It all started at the age of 15 when Neil discovered dance music listening to Danny Rampling on Radio 1. Early influences coming from Masters at Work, Derrick Carter and Daft Punk. Having got the bug and deciding to take up the monotonous and anti-social hobby of bedroom mixing, he stumbled on Newcastle’s underground house scene and finest clubbing export Shindig. His early experiences of clubbing included checking out as many of Newcastle’s clubs as possibly, and whichever ones would let an early teenager in. After many first visits that consisted of learning over the balcony to check out what was going on in the booth and trying to see the dj’s actions, came the introduction to Shindig founders Scott and Scooby through fellow promoter Jim Mawdlsy. For the previous six months Neil had been eagerly watching and taking mental notes of their weekly warm-ups alongside the many world famous guests to grace the turntables at Shindig’s former home – Foundation/Riverside and now set his sights on playing at Newcastle’s most well respected club night currently at home in Digital. (Voted #15 in the Worlds Top club Poll by Dj Mag earlier in year) The willingness to practice for hours payed off when Neil was asked to play Shindig’s warm up party held at the cool stereo bar, where Shindigs regulars started there night off before the short walk up the bank to the club. Playing alongside fellow residents and to a superb crowd gave Neil the confidence and musical focus on the sound he wanted to play. At the time Neil was also working for music superstore HMV in the vinyl department, keeping at close eye on new music and being able to test new beats out every weekend seemed to be a great setup. Wanting to submerge himself more and more in the house sound and music industry in general, Neil took the plunge to open his own independent record store in the city centre. Filling the gap of music shops selling the music he wanted to hear and buy, Air Records, his new venture opened in 2002. Through this not only could Neil mix his work with play, but it allowed him to make great friends and contacts with the music industry as a whole – something he was keen to take to the next level. Like most first breaks go, Neil got the chance to play the club, as a fill in when one of the other residents couldn’t make it. From then onwards and 5 years later Neil continues as a Shindig resident, opening for many of the worlds best and biggest Dj’s, as well as holding his own playing main sets. Neil has to date and continues to play alongside and hand over control to Dj’s as varied as Danny Rampling, Switch, Jesse Rose, Derrick Carter, Roger Sanchez, Dj Heather, Inland Knights, FC Kahuna, Freeform Five, Tony Humphries, AudioFly, Hippe, Luke Solomon, Chris Duckenfield, Jimpster, Phil Weeks and many many more. Playing his own blend of Techy Based house, minimal grooves and house all with a distinctive Chicago based feel – Neil has guested in citys such as Manchester, Leeds, Hull, Lincoln and Lancaster as well as several overseas trips to Belgium and Chicago, guesting alongside Justin Long at one of the Home of House’s most famous venues –Smartbar. It was during the first few years of Neil’s Shindig Residency when he teamed up with fellow resident Mark Lowry (Solaris Heights) for his first studio experience. Their 3 track debut deep house EP titled “Square One EP” under the appropriate name of Airgroove, was immediately snapped up by west coast American producer Patrick Turner for his Movim imprint. A release that got them great exposure in the underground house scene and led on to several other remix and release requests. This cemented Neil’s mind on what he wanted to achieve and led to the release of “Radio Tonic” to US based Kolour Recordings – also licensed and featured on Mark Farina’s House of OM CD. Now with much more experienced time in the studio and continued learning of playing keys and other musical knowledge, Neil has completed Remixes of JT Donaldson & C-pen due for release soon as well as “Nocturnal Strings” and forthcoming remix of Harold Heath to 3am Recordings. Gaining great support on his productions, remixes and several bootlegs projects from the likes of Nic Fanciulli, James Talk and Derrick Carter. At 23 years old Neil continues to cement his Shindig Residency as well as guest around the country, whist working hard in the studio pushing out electronic based house. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.