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 DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. He is widely recognised for his

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

clothing and wild hair and his production of several cutting edge drum and bass tracks. John B ranked number 76 in ''

DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

''s 2010 Top 100 DJs annual poll, announced on 27 October 2010.

Career

Williams was born on 12 July 1977 in Maidenhead, Berkshire. He started producing music around the age of 14, and now is the head of drum and bass

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Beta Recordings, together with its more specialist drum and bass sub-labels Nu Electro, Tangent, and Chihuahua. He also has releases on

Formation Records Leroy Small (born 27 August 1970 in Leicester, England), better known as DJ SS, is a British drum and bass DJ and record producer. Biography SS started out as a hip hop and rare groove DJ in his home-town of Leicester, and was originally kn ...

Metalheadz Metalheadz is a drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie. History Origins Goldie's early experiences of the rave scene, especially the club ''Rage'' had a profound effect on ...

and

Planet Mu Planet Mu is an eclectic English electronic music record label created and run by Mike Paradinas. The label started out as a subsidiary of Virgin Records then Paradinas set up the label independent of Virgin. After releasing intelligent dance ...

. Williams was ranked 92nd drum and bass DJ on the 2009 ''

'' 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 Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...

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 Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

, jazzstep and various other styles in his time. When he DJs, he is known to spin both drum and bass and

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aok ...

, sometimes with other genres such as disco and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, 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) *''The Killada'' (2022)

References

External links

John B Official HomepageJohn B PodcastBeta Recordings' Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:John B 1977 births Living people Club DJs English drum and bass musicians Alumni of Van Mildert College, Durham People from Maidenhead Planet Mu artists