Jason Kaye

Jason Kaye is a professional in every sense of the word and has been aptly dubbed ‘The Master’ of the Underground UK Garage scene as well as achieving the ‘DJ of the Year’ title for 1997 (Hot Tickets / Evening Standard), with the title still in place. Djing successfully for over 10 years now, he has led the pack in the most influential music genres of the past decade including House, Jungle and now the latest music phenomenon UK Garage.

Being a hardened raver in the mid/late eighties and experiencing the acid house explosion that was to change the face of dance music, Jason realised that he had an ear for the music and a hidden mixing talent which he soon began to exploit. Teaming up with fellow talents DJ Mikee B (now one third of the infamous Dreem Teem) and MC Mad P, the legendary Top Buzz was soon conceived. The threesome went on to establish themselves as major players on the early rave scene, as well as pioneers and innovators of the newer drum ‘n’ bass sound that was soon to be introduced.

Being at the forefront of the early 90’s ravescene, there wasn’t a rave or club that Top Buzz didn’t play at one time or another and the word soon spread overseas which led to the boys travelling to Australia, Canada, America and various European venues. With this realm of experience, producing a record was a natural progression for Jason and he went on to do so with great success. “Living In Darkness” (Basement Records) was conceived in 1992 and went on to top the dance charts for several weeks resulting in it achieving in excess of 14,000 sales and becoming the biggest selling underground dance track for that year. The track was also licensed to major compilations including releases from Fantazia and Radio 1. Jason’s already high reputation escalated and the offers came pouring in resulting in a remix of The Prodigy’s “Weather Experience” (part of their “Fire EP”) which achieved a top 10 national chart position in 1993.

Jason’s love of the Underground House & Garage scene has been in his blood since the early days and his 20,000 strong (at last count!) record collection features a host of sought after classics. His progression to playing the mellower sounds of House & Garage in late 1993 seemed inevitable as the jungle scene mutated and diversified. Since this transition Jason has continued his consistent success and has given his Midas touch to various projects. His record label ‘Social Circles’, partnered with DJ / producer Sticky, is one such project which has already left its mark on the UK Garage scene with a consistent catalogue of quality tunes, including “Baby You Make My Heart Sing”, “I’m Missing”, “The Message” and the 2001 smash “Boo” featuring Ms Dynamite, which was signed to London Records and achieved a no.12 national chart position in June 2001, with a series of killer tracks to follow from the likes of Stush, Donae’o & Tubby T. Jason has also mixed some of the biggest selling compilation albums around including three for Garage Nation (Telstar / Sony) as well as “A Retrospective of Garage” (Universal) with Dreem Teem’s Mikee B. Jason and partner Sticky were also nominated for Best Garage Act at the 2001 Mobo Awards.

Of course, Jason still manages to fit being a second to none DJ into his busy lifestyle playing at a variety of major UK promotions including Garage Nation / One Nation (resident), Pure Silk, Sun City, World Dance and Ministry of Sound to name but a few. His popularity and talents have also been rewarded as he claimed a 1999/2000 Dance Recognition Award for his contribution to the music scene.

More recently Jason has further elevated his profile to the realms of royalty – Prince William has confirmed his love of UK Garage and quoted Jason Kaye as one of his favourite DJ’s in a recent tabloid interview. He is Ian Wright’s favourite DJ (as mentioned on Sky TV at a post-match interview and further proved by his request for Jason to play at the annual Official PFA party for the fourth year in a row), he is always picked to play at Oasis’ private after-gig parties whenever they are in town (3 dates at Wembley / 3 dates at Earl’s Court so far), the infamous drum ‘n’ bass maestro Roni Size has quoted him as his main musical influence and Goldie has also noted his respect for him on his notorious “Timeless” album. Not bad for a man still in his prime and raring to go. Wanted and loved by the celebrity and club fraternity alike Jason Kaye is a force to be reckoned with, and will be for some time to come.