Sam has dedicated his career to playing dance music and he has performed at the most prestigious events, and infamous clubs in the history of New Zealand club culture. He has earned himself a loyal following and much respect among his peers.
Sam began listening to the SugarHill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa and Parliament, then having spent a handful of formative, pre-house years, soaking up the rhythms of hip-hop funk and electro in the mid 80s , moved onto the the ever evolving electronic music scene.
Sam was already a committed DJ when house music exploded in the UK in the late eighties.
Before long he was playing at warehouse parties and began to see the potential for electronic music to become part of New Zealand Youth culture.
At the beginning of 1990, Sam took up his first residency at The Siren alongside Roger Perry, Simon Grigg and Jon Davis as well as opening up Auckland’s first true dance music vinyl emporium, Bassline Records with Grant Kearney. Sam Hill and Grant Kearney opened up this vinyl mecca after the demise of 256 Records. Situated in O’Connell St (where Karen Walker now resides) Bassline kept Auckland’s djs sorted for top tunes as well as hosting its own nights like Headstrong and Madchester at the Box. Bassline played host to the New Zealand DJ school and with the help of Jon Davis taught a lot of young students how to DJ. With it’s in-store pinball machine Bassline became a hang out for raverkids, club owners, trainspotters and anyone else with a vague interest in dance culture.
After Bassline Records closed in 1996 BPM records was opened and was owned by Simon Grigg, Tom Sampson and Sam Hill. With orders arriving almost daily BPM’s shelves are always filled with the latest releases from around the world. The shop was run by top Auckland dj’s Greg Churchill, Geoff Wright and Dean Webb who keep customers informed of what’s hot and what’s not.
At the start of the new millennium Sam released some dance compilations called Back2back, Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2 and did national tours to support there release and at the first and last NZ music awards in 2003 Sam came 2nd to Greg Churchill for the DJ of the year.
NZ DJ AWARDS 2003
1: Greg Churchill 2: Sam Hill 3: Dannyboy 4: Dick Johnson 5: Soane 6: Bevan Keys 7: Concord Dawn 8: Nick Collings 9: Page 3 10: Callam
At the moment Sam Hill is the Resident DJ and promoter of Auckland’s most talked about club, Code where he spins punk, funk, nu wave, rock and roll, fucked up house, sleazy electro and mutant disco. Since Code opened in 2005 it has consistently been Auckland’s busiest late night venue for noctournal hedonists with Sam doing the peaktime slots.
His salacious, anarchic DJing style has always inspired a keen following and he has moved into the music production field in 2006 and is non-stop in the studio producing his new fresh sound to unleash on the dancefloors in 2007.
Sam Hill’s DJ skills are also increasingly in demand both in NZ and Australia where his trademark sound always goes down a storm.
Sam has played alongside international DJ’s - Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed, Fatboy Slim, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Armand Van Helden, Basement Jaxx, Carl Cox, DJ Sneak, Nick Warren, X-Press-2, Mauro Picottto, BT, Sander Kleinenberg, Dave Seaman, Junkie Xl, Doc Martin, Judge Jules, Tall Paul, Eric Morillo, Steve Lawler, Ritchie Hawtin, Giles Peterson, Andy Weatherall, Justin Robertson,Steve Hill, Agnelli and Nelson, Pete Wardman,Johan Gielen, DJ Jean, Barthezz, Ashley Beedle, Grooverider, Lucien Foort, Paul “Trouble†Anderson, M-People, DJ Heaven, Norman Jay, Brandon Block, Tomcraft, Jeremy Healy,Roy the Roach, Mrs Wood, PeeWee Ferris, axwell, Infusion, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and many, many more.
http://www.myspace.com/djsamhill
