Bill Hamel

..Nominee Grammy Award 2004 Remixer of The Year (Non-Classical)
Next 100 Artists to Watch - Urb Magazine 2001
Maybe it was fate.
For some divine reason, the stars aligned when Bill Hamel first stumbled upon the mind-blowing sounds of “progressive house” at Orlando’s fabled Firestone club in the early 90s. It was America’s epicenter of the most widespread youth quake to hit the globe since punk rock – the electronic dance music explosion.
The Beginnings
Obsessed with a new passion, Hamel started attending the nearby University of Central Florida; but his real classroom was a parallel universe of clubbing and spin sessions by local DJ legends such as Dave Cannalte and Kimball Collins. “I fell in love with the music, the inside-of-the-club atmosphere,” Hamel recalls.
Hamel soon found himself brushing off college and heading in a new direction. He built a home studio and started spinning records, eventually becoming a staple in this star-map town of dance producers. In 1996 Hamel unveiled his own vinyl-oriented label, Sunkissed Records and the following year composed a remix of Secret Life’s “She Holds the Key” on-spec. The label signed it up and officially distributed it. Now motivated by musical success, Hamel dug deeper – taking piano lessons and mastering software production programs such as Pro Tools and Logic.
“Bill is currently one of my favorite re-mixers because he really understands melody and song.” –Paul Oakenfold
The Ascent
In the late ’90s, Orlando’s progressive scene shook up e-music’s global wavelength; its records and DJs reaching clubs from New York to London and beyond. Hamel rapidly became a go-to tunesmith, with the likes of Danny Tenaglia and Dave Seaman choosing his remixes for their top-selling Global Underground mix-CDs.
By the early ’00s Hamel had become a recognized remix artist alongside talents such as Gabriel & Dresden, Sander Klienenberg and Jacques Lu Cont. In 2001 BT rang up Bill’s label Sunkissed and asked to be put on it’s promotional mailing list. Hamel eventually became great friends with Brian Transeau (better known as BT), produced tracks for the icon and opened as a DJ at their performances together. Their most notable collaboration “Last Moment of Clarity” appears on BT's album Emotional Technology.
Hamel’s national reputation as a gifted remixer swelled, and he was soon tapped for remixes by Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. In 2003, he got a shot at working his remix magic for the international star, Seal. The gorgeous, momentous cloud of bliss surrounding Seal’s raspy, rousing vocals on “Get It Together” earned Hamel a 2004 Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording and also hit #1 on Billboard’s Dance Chart.
In 2005, along with close friend and fellow electronic music artist Barry Jamieson, Hamel formed a side project called Audio Magnetics. Their first song, “Ghetto Blasta Deluxe”, was Pete Tong's ESSENTIAL TUNE in February of 2005. It instantly became one of the anthems of that year's Winter Music Conference and legendary DJ Sander Klienenberg signed it to his Little Mountain label.
“Bill Hamel has the extraordinary rare gift of balancing the deep and subtle with the melodic ... [He’s] a shining star in a sea of faceless DJ's and producers." –Brian “BT” Transeau
The Present
Madonna (“Hung Up”), Justin Timberlake (“Cry Me A River”), Brandy feat. Kanye West (“Talk About Our Love”), Britney Spears (“Touch Of My Hand”), Depeche Mode (“Johnny Revelator”), New Order (“Guilt Is A Useless Emotion”) and Rihanna (“Unfaithful”) have since employed Hamel for his alchemic retooling (with the Madonna, New Order and Rihanna remixes hitting #1 on Billboard's Dance Chart (for a total of 5 #1’s and numerous other top 10’s in the past 3 years).
DJs such as Deep Dish and Nick Warren have recently placed Hamel’s latest remixes on their “Hot Lists.” The video game world has also embraced Hamel’s talents, using his productions for Microsoft’s Xbox game Inside Drive and more recently on Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution 3.
”Bill's production prowess and his keen sense of melody and song structure has never ceased to amaze us. His impeccably-detailed yet 'human' approach to music-making is a breath of fresh air from the seemingly emotion-less and barren soundscapes which permeates much of our brand of electronic music these days.” –Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia, Deep Dish
The Future
Hamel’s projects slated for release and live performances include: original music under the moniker Audio Magnetics; and his work with the up-and-coming band Spacebar (both on stage with synths and beats and in the studio as the band’s official producer.) He is also collaborating with artists from the U.S. and abroad as a name-brand studio guru and producer. “I like being in the studio with positive people,” Hamel says. “The more you get musicians into technology, the more you better music.”