Events

Cottam has become a name to watch since his debut release in September 2009. His rise to recognition has been swift, but like most ‘overnight successes’ he’s been plugging away for years. He has been buying records since the late 80s and the early days of the UK house scene and DJing since the mid 90s – starting out with house before a harder techno edge took over. He has played at various techno nights across the north, the highlight being a date in Manchester with his heroes The British Murder Boys. Combined with working for years in a specialist record shop the man has a wealth of knowledge across the board and a wide taste in music.

The last couple of years has seen Cottam try his hand with some production experiments. Hearing the pitched down sound of Mark E & The Revenge has led to a reduction in tempo, and the combining of influences from the other parts of the collection – neo-soul, afro-beat, hip hop – along with deep loop driven house led to a healthy stack of early demos, that were passed to a few friends from the record shop days. A distributor snapped them up for immediate release as they were – not bad for some rough drafts. They formed the first three anonymous ‘COTTAM’ 12”s that flew out of the specialist shops and become some of 2009s biggest sellers for underground shops such as Rub-A-Dub and Piccadilly. Phonica listed all three in their top releases of 2009.

Early 2010 has seen Cottam release a track on an EP for Wolf Music alongside Illja Rudman, and an anonymous four track EP on Germany’s Story Records. Future releases on Amp Art and more in the COTTAM series, alongside remix work will ensure another busy twelve months for one of the scenes fastest rising stars.

His DJing style combines his past in techno, building layers of intense sound that are constantly tweaked combined with deep jacking house dripping in soul and the slower disco edits from the likes of LTJ Experience. Just like his releases the rough combines with the smooth for an experience that manages to be both deep and keeps your interest.