Steve Lawler (born 1973) is a British

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' ...

producer and DJ born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. He is a five time

DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retained the same et ...

winner and has held residences at many popular dance clubs such as

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

The End The End may refer to: Films * ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine * ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds * ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997 * ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...

and

Twilo Twilo was an American nightclub in operation from 1995 to 2001 in New York City and from 2006 to 2007 in Miami. The New York location at 530 West 27th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan regularly attracted a crowd of thousands to its w ...

. Because of his successful performances at Space in Ibiza, he was nicknamed "King of Space". Lawler has released several mix albums and is especially well known for his ''Lights Out'' series featured on Boxed. He currently runs the record label VIVa Music. He also founded the now defunct Harlem Records leaving a list of creditors in its wake.

Biography

Steve Lawler originally gained interest in the music scene around the age of 16, listening to

pirate radio station Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

s. Beginning at age 17, Lawler staged a series of illegal parties in a tunnel under the

M42 motorway The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth on the way, serving the east of the Bi ...

from 1990 to 1994. After several parties, the event began to regularly attract over 500 people and eventually earned Lawler appearances at proper clubs. Lawler's first break came in 1995, when DJ Jason Bye asked him to play daily at Ibiza's reputed

Café Mambo Café Mambo is a bar located in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza. It is known for being the official pre party point for Pacha Ibiza, and hosting internationally known DJs such as John Digweed, Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Benny Benassi, Paul van Dyk, ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

"Sunset strip" fame. In 1997 Steve's big break came when he met Darren Hughes of the nightclub

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, who signed him to a residency at Cream. In 2000, Steve started his first mix compilation series, titled 'Dark Drums'. This same year Steve started his new residency for Darren Hughes, at the infamous Club Home, where Steve Lawler held his own Friday nights Deep South which he ran until the club shut down 1 year later. He also released the single "Rise In" on

Bedrock Records Bedrock Records is an English record label for trance, progressive house and techno started by Nick Muir and John Digweed. Its name comes from a long running and successful club night held in Hastings and also at Heaven nightclub, London - both ...

, which featured vocals from the Reef song Mellow (and previously remixed by Prince Quick) and reached No. 50 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 15 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

. This same year, he was asked by Boxed to mix the third entry in their ''Nubreed'' series, ''Nubreed 003''. After his Nubreed release, Lawler approached Boxed with the idea for the ''Lights Out'' series. In 2001 Lawler started a night in his hometown Birmingham called the Midweek Session, this was run for 12 parties only, running monthly on a Thursday night. Lawler returned to London in 2002 with the beginning of his "Harlem Nights" event at

, which was one of The End's most successful nights and ran continuously for 7 years. . Lawler founded the

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 ...

VIVa MUSiC in 2006. Steve Lawler's latest creation is his famed VIVa Warriors parties, which is toured globally and holds a Summer residency weekly on Sundays in Ibiza at the nightclub Sankeys Ibiza. Lawler's wife Daniela appeared as a contestant on Come Dine with Me on Channel 4 between 22 and 26 November 2010.

Musical genres

Lawler describes his style of house music to be "deep" and "sexy". Others have echoed his sentiments, comparing Lawler's music to

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

in terms of attitude. Though he's often named a Tech DJ, Lawler says that he prefers not to fall under any particular genre. Lawler's music is House and Techno. Of the music Lawler plays, he is known to perform his own edited versions.

Influences

Rather than any particular genre or musical groups, Lawler says that his brand of dark house is influenced more by "vices" and dark experiences. He does, however, claim his biggest inspirations as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

and

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

, citing their dark lyrics and atmosphere. Lawler says that the DJ that was most influential on him was

Danny Tenaglia Daniel "Danny" Tenaglia (born March 7, 1961) is an American DJ and record producer. He is a Grammy nominee for the best remixed recording (44th Annual Grammy Award). He is also a three time International Dance Music Award winner, 3 time DJ Awa ...

, admiring his passion and dedication to DJing and clubbers.

Selected discography

;Albums *2000: '' Dark Drums'' (Tide) *2000: ''Nubreed 003'' (Boxed) *2000: ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

'' (

INCredible Incredible may refer to: Music Albums * ''Incredible'' (Clique Girlz album) or the title song, 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap album), 1968 * ''Incredible'' (Ilse DeLange album), 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Mary Mary album) or ...

) *2001: '' Dark Drums 2'' (Tide) *2002: '' Lights Out'' (Boxed) *2003: '' Lights Out 2'' (Boxed) *2005: '' Lights Out 3'' ( Global Underground Ltd.) *2006: ''

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

'' (

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

) *2007: '' VIVa London'' (

Renaissance Records Renaissance Recordings is a British record label, founded by the club Renaissance in 1994. It went into administration in September 2010 and the back catalogue was sold to Phoenix Music International Ltd. After a year of inactivity, in July 20 ...

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

) *2008: '' VIVa Toronto'' (Renaissance Records, Ultra Records) *2011: "Lights Out Decade" (VIVa MUSiC) * 2012: "VIVa Warriors" – Mixed by Steve Lawler & Darius Syrossian (VIVa MUSiC) ;Singles *1999: Novacane – "Rainmaker" (Glow Recordings) *2000: "Rise In" (

Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

) (

No. 50,

#15/

Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

#41) *2002: "Andante" (Bedrock) *2004: "Out at Night" (Subversive) *2005: "That Sound" (Beside Music, Joia Records) *2006: S.L.A.D.L.Y. – "Unicorn" (VIVa MUSiC) *2007: "Courses For Horses" (Renaissance Recordings) *2007: "Violet" (Viva Music) *2007: "Sleep Walking (Tsuba) *2008: "21st Century Ketchup" (Sci-Tec) *2008: "Femme Fatale" (Ovum) *2009: "Kalimba" (R&S Records) *2009: "Carnival" (Tanzbar) *2009: "Distrait" (Systematic) *2009: "Hocus Pocus" (VIVa MUSiC) *2010: "Almerina" (Harthouse) *2010: "Gimme Some More" (VIVa MUSiC) *2013: "Avaida (The Organ Track)" (VIVa MUSiC)

Awards and nominations

DJ Awards

The

organizes the annual

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

DJ awards event it is the only international ceremony for DJs and also the oldest, the awards are held once a year at Pacha club in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

it is one of the most important accolades an artist can win or be honoured by. Lawler has won 5 awards and received 11 nominations overall. , - , 2000 , Steve Lawler , Leader of the New Breed , , - , 2003 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2004 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2005 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2006 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2007 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2008 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House/Progressive DJ , , - , 2009 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House DJ , , - , 2010 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House DJ , , - , 2011 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House DJ , , - , 2015 , Steve Lawler , Best Tech House DJ , , -

References

External links

Steve Lawler Official Website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawler, Steve Living people Club DJs DJs from Birmingham Remixers English record producers English house musicians English expatriates in Spain 1970s births People from Ibiza Progressive house musicians Electronic dance music DJs INCredible artists