>> Defected
bio: January 1st 1999, the beginning of a new year and the birth of Defected records. The brainchild of Simon Dunmore and Janet Bell, Defected was conceived after the closure and subsequent take over of A&M, the major that was their employer at the time. Although offered alterative positions within the new regime, both Simon and Janet sensed the time was right for a more challenging beginning. ?Starting our own label was like a natural progression,? says Simon, Defected?s managing director and A&R chief. ?We?d kind of come to the end of the road with majors; it felt like the right time to do something for ourselves?. Thus, a new era in Dance music was born. Their first release, ?I can?t get enough? by Soulsearcher was deemed a commercial success when it reached No. 8 in the national charts. Subsequent releases from Powerhouse, Masters at Work and a top 5 hit for Paul Johnson with ?Get Get Down?, proved the labels credentials to deliver soulful house music of the highest quality. Defected had begun to flourish. A string of successful records followed, marking Defected as THE Dance record label not just in the UK, but also abroad where the Defected sound had now become international. Along with the single releases, Compilation albums became a familiar addition to the Defected catalogue. Following the success of the Def Com series, Defected were handed the popular ?sessions? compilations, by Ministry Of Sound. Five releases have emerged from the venture including CD?s mixed by Roger Sanchez, Masters at Work, the Subliminal crew, Sandy Rivera and more recently Smokin? Jo and Full Intention. Along with Soulheaven, Independence and the Latin excursion Ritmo Latino, compilations were an integral part of Defected?s release schedule. With Defected?s place in the industry continually rising, they decided to create their own sister label to cater for the lucrative and respected underground market: Fluential. Fluential now houses a number of a respected artists, including Roland Clarke, Robbie Rivera, Gene Farris, Mojolators , Jason Jinx and Kathy Brown. With the darker elements and big house records covered, Defected decided to further expand their hold on the market; in late 2001 Defected also came out as the face behind two other labels: Spectrum, for the old Salsoul cut ups ? including Sweetreat?s Joy/Dreamscape and Union Square, for the more soulful, vocal tracks ? including Mekkah?s I Got You. Defected now got stronger than ever. Their first Number 1 in the U.K. national?s, ?Another Chance? by legendary DJ Roger Sanchez in July 2001, has given Defected a legacy in it?s own right, and with the album ?First Contact? and follow-up singles ?You can?t change me? (Feat. N?Dea Davenport) and Nothing To Prove (Feat. Sharleen Spiteri) it put the label on firm footing. Dance floor anthems have always been a key to the Defected success story and none more so than the sublime ?Finally? by Kings of Tomorrow. Described as: ?A whole Savannah Sunset within one record sleeve ? by one magazine, ?Finally? is the record every label wanted to sign and every DJ wanted to play in 2001 and thanks to a remix from house Stalwart, Danny Tenaglia, DJ?s from Carl Cox to Danny Rampling stated Finally as their favourite record of 2001, - it will undoubtedly be a credible ?classic? addition to any DJ?s set for years to come. Into 2002 and this was a landmark year for Defected. This was the point that the company achieved its independence from The Ministry of Sound. This was a huge and risky step for the label and was a bold move for Simon Dunmore who was now steering the ship solo. The company was officially bought back, he had total control and has never looked back. Release wise the label continued to prosper. There was success with a top 10 hit with Shakedown at Night and numerous club hits from ATFC, Liquid People, Kathy Brown, DJ Chus, Kings Of Tomorrow and DJ Gregory. This brings us into 2003 where things shaped up nicely for the label. After putting a great deal of emphasis on the brand and producing respected tracks, the relentless release of tunes continued. As a consequence the brand strengthened and the company grew. Enter Hector Dewar, the former Director of operations at the Ministry of Sound. Hector had previously worked shoulder to shoulder with many of the Defected management and became a very familiar face. Hector was a specialist in operations and management of companies. He was an ideal candidate to contribute to the future growth of the label. He took care of the business development and finance while Simon concentrated on what he knew best - A & R and artist development. 2003 was also the year that defected expanded their tours and launched Defected In the House in Ibiza. It ran at the legendary El Divino every Sunday and attracted a cool young European and cosmopolitan crowd. Here Junior Jack won the best newcomer and E-Samba achieved the accolade of tune of the season, whilst Sandy Rivera?s - I can?t stop was heavily featured as THE tune of the moment. All of the Defected DJ roster performed there including J Jay Hernandez, Miguel Migs, Junior Jack & Kid Creme, Sandy Rivera , DJ Gregory, Martin Solveig, Chus, Brian Tappert and John Julius Knight. Dubtribe Sound System even did a live performance in front of hundreds of clubbers and smashed the venue, and there was much more to come. It took only a few weeks to establish itself as one of the premier and best-attended nights on the island. Closer to home the company was now forging relationships with other dance music hero?s and labels. One such association is that of Bob Sinclar. Simon had great faith in the French house sound and wanted to develop the artist?s in the UK. This led to the first big track of 2003. In Jan Defected Released Bob Sinclar?s now acclaimed ?The Beat Goes On? which went top 40, infected dance floors everywhere around the country and abroad and still remains in many DJ record boxes today. The start of the year was looking good and already Defected had another huge tune up its sleeve, Sandy Rivera?s - I can?t Stop. Following on from this almost immediately were Dubtribe Soundsystem who released a summery and chilled album entitled Baggage. They subsequently went on to tour around many festivals. They were critically acclaimed and had great reactions when they performed. Dubtribe are an ongoing project with Defected. As well as promoting artist albums, attention was turned to compilations once again. Defected now felt that the Ministry of Sound Sessions were becoming a little tired. A new compilation concept was needed. Ideally they were looking for a series that could tie together artist dates, album releases, club nights and tours. Defected wanted a compilation series that went back to the roots of dance music and was instantly recognisable for the type of sound that it contained. They wanted a series that did exactly what it said on the can. From this the ?In The House? compilation series was born. The series had to be represented by the very artists that personified their sounds. The artists featured were Sandy Rivera, Junior Jack and Kid Cr?me, Jay J Hernandez, Miguel Migs, Kenny Dope and Dimitri from Paris all to submit mixes. Over the first 6 titles with the above artists the shipping figures increased by 50%. Within that the impact on the album charts was phenomenal, the series achieved 2 top 40 positions from the Kenny Dope and Defected projects and one top 20 with Dimitri from Paris. This series was critically acclaimed by the respected publication Time Out. It awarded the Kenny Dope compilation one of the top 10 compilation albums of the year. To help promote the albums and the DJ?s the Defected In The House tours began. The first UK tour started at the end of September 2003. This was a 20 date tour of which 16 events sold out. This wasn?t including the international presence that reached Taiwan, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, France, Malaysia, Dubai and Dominican Republic. Closer to home the Ministry monthly continued. This is the label?s trophy event. It is still at its spiritual home and is the venue for all the release parties. This has been the place that the DJ?s get to show the clubbers what they are really made of. Into 2004 and another string to defected bow tightened. Defected were invited by the ministry of sound to host a weekly radio show. This was the ideal platform to showcase the labels sound and is to be syndicated around the world. Simon Dunmore hosts this show and invites on every big DJ who is in town. Also the much anticipated Junior Jack album was released in early Feb. There has been massive press attention paid to this album with Vito featuring on the front Covers of DJ, I-DJ and M8 magazines. As well as being awarded the title of one of the top 20 players of the year by I-DJ. There are also other massive projects coming up including the new album entitled Changes by Sandy Rivera. Also the new Parisian boy in town Martin Solveig is releasing his inspirational album Sur la Terre. A new Ibiza residency has been secured at El Divino every Friday and a new UK tour has been secured. On top of this we have the Defected 5th Birthday celebrations which will commence at the Miami Music Conference. Defected will be hosting an all day party beside a 210 foot long pool with all of its artists playing at the event. All in all this is an exciting time for Defected. The story continues?
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