Brawther talks to the real heroes of Underground Dance Music and finds out what makes them tick.

BOOKINGS - UK & ROW: Andy.Raeside@entityma.com 
N & S AMERICA: Andrew@liaisonartists.com & Emma@liaisonartists.com

MANAGER - sophie@frameartists.co.uk

EST. 1993. 🎶
Latest releases: https://linktr.ee/PositivaRecords

For all of Matthias Tanzmann’s achievements, the future is showing even further excitement and evolutionary growth. He is known as a global leader of the Tech House scene and is synonymous with Moon Harbour, his influential and soon-to-be 25-year-old record label that has already put out over 100 vinyl releases and more than 200 digital tracks. Like Matthias who first broke through as a DJ at the end of the 1990s, it constantly evolves, adapts and leads the scene from the front. 

Both he and Moon Harbour have stayed true to the signature sound that first stood him apart. They never fail to bring new ideas to the dance floor and constantly evolve with the culture. Along the way, there have been countless seminal moments. From his early residency at Leipzig’s cult Distillery Club to his first releases on Steve Bug’s Dessous label and Freude Am Tanzen in 1998 and 1999 via the infamous Moon Harbour showcases at major events including Miami Music Week, Amsterdam Dance Event, Barcelona’s 'Off Sonar' and the leading clubs of Ibiza over the last 20 years. Furthermore he is an integral collaborative member of the super group, Better Lost Than Stupid, alongside Davide Squillace and Martin Buttrich. This ground-breaking trio performs all over the world from London, Ibiza, Miami to Dubai. Together they released the acclaimed full length album Wild Slide and accompanying remix album. 

Whenever he plays, Matthias locks his global audience into his winding and hypnotic grooves for hours on end, always ramping up the pressure and keeping dancers on their toes. He has consistently performed as a resident for almost 15 years at Ibiza's wildest and the most cutting-edge Circoloco party at DC10. He also plays in demand back-to-back sets with partner in crime Davide Squillace and is regarded as one of the favourite players at the infamous ANTS events at Ushuaia Ibiza. In between those regular gigs and picking up several DJ Award nominations, he is on a constant tour of the world's most celebrated clubs and events from Elrow to Solid Grooves to Music On. 

Founded in 2000 and followed by sub-label Cargo Edition in 2006, Moon Harbour Recordings has been a vehicle for much of his music over the years, though it has also been responsible for bringing through plenty of next-generation talents. Matthias Tanzmann has served up three solo albums on his own label - Restless in 2008, Momentum in 2016 and the far-reaching Round And Round album in 2019. Each one shows how he brings colour and narrative to his music through the careful layering of percussion and the teasing out of deft sound designs to make for moments of real dance floor drama. Whether working solo or in collaboration with the likes of Steve Bug, Black Circle or Daniel Stefanik, the key for Matthias is to never stop evolving, asking questions and exploring new ground. Furthermore as a keen contributor to the industry and passing on to the new generation, Matthias shared his vast knowledge with a unique production masterclass in collaboration with Mixmasters in Ibiza in 2023.

As a remixer, Matthias also brings an in-demand signature sound for the likes of Jamie Jones, Dennis Cruz, Moby or Booka Shada. His Remixes 2002-2012 compilation showcased his adeptness and adaptability, and he has further cemented his legacy as a definitive DJ with seminal mix CDs for revered series like Cavo Paradiso Mykonos in 2010, Circoloco in 2008 and 2011, fabric London in 2012, and several times for Moon Harbour.

What started as an obsessive hobby back in Leipzig became a globe-trotting profession. Importantly, though, Matthias Tanzmann has always retained the sense of fun and inquisition that motivated him back then. That shows in the tracks he continues to skillfully craft, whether deep and moody for cozy backrooms, or more raw and jacked up for the main room. From his sets to his productions via the music he A&Rs for Moon Harbour, Matthias Tanzmann blends a deep understanding of dance music dynamics with a burning desire to keep things moving forward.

Bookings: matt@thepool-london.com 
Promos: promo@gregwilson.co.uk 
DJ Dates: https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/upcoming-dj-dates/
Greg began DJing in 1975 and is regarded as one of the most important figures on the UK dance scene. He enjoyed hugely popular residencies in the early eighties at Wigan Pier and Manchester’s majorly influential Legend, having originally started out in his hometown, New Brighton. A pioneer of mixing in the UK, he became the first ‘dance music’ specialist hired for a regular weekly session at Manchester’s now legendary Haçienda club in 1983. Greg was instrumental in breaking the new electronic, post-disco records coming out of New York, a sound he has dubbed ‘Electro-Funk’.

In 2003 he set up electrofunkroots, a website documenting this crucial era in the evolution of dance culture. After a two decade hiatus from the booth, he returned to DJing and soon welcomed bookings throughout Europe and, subsequently, worldwide.

Greg was the first DJ to mix live on British TV, putting together the first UK radio mixes of their type for Piccadilly 261 in Manchester and showing a certain Norman Cook (later Fatboy Slim) how to scratch.

Nominated by DJ Magazine for outstanding contribution, and also named amongst their top twenty remixers of all-time, Greg’s remix credits include Grace Jones, The XX, Groove Armada, Bryan Ferry, Confidence Man, Gilberto Gil and Simian Mobile Disco, whilst he’s edited tracks by A Guy Called Gerald, Talking Heads, O.M.D., Electronic, Imagination and Missy Elliot.

In January 2009 Greg’s reputation was further enhanced when his Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 received almost universal acclaim and was selected as one of 10 classics that spanned the show’s near 17 year history.

Greg’s Blog, ‘Being A DJ’, was launched in June 2010 for observations on various aspects of club culture now an online touchstone for an ever-increasing amount of dance enthusiasts and aficionados.

In August 2010 he co-curated areas at the inaugural Vintage Festival at Goodwood, which was named ‘Best New Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards.

He has produced a series of documentary podcasts, Time Capsule, Random Influences and Early 80’s Floorfillers, as well as the long-running blog series, Living To Music.

Greg has given talks on music and DJ culture at a number events at venues The Tate Gallery in Liverpool and London's Southbank and Institute Of Contemporary Arts, whilst in 2013 he was invited onto a panel alongside legendary figures Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder @ ADE in Amsterdam. 

In 2014 he unveiled the multi-media label Super Weird Substance, focusing on recording and live events. In 2015, the label released 8 vinyl singles, brought together in the 2 CD comp, 'Greg Wilson Presents Super Weird Substance'. September 2015 saw a memorable Festival No.6 Happening in Portmeirion and Greg rounded off the year with the Liverpool-based celebration of the 40th anniversary of his first club date in 1975 as well as being presented with DJ Magazine's Industry Icon award.

Greg launched his Credit To The Edit club collective at 2016's Festival No.6 and since then has taken it to Liverpool, Berlin, Brixton, Bethnal Green and finally back to Portmeirion for Festival No.6 2017.

2017 saw his label host the epic 14 Hour Super Weird Happening at Liverpool's Florrie, following a mixtape collaboration with Alan Moore, who also appeared at the Happening, whilst it also saw the digital release of The Super Weird Society's 'Gone With The Vibe', released the following year on the first Substance Select 12" vinyl alongside 'The Ghosts Of Watling Street', 'The Best Is Yet To Come' and 'Summer Came My Way'. 2018 also saw the release of Vol.3 in Greg's long-running Credit To The Edit compilation series.

After a handful of further releases, the label was put into hibernation with the onset of covid. Diversifying, ‘Greg Wilson’s Discotheque Archives’ was issued during 2020 lockdown as a limited run paperback, with more books, both Wilson’s own projects and by other authors, now planned.

DJ Bookings > ali@warmagency.com

Initially established in 2003 at The Eagle in London’s Vauxhall, Horse Meat Disco has evolved into a powerful force in queer and club culture as a whole, while staying local to its original home, each and every Sunday. Co-founded by James Hillard and Jim Stanton, and encompassing residents Severino and Luke Howard, the crew continue to maintain not only the weekly Sunday party, but a number of residencies in cities across the world, alongside a kaleidoscope of club appearances, festival dates and specially curated mixes.

Taking inspiration from a diverse, counter-cultural history of clubs and DJs, as well as from the sprawling, ever-expanding musical collections of it's resident crew, the sound of HMD is impossible to place. Nonetheless their style is undeniable, as is a popper-scented air of sheer authenticity. Rooted in hedonism, rhythm, freedom and emotion, a Horse Meat Disco set reinforces everything invigorating about disco, as comfortable as shattering old-school mirror ball cliches as basking in their light.

A typical HMD set blends classics, italo disco, house, oddities and punk funk, to conjure their initial spirit of “a queer party for everyone”, including, but not limited to, “Homos and Heteros, club kids, bears, fashionistas, naturists, guerilla drag queens and ladies who munch.” They have made appearances on every notable club scene in the modern world, as well as those beyond, and have long been a key fixture at festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival and Festival No.6.

Outside of the club, the Horse Meat Disco train rolls across the airwaves on Rinse FM, where the crew hold down a weekly residency every Sunday afternoon, serving as a pre and post-club Sunday lunch accompaniment, often delving into the more soulful shades of their sublime taste, often encompassing rave groove, gospel and whatever they can’t get away with on the dancefloor (which, as the years have proven, isn’t much). A series of expertly curated and acclaimed compilations for reissue label Strut helped further cement HMD’s formidable but communal reputation as disco masterminds, spreading their sound and many enviable obscurities into front rooms and record bags across the world. Their latest, ‘Meat Me Down the Disco’, was released on Z Records in 2017.

After decades of crate digging, globetrotting and partying, the HMD story continues apace. 2017 also saw the crew record their long-awaited contribution to BBC Radio 1’s ‘Essential Mix’, as well as their first joint foray into production, ‘Waiting For You To Call’, featuring Roy Inc., and released on their own, self-titled imprint. They are currently working on new music to be released with Glitterbox, with the new single ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ released in December 2018.

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