Born in Birmingham, Nerm is a DJ, music broadcaster and film fixer, a term given to someone who helps arrange everything involved in film production, from pre-production and scheduling through to editing and marketing. Nerm made first "mixes" at a very young age using cut up cassette tapes edited together. At the age of 16, he transitioned from cassette to vinyl and started DJing. His first residency as a DJ was at the Ministry of Sound in Birmingham. Initially associated with the

Asian Underground Asian underground is a term associated with various British Asian and South Asian Canadian musicians (mostly Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan) who blend elements of Western underground dance music and the traditional Asian music of th ...

movement, then

drum & bass 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-b ...

, he is now a proponent of alternative and electronic music and curates festivals, radio shows, club nights and soundtracks.

Early life

Nerm's passion for music and mixing started at the age of 10 whilst playing around with some D90 cassette tapes.

Early career

Nerm gained press and TV attention in 2000 as the dancer in the electro-punk band Charged, signed to Nation Records. Around the same time he became the headline DJ at London's underground clubnight, Swaraj. Swaraj was the platform on which Nerm pioneered

Shiva Soundsystem Shiva Soundsystem is a collective, record label and event host based in East London. Shiva Soundsystem grew out of the Asian Underground scene in London and went on to become more associated with other styles including drum and bass and electro ...

, by amalgamating the live energy of a band with the dance floor by integrating musicians in his sets. Shiva Soundsystem began as a group, which then progressed into an extensive association of musicians, producers and DJs whose headquarters was a large warehouse space in Hackney, East London. Shiva Soundsystem helped introduce new, acts from across the world to clubbing audiences in London.

Breakthrough

Nerm, alongside Shiva Soundsystem, curated events, first running parties at their warehouse HQ with international guest performers, then, more legitimately, playing weekend residencies in East London's underground night clubs. Herbal in Shoreditch and Vibe Bar in Brick Lane were two such residencies which featured guests such as Aphex Twin, Commix,

Andrew Weatherall Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of trac ...

, Logistics, Colin Dale, Moving Fusion and Sub Swara. New live bands and offshoot live projects of other acts also featured including Aziz, Ian Brown's guitarist and co-writer of his debut solo album. Shiva Soundsystem toured India and played Glastonbury every year from 2002. In 2005 Shiva Soundsystem became a record label to release production from the collective and other associated artists. The first drum & bass/bass mix album fashioned for India, titled ''India:One'' was mixed and released by Nerm. Shiva Soundsystem's releases obtained support from Pete Tong, Pendulum and Laurent Garnier.

Media

In tandem with Shiva Soundsystem came invitations for Nerm to host and share his passion for underground music with interest from TV and radio channels including E! Channel (Venezuela),

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

MTV India MTV India is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of MTV and is owned by Viacom 18, a joint venture operation between MTV International ow ...

and BBC 2 which led to Nerm's progression as a broadcaster, at first on the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

radio station with his weekly show Electro East. Electro East represented a wide spectrum of underground music from across the world with artists at the beginning of their ascents to stars as guests including Chase and Status,

Noisia Noisia (stylised as NOISIΛ; "VISION" turned upside down) was a Dutch electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands. They produce a wide variety of music including ...

Benga Benga may refer to: Ethnonym * Benga people, an indigenous ethnic group of Equatorial Guinea * Benga language, spoke by the Benga people * Benga music, a genre of music originating in Kenya Places Romania * ''Benga'', the old name of Mo ...

and

Brookes Brothers Phil and Dan Brookes, otherwise known as the Brookes Brothers, are two London-based drum and bass producers. History In 2006 they surfaced with "Portal" / "Desert Island" on Danny Wheeler's W10 imprint. This was followed by "Verano", a collabo ...

and more specialist artists enduser, V.I.V.E.K (Deep Medi) and Amit (Commercial Suicide) In 2008, with label-mate D-Code, Nerm embarked on a two-year run on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

featuring a range of underground music. Guests included a series of "vs" DJ battles: *

Foreign Beggars Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individ ...

vs Drum & Bass (production from

and

Alix Perez Alix Depauw, better known by the stage name Alix Perez, is a drum and bass DJ and producer, originally from Charleroi, Belgium. Based in New Zealand, his music is sometimes characterised as liquid funk amongst other labels, and released on l ...

) *

DJ Marky Marco Antonio da Silva known professionally as DJ Marky, is a Brazilian drum and bass DJ. Together with DJ Patife, XRS Land and Drumagick, Brazilians were forging a new sound in drum and bass that became popular around the world with releases s ...

Norman Jay Norman Jay MBE (born Norman Bernard Joseph on 6 November 1957) is a British club, radio and sound system DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed "warehouse" parties in the early 1980s, and through his involvement with the then-pira ...

Rusko Rusko () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipali ...

John B John Bryn Williams (born 1977), known as John B, is an English disc jockey and electronic music producer. He is widely recognised for his eccentric clothing and wild hair and his production of several cutting edge drum and bass tracks. John ...

Appleblim Skull Disco was an independent dubstep record label, based in Bristol, England. It was established in 2005 by Sam Shackleton and Laurie "Appleblim" Osborne, and ended in 2008. Releases on the label prominently featured African and post-African ...

vs Filthy Dukes *

Matt Helders Matthew Helders (born 7 May 1986) is an English drummer, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums. In 2015, Helders collaborated with I ...

(

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

) vs

London Elektricity Tony Colman (born 28 April 1961), better known by his stage name London Elektricity, is an English electronic musician and the co-founder and CEO of Hospital Records. History The first incarnation of London Elektricity was the duo Tony Colman a ...

* Sub Focus vs

The Count & Sinden "Beeper" is the debut single by British music duo the Count & Sinden, featuring vocals from American hip hop artist Kid Sister. The song was released via Domino Records in April 2008. Background and release "Beeper" was released on Switch and S ...

Nerm & D-Code also stood in for Mary Anne Hobbs, Ras Kwame and for 1Xtra's Drum & Bass Mix Show and presented alongside Annie Mac and

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

. In 2010, Nerm presented his final shows on

and

. In 2011, Nerm began to host on

BBC 6Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

primarily presenting the 6Mix alongside fellow residents Groove Armada, Erol Alkan, Andrew Weatherall, Tiga & Ben Watt and guests DJ Shadow and Thom Yorke. He has also stood in for

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...

. Nerm continues to DJ with appearances at major festivals including

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

, with

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

aka Riz MC,

and with Shiva Soundsystem.

Film

In 2010, Nerm acted as consultant, remixer and supervisor on the music for ''Everywhere and Nowhere'' from

Kidulthood ''Kidulthood'' (stylised as ''KiDULTHOOD'') is a 2006 British crime drama film directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke, who appeared in the film alongside Aml Ameen, Red Madrell, Adam Deacon, Jaime Winstone, Femi Oyeniran, Madelei ...

director

Menhaj Huda Menhaj Huda (born 20 March 1967) is a Bangladesh-born British film and television director and producer best known for the film ''Kidulthood''. Career Huda's first directing job was the 1993 television series ''Hypnosis''. He directed ''Jump Boy ...

. He has since become more involved in film with work on soundtracks, marketing and a few cameo appearances.

Discography

Singles and EPs

* ''Shiva Soundsystem - Mumbai Cells'' SSR001 (2005) * ''D-Code feat Nerm - Outlaw'' SSR006 (2009)

Albums

* ''India:One'' (2008) * ''Phasmatis In Machina'' (2009) * ''India:Two'' (2009 - India Only)

References

External links

* * * * * *{{IMDb name, id=4511082, name=Nerm Living people English DJs Year of birth missing (living people)