Grooverider
b. Raymond Bingham, 16 April 1967, Dulwich, London, England. Best-known for his DJ partnership with Fabio, Grooverider's work has seen him proclaimed by at least one UK magazine as "the Godfather" of contemporary dance music. A major contributor to both the hardcore and jungle scenes (frequent collaborator Goldie rated him as a pivotal influence), Grooverider has been active as a DJ at house parties since the mid-80s. He was particularly associated (alongside Fabio) with the outdoor rave movement of the late 80s when he was one of the few recognisable champions of a music which matched huge popularity with barely concealed hostility from the mainstream press. The base element of his music has always been exclusive dub plates, from whose breakbeats he fashioned what subsequently became known as drum 'n' bass music. His partnership with Fabio started in the early 80s when both were invited to DJ on a pirate radio station called Phase One. The show's creator was sufficiently impressed to invite the duo to host a new club he was opening in Brixton, south London. His recording career began much later, with tracks such as "Sinister" and "Dreams Of Heaven". However, rather than ride the boom in his popularity, Grooverider remained almost exclusively a performance DJ, earning his reputation by playing sets at venues throughout the country, and also appearing regularly on the Kiss FM radio station and at Goldie's Metalheadz Sunday Sessions at the Blue Note club in London. He also launched his own label, Prototype Records, in the early 90s, working with a new wave of breakbeat artists such as Photek, Ed Rush, Origin Unknown, Boymerang, Dillinja and Lemon D, and recording the hugely influential tracks "Dreams Of Heaven" and "Deep Inside" under his alter ego, Codename John. His debut album, the two-hour drum 'n' bass marathon Mysteries Of Funk, finally appeared in 1998.
Listen to Grooverider
at Finetune.
Albums
- (1998) Mysteries Of Funk
Top Tracks
- Where's Jack the Ripper?
- Cybernetic Jazz
- Rainbows of Colour
- Fly With Me
- Time & Space
Related Artists
Fans