The Balcony the debut album out now! po.st/wYIdxN 

Leeds based DJ playing all things house / bassline / speed garage since 2004

NEW ALBUM . OUT JULY 4TH
THE TITS OUT TOUR SUMMER 2025

Damian Robert Nesta Marley, also known around the world as “Junior Gong” and more recently as “Gongzilla” was born in 1978 to parents Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976.  As a young adult, he developed a passion and a gift to speak for those who cannot always speak for themselves. A self-proclaimed ‘Spiritual Revolutionary’, Damian has worked assiduously to carve his own niche in music history and to add a new perspective to the Marley legacy for the 21st century. 

At the age of 13, Damian began performing in a group called “The Shepherds” which comprised of Shiah Coore (son of Third World guitarist Cat Coore) and currently a member of his band, and Yashema Beth McGreggor, daughter of reggae singers Freddie Mcgreggor and Judy Mowatt and then began touring with his brothers, Stephen, Ky-mani, Julian and Ziggy. 

By 1996, Damian had already made his stamp as a different kind of Marley when he released his first solo album “Mr. Marley”, a heavily dancehall-influenced album produced by his brother Stephen Marley.  His second album “Halfway Tree” was released in 2001 by a major record label and showcased Damian’s unique gift for blending dancehall, reggae and hip-hop styles.  This album won Damian much recognition and remained on the Billboard Top Reggae Album Charts for 158 weeks and earned him his first Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2002. 
While honored by this recognition by the global music fraternity, Damian continued to work in the studio, laying the groundwork for the tracks that would become his highly anticipated album, “Welcome To Jamrock”. The lyrics in this album presented Marley as a true spiritual revolutionary, as he used his talent to evoke a spiritual change while trying to enforce a better way of thinking.  He is described as “rhyming with the conviction of a street preacher with the intellect of a university economist”.  

Damian’s hit single “Welcome to Jamrock” was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade by Rolling Stone, and at the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. Damian is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards. The New York Times called Welcome to Jamrock the “best reggae song of the decade.” 
Welcome to Jamrock led the pathway to Damian’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Nas for 2010’s much lauded album “Distant Relatives” – a project which explored the relationships between reggae, hip-hop and Africa. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. USA Today referred to the album as a “potent and often provocative collaboration” and by Rolling Stone as “an Afrocentric winner.” The album debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and Number 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Rap Albums and Reggae Albums charts, with Billboard heralding the album as “a dynamic hybrid.”    

The Distant Relatives Tour kicked off in 2011 and saw Damian traveling and performing for thousands of fans all over the world, including South America, Europe, The United Kingdom, The Caribbean and North America.  

Damian continued to cross musical boundaries in 2012, as he went on to partner with Skrillex for their groundbreaking track “Make It Bun Dem”, which Rolling Stone called “a monster mash up of dubstep and dancehall” and has led to several remixes of the original version.  Damian recently released two other singles; “Set Up Shop” and  “Affairs of the Heart” which both received widespread airplay. 

Damian continues to tour with his band all over the world as a way of entertaining and healing as he continues to spread the message for those whose voices cannot be heard. He is working with his brothers Stephen and Julian under their Ghetto Youths International Label, to discover, develop and sign gifted artistes by applying their musical talent and vast experience to create new and different styles of music.  

Damian is currently in the studio working on his upcoming solo album.

Graham Dixon since 1985 has been DJing at house parties and bars where he lived throughout the north of England then by 1988 he was a highly skilled & respected scratcher known for playing everything from hip hop, soul, breaks, early house and so on. Having already established a vinyl collection through his US, Europe & UK contacts, he became a most sought after DJ has his reputation grew which could've quite easily have taken the very reserved Graham to global status especially boasting a best vinyl, most advanced collection, which was by far way ahead of many at the time.

His regular London trips for packaged haul's of advance record orders, paid off, way before the stroke of 1990 had reached us, he was already playing regular club spots at The Leeds Warehouse, Tradeshall, Bradford's Bibbies aka The Capricorn Club & Leeds Twilight Zone a notorious converted Blues.

Then there was Blackburn's Monroes where low & behold all the illegal rave activity shaped itself in the north. Blackburn was an organised central focus to mediate northern areas catering to crews from Manchester, Blackburn & Leeds after club closing time, such as The Hacienda, Leeds Warehouse & Blackburn's Red Parrot plus other firms eventually joined the bond including Huddersfield, Liverpool, Blackpool & Bradford etc all via the renowned convoy system where 100's of cars skilfully avoided the police to prevent them breaking up the monstrous parties ahead.

Part of this organisation was assisted by pirate radio of which Graham was inundated with show's, keeping the organised party clock's ticking away for what storming 24/48 hour outdoor parties lay ahead. Basically cleverly moulding together, numbers in droves of 10 to 30 thousand happy smiles dancing their interactions away at the huge Summer Of Love parties such as Joy, Live The Dream, Sundance, Blast Off, Sunrise, Karma Sutre etc, all once it became UK widespread. 

After all this the house parties/raves were now regulated & no longer illegal, he was offered his own night at Ricky's in Leeds taking over from Sasha every Wednesday leading to more work at another red hot fixture back then, The Gallery with more work in & around Europe.  

Recent years in Leeds have seen him play to constantly sold out shows which he organised, UBER being one while Graham also set his sights on spinning at events pulling the success he always achieved, it actually seemed whatever Graham turned his hand to turned to gold, playing for brands like Kissdafunk, Plastic, The Zoo, Canya and Coastline without forgetting the legendary boat party. Plus for a solid 8 years week in week at Stinky's in Leeds he ran the Back2Mine Sunday daytime terrace shows, consistently playing to sold out audiences.

DJ influences who've guided his diversity flow throughout the years stretch from Cash Money, Jazzy Jeff, Grandmaster Flash, Nightmares On Wax from Leeds, the outstanding UK talents of Sasha & Mike Pickering plus Derrick Carter and Carl Cox have all driven the Graham Dixon talent wagon.

Check out his productions of remixes, mash ups & tracks at uberdifgitalrecordings.

Now he's fully re acquainted his passion for a solid underground classic acid house sound again, Shine offered him The Loft host slots at Leeds Warehouse for the FAC51 Hacienda shows which were taking off in the main room. Since then he's now been asked to fully join the residency outfit with his debut show set to commence 11pm, The Loft at The Warehouse, 13th June 2015 when Shine host the Made In Leeds Festival Afterparty, with Steve Lawler headlining the main room.

Established in London, 1999.

#HouseMusicAllLifeLong

 The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.

By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a "jazz-dub-reggae" band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned second hand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.

By the time Chrissie Hynde invited them to tour with the Pretenders during the summer of 1980 and their debut single "King b/w Food For Thought" had sailed into the UK Top 5, all the essential elements of UB40 were already in place. Their line-up will remain unchanged for almost thirty years, and they will continue playing a mix of original material and inspired choice of reggae covers in a style that’s instantly accessible with its bright melodies and sweeping horn arrangements – one that’s allied to a formidable rhythm section, capable of holding its own with anything from Jamaica.

UB40’s first album was released the following September, on Graduate Records. Their deal allowed them more creative freedom than if they had signed with a major label. The cover artwork memorably duplicated an unemployment benefit card, with the title "Signing Off" rubber-stamped in red, but it was the music that quickly worked its way into the affections of a young, mainly student crowd with its knowing lyrics, solid reggae rhythms and dubby, instrumental passages, offset by warm horn solos and Jamaican style scatting. There was nothing else like it at the time. As a multi-cultural band from Birmingham, UB40 weren’t drawn into trying to sound "authentic," and there was considerably more depth to their music than that of many punk and 2Tone bands. "I’m a British subject, not proud of it, whilst I carry the burden of shame," they sang on one of the tracks. Accepting the truth of their own situation amidst a sea of other reggae songs proclaiming black heritage gave us a valuable insight into where UB40 were coming from. They were unafraid to stand up and be counted, and British audiences instinctively loved them for it. "Signing Off" duly went to No. 2 in the UK and stayed on the nation’s album charts for 72 weeks.

On September 2nd, 2013, UB40 released their latest album ‘Getting Over The Storm’ on Universal/Virgin Records.

Kissdafunk V1: Kissdafuture
Mixed By The Squatters & Rob Tissera
Double Mix Digital Release
	
*** Out Now Exclusively On iTunes: http://bit.ly/JcqDvG ***

One of the biggest House music phenomenon’s of the last decade opens a brand new chapter of dance music history with this, their debut digital compilation marking the start of a fresh new album series from this dance music giant!

The brainchild of Glyn Tolley and DJ Rob Tissera (aka Bobby Tee). Kissdafunk is an award winning house music night (originating) from Leeds (UK) that has taken the world by storm. Supported by industry luminaries such as Radio 1, Galaxy, Mixmag, Tilllate and DJ Magazine, along with regular guest appearances from some of the biggest artists on the planet such as David Guetta, Erick Morillo, Laidback Luke, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell, KDF has delivered a consistent diet of cutting-edge house music from World class names.
'Kissdafunk V1: Kissdafuture' sees the start of a new series of digital compilations from the brand, aiming to capture the magic and the music from the many clubs and arenas the world over that the iconic KDF flower logo of the brand has graced.
Heading up this first release we have one of the hottest acts emerging from the UK right now in The Squatters. With a globe-trotting diary seeing them grace the decks from Coventry to Korea - and pretty much everywhere in between. The Squatters are making waves with a whole host of cutting-edge music on a 'who's who' of highly revered labels such as Tiesto's Musical Freedom, Southern Fried, Ministry Of Sound and many more.
The Squatters mix sees them deliver a ‘no-nonsense’ 73 minutes of trademark electro-tinged, bass-heavy music aimed solely at the dance floor. Featuring tracks from Nicky Romero, Micky Slim, Kissy Sell Out and Heavyfeet along with a whole host of their own productions and remixes, this mix perfectly encapsulates the Squatters personality alongside the magic of a Kissdafunk main room event. 
 The second disc sees one of Kissdafunk's 'head honchos' and dance music legend Rob Tissera deliver a typically 'feel good' mix featuring peak-time tracks and powerful vocal led anthems with many updates of Kissdafunk classics such as an exclusive Rob Tissera re-work of “Silosonic – Something To Make You Feel Alright”(exclusive to the album), “The Day Will Come” and “Stay” to name but a few, all mixed up in Rob's formidable style alongside brand new tracks from Carl Cox, Foamo, Micky Slim, Hoxton Whores, Paul Morrell and more!
 With both mixes available with tracks in DJ friendly format, “Kissdafunk V1: Kissdafuture” is the perfect album for any House music enthusiast wanting a soundtrack to kick-start their summer season! 

Kissdafunk V1: Kissdafuture
Mixed By The Squatters & Rob Tissera
Available Now exclusively on iTunes :  http://bit.ly/JcqDvG
Availble from all stores  28th May 2012  
www.kissdafunk.com 
www.totalmusicgroup.co.uk 



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