Published
Fri, Jan 25, 2019, 14:20
- The drum & bass artist, who was diagnosed with cancer more than 18 months ago, passed away on Wednesday.
The drum & bass producer Andy Skopes has died.
The English artist, real name Andrew Lawrence, passed away on Wednesday after being diagnosed with cancer more than 18 months ago. Lawrence was a regular on the drum & bass label Utopia Music, and released 12-inches on Soothsayer, Inperspective and Secret Operations. In 2017, he released his well-regarded debut EP for Metalheadz, Speechless, which recalled the label's classic mid-'90s sound. He was also a pivotal part of Croydon's drum & bass scene as a DJ and employee at the now-closed record shop Wax City.
His wife, Heidi, released a statement last night. "Andy had plans to write this himself, to tell you all some day what he was going through," she wrote. "Some of you he told, but lots of you he just wanted to be normal with. Our lovely Andy passed away peacefully on January 23rd having battled cancer for over 18 months. He did so with such immense courage and positivity and was an inspiration to those he met along his journey."
Read Heidi's full statement and tributes to Lawrence from the drum & bass community below.