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Steppa
With experience and maturity well beyond his years, DJ Steppa boasts an impressive CV across the Drum and Bass movement and shows no signs of letting up, busily working, DJing and producing within the scene he so adamantly pledges his passions to.
Since his move to Leeds over 12 years ago, Steppa has become one of the city's most popular DJ’s so much so he won the coveted Best Breakthrough DJ Award at the national Drum & Bass Awards last year.
Headhunted for his enthusiastic and efficient manner at a young age, Steppa previously worked for L Doubles Flex Records for over two years, absorbing a wealth of knowledge, know-how and contacts in the process.
Today, the highly charged 26 year old is Drum & Bass manager at the respected Tribe Records in Leeds, a focal point of his local scene, with budding D&B DJs, upfront promos and the latest releases all flying energetically in, and then out, of this intimate dance music outlet.
As he watches this flourishing Leeds scene grow from the inside out, Steppa persists in pushing it forward, DJing extensively throughout the city, a guest at almost every D&B night that has surfaced and now sole main resident working exclusively with the two biggest, namely Metropolis (Leeds University) & SubDub (Leeds West Indian Centre), home to Valve & Iration Steppas Sound System respectively, both events sell-out in excess of 1000 ravers, featuring mainstream acts such as Pendulum, Dizzee Rascal, Grooverider, and Hype to name but a few.
An adept deck technician and a keenly energetic showman, far from providing merely the warm up for such established artists, Steppa has built a strong local following through his solid, dancefloor orientated sets, even finding further Northern recognition with regular bookings at both opposite ends of the M62 from Hull to Manchester.
No stranger to the big stage, the self proclaimed dubplate kid has also taken his upfront sound across the country, with guest spots at Bryan Gees long running Movement, and a Stars of the Future residency at then Terry Turbos legendary One Nation, a promotion that entrusted him with main room duties at the colossal Brixton Academy, the only up n coming to achieve such an accolade. While more high profile sets beckon on home turf, the determined DJ continues to secure a steady stream of worldwide bookings, spreading Drum & Bass into countries such as U.S.A., Germany, and Estonia.
In keeping with his infectious energy and determined ambitions, the Leeds based DJ also finds time to channel significant efforts into his fledgling production career, having already completed a Music and Technology Degree at Leeds College of Music. Sure enough Steppa cut his production teeth in sharp style, debuting under the Extreme Force alias with two impressive tracks on Rizing Records, in which both gained commercial success – Voodoo Magic was licensed by Ministry of Sound and featured on Bass In Yer Face their triple pack CD compilation covering Garage, Drum & Bass, and Old Skool which was released in high street stores such as HMV and also included tracks from mainstream artists such as Miss Dynamite, So Solid Crew, Andy C, and EZ Rollers. Breaking Down the flip to Voodoo Magic was licensed as the sound track to one of ten promotional adverts on cable/digital channel Trouble TV which were created to introduce underground dance music to its viewers and Steppa also starred in that same advert introduced by Harvey of So Solid fame. The release certainly represented an encouraging first foray into the production field.
Never one to hold back Steppa continues to build on past success, and after taking some timeout now from production in order to complete a Business Plan to setup his own home studio with the help of funding from The Princes Trust, his follow-up, entitled Cant Resist, a dirty, grimey, club banger was signed by Hazard of Playaz fame and released in February 2006 on his Radius imprint it receivd support on dubplate from the likes of Nicky Blackmarket, Micky Finn, and was championed by Bailey on both BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra. Now with his home production setup installed and fully functional, and plans in the offing for his own record label, the future promises some strong releases from Steppa and his studio as the rising star progresses with characteristic dedication, cultivating, developing and refining his budding production talents.
As this flurry of all activity extends out in all directions, it will be very much a case of watch this space with DJ Steppa, but with an unshaken love for the scene and a 24/7 work ethic one thing, at least, is quite clear; here comes the hotsteppa.
Click here to request a booking for Steppa...
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