Chris Finke

Chris Finke (UK) - Atomic Jam // Flux // Split // - Biography.............Chris Finke has come a long way from catching the early 90s rave bug as thrown down by the likes of Fabio, Grooverider and Carl Cox at the now legendary “Milwaukees” club near his hometown of Northampton. Now on the cusp of releasing his debut solo EP on his own Flux imprint (the label’s 10th) and with various international DJ residencies under his belt including Birmingham’s Atomic Jam, his joint Split radio show with Ben Sims has grown massively across the globe and the duo are set to also re-release the classic acid house Phuture cut ‘Slam’ with updated remixes to follow up 2006’s A Guy Called Gerald ‘Blow Your House Down’ bumper remix package. Then of course there are the legendary Split parties, migrating across the underbelly of London’s clubland and beyond with a roll call of the techno fraternity’s finest (from Dave Clarke, UR and DJ Rush to Surgeon, Joris Voorn, Rob Hood, Andy Weatherall with both Chris and Ben Sims as residents), whilst his own imprint has been graced by productions from Joey Beltram, Ben Sims, Paul Mac, Mark Broom, Gary Martin, Deetron, Chris McCormack and Patrick Skoog. It’s been a long and winding path but in many ways this is just the beginning…………………………………………… ………………………………………………...... ..Since the summer of 2000 (after two appearances at the DMC Championships and a career on local radio!) Chris and promotions partner, Andi Hawes started putting on Flux parties in the Midlands, moving a year later to London, where the likes of Underground Resistance (live), Stacey Pullen, Claude Young, Slam, Octave One, Suburban Knight, DJ Bone, Ben Sims, Gary Martin, Red Planet, Space DJz, Radioactive Man and many more joined the ever growing Flux party call to arms. At the same time Chris’s appearances outside of Flux increased and he became a regular guest at clubs such as Atomic Jam, House of God, Voodoo, Intergalactic Funk and T-Funkshun and it wasn’t long before the Flux techno juggernaut was rolling its way across Europe’s well-heeled club scene………………………………………………⠀¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.....In the ensuing years Chris has quickly established himself amongst the world’s techno and house fraternity, playing weekly around the UK and Europe, regularly performing at clubs including Fabric, The End, Tribal Sessions @ Sankey’s Soap and in countries such as France, Spain, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Thailand, Singapore and the USA. Taking cues from his musical grounding in electro and hip hop, his imaginative three deck hip-hop style adds depth and character to his fluid mixing technique, joining the dots from jacking house grooves through to funk fuelled techno, taking in acid house, electro and long forgotten gems along the way………………………………………………… …………………………………………….....Sinc e 2003, Chris has performed on BBC Radio 1 and clocked up DJ residencies at the legendary Atomic Jam, Belgium’s infamous Decadance club in Ghent and his own in Split parties in London (the alliance between Flux & Ben Sims’ Retro_vert) whilst his and Sims’ co-hosted techno ‘Split’ radio show has been syndicated worldwide since 2004………………………………………………†¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.....200 6 saw Chris’s mix of A Guy Called Gerald open up new avenues for him, as it became a mainstay in the boxes of the biggest jocks in the world and a firm favourite at Space in Ibiza. Now in 2007 Finke is about to launch his first solo EP, showcasing the different edges and styles he works with in the studio and the clubs. Having just released the first instalment of the various artists EP series ‘Chris Finke presents…’ featuring Mark Broom, Paul Mac, Finke and new artist Baffa, the man on a mission has upped his studio production with a slew of tracks waiting in the wings. “I want to reflect the styles that I play so will go from slower house grooves to jacking techno,” proclaims Chris. “I’m just trying to do good effective dancefloor tunes. The reason I started the label in the first place is so that I could have a platform to eventually release my own material.” Unsurprisingly, Chris’s self-fulfilling prophecy is starting to take shape………………………………………………⠀¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.....Ch ris’ current focus remains his joint loves of DJing and radio presenting. With international DJ residencies opening up in Spain in 2007 and new Split parties in the pipeline, both his and Ben Sims’ radio show has also re-launched in a new, slicker format. Chris’ future projections include more international gigs, production, and more of a focus on radio in the near future. You can’t have everything but in Chris Finke’s multi-faceted DJ, promoter, producer, remixer and radio show host instance, that may well not be the case……………(Jonas Stone, EPM, London. Feb 2007)