number one in the dance chart; many books charting the early days of dance music have since credited this tune as a seminal moment in what was to soon become drum & bass. After experiencing such early chart success, Blame decided to focus on his musical direction, and received critical acclaim for tunes such as ‘Planet Neptune’, also released on Moving Shadow. In late 1996, he joined LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking Records, and it was here that he began to try out more new sounds, soon becoming one of the label’s most important artists. Blame mixed the second in the famous ‘Logical Progression’ series. He not only made waves with innovative, atmospheric and progressive tracks such as ‘Visions Of Mars’ and ‘Alpha:7’, but also became one of Good Looking’s leading DJs, touring the world with LTJ Bukem. In 1997, Blame set up his own label, 720 Degrees. ‘Cuban Lynx’ / ‘Solitude’ was its first release and since it's become a platform for innovative drum & bass, releasing music from Blame alongside tracks from Odyssey, Seba, Future Engineers and Pariah amongst others. 1999 saw the release of ‘Two Revolutions’, a 720 compilation album that showcased the label’s increasingly dancefloor-orientated sound. It was a direction in which Blame’s own music was heading – his 1999 ‘Between Worlds’ EP featured a fiercely robotic tune called ‘Mechanism’, which seemed to manifest the evolution of his musical vision. “I wanted to get tracks like it out on 720 Degrees as much as I could,” he explains. “It crosses the board from the more musical styles of drum & bass to the more dancefloor sound. For me, that’s the future, that versatility.” In 2001, Blame left Good Looking Records to run 720 full time. He mixed and compiled the “Two Revolutions” mix CD and set about reinventing his sound for the changes that were soon to follow. In 2004, musical collaborations with Mampi Swift on Charge Recordings and 12” releases on Metalheadz saw Blame’s sound rise to a new level. His debut release on Metalheadz, 'Burnout' / 'Medusa', was followed by the "Rise Of The Machines EP" on Charge Recordings, which showed Blame taking a slightly heavier dancefloor approach. Blame also appeared on Mampi Swift's "Music Forever LP" and was part of the Charge UK tour and Metalheadz club nights across the UK, Europe, and the USA. Further work for Metalheadz followed in the form of ‘Psychotropic’ on the ‘Winter of Content’ compilation and another single “The Search / Landspeed”, both released in Autumn 2005.

In 2006, Blame's album "The Turning Point" was released on 720 Degrees. Featuring club smashers Solar Burn and Skyline, LP received support across the drum and bass scene from DJs including Andy C and Grooverider. Hospital Records took Blame's track 'Avalon' for their "Weapons Of Mass Creation" LP in 2007 and also went on to include 'Hindsight' on 2008's "Friendly Fire EP".
Opening a new chapter in 2008, the label Blame Music was started in an effort to feature more experimental sounds once again as shown by the debut release, 'Hiro / Apocalypto'. The massive summer anthem 'Stay Forever' soon followed and brought epic strings and a feel-good vibe to dancefloors worldwide.
Linking up with the superb vocalist Selah, 'Because of You' was a massive success and has resulted in the duo forming a live showcase for performances together at clubs and outdoor stages across the UK. With support from BBC Radio 1 DJs including Sara Cox, Zane Lowe, Fabio and Grooverider and an appearance on Pete Tong’s prestigious Essential Mix show, there's no doubting Blame is winning new fans and continuing to push boundaries for drum and bass.

Massive remixes for Robin S (‘Show Me Love’), VV Brown (‘Shark in the Water’) and Alesha Dixon (‘Lets Get Excited’) have taken clubs by storm, further enhancing Blame’s dancefloor credentials. There’s more to come in 2009 too, with remixes of New Zealand chart topper P Money and David Guetta & Kelly Rowland forthcoming. His next album with feature collaborations with some of the UK’s finest vocal talent (Selah, Alex Mills & J2K (Roll Deep), Kayla, JT Fitz and Ny) and will surely attract the attention Blame deserves.