Back in the late 80s, a flyer with his name on it meant queues outside clubs like Legends in Manchester and the infamous Wigan Pier. Chad was one of the first British DJ to start DJ mixing in the early 80s. His regular live and recorded mixes on Manchester’s Piccadilly/Key 103 radio station had the whole of the North West of Britain with their fingers on the tape-deck record button. The original cassettes are highly prized today, with people inundating Chad’s website for copies of these famous mixes. This soon led to Chad being headhunted by Manchester’s legendary Hacienda club, who asked Chad to become resident. Chad was one of the architects of the scene that followed, introduced the crowds, including many who would go on to create the ‘Madchester’ scene, to the newly emerging house music sound and creative DJ mixing techniques. While at the Hacienda he started producing remixes exclusively for use on the legendary DMC DJ only collections showcasing his eclectic taste, including Grace Jones, Prince, Public Enemy, Deelite and Fatboy Slim, many of which are highly collectable on sites such as Ebay today. In 1987 he proved his mixing abilities by becoming the Technics/DMC World DJ Mixing Champion at the Royal Albert Hall in London, having secured the UK title a year before. This success led to him being one of the first DJs to undertake a world tour, including stop-offs in New York to become the first European competitor in the Battle For World Supremacy at New York’s New Music Seminar, Russia, Japan, Brazil, the Cannes Film Festival and an MTV Christmas Party! By 1990 Chad’s focus had turned to studio production, with the creation of his Inner World Audio recording studio – in which numerous productions and remixes took place, remixing the likes of De La Soul, Norman Cook’s Beats International, Kirsty McColl, Bizzare Inc, Run DMC, and Mantronix. His first solo work followed and Chad Jackson’s ’Hear The Drummer Get Wicked’ went straight to the top of charts around the world, No 1 in the UK Dance Charts, No.2 in the UK National Chart. When MP3 arrived, Chad saw the possibility of a long-lingering death for his beloved vinyl. Ministry Of Sound also saw that possibility, and together they toured the major UK Universities, performing perhaps the first ever computer MP3 mixing demonstrations, in workshops designed to promote the arrival of digital mixing. | |This gave Chad a taste for the rewards of education, which has led to his current lecturing position as a tutor of Music Production, MIT & Music Culture at the acclaimed Academy Of Contemporary Music in Guildford. Many of his past students are currently having great success in many areas of the industry. Recent original production projects include ‘Brake’ and ‘Rock’ on the Acetate label, ‘Nova Symphony’ by Feedback (No 1 Update Buzz Chart) and Drumscape ‘Peptide Bass’ and ‘Transmission’. He is currently producing a new project, Group Therapy, with old friend DJ Dave Seaman. The first two releases in the bag ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ and ‘Faith Again’ have received widespread DJ acclaim and heavy chart action. 2005 saw a No1 Music Week Club Chart from Dave and Chad (under the Brothers In Rhythm guise), of Tears For Fears new single ‘Closest Thing To Heaven’. Chad’s recent releases include ‘Energise’ on Fabric Live – Plump DJs’, ‘Do You Do Voodoo’ on Audio Therapy and ‘Get Your Boogie On’ with Cut La Roc’s Rocstar label. More information can be found at the official Chad Jackson website: www.chadjackson.co.uk |
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