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First and foremost the DJ, Toms style was formed at a residency throughout 1991 at the Coliseum Club in London. His ear for strong, new music and sense of timing went on to help him win Mixmag magazine's first ever DJ competition, selected from over 1000 entries. By the mid 1990s he was playing guest spots in the legendary main rooms of The Ministry of Sound and Bagleys Film Studios as well as his ever busy schedule playing to some of the more humble clubs and bars in and around London.
In the late 1990s Tom committed to a bi-monthly residency with the Sound Architecture organisation in Holland, and the door to the developing global temperament of the underground house scene was opened. He soon found himself frequenting the shores of many eastern European Countries, Asia and The Far East, entertaining ever-growing audiences within these emerging dance scenes. By 2000 this had lead to headline gigs in North and South America as well as continued trips all over Europe. Back in his home town of London, Tom has recently delighted the crowds at the venerated clubs of Fabric, The Egg, Turnmills and Wiggle.
Tom Baker's sets could be described as soulful, deep, driving or funky, but will inspire passion and a rapturous reaction, playing to the party whilst equally striking into the hearts of the chin-strokers. For a preview Tom can be found live on the radio waves, every Wednesday evening on The Open House Radio show: www.pulseradio.net 9-11pm GMT with Natalie C and various international house and techno guests
URBNET Some of your early beginnings as a DJ can be credited to Mixmags DJ competition where did that take your career to?
TOM BAKER Id actually been DJing for about 4 years when that happened and after I won the competition and played at The Ministry of Sound not much changed. I was still getting a few good gigs and a few not so good gigs, but I think as the scene grew over the following years it helped, as promoters were still putting "Ministry of Sound" after my name and I was headlining gigs more and more often. Even now on some overseas gigs people still put MOS after my name, which makes me laugh really considering how far removed the club is from our scene.
Most of your DJ sets are heavily covered in techouse grooves to acid tinged melodies, when did you start melding (melting? I guess thats what you mean?) these beats to create your own sound?
To be honest Im all things to all people, a bit of a chameleon. And although some of my sets are exactly as you describe I also like (and often play) really housey. Im not really conscious of "my sound" when it comes to DJing as I just play records I really like and that can be quiet wide-ranging. I think my sets are usually quite lively though but it depends on the place, the crowd, the mood. In terms of my productions however youve hit the nail on the head, and I guess I am more known for techier stuff but its all quite subconscious really. Most of my productions are with Lawrence Mohammed so its both of our minds doing the talking. Our productions just come out the way they do, its not really a concerted effort for it to be this or that. I am going to try to make some housier stuff soon though so look out for that.
With residencies all across the UK and in big clubs like Ministry did you feel pigeon holed by the big box clubs?
No not really, as I said The Ministry of Sound thing was years ago and Im happy playing to 100 people in a small, sweaty after hours party as well as playing at big warehouses or whatever. Big parties and small parties both have their own rewards and Im happy as happy as a pig in shit just doing my thing to people that want to hear it.
Where would you like to play next and why?
Kazakhstan. Dont ask me why it just sounds like a crazy place to go. A friend of mine plays there quiet often and it just sounds hilarious, challenging, and an interesting place to go and play. Ive got something lined up for the Autumn over there so Im really excited about that. But Im interested to play anywhere off the beaten track so I can see new places as much as anything. Usually the audiences are more receptive in far flung places and its interesting to see their reaction to music many of them may not be very familiar with. Im really looking forward to coming to Canada in June as well as Ive never been there before.
How entertaining are your 3 deck shows?
Well I dont stand on one hand scratching with my left foot if thats what you mean (laughs), but seriously, its just me playing records very fast and concentrating pretty hard. I only do that when I play techno sets as its not really necessary or appropriate with house/tech house, as the records are far more interesting on their own. When Im playing 3 deck sets Im usually playing fast, loop based techno and Im pretty much in the mix the whole time, mucking about with the EQ and faders. I dont get much demand for it these days as the UK techno scene seems to have virtually disappeared and I only really get a handful of bookings a year for it. I really enjoy it because the audience participation levels are much higher so Id love to do more of it, but unless youre really well known and producing that stuff all the time theres not much of a demand for it unfortunately.
What styles of house have you created for the likes of Terry Francis & Asad Rizvi and what other labels are you looking to release material on in the future?
The releases so far have been drum orientated, sample based stuff, where as now were definitely getting more musical. Our forthcoming releases still have some choice sampling going on but were trying to involve more interesting synth structures now as well. The next release should be out around May/June, which will be for Wrong Recordings again. Its called "La Diablada", its very techy and has an excellent remix from Paul Soul and Chris Smith which is really housey and compliments the package nicely. After that theres a release out on Suspect Package which is my and Timmy S, called "The Quiz Mistress" with a remix from iteration X, after that me and Lawrence have an EP out on a new label David Duriez has just started called Block Recordings which should be out around September 2005.
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