(Love) Tattoo
[love] tattoo is the project of sydney dj stephen allkins A legend (not used lightly!) of the Australian dance scene, Stephen Allkins has been a prominent and valued contributor for over 20 years. Hes one of the few to remain throughout the constant changes to the club scene - a universal occurence which sorts out the pros from the cons - and one of the true pioneers of dance music in Sydney and Australia. Allkins has played with plenty of the invading steel wheelers including Frankie Knuckles (3 times), David Morales , Kings Of Tomorrow , Roger Sanchez , Boy George , Danny Rampling , Deep Dish , Armand Van Helden , FatBoy Slim , Miguel Migs ,and etc. and also parties for Ministry Of Sound and Renaissance, Gatecrasher with Masters at Work Homebake 2001,Big Day Out1 998 and 1999(Hothouse), National Big Day Out Tour-all cities,(in the Boiler Room), .E-Smoove, Felix Tha House Cat, Crazy Penis, Dick Johnson (Shaboom Records), Adelaide Festival, Sydney festival. Other live shows include working with Ultranate, Eve Gallagher, Chance, The Village People, Peaches, Wicked Beat Sound System and Paul Capsis. However, Its the club nights and parties in Sydney that Allkins has really made his mark and impact. Two years ago he received an award for his services to the two biggest and longest running dance events in the southern hemisphere - the Sydney Mardi Gras and Sleaze parties. Allkins has clocked in nine performances at each of them, a major achievement in anyones book. He has also been a part of the Sydney dance party scene - Mardi Gras and Sleaze aside - since the early 80s; from Rat to Sweatbox, Fun to Jamie & Vanessas. At its peak in the late 80s visitors Pickering & Parke were amazed by the scene, Oakenfold loved it and Allkins had always been playing it! The Allkins club nights turned the whole city on. In 78 he started at Palms playing everything from Aretha Franklin to Kraftwerk, then to Stranded, Patches, Glamourworld, the brilliant Phoenix sessions, the successful Class Act (where Deep Dish asked to play during their 98 visit) at Sublime, @ Home which became one of the biggest nights in Sydney during the 98/99 summer, then Gas and more recently a return to the Phoenix for six hour sets. So after all this, what could he do next? Maybe produce his own track - his first. Stephen had done some remixes with his late great friend Robert Racic and hed worked with the seminal Australian dance act, the Rockmelons, more recently remixing works for Friendly, Icehouse, Waldo, Vanessa Amerossi and Sub-Q - so what about his own material? He felt now was the time. Stephen got together with Paul Mac (member of influential Sydney duo Itch-e & Scratch-e) and produced a club classic with a reverent nod to disco and other great dance moments in a modern time. The History Of Disco was in the grooves and [love] tattoo was the body and soul of it. The most influential person in U.K. dance Mr. Pete Tong heard the track and picked it up for his Essential Records and released it through leading dance label ffrr. Superclub Home then gave Stephen a guest spot at one of their parties on the island of Ibiza with Carl Cox, the trip was extended to the U.K. and History Of Disco by [love] tattoo was spinning everywhere - like the proverbial mirrorball. On his return to Sydney, Stephen continued to record tracks for the [love] tattoo project with his new collaborator, local producer/remixer Justin Shave. Following History Of Disco, [love] tattoo took on another direction with the tribal vibe of Drop Some Drums and the sublime groove of The Bass Has Got Me Movin. Both have become classic club cuts here and overseas even before their release on the new Hussle label through Ministry Of Sound Australia. Both tracks have already clocked up a number of compilations worldwide including Renaissance Ibiza, they have also caught the attention of almost every high profile dj around the globe. A notable fan is Fatboy Slim who concluded his recent Brighton beach party with Drums, not only to an audience of tens of thousands on the beach, but to hundreds of thousands in lounge rooms around the UK watching the telecast on Channel 4. This track was also included in the latest 2006 Fatboy Slim album, Fala air, which was a Live in Brazil extravaganza. Stephens remix work includes artists such as; Paul Mac, Sub Q, Icehouse, Friendly, Waldo Garrido, TAG featuring Merenia, With the [love] tattoo debut album released through EMI and Drop The Drums debuting on the U.K. charts the scene was set for one of dance musics most exciting new projects. Above all else, it was another class act from Stephen Allkins. Stephen was never one to follow the pack and is renowned as a producer with imagination, feel and rhythm. Stephen also released a vinyl single, Burnin Up, through Casa del Discos recordings in Spring 04.It was critically acclaimed and embraced by djs to become an underground standout. Love tattoo has always been known as a djs dj. Extremely well respected. By 2006 LOVE TATTOO was ready for a new release. This time on the ABCs contemporary imprint Fly Music. The resulting album Bodywork is an album of 11 tracks with all varying styles of dance, programmed to flow like Stephen would play at a club. Bodywork starts with funk before moving into sexy female vocal electro and then into latin, garage, house and chill-out. The result is an album that generates its own energy wherever its played. As Stephen says Producing and arranging are great fun for me. I love collaborating with people: producers, vocalists and musicians. I love the process of bouncing my ideas off other people and them throwing ideas back at me. For music to speak it must be sexy. Bodywork features club hits Burning Up and the funky vocal stylings of Merenia Gillies on Put Ya Body In It, which was a top 10 track in the ARIA club charts and included a Potelleez mix. It was widely acclaimed with media and Sydney Dance Music bible, 3D World, made it their Album of the Week, stating one of the pivotal figures of Australian dance Music..a more live instrument dominated disco-funk,electro funk approach that packs plenty of fuel for sweaty late nights and kicks the many other soulless funk pretenders into touch To support the latest album, Stephen has embarked on an extensive national tour playing all the capitals, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and many regional cities, including, Byron Bay,Wollongong, Gold Coast, interspersed with trips to Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur. Full rooms of smiling, sweaty, thinking dancefloors are a testament to his ongoing craft and a masterful artist. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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