John Bryn Williams (born 1977), known as John B, is an English
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
and
electronic music producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
. He is widely recognised for his
eccentric clothing, wild hair, and his production of several cutting edge
drum and bass
Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
tracks.
John B ranked number 76 in ''
DJ Magazine''s 2010 Top 100 DJs annual poll, announced on 27 October 2010.
Career
Williams was born on 12 July 1977 in
Maidenhead,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
. He started producing music around the age of 14, and now is the head of drum and bass
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
Beta Recordings, together with its more specialist drum and bass sub-labels Nu Electro, Tangent, and Chihuahua. He also has releases on
Formation Records,
Metalheadz and
Planet Mu. Williams was ranked 92nd drum and bass DJ on the 2009 ''
DJ Magazine'' top 100.
Style
While his trademark sound has evolved through the years, it generally involves female vocals and trance-like synths (a style which has been dubbed "trance and bass", "trancestep" and "futurestep" by listeners). His most recent concentration is a 1980s
electroclash influenced fusion of
electro and drum and bass, which was dubbed 'electrostep'. At first (around early 2002), this style seemed odd and
comical to some in the drum and bass community.
However, this move has given John the ability to carry his style of drum and bass forward. He has dabbled in
darkstep, jazzstep and various other styles in his time. When he DJs, he is known to spin both drum and bass and
electro house, sometimes with other genres such as
disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
and
rock, in the same sets.
Discography
*''Visions'' (1997)
*''Catalyst'' (1999)
*''Future Reference'' (2001)
*''Brainstorm'' (2002)
*''Mercury Skies'' (2003)
*''In:transit'' (2004)
*''American Girls'' (2004)
*''Electrostep'' (2006)
*''To Russia with Love'' (2008) (MixCD)
*''Light Speed'' (2012)
*''Evolve'' (2016)
*''The Killada'' (2022)
References
External links
John B official homepageJohn B PodcastBeta Recordings' website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:John B
1977 births
Living people
British club DJs
English DJs
English drum and bass musicians
English record producers
Alumni of Van Mildert College, Durham
People from Maidenhead
Planet Mu artists