Instrument: DJ, Producer
Representative Album: "23° From Vertical"
Biography
DJ Trace was an early member of the tight-knit crew of producers constituting popular techstep drum'n'bass label No U-Turn. Like colleagues Nico and Ed Rush, Trace's first crack at broad exposure came through the Techsteppin' compilation, released by the Emotif label and containing a number of tracks licensed from No U-Turn studios. Released in 1995, the compilation helped seed a new direction in drum'n'bass, one characterized by heavy use of electronics, cavernous beats and basslines, and the dystopian histrionics that have since become trademarks of the No U-Turn/Nu Black sound. Trace's 1995 release on Emotif, "The Mutant" (itself a remix of T-Power's "Mutant Jazz"), also spawned a remix of its own, and Ed Rush's "Mutant Revisited" became an influential trial run of tech's by now cliched "hoover" bassline and rolling, relentless breaks. A popular DJ whose schedule busied as No U-Turn's popularity peaked in 1996, Trace moved from the U.K. to Philadelphia that same year and has participated in a number of U.S. events (including 1997's Big Top tour) both solo and with other members of the No U-Turn crew. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
