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Sean
O’Keeffe began his musical journey when he was
hooked by the sound of US house in the late 80’s.
He could be found DJing in the local pubs and clubs
long before he was old enough to drink in them, and
as the decade turned, he was already spinning at venues
and raves across the country. With his sets encompassing
everything from Transmat to Nu-Groove and Warp to Shut
Up And Dance, word of his talent spread and he was given
a DJ residency by Rob Playford (Founder of Moving Shadow).
From here it was only a matter of time before Sean,
along with friend Simon Colebrooke formed 2 Bad Mice
and demanded that Playford engineer some tunes for them.
First out (in early 1991) was “2 Bad Mice / No
Respect, with its tribal breakbeats and Joey Beltram
style bassline, it was labelled as “Jungle Techno”
by legendary rave Djs “Top Buzz”…..the
label stuck! (THIS REALLY IS HOW IT CAME ABOUT, DO NOT
LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE!!)
Next up was the “Five In One Night” EP by
Kaotic Chemistry followed by the big one, 2 Bad Mice’s
“Hold It Down” EP, Featuring “Hold
It Down”, “Waremouse” (the last tune
ever played at Rage) and the rather popular “Bombscare”
(still being played by the likes of Sasha today!) It
was this record that really put Moving Shadow on the
map and it was at this time that Sean committed himself
full time to help with the day to day running of the
label.
As royalties from the 2 Bad Mice and Kaotic Chemistry
singles started to come in, Sean invested the money
in a sampler of his own and embarked on his first solo
project under the name Deep Blue. The result was a little
number known as “The Helicopter Tune”. Described
as “seminal”, “a masterpiece”,
“a turning point for Drum & Bass” (by
the press) and “alright” (by him), it was
without doubt one of the most influential records in
Drum & Bass history, it reached #46 in the CIN chart
and 10 years on, still gets sneaked into sets by everyone
from Fabio to Andy C.
The saga continued with the release of Goldie fave “Thursday”
as a tribute to the “inspirational” London
club nights “Rage” and “Speed”.
This was followed by “Transitions”, a collaboration
with Blame that once again had the dance floors rocking
and the press raving. This was to be Sean’s last
recording for Moving Shadow, as after 7 years loyal
service, he was part of the group that left to form
new label “Partisan” at Björk’s
label “One Little Indian”.
It was here that Sean recorded the ground-breaking “Destroyer
/ Oceans Above Life” and then “Affirmative
/ Negative” a collaboration with “Tertius”.
This was followed by a spell living and recording in
a Martello tower on the shores of Dublin Bay, a period
that Sean describes as ”Magical but unproductive”
as the only thing he had to show for it was “an
uncontrollable urge to go and sit in the pub all day”.
His return to England (and work) saw the long awaited
release of the “..Breathtaking” “Immersion
/ Momentum” on Doc Scott’s legendary 31
Records, and “Salvador” a midtempo latino
techno number on Reinforced offshoot Twisted Funk Records
run by 4 Hero main man Marc Mac. His most recent solo
single “Soho Code” has just been released
on New York label “Offshore” and will be
followed by “Do You Voodoo?” scheduled for
release in the summer.
Sean has also begun recording and compiling library
albums for BMG and has still found time along the way
to remix artists including; UB40, Kevin Saunderson,
Terra Deva, Manbreak, 45 Dip and a host of others. He
has also had tracks chosen for use on Playstation games
and even pop up in the occasional Hollywood movie.
Most recently, Sean has teamed up with drum and bass
legend, and old friend Rob Haigh AKA Omni Trio. Their
first collaboration “Station to Station”
was signed up instantly by LTJ Bukem for release on
Good Looking and this lead to the duo deciding to record
a joint album “All Tomorrow’s Food”,
under the pseudonym “Black Rain” which is
now set for release in spring 2003. It will be the first
release on their new label, “Scale” so keep
‘em peeled. |
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