TRANCE / HARD DANCE DJs

Joyce Mercedes’ star has been rising fast the last few years. After successful performances at Dance Valley & Impulz festivals her musical career has lifted in the Netherlands evolving into a DJ of great stature with a busy agenda speaks for itself, regularly visiting several continents in one month and each weekend traveling from her hometown of Amsterdam to the cornes of the globe, racking up more than 20 different countries just in the first 6 months of 2005.

Joyce is exceptionally talented and is considered possibly the best female progressive house DJ in the world - we can't argue with that, her mixing and selection is some of the very finest in the style we have heard here at Sparkle and she has righly shared centre stage with the big guns; Sasha, Anthony Pappa, James Holden, Paul van Dyk, Chris Fortier & Derrick May. Her flawless choice of records shows a nose for a quality tune and her exceptional mix technique takes the dance floor from easy and accessible vocal harmonies through deep and funky foot food to deep, trippy and hypnotic beats, soaring to stunning prog trance monsters - a spectacular set that evidences a diverse musical vocabulary

From her birthplace in Nijmegen Joyce began work as a dancer for leading organizations Pantera and Extension, later moving to Amsterdam and performing with her dance colleagueon the Strycker & Holmes World Tour a sparkling dance show in some of the most famous clubs in the World. Her passion for music lies in her dancing as well as her singing. In the not to distant past Joyce was part of “Centerfold”, the group that sang in 1998 to a sold out Amsterdam Arena during half time of the classic football game Ajax-PSV Eindhoven . “Centerfold” also added lustre to the 15th year anniversary of Playboy and Joyce worked regularly as a model, featuring in campaigns for Heineken, Campari, Gap-Star and Playboy.

Not being content with success in two fields Joyces passion for music drove her to invest in truntables and master the art of mixing. Her first performance before an audience took place in sunny Miami at a private party and very soon word spread and the bookings started to roll in, culminating in a DJ residency at the well known Amsterdam Superclub and a 2-year tour with Ibiza's Space World Tour to crown it all off.  At this moment Joyce has performed in almost every major club in mainland Europe, North and South America as well as many in the Far EasHer striving for success has naturally led her into the recording studio to produce her own music, which will finally bear fruit this year with a 12" erelease imminent, though Joyce admits that she struggles to fit in production time around her busy live schedule.   If it's anywhere near as good as her live sets it will be worth the wait!

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Not many DJ’s can claim 8 years in the DJ MAG TOP 100 POLL, with 5 of those in the TOP 40 and 2 years at 22!! But Graham Gold can. Graham and his legendary shows on London’s Kiss 100 reached out and touched hundreds of thousands of listeners across the world and together with his club night Peach, the most successful club brand ever in the capital, helped to define the musical tastes of a generation.

Yet he is still one of the most down to earth DJ’s on the planet and his commitment to the scene and to play exciting fresh new music is pretty much un-paralleled and his influence on dance music today cannot be understated.

Years of experience has taken him to all corners of the world playing for all the major brands and festivals, including Glastonbury, Homelands, Gatecrasher, Gods Kitchen, Passion, Slinky, Impulz, Earthdance, W.E.M.F., Summadayze and The Street Parade.

Since his recent relocation to Koh Phangan, Thailand, Graham is a favourite guest of choice and resident at many of the Full Moon and Half Moon parties as well as Thailand’s premier annual festival CULTURE ONE in Bangkok for the last 2 years. He is now the Asia resident for Mark Wilkinson’s ever growing KIDOLOGY brand, which will also be bringing Graham to Ibiza this summer. They are also collaborating on a new house track together.

Graham is one of the few Thailand based DJ's on the taste maker promo mailing list for so many record companies worldwide, and he receives tracks up to 3 months before they become available on Beatport and other internet portals. This is a huge attraction to tourists and clubbers who have heard tunes on radio shows by the likes of Tong, Sanchez and Morillo.

But he knows it not just about new music, he knows how to rock a crowd - whether it be live on stage or over the airwaves.

His radio show “TRANCEDAYZE” airs on various national FM stations around the world as well as the major internet portals. But don’t be misled by the title - a large percentage of bookings for Graham are for his house sets, where he covers many of the genres and this is winning him even more accolades amongst promoters.

Graham's production suite has been red hot too with Recoverworld’s Flux Delux label picked up “Glorified” and that was hammered by Paul van Dyk, Armin and Paul Oakenfold. The follow up, aptly titled “Island Of Dreams”, was “RECOMMENDED” on Beatport and released on Total Digital. The latest production from Graham -“Living In The Now”- is about to drop, and watch out, this one is HUGE!! Last November saw the release of a new MIX CD -SUBMERGE 2 and is the second in the series of compilations from Fektive-the fastest growing label in Holland. He has also just signed a mix CD album deal with D-Rom for 3 albums a year. The first album is due for release on May 7th.

Graham has sold over 700,000 mix albums across various leading brands including Kiss Mix, Kiss in Ibiza, Retrospective Of House, Club Cuts, Dj’s In The Box and his own albums Gold & Delicious for Logic/BMG, GG1/GG2 for Trust The DJ, Worth It’s Weight In Gold for Bullion, and Full Of Beans for Urban Collective. There have also been covermount CD’s for M8 Magazine and Fast Car.

He has run highly successful labels such as 'Good As' label which gave Matt Darey his first ever UK top twenty single, Koolworld which spawned the massive “Invader” and secured 3 top 20 hits on his Peach/PWL label. 'Good As' also managed the UK diaries of Tiesto, Armin and Ferry Corsten from 1998-2001.

Let's not forget TV - Graham Gold was a regular presenter for ITV’s “BPM” – the iconic cult clubbing show, which took him to the biggest clubs all over the UK. Plus many guest presenter spots on Rapture TV and Clubavision as well as co presenting the still played MTV Trance Classics. Graham’s My Space has achieved 90,000 hits and his bi-weekly podcasts are going out to a regular 6000 signed up database and growing weekly.

His Facebook group already has over 2500 members which get mailed about all Graham’s upcoming gigs. So popular is the pages that he had to open a second page to work aroundf Facebooks friend limits!

Despite half a lifetime (or so it seems) in the business of DJing, promotion and music production Graham still appears regularly in every leading dance music publication and was even featured in the special GOLD edition of Vogue!!

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With styles at the harder end of the spectrum undergoing a real rollercoaster ride of peaks and troughs over the last couple of years, production legend Pete Wardman has wisely used the time to not only get back into his beloved studio but also to redevelop his love for good honest house music. These days you are just as likely to see Pete moving and shaking a dancefloor to sophisticated quality mid-tempo house cut, as to hear him ripping the roof off at a Slinky night with an uplifting hard dance monster. Because of recent successes in the harder spectrum it's easy to overlook a DJ and production history which covers a diverse range of styles and tastes.

Pete Wardman was first booked as a DJ when he was 17 years old, claiming it was a case of either "either get behind the bar, or the decks"! Fast forward to 1998 and Pete had set up Hampshire based "Power FM", a radio station targeted towards a (largely ignored) youth audience. Within a year the station became market leader, and was later bought by the Capital Radio group. In 1992, Pete was headhunted by KISS 100 FM - the UK's leading dance music station to co-present the weekday breakfast show, progressing to his own weekday show. Over the next two years the ratings skyrocketed and Pete had become one of their 'new school DJ's, also generating a rash of live bookings round the UK

In 1995, when Kiss changed hands, Pete left the daytime schedule and, with a helping hand from Danny Rampling, created a new weekly specialist show under the 'House Nation' banner, and becoming one of the regular presenters of BPM, ITV's Saturday night cult dance TV show as well as releasing the milestone compilation album 'Sherbert' which banged straight into a number 4 chart placing. As a result the legendary club 'Sherbert' was born, becoming one of London's most cutting edge clubs.

Pete has also featured as guest on Pete Tong's 'The Essential Mix' on BBC Radio 1, been a journalist and presenter for BBC News and Current Affairs as well hosting a long running prime time show on KISS 100 FM and in 1997 he became the new weekly resident at Laurence Malice's legendary club TRADE and a regular headliner at the cult clubs world tour dates for many years thereafter.

Yes, we know we haven't mentioned the Dance Music Crown Jewels - yep that rather impressive Pete Wardman discography that has helped shape dance music - there isn't the space to list them all but you can download the full details HERE

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AJ Gibson has been an integral part of the UK club scene for nearly 10 years. The reason for his current GATECRASHER residency has been proven time and again to thousands of clubbers every week alongside the other big names in the industry. For one club or another AJ has played every major continent (except the very cold one!) on numerous occasions.

But this DJ is far from a one horse jockey - recognised as one of the most in-demand DJ's on the circuit by discerning promoters worldwide he has several other residencies to honour including, the other 'Big G' international club brand, GODSKITCHEN, Tonic (Ibiza ), Oxygen @Studio 24 (Edinburgh), Goodbye Cruel World @ Mosquito Coast (Leicester) and Tramps (Tenerife) as well as guest appearances and cliub tours Godskitchen (UK, South Africa, Malaysia, Greece, Turkey, The World), Slinky (UK, Malaysia), Dance Academy (Plymouth), The Syndicate (Blackpool), Passion (Coalville), Garlands (Liverpool), Fully Charged (Hull), Access (Dundee), Peach (Liverpool) Crazy Daisys (Rugby), ROAR ,Time Flies (Wales), Clockwork Orange, Enigma, The Met, The Coach (all Ireland), The Honeyclub (Brighton), Pams House (E Anglia), Progress (Derby), Frisky (Northampton), Hotdog (Nottingham), Freedom @ Bagleys (London), playing 6/7 times a week, at student events and university tours all over the country he is a firm believer in taking his music to those that wouldn't normally get the opportunity to hear him and welcomes bookings from countries with emerging dance scenes as well as those more inaccessible and exotic locations.

AJ has worked on various projects with his now regular studio partner Scott Mac. Their debut track Deprogression v's AJ Gibson "Twilight" was picked up by ATCR and received a many plays from Judge Jules on Radio 1 and is being signed to a Ministry of Sound compilation. of his trademark GK sets of uplifting euphoric trance and harder edged, chunky, progressive house, plus an increasing demand for his fanatically funky sound, captivate audiences compelling them to jump around, scream and shout; bringing them together as one in their love love of music.

Whether it's in front of 10 or 10,000 people, Derby or Dubai promoters know that AJ Gibson is the DJ's Robbie Williams - an all round entertainer

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When you look at the list of achievements of BeXta Australia's No1 female DJ and possibly the most successful dance music producer in the countries history, you wonder how she has done it all. And when you ask BeXta that question, this quietly spoken talent admits she feels she hasn't even started. Which makes it all the more cool.

BeXta has had 8 single releases to date, including a 5-star international anthem (quoted by Radio One, BBC London, and DJ Mag UK), called 'One For The Road. She's release one EP - the Skirmish LIVE EP, which entered the ARIA singles charts in 1999, and an album, Conversations with ones and zeroes. The album reached number 8 on the ARIA independent album charts, which was released on her own label in Australia - a notable achievement for a dance music producer in this country achieving all of that?  

On top of her own releases BeXta began the DJ compilation series, 'Mixology', in 2000, and we are just about to be hit with number 9 in the series, which she is introducing her first international DJ to accompany her on the comps - Brooklyn Bounce.  This collaboration will surely propel and Bexta's production career to a much wider international stage - a long running objective of this personable and determined DJ.

As well as the release of 'Mixology 9' , BeXta has embarked on a project to introduce new talent into the industry, with the development of her label, now called Mixology Digital Records. This will feature new artists, as well as her own material, that will also be remixed by internationals and also herself. The label will feature collaborations BeXta has done with international artists, including Public Domain, Dave Joy and Vandertraxx. MDR will be entering the online download domain www.mixologydigitalrecords.com/ But vinyl junkies rest assured there will a be a vinyl release to launch the label, which will be available internationally, and will feature a new BeXta track, and will introduce 2 of her new artists - Steve Black and TyDi.

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Fans of the mighty Platipus Records will be only too aware of the extensive musical output of top act Art Of Trance (AOT). Since 1993, they've been unearthing gems of unparalleled purity. However, delve a little deeper and be astonished and amazed by just how linked to the label the act really is. For the AOT is none other than Platipus owner and Tai Pan - Simon Berry

From humble beginnings in the English countryside, Simon's attention was turned from agriculture and rolling around in haystacks by the progressive sounds coming from Detroit in the late 80s. His peers' love of Rock and Indie meant the countryside could offer little in the way of musical stimulation so it was logical for him to get the next tractor out of town. He was London bound...

A musical epiphany occurred at legendary clubs, "Troll" and "Chemistry", where Simon heard music that ignited his soul. Hardfloor's seminal classic "Acperience" blew this country boy’s mind and gave rise to Simon's first and foremost recording project as Art of Trance - the "Deeper Than Deep EP", released on the newly assembled Platipus Records label, set up as a vehicle for his and like-minded others' music. The second release on the label was Poltergeist's "Vicious Circles"- a secret Simon project. While at the Drum Club one night Simon met Darren Emerson, Charlie Hall and Carl Cox. All asked for new copies of the record having worn out their acetates. Simon was flabbergasted that these DJs he respected were all after his record. Carl Cox loved it so much that he offered to remix the track and it was re-released in early 1995 making number 34 in the UK National charts.

Art Of Trance reworked several Platipus tracks, including a driving take on John Occlusion’s ‘Psycho Drums’ and his darkly melodic reworking of Jan Johnston’s ‘Calling Your Name’ as well as nurturing the talents of Neo & Farina (favourite of Radio 1s Dave Pearce) and Tony Rapacioli (under numerous aliases Kansai, Praha, Ratio, Rouge and Space Brothers) w Rapacioli had been duly crowned with two consecutive DJ Mag Sure Player awards - Kansai’s ‘Rococo’ was hailed as: ‘a melodic trance record you can drop anywhere, anytime’.

2004 produced what is popularly considered as Art Of Trance's defining moment, in the form of 'Mongoose'. closely followed by the public demand re-issue of Cygnus X remix of Madagascar & Monsoon - both of which were out of press for some time. Art Of Trance spent the earlier part of the year compiling & mixing a new series called Tales Of The Unexpected, a whole new chapter in the 12 years young of Platipus Records. This went on to be a top seller for the label.

The Art Of Chill 2 - a firm friend of many an 'all back to mine' session was compiled by Simon Berry & mixed by soundtrack extraordinaire Jon Hopkins while Art of Trance remixed of the classic Union Jack track 'Two Full Moons & A Trout' as well as collaboration with Transglobal Underground vocalist Natasha Atlas, entitled 'Persia'.

Simon mixed and compiled 'Tales of The Unexpected Chapter 2' and started a new series entitled 'The Big Freeze' which was released in February 2007 to critical acclaim.

The classic albums by Art Of Trance and Union Jack are about to hit the shelves yet again , re-released with a host of new mixes, and live version as well as another working of the classic Madagascar with new remixes by Richard Durand and Phil Crawf as a follow up to the outstanding 'Swarm' - not only a classic track but a must see video on YouTube too.

Recent brilliant remixes of the Vangelis classic Chung Kao have been gracing superstar DJ sets worldwide during 2012, a sure sign that you just can't hold a good Art of Trance down.

Choose from Art of Trance or coupled with Paul Brogden of POB/Seismic Records as the reincarnated and very awesome Union Jack.

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Vicky Devine is one of the most talented female DJ/Producers within the current UK dance scene having been involved in music in some capacity throughout most of her life, she was enticed into the dance music world at the age of 18 and has worked within the industry ever since!!!

Vicky has been busy wowing fans around the world for many years now, with a reputation built on her uplifting yet driving trance sets - although versatile Vicky is just as recognised for her funky, house and electro sets as well.  Playing at numerous nights in the UK including Gatecrasher, The Gallery (Turnmills), Pams House (Norwich), Slinky (Westfest Festival), Escape (Swansea), Passion (Coalville), Tranzaction and on a worldwide level including on the SLINKY Asia tour in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the SMIRNOFF EXPERIENCE tour in India and at clubs in Canada, South America, Dubai, Australia and New Zealand to name but a few.

Vicky is also a regular guest at many top nights in Ibiza including her weekly main room residency at the massive JUDGEMENT SUNDAYS at Eden where she plays alonsgide the likes of Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, Lisa Lashes, Christopher Laurence, Matt Hardwick and Ferry Corston (2005, 2006, 2007), - not to mention a weekly residency at Majorca's superclub BCM for her own night - "Angels of Funk" (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). She is also one of the resident DJ's at the most successful all female DJ event to date - "Charlys Angelz". This has completed eight successful years out in Ibiza at which Vicky has played each and every one.The brand has also hosted nights at numerous clubs as part of the Charlys Angelz UK and Worldwide tour, in addition to the brand hosting rooms at other collaborating events such as the Big Reunion in Skegness. Charlys Angelz remains an integral part of Vicky's career and will be back in Ibiza for summer 2007 alongside a new UK tour.

On the production front Vicky has also seen success. She had early productions as part of numerous collaborations which allowed her to subsequently move on to work on solo productions and develop her own sound. Her first release written back in 2001 (as part of trance duo Sweet Asylum and also called "Sweet Asylum"), was released through Infectious Distribution, and was licensed to Pendragons "Power Trance and Nu NRG" album mixed by Mark Sinclair. Her second track entitled "Angelz", also produced under the Sweet Asylum guise was signed by UK based record label Solar. Her third track entitled "Fearing Nothing", co-written with Sophie Sugar, was released at the beginning of 2003 on Dutch label "F-Active Music" where the track was produced. It is during the past year however that Vicky has come into her own as a solo artist.

Her first solo production - "Entravanse" - was signed to Drizzly at the end of 2005 and released in March 2006 on their Illuminate sublabel along with a remix from Passion's resident DJ Andy Bagguley. The track was licenced to four compilation albums, received excellent reviews in IDJ, Mixmag and M8 magazines and has also received support from some of trance's top music jocks including Dave Pearce (plays on his Radio One Dance Anthems Show), Paul Kershaw (plays on Galaxy FM and voted 2nd in the Sol Selection), Adam White and Gav Mytchell (MOS Radio), Guy Ornadel and DJ Choose. Her second track entitled "Echoed Kisses" was also released on Drizzly's Illuminate Records with a fantastic Paul Kershaw Remix, and achieved similar success with plays on Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems, MOS radio, Galaxy and Vibe FM to name but a few. Echoed Kisses was also recommended tune of the month in IDJ and had fantastic reviews in Mixmag. Vicky has been back working hard in the studio throughout the winter, and her next two tracks (Silver Whispers and Eternal Dream) will be doing the rounds very soon as well as her very own remix of Solstice's "Edge of the Ocean".

Radio is also a massive part of Vicky's career having provided Ibizareports and interviews for Paul Kershaw's Saturday night Galaxy FM show (2006), Steve Smart's Saturday night Kiss 100 FM Floorfillers Show (2004), Bournemouth's Fire 107.6FM (2002-2004), and having also hosted her own show on Ibiza's main dance music station Holiday FM (2005). In addition Vicky has been involved in television work with Balearic Babes (Rapture TV 2002) and also with an Australian production which included Vicky interviewing DJ Tiesto at Ibiza's Cream Closing party (2005).

Vicky has also been the featured guest / mix on Eddie Halliwell's BBC Radio One Show (Feb 2007), on Judge Jules's Global Warm Up show (Dec 2006) and on Fergie's BBC Radio One Show for his "DJ By The Sea" Feature (2005).

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Keri majored in Vocal Music Education and Performance, performing with bands, choirs, and in operas, and served in the US Air Force. This multi-faceted lady got her DJ break when DJ Carlos needed a break at a house party and she took to it like a duck to water. After years of perfecting her skill, she incorporated her live vocals and rarely spins a set without singing over it.

Keri’s unique style as a DJ/ vocalist has secured her multiple residences over the years including The Masquerade & The Velvet Room in Atlanta, GA, Havana Beach Club Discotheque in Aruba, The Kastle in St. Louis and the most recent, The Ride in Atlanta. It is a club that literally caters to the stars. Keri has also been the target of many endorsement deals in the USA for an array of products ranging from clothing lines, cosmetics, as well as DJ equipment

Lets not foget Keri's good looks too, which won her the title of Ms. Louisiana and a chance to represent her state at national level beauty pageants - in fact so glam is this talented DJ/Vocalist that she was voted 7th 'Hottest DJ on the Planet' in the 50th Anniversary edition of Playboy Magazine, and thereafter graced Playboy magazine twice (October 2003 and April 2004) and subsequently FHM (Malaysia, Chona and Portugal) and various similar magazines worldwide.

Keri has been signed to many creative and collaborative projects - with one original folk-pop album “Dreams”, released in 1999 by HTC, Keri’s newest album “Dream Keeper” was releases in early 2003 on Peace Continuum /MDI Distribution. With the success of her first US hit “No Tears” on Funkwax Records behind her Keri attracted a stream of willing endorsees - DJ Supplies, clothing and cosmetic brands all keen to share the stardust . Her fame skyrocketed and Keri is now a well known name on premier club bills across the globe.

Despite a heavy live workload Keri has recently finished her third album "BEAUTIFUL GIRL", and is building up expectation for the release by droping the content into her DJ sets in 2010. Keri also owns her own label GPR established in 2003, which has carried her vocal mix compilations, original productions, and promo mixes. Keri's musaic has been licensed many times over including to MTV, HBO, international movies, anas well as US record labels, along with appearances on compilations. Keti has also sung on TV in Indonesiia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Canada, Souht America and of course her native USAAlong with media coverage and endorsements have come the sponsor tours and Keri has toured over 103 cities workwidewith well known alchohol and tobacco brands, as well as Playboy TV/Magazine. Keri continues to perform with other headliners such as Sandra Collins, DJ Dan, DJ Rap, Chris Lawrence, DJ Sammy and Hybrid, however Keri is still a peoles DJ - well known in the industry for her desire to 'put something back' and has committed much time and energy to fund-raising from Indonesia Tsumai relief to U2's Bonoo (R)Ed Aid event for Africa, and Breast Cancer Society Benefits in the USA.

A true renaissance woman, Keri has just about done everything - singer, songwriter, promoter, beauty queen, model, air force medical/surgical tech, fund-raiser, wife/mother & all around sweetheart Keri’s powerful vocals & refined mixing skills continue to expand her already impressive list of achievements.

Head of NILE RECORDS, Madam Zu is looking forward to another great year of amazing DJ gigs, production and vinyl releases to consolidate her profile as purveyor of one of the most exciting DJ sounds around

Must have releases on MOHAWK, NILE & AZTEC (who can forget scorchers "The Red Pill" and "Spinback") that remix of ANDY FARLEYS "The Warning" and a string of other consistantly played hard house faves have pushed Julia to the forefront of popularity, resulting in extensive club tours of the US and Canada, as well as aking her from top UK nights such as PENDRAGON, RIPSNORTER & CHEEKY LITTLE MONKEY to the bizarre experiences of Japanese clubland in TOKYO and OSAKA.

You''ll also find Madam Zu an welcome addition to our urban section having widened her style selection in recent years from her well-known hard trance/danc/house rockers to include awesome Breakbeat and Drum 'n' Bass sets which have a whole new set of dance fans going nuts to her performances and rightly so - check the mixes to hear why

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