DJ PIONEER

Pioneer was always into music as a child as his mother was a massive reggae fan and his dad a reggae bass player. As a teenager, Pioneer was influenced heavily by the reggae sound system culture, his favourites being Stone Love, Bass Odyssey and David Rodigan. It was in 1994 that Pioneer started to pay more attention to the UK Underground Dance scene and took a great liking to Jungle music. Jungle acts such as Brockie, Funky Flirt and Nicky Blackmarket were heavily influential for Pioneer and led to him wanting to become a DJ. He started collecting vinyl even before he owned a pair of decks and his music soon became more than just a hobby, it was now a major part of his life.

In 1997 Pioneer started his collection of House and Garage tracks and landed his first radio show in 1999 on what was then Magic 90.2 FM. At this point in his career DJ Pioneer was playing house and garage with productions such as Tuff Jam, Mood II Swing, Todd Terry, Todd Edwards, MJ Cole, Grant Nelson and many more. DJ Pioneer moved to pirate radio trendsetters London Underground 89.4 in 2001. It was also in 2001 that Pioneer began working at the Wired For Sound record store in Hackney, East London. Working at the record store was a great move for Pioneer as he got to appreciate all styles of music from Jazz to Deep House.

By 2003, Pioneer hosted a show on Y2K FM which covered US soulful house, old school garage and ‘4 to the floor’ all in the space of 2 hours. The shows became more and more popular and led to bookings at big events such as ‘Pure Silk’, ‘Together as One’, ‘Cream Of Da Crop’ plus more. Moving on, Pioneer also landed shows on Touch FM, and Déjà vu FM and had by this time linked up with an old pal from the scene Spidey G. They spent a year on London's Déjà Vu 92.3 fm between 2006-2007 during which time London’s house scene along with UK Funky was going from strength to strength and this show was at the forefront of this movement.

After many years on pirate radio, DJ Pioneer’s skills had not gone unnoticed. In 2008, Pioneer joined the world famous radio station Kiss, broadcasting in London, East Anglia and the South West as well as on kissfmuk.com and DAB across the UK. Pioneer has championed UK artists such as Rudimental, Donaeo and Roska as well as international acts such as Black Coffee and Kenny Dope. Many tracks pioneered on his show have gone on to the Kiss daytime playlist such as ‘In The Morning’ by Egypt and ‘The Cure And The Cause’ by Dennis Ferrer. Now into his fifth year on Kiss, Pioneer’s show is a favourite for many radio listeners nationwide.

Pioneer has now launched his record label, SOTU (Sounds Of The Underground) Recordings. With already 2 releases to date, the label is set to be a great success as it represents the sound of the UK club scene from Deep House to Bass and is home to some of the finest up and coming producers. Pioneer hosts the label’s monthly party at the Lockside Lounge in Camden and will be taking the brand worldwide shortly.