There are few that can say they were there when the acid house boom fully erupted in the early nineties, most artists have a very short career span and many ride the wave that they have caught until it reaches fruition, then pack up their headphones and return to their everyday life.  But there are a small handful of artists whom never seem to disappear, these few, are the true soldiers of sound, the ones that no matter how hard things get, and how tough the hills are to climb, they always manage to stay on their path whilst others fall by the wayside.

London born & Bred Carl Nicholson is without doubt one of these people, Carl started his journey way back in 1990 as an Hardcore MC, and after months of watching top end DJ’s at the time such as Micky Finn & Carl Cox, Carl decided to see what all the hype was about and give it a shot himself, and after 6 gruelling months of his very own brand of ‘Wild Horses’ mixing, Carl got a feel for it and the rest as they say is history.

In the summer of 1994, Carl came across a tape, a tape that was to change his life forever, this tape was the Tony de Vit mix on the massively popular ‘Retrospective of House’ compilation by Fantazia, and Carl simply could not believe his ears.  From that day forward Carl lived, ate, and slept all things TdV, he used to follow him around London whenever he was playing, find a good spot near the decks and just stand, watch and listen.

After about 6 months, Carl finally got the courage up to speak to Tony, and bear in mind to Carl, Tony was a musical God of monstrous proportions, so this was no easy task to say the least, but after a few minutes of chatting with him, Carl realised that this man was just like any other guy, he wasn’t a god, he was a normal friendly bloke who had just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that gave Carl a confidence, something he had lacked in early years, and it dawned on him that with hard work, dedication and a burning passion for the music and the people it attracted, anything was possible.

Since 1995 Carl has been on the forefront of the UK Underground dance scene, he began his journey living in a doorway in the west end of London, learnt his craft from the undisputed king of Hard House, Tony de Vit.  He’s played alongside everyone from Fatboy Slim, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Frankie Knuckles & Chemical Brothers to Judge Jules, John ‘OO’ Fleming, Paul Van Dyk & Lisa Lashes for virtually every major hard edged brand and festival in the UK & Worldwide including Cream, Judgement Sundays, Frantic, Fevah, Glastonbury Festival, Insomniacz, Bulldog Bash, Miss Moneypennys, Soundscape (NZ), B2T, Traxx (SA), Timeless, Hard Dance Ibiza (IBZ), Sundissential, Trance port Festival (ARG), Round Bass (NL) & Tasty to name only a handful, plus he is the only Hard Dance DJ to have received a residency at the world famous Fabric nightclub in London for DTPM.




Founder and resident DJ of the Leeds based queer club night, Love Muscle.

With most of the 2 part mixes, the first part gets twice as many listens as the second part. I know that usually, the second part is actually better so seriously, look for it and have a listen, cheers, Mark

Ian M is the original hard house DJ and still the best.

For eight years in the ‘90s, the Leicester prodigy played a central role in the success of the most important after-hours club in British dance music history, Trade, the most influential club in the annals of hardness.

Having cut his teeth in his hometown for several years towards the end of the 80s, the DJ world’s God of thunder got his first big break when Trade offered him a slot on a tour date in Birmingham.

The rewarding residency that followed at the London club’s homebase in London gave Ian the challenging task of playing after the lord of the dance Tony de Vit, one that he pulled off successfully week after week.

The fruitful relationship with Trade afforded the Godfather of hard house a number of memorable career highlights. These include playing to an audience of 250,000 at the Love Parade in Leeds, teaming up with Danny Tenaglia at Twilo in New York and playing Dance Valley in Amsterdam alongside Carl Cox.

The punisher’s more recent successes at the epicentre of the hard universe are as notable and widespread, as his much-admired residencies at Sundissential, Insomniacz, Storm, Twist, Sinergy, Fuel and Insekt testify.

Worldwide demand for his dynamic DJ sets has taken Ian everywhere from Ireland, France, Hong Kong, Canada, Ibiza, South Africa, New York, Washington D.C, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

As a creator of top quality tunes with high production values, Ian has never been described as prolific, but when he does deliver a new tune, it tends to be a major event rather than just another record coming out. 

Who can forget the phenomenal global hysteria surrounding his timeless masterpiece ‘Crazy Pills’ when it first appeared?

Prior to that landmark outing, a string of unforgettable classics had cemented his reputation as a most outstanding music maker. 

These include two remixes of Dyewitness for Tidy Trax, his famed ‘Black Is Black’ remake for the same label, the storming singles ‘Annihilation’ and ‘The Dreamer’ along with hard-as-nails treatments for top labels such as React, Tripoli Trax, Elasticman, OVD, Kaktai and Mohawk.

Ian compiled and mixed the biggest-selling volume of all the Trade album series, and has released a host of superb compilation mixes for Tidy Trax, Fevah N.Z and Torture Garden.

2009 saw Ian returning to the studio with Dom Sweeten (of OD404) and Karl Davis (from Ireland) to run up three tracks, of which two were released for Karl’s Pure NRG label and one (DJ Rave) ended up being used for Dom’s mix on Spinball’s “Velvet Hammer” compilation.

2010 has seen Ian going back in the studio but this time, it is with Dave Owens & Valex to co-produce “Demons”, which was exclusively featured on Valex's Toolbox album together with an exclusive "Butcher Boy" Remix. Ian finished the year going back in Dave Owens Turtledog Studio with the huge "Crank" for Tidy.

2011 has started with Ian going in with Mr Owens again for the massive "Where R Da Drums" for newly formed label Twist Trax and the Radio 1 played "Bang Yer Mind" (with Ben Stevens) for Vicious Circle. And finally finishing the year off with a new track called "Dirty GaGa", recorded at Ben Stevens all new & plush studios nr Manchester.

And 2012 is looking as busy, with another visit to Mr Owens Turtledog Studios with Ben Townsend (man about town) in January, where we knocked out "Pop Idol" on Smalltown Records. Other projects are due to follow.

2013 starts with a mix album for Razor Recordings, with the name "The Razorz Edge", which has gone straight to No.1 in the Juno Download Album Chart. Ian will be in the studio again at some point in 2013 with more new artists and will be working on a new Hard House offshoot label & signing new tracks for it sometime in 2013. Watch this space for details!! 

Originally written by Mark Kavanagh. 
Slight Update: Feb 2013

'CELEBRATING' LOST GAY LONDON of the 70s, 80s, 90s & the 2000s . 

Check us out on face book www.facebook.com/LostGayLondon
Find FULL DJ sets at:
http://www.mixcloud.com/LostGayLondon/

If anyone has live sessions recorded from the 90s (Trade, Sherbet, Love Muscle, Heaven etc) please let me know. 
Would love to share on the page.

www.lostgaylondon.com

Jan100 is following