House Music

House is a very varied style of music which crosses over into many other genres, resulting in styles such as tech-house, funky-house, hard-house and electro-house to name but a few. Originating in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1970s and early 1980s, house music soon spread to New York and Detroit before crossing over to Europe and the rest of the world.

House music is strongly influenced by funk, soul and disco music, with a prominent bass drum on every beat. Synthesizers are frequently used as well as electronic effects, vocal samples and a variety of other different effects. It is generally uptempo with bpm of between 118 and 135. Trance and techno which developed alongside house music tend to have a similar basic beat structure but tend to utilise more synthetic sound sources.

Here are some of our favourite House DJs in the business at the moment:

1. Roger Sanchez - Roger Sanchez is not only the DJ's DJ but the producer's producer. Constructing his entire new CD ‘Come With Me’ from scratch, he proves his skills as engineer, producer, programmer, and songwriter. Inspired by the dance Mecca island of Ibiza, the CD has already spawned several club anthems, with many more to come.
2. Deep Dish - Grammy Award-winning remix team Deep Dish (Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi) have earned their well-deserved international reputation as one of the best remixer and live DJ teams - chosen as Best International DJ by Muzik Magazine and ranked highly on DJ Magazine's World's Top 100 DJs reader poll.
3. Frankie Knuckles - Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles is arguably the biggest name in House music. His nights spinning at The Warehouse in Chicago during the late 70s and early 80s is where the house music evolved. Winner of the first Grammy for remixer of the year, he has worked on just about every important soulful vocalist in the past 20 years - Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, and Patti LaBelle just to name a few.
4. Armand Van Helden - It seems that Armand Van Helden has been out of the spotlight for a while, going back to his roots in the underground scene. In 2004 Armand released New York: A Mix Odyssey, a truly unique and ground-breaking mixed CD compilation blending 80s dance music from Yaz, Soft Cell and Blondie with his own productions. His more recent tracks such as "Hear My Name," "My My My," and "Let Me Lead You" remind us of the brilliance of the older productions "You Don't Know Me" and "Witchdokta."
5. Gavin Hardkiss - Since 1990 Gavin Hardkiss has been one of the biggest players in the American dance music industry. Alongside his siblings Robbie and Scott, Gavin has served as a label-boss, promoter, DJ and a key industry figure. Any devoted fan of house music will know the story of his career and will have been seeing his name regularly appearing in tracklistings by numerous DJs.
6. Joey Negra (aka Dave Lee) - Whether going by Joey Negro, Jakatta or one of the Hed Boys, Dave Lee is well known as one of roots of the British house and garage scene. With countless productions and remixes in every DJ’s set, he manages to find the best music for his compilations and DJ sets while exploring his musicality with diverse and soul-satisfying projects.
7. Ben Watt - As an artist turned DJ, the transition from Everything But the Girl to Buzzin' Fly was a logical artistic growth for Ben Watt. The recent release of Buzzin' Fly Volume 3 is a testament to the music that Ben Watt continues to produces and find for fans around the world.
8. Eric Morillo - An undeniably talented DJ, producer and remixer, Erick Morillo is also head of the funky house label Subliminal Records. He began DJing at the age of twelve and as he gained studio engineering experience at New York's Centre of Media Arts he began remixing tracks for playing out. He then, inevitably, moved into the production of his own work. He has recorded under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers de la Funk, Pianoheadz and Deep Soul. However, it was his work in Reel 2 Reel that propelled him into the limelight. A number of hit singles all over Europe and America peaked with the memorable I Like To Move It which was certified gold in the UK
9. Pete Tong - Pete Tong is possibly Britain's best-loved dance DJ and is host of Radio 1's ground-breaking Essential Selection show. He was appointed A&R manager at newly-founded independent label London Records in '83 and while looking after the careers of pop acts like '80s girl group Bananarama, he continued to pursue his budding radio career.
10. Groove Armarda - Groove Armada are the ground-breaking duo Andy Cato and Tom Finlay. Dubbed the 'Chill-out Kings' they first met seven years ago, joining forces in London to start a club night, taking the name 'Captain Sensual at the Helm of the Groove Armada', from a kitsch 70s disco night in Newcastle. From there the project developed into what we now know as Groove Armada.

Of course these are just a snap shot of some of the big names in house music at the moment. To learn more about house music and house nights in your area, visit womapp.com.