Dom Search (born Dominic Christian Betmead in Cambridge, England), also known as Dom Nextmen, is a record producer, songwriter, guitarist and DJ based in London.

Personal life

Born the youngest of two boys, he grew up in Cambridge, England with his mother and father, Gill and Jon Betmead and brother Saul. He is the grandson of Grimsby Town F.C. and England footballer

Harry Betmead Harry Betmead (11 April 1912 – 26 August 1984) was an English footballer who played for Grimsby Town, as well as the English national side. He also played cricket for Lincolnshire. He spent his entire 17-year career with Grimsby, from 1930 t ...

. Dominic's father is a folk singer songwriter who was most active in the seventies and introduced his sons to music from birth. He lives in North London with his girlfriend and two daughters.

Musical career

Search has collaborated with and produced for Plan B, Groove Armada,

Jimothy Timothy Gonzales, previously known as Jimothy Lacoste and subsequently by his stage name, Jimothy, is a British rapper and musician from Camden, North London, associated with the bedroom pop and DIY genres. Career Lacoste started posting music o ...

, Ms. Dynamite, Paolo Nutini, Marlon Roudette,

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member of th ...

, Eliza Doolittle, Gorgon City, Ed Harcourt, Amy Wadge, Alexander O'Neal and Kiko Bun amongst others. He signed to

's Wolf Tone Publishing BMG imprint in 2012.Super-producer Paul Epworth signs members of The Rapture and Nextmen to new label Wolf Tone
in FactMag; published 8 October 2012; retrieved 26 May 2016 He is one half of hip hop and electronic duo the Nextmen, a group he formed with fellow producer Bradford Ellis. The Nextmen have made four studio albums. They released the album '' Join the Dots'' in 2009 on Universal. The Nextmen singles "Round of Applause" and "Lion's Den" were both Zane Lowe's Hottest Records of the Week upon release.Zane Lowe HROTW
On BBC Music; published 10 September 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2016 Dom Search co-wrote and produced Plan B's "Who Needs Actions When You Got Words", the title track of the rapper's 2006 album, which is certified gold in the UK. He provided additional production on Paolo Nutini's ''One Day'' from the (UK) 2 x platinum 2014 album '' Caustic Love''. The tracks "Better Than Me" and "Nice Things" from Marlon Roudette's 2014 album '' Electric Soul'' were produced and co-written by him. He collaborated with producer Cadenza and rapper Fem Fel on the 2015 track "Electric Blocks", and produced Louis Mttrs' track "God's Help" from the 2014 EP ''Beachy Head''.Beachy Head Clash Music review
On clashmusic.com published 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2016 Nextmen remix credits include Public Enemy, Rae & Christian, Morcheeba and Groove Armada. Dom signed his first record deal with independent label Scenario Records after finishing university. His initial release, under the name Search was an EP titled ''Fracture''. The first two Nextmen albums, ''Amongst the Madness'' and ''Get Over It'' were also released on Scenario. He contributed DJ work on two Groove Armada albums, '' Vertigo'' (BPI certified platinum UK; 1,000,000 sales worldwide) and '' Goodbye Country'' (BPI certified gold UK). The Nextmen track "Blood Fire" was included in the soundtrack to the video game '' FIFA Street 2''.Fifa Street 2 Soundtrack
On FifaSoundtrack.com; published 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2016 Search's production is groove-based, falling within hip hop,

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. His sound often fuses sparse, heavy hip hop drums with effected samples and electronic instrumentation. His riff-making guitar style is mixed, using elements of both rhythm and lead play. He learned recording techniques from

, whom he has worked with at various points in his career. Since working with Plan B for a year in 2018, he has focused on

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

production under an as-yet undisclosed moniker. Dom Search working with Plan B in 2011

DJ career

Dom started DJing at 15, delving into his father's record collection and taking inspiration from DJs such as DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Cash Money. As both a solo DJ and one half of the Nextmen, he has played eclectic club sets rooted in hip hop but encompassing

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, house and garage, for over a decade. The Nextmen play regular sets in the UK and Europe, including for Jade Jagger in Ibiza, and have embarked on 12 tours of Australia and New Zealand. They have made many mixtapes, the most recent being 2016's ''Control the Night'', an 80-minute potted history of drum & bass. The Nextmen provided the guest mix for Mistajam's

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

show in 2011,Mistajam Mix
On BBC 1Xtra published 11 October 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2016 and in 2016 provided a guest mix for BBC Radio 1's Friction show.Nextmen Guest Mix Friction Show R1
On Radio 1, published May 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016

Film and theatre

Dom worked as music producer alongside composer Bill Lyons on the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

's 2015 production of '' Everyman''Everyman National Theatre
, on nationaltheatre.org.uk; published April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2016 directed by Rufus Norris, starring Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and written by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. He worked closely with Norris, Lyons, sound designer

Paul Arditti Paul Arditti is a British sound designer, working mainly in the UK and the US. He specialises in designing sound systems and sound scores for theatre. He has won awards for his work on both musicals and plays, including a Tony Award, an Olivier Aw ...

and choreographer

Javier de Frutos Javier De Frutos is a Spanish director, choreographer and designer (born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1963) was named by the Evening Standard as one of 2016 most influential people in London. He is one of only three artists in the history of the Olivi ...

, providing the contemporary urban soundtrack described by the '' London Evening Standard'' as "pulsating electronica".Standard Everyman Review
in The Evening Standard; published 30 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2016 '' The Guardian'' described the play as a "stunning update".Everyman Guardian Review
in The Guardian; published 30 April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2016 He provided the soundtrack to Mark Street's 2014 short film ''Insoma''.IMDB Dominic Betmead
On IMDB. Retrieved 26 May 2016

2016–present

Search has since worked on new Nextmen material, a new Eliza Doolittle album, Kiko Bun's debut album, a new Marlon Roudette album, Mahalia's debut album and has contributed writing to Gorgon City's 2016 album ''Escape'', co-writing the song "Love Me" featuring Lulu James which premiered on 18 November 2016 as Annie Mac's Hottest Record in the World. The Nextmen single "The Corner" featuring drum & bass producers Nu:Logic and Kiko Bun was released on the Nextmen's label Play Nice in November 2016, premiering on Mistajam's Radio 1 show. He continues to write and produce for both established and emerging acts, focusing on pop production and writing. Alongside Bradford Ellis and Dynamite MC, he created a new garage/house project based on a graphic novel he is writing entitled ''Echo Foxx''. The first single "Rhyme Animal" was due for release on Strong Records in June 2016.Echo Foxx
Retrieved 28 May 2016 The Nextmen produced a collaborative album with Gentleman's Dub Club entitled ''Pound for Pound''. Search provided production alongside Al Shux and Show N Prove on Plan B's single "Heartbeat",Plan B Heartbeat
Retrieved 2 February 2018] released 25 October 2017. Search co-produced and co-wrote Kiko Bun's single "Stay Bless"Stay Bless Review
Retrieved 7 March 2018] with producer Mike Spencer. He produced and co-wrote Eliza Doolittle's 2017 comeback single "Wide Eyed Fool"Wide Eyed Fool
Retrieved 7 March 2018] along with DJ/producer Tarl Jamieson a.k.a. Mo Fingaz. He worked in an executive producer role alongside producer Show N Prove on Plan B's album ''Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose''. Search worked on a jungle sequel to the Nextmen & Gentleman's Dub Club's 2018 album ''Pound for Pound'', and an under-wraps dance music project.

Discography

Album contributions

*''A Real Romantic'' - Eliza Doolittle *''Escape'' - Gorgon City *''Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose'' – Plan B *'' Caustic Love'' – Paolo Nutini *'' Who Needs Actions When You Got Words'' – Plan B *''Vertigo'' – Groove Armada *'' Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)'' – Groove Armada *'' Electric Soul'' – Marlon Roudette *''Amongst the Madness'' – The Nextmen *''Get Over It'' – The Nextmen *''This Was Supposed to Be the Future'' – The Nextmen *'' Join the Dots'' – The Nextmen *''Beachy Head'' – Louis Mttrs *''Pound for Pound'' – The Nextmen & Gentleman's Dub Club

Mixtapes (as The Nextmen)

*''Control the Night'' *''Not the Nextmen'' *''A Child's Introduction to Jazz'' *''Personal Golf Instructions'' *''Blunted in the Backroom'' *''The Supermen Mix'' *''6 Music Mix'' *''Yoga Mix'' *''Anxiety Mix'' *''Selector Radio Carnival Mix'' *''Checkmate''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Search, Dom Living people English record producers English male songwriters English pop guitarists English male guitarists English DJs Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Cambridge