Fergie (aka Robert Ferguson), a DJ of international standing for the past decade, has never had a stronger and more vibrant aural identity. Playing the kind of music he wants, determined not to be held back by perceptions and tags from the past, he continues to be a global representative for electronic music by consistently breaking down underground barriers and bringing new music to the people, without compromise.
There is no doubt that Fergie has rmly re-established himself as a producer of innovative exciting music that really takes a hold of you. Having dedicated himself to the studio and totally immersing himself in his passion for music, this has been a true labour of love for Fergie:
'I just wanted to go back and take time to rediscover what the music meant to me; how it made me feel, the buzz, the excitement. To nd a sound that would reect my individuality as a DJ and producer and in some way to recapture all of that in my productions' (Fergie).
Clearly he has found his sound and the results are very evident in the free ow of original productions and remixes being consistently supported by the likes of Sasha, John Digweed, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Laurent Garnier, Slam, Umek, James Lavelle and Hell amongst many others. Underground cuts that blur genre divides have rmly established him as a proven seal of production quality.
Tracks like 'Maktub', which picked up incomparable support in 2009 and was found in Richie Hawtin's Essential Mix live from the Exit Festival as well as him starting sets with it throughout that summer. Carl Cox, one of Fergie's biggest supporters of late (describing Excentric Muzik as his label of 2008) licensed it for 2 of his compilations that year (Global Underground 'Black Rock Desert' and 'Carl Cox...At Space'). The track also received heavy duty support from Dubre, Gregor Tresher, Umek and Phil Kieran amongst many others, all regularly found championing the Fergie sound.
There's the Fergie remixes of 'Umek - Gatex' and 'Slam - Positive Education' remixes that have achieved legendary status amongst fans and still demand huge interest on Youtube and download sites. Both started out as exclusives for him to play at his Shine (Belfast) and Pressure (Glasgow) gigs respectively, although it was clear from the initial reactions they could not be left unreleased.
His studio output has shown no signs of slowing down, recent hits 'Konguro', 'Motion' and 'Slazenger' have picked up deserved praise and all climbed high in the Beatport charts. Fergie's third remix of King Unique (of 'Feniksas' on John Digweed's Bedrock label) has been one of the key tracks of the year so far. A second remix for James Lavelle's U.N.K.L.E. project will be released this year and will see Fergie return to Jame's Surrender All label, following up 2009's massive 'Trouble In Paradise' remix. Autumn 2010 will see the release of Fergie's debut album 'Dynamite & Lazerbeams' that promises to be something just a little bit special....
Fergie's ever growing 'Excentric Muzik' label has been the home for the majority of his original productions and a place where he's been able to fully put into place his unconventional ideas whether that be re-releasing tracks that for him were where it all began (Salt City Orchestra - The Book), commissioning 20 remixes for his 2009 'Rewired' project (including Slam, Umek, King Unique and Pig & Dan) or unearthing new talent and giving them the spotlight (Spektre, Alan Fitzpatrick, Reset Robot, Psycatron & Erphun have all remixed Fergie productions before going on to achieving success elsewhere).
'Rekluse', the Excentric Muzik off-shoot run by Fergie together with Henry Von has proved to be something special, focussing on a distinct European Techno sound and developing into something quite unique, leading Carl Cox to describe Rekluse as 'denitely one of my fav labels of the year'. 2010 will see the release of a third label from the Excentric camp, 'Tribal Rage' will focus on a slightly deeper, groovier tip.
With sets in no less than 25 different countries in 2009 (and gigs as far aeld as Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Russia, South Korea plus tours of South America and Australasia) Fergie continues to be one of the most in-demand DJs in the world. Regular haunts include the track title inspiring 'Exit Club' (Kaunas, Lithuania), 'Shine' and 'The Stiff Kitten' (Belfast, UK), Slam's monthly club night 'Pressure' (Glasgow, UK), 'Firey' (Nottingham, UK) where Fergie is the only guest DJ to have played in every single venue they have ever used, 'Crawdaddy' at 'The Tripod' (Dublin, Ireland) which hosted a summer Excentric party last year, as well as Circus (Liverpool, UK), Rex Club (Paris, France), Bahrein (Buenos Aires, Argentina), D-Edge (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and not forgetting the Miami Winter conference and Sonar festival.
But it all started in Northern Ireland where Robert Ferguson, as his passport dubs him, grew up. His rst day of secondary school would see him donning a Walkman instead of putting up with his teacher's voice, and for the next three years he would spend more time outside the headmaster's ofce than in the classroom. At the age of 13 he nally left the school system and embarked on the passion that had engulfed him, embracing music headlong and becoming a DJ. This was to become a mercurial move that would lead to international DJ status and a coveted show on Radio 1.
Growing up as part of the Northern Irish rave scene and being a witness to events such as the iconic Hellraiser raves at the Ulster Hall in Belfast, where he got his rst taste of international DJs such as Carl Cox and Pablo Gargano, conrmed the direction in which his music was to go. 'It was the harder edge of the music that really caught me, just the full on driving energy of it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.' (Fergie)
Tony De Vit later took Fergie under his wing, starting him on a journey that eventually led to his own slot on Radio 1 where he championed the sounds of the underground on mainstream radio, long before minimal techno became the 'du jour' genre for DJs. At only 21 he found himself presenting live shows from Skol Beats (Brazil), Love Parade (Berlin), Meganite (Ibiza), the Miami Winter Music Conference and not one to forget where he came from he brought his very rst live Radio 1 show back to Northern Ireland.
The show ran for 5 years and developed into a snapshot of what was going on in the underground electronic music scene. Guests included Richie Hawtin, Sven Vath, Dave Clarke and Phil Kieran (who both covered the show in Fergie's absence), Carl Cox and Jeff Mills, as well as providing a platform for many aspiring producers and DJs to show what they had to offer... the likes of Kev Gorman (Gigolo), Anderson Noise (Noise Music), Matt Tolfrey (Leftroom) and Dave Robertson (aka Reset Robot) all received some of their prominent initial exposure through Fergie's show.
A proven forward thinker, constantly developing and never standing still, the architect of an ever evolving sound by keeping one step ahead of the rest, he has never forgotten though that it's still just a rave. A place where people are trying to escape the realities of urban life each and every weekend, and is where he hopes to catch up with you very soon...
