Pete Wardman Info

No I didn't write this myself

Pete Wardman is a name synonymous with professionalism, quality and the relentless pursuit of excellence. His own brand of pumping upfront house has amazed crowds across the world - the media, the promoters and most importantly the clubbers have nothing but praise for him. “A guy who combines scorching tunes with effortless mixing”, “Always professional”, “His versatility as a DJ is second to none”, “His contribution to the scene has remained consistently high on quality and low on hype”. These are just a few of the acclamations Pete’s received by those who’ve heard him play. But it is perhaps the plaudits from the clubbers, which mean the most, and Pete is frequently amazed at how far some have travelled to hear him play. Recently there was a posse of students who had flown from New Zealand to Australia for New Years Eve, just because Pete was on the bill! The same sort of thing has happened in Hong Kong, in South Africa (where the club was literally road-blocked before the gig) and in Finland, when Pete missed his flight home because the crowd “just wanted to hear one more”!

Pete started out as a DJ on Power FM, a radio station on the South Coast, but quickly graduated to Kiss 100FM in London. Before long he was given his own specialist show as an integral part of the ‘House Nation’ banner. Today the show is broadcast on a Thursday night, 8-10PM; the audience figures are way ahead of the competition – proving the show is still considered vital listening for anyone into quality ‘house’ music.

In the early 1990’s club promoters began to approach Pete, and his first gigs were at clubs like the legendary ‘Vague’ in Leeds, Club UK in London, and the ‘World Dance’ raves at Lydd in Kent. In 1993 he was offered a residency at ‘Sunny-Side-Up’ in London, and. Rapidly gaining a reputation for playing good quality music with a harder edge, Pete became known further and further afield. He also began working in the studio, and from the start Pete established himself as a producer and remixer. Pete applied his midas touch to tracks by Artemisia, Midi Express and T.W.A., and as the attached discography shows, he’s now turned out over thirty fantastic tracks. Pete also found time to put together his first mix album, called ‘Sherbet’. Released on React Music, it debuted in the charts at number 4!

The next part of the story is a familiar one. As his reputation spread, so did the gigs. Pete began to play abroad, and spent more time in the studio. There were some particular high points in the years 1996-2000. Pete opened his own club, ‘Sherbet’, - “Restores your faith in clubbing” was how one reviewer put it. Held weekly at the Soundshaft in London, it ran for two very successful years.

There was also the start of Pete’s residency at Trade. This quickly led to an acclaimed mix album ‘Trade vol. 4’ - “Wardman’s mix is a fantastic ride through the harder side of Trade” - as well as Pete being an integral part of Trade’s first UK tour. Pete was also part of tours to Australia and South Africa, and both were successful enough to warrant return visits! In 1998 Trade hosted a tent at the first Creamfields Festival. It was rammed all night long, and Pete played for over two and a half hours with a blistering set that kept the place going full on. More recently, Trade took part in the Radio One Love Parade in Leeds, hosting one of the stages with 7 Magazine and Tripoli Trax. Pete played the main for almost 3 hours. Earlier in the day he’d been Djing alongside Dave Pearce on the Dance Anthems float. Both performances rocked the crowd!



Of course there have been overseas trips other than those with Trade. Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Canada, America, Finland, Vienna, Ireland as well as (of course) Ibiza have all had the Wardman treatment. Australia has been particularly good, and Pete has returned twice, once on tour with Mezzanine and once on his own. On the Mezzanine tour he worked with Gatecrasher in Melbourne, playing to over 15,000 people! And the more recent trip was over New Year 2001, where he again played in Melbourne on NYE, this time alongside names like Sasha, Digweed, Richie Hawtin and Deep Dish to name but a few. It was described afterwards as “one of the best nights Melbourne’s seen for a long time”. That was followed by Home in Sydney on New Years Day alongside Roger Sanchez, and then a gig on the Gold Coast, before he took a well earned break!



In the studio, it went from strength to strength. Pete mixed the ‘Sound Of The Hoover’ CD for the TEC label, and then later signed to Tripoli Trax, the seminal hard house label. He’s so far had two singles out on Tripoli, both of which have sold extremely well. He’s also remixed for them, as well as having a track released on their ‘Tripoli Trax Volume 2’ album, for which he also did the CD mix! Most recently for Tripoli Trax was Pete’s track for the All-stars EP, featuring tracks from the labels best known artists. He has also contributed to the Trade EP, which sold over 75,000 copies, and has released material on Shift Recordings, Arriba, Tidy Trax and Tinrib. He’s collaborated with Baby Doc, Mark Kulak, Third Degree Burn and Captain Tinrib, and has recently remixed Mr. Spring, Luxor, 99th Floor Elevators, and Mac Zimms.

That pretty much brings us up to date. So what’s happening now? More recently Pete has been focusing on studio work, pursuing a number of different projects. There are two forthcoming releases for Tripoli Trax, as well as new material under a different guise, which he’s holding onto for the moment! Pete is currently resident at Trade, Republica in Birmingham and Epsilon in London, and whilst the diary is pretty packed at the moment, in the future Pete is keen to play a slightly more diverse selection of clubs. It should be mentioned that although Pete is often thought of as a ‘Hard House’ DJ, this is not strictly accurate. It’s true that Pete is one of the originators of the hard sound, but he can play a wider selection than that if the occasion calls for it.

From the sexy slinkiness of Bob Sinclar to the deep production of Peace Division, from the US sounds of Harry ‘Choo-Choo’ Romerez and Eric Morillo to the UK sounds of The Sharp Boys and Futureshock, Pete’s tastes run a broader course that many have been unaware of. And the clubs that have allowed him to play these other styles, such as the Pussycat in Brighton or Progress in Derby have seen how well it works. But the harder records will always be in Pete’s box. The best way to describe Pete’s style, insofar as any DJ’s style can be pinned down to this or to that, is as ‘upfront bouncy house, often with a harder edge’.

Professionalism, quality and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Universally known as a pioneer of the harder sound. One of the hardest working people in the business. Pete Wardman puts his all into what he does and the results show in his performances behind the decks and in the studio. It would be difficult to find a person more dedicated to doing their job right.