Rob Small

'Rob's name pops up more and more often... that's good! It's PROPER work that he does too - very inventive compared to some others out there at the moment...' - Florian Kruse & Nils Nuernberg (Noir Music, Dessous, NRK). Rob’s career as a dj/producer is the result of growing up in the early 90's and being influenced by House & Techno, and by name's such as Carl Cox, Billy Nasty, Jamie Anderson, Colin Dale, Dave Angel, Sven Vath, Plastikman, Slam and many other purveyors of electronic music. At just 20 years old, Rob Started his own event called 'Friction' in September 2006 at the Mint Club in Leeds, which at the time was the home of the somewhat legendary 'Asylum & Technique', and is now the home of the mammoth Techno event 'System'. As a result of his Friction event, Rob was approached by the North of the UK’s Underground Electronic Music magazine ‘Traffic’ to be interviewed and featured in it for his efforts early on in his career, thus paving the way for his next step… After publicly charting and supporting various homegrown talents, Rob was asked by Darius Syrossian (an artist on Steve Lawler’s mighty Viva Music label) to come on board the now worldwide supported ‘Breakoutaudio Records’ as the main A&R consultant. The label had achieved more in a mere 18 months than most labels have in a decade, due to, at the time, having a string of successful releases from the likes of Paul Woolford (2020 Vision Records, R&S Records), Pier Bucci, Audiojack (2020 Vision Records, Get Physical), Deepchild (Kompakt, Trapez Records), and also hosting label parties across the world at ‘La Terrazzza’ in Barcelona to the WMC in Miami. This newfound passion for the industry triggered Rob’s enthusiasm for music production, and in January 2009 his Detroit influenced ‘Torment EP’ was snapped up and released on Selektor Music – a USA based label hugely supported by the industry’s best. Subsequently Rob went on to have a string of releases & remixes on various imprints across the globe, from Poland to Portugal, and France to South America, all of which resulted in him catching the attention, support and recognition from Luciano, X-Press 2, Jamie Anderson, Nick Warren, Anja Schneider, Richie Hawtin, Gary Beck (Minus), Claude Vonstroke, Matthias Vogt (Motorcitysoul/Cocoon), and Laurent Garnier to name a few. His release on Soulman Music Records in 2010 entitled ‘Alto’ went straight to number 5 on the Beatport Deep House top 10 chart, gaining huge worldwide support - this release being one of four of his tracks to hit the Beatport top 100 in 2010. Prior to this, Rob’s material had already been released on compilations on the same bill as Radioslave, Milton Jackson, Terry Lee Brown Junior, Manuel Tur, D’Julz, and Steve Bug, as well as being played and supported heavily on the likes of ‘Ibiza Global Radio’, to ‘X-Press 2’s Ministry Of Sound Radio’. As we enter 2011, Rob is now currently enjoying his success as a studio engineer. Recently appointed as mastering engineer at Monique Musique, he has mastered material from some of the biggest and most respected in the industry, such as Hernan Cattaneo (Renaissance/Bedrock Records), Hermanez (ViVA MUSiC/Ministry Of Sound Germany), Gary Beck (Minus/Soma Recordings), Alex Dolby (Global Underground/Azuli Records), Phil Weeks (Robsoul), The Junkies (Noir Music/CR2 Records), and many other names and imprints within the Electronic Music community, who's tracks have gone on to be played in the worlds finest super-clubs and radio stations. Further more, he also masters for Jamie Anderson for Artform Recordings, Tom Budden for Alive Recordings, Darran Nugent for Elevation Records, Al Bradley for 3am Recordings, and many other respected labels across the globe. He is fast becoming an in-demand mastering engineer and his work is highly respected throughout the electronic music scene. His own productions have been released on the highly prestigious Monique Musique, 3am Recordings, Beef Records, Soulman Music, Muzik X-Press and more, and forthcoming material is now set to be released on Jamie Anderson's esteemed and massively supported 'Artform' label, the uk-based SOUNDZ Limited, and his own Tug Underground label, not to mention his already successful various remix work he has carried out for labels such as 3am Recordings, Tom Budden's 'Alive Recordings', Evasive Recordings, Cubism, and many others. His ability to produce across the electronic music spectrum and his vintage 808 & 909 percussive, slightly acidic, sub-bass trademark sound has resulted in him becoming a respected, and prolific in-demand artist/remixer/mastering engineer and dj – ergo earning him dj sets alongside the industry's heavyweights, such as performing a 4 hour warm up for the mighty Sasha at the Mint Club in Leeds (UK), as well as touring the UK, Amsterdam, and Ibiza quite frequently alongside the likes of Paul Woolford, Robert Owens, Yousef, Marshall Jefferson, Funk D'Void, Danny Rampling, and more. His records have been played and supported heavily on the finest radio stations worldwide, such as Pete Tong's Radio 1 Essential Mix, Ministry Of Sound Radio, Ibiza Global Radio.