Subtropic Artist Bio

Also known as jake Smith, Subtropic came into being in San Francisco 1992 inspired by the airwaves of pirate radio in London and the emerging techno and hardcore scenes. A co-founder of SPAZ sound system which began in the downtown warehouse space where Jake lived and worked as part of that collective, DJ/ production skills were learnt and honed at the monthly parties that were thrown there to help pay rent.

Before moving back to London in 1993 a DAT tape was passed to Jonah Sharp which became the second release on the fledgling Reflective label – Throb EP.

Immersed in the sounds of Jungle back in London the Wild Card EP surfaced early in 1995 to large scale critical acclaim creating a distinctly off kilter take on the genre. Now based in Brighton Jake quickly built a reputation as a cutting edge DJ earning gigs at clubs, parties and festivals around the world. Late ’95 saw the release of Homebrew the first US domestic release of a Drum and Bass album and amongst the first wave of full length LPs released in the genre anywhere. Critical acclaim was universal and the album, very well received, earned remixes, more DJ slots and licensing to various comps.

As the 90’s progressed Jake began to move away from Drum and Bass becoming frustrated with the narrow stylistic formula the genre had become and moved into more freestyle breakbeat/electronica styles releasing 2 EPs and 1 LP, Compression Point, with London label Fused and Bruised. This work was again critically well received working well both on dance floors and in the home listening environment. When Fused and Bruised ceased trading Jake started the Sonic Tonic imprint in conjunction with the Brighton club night Experiments releasing what was in hindsight proto-dubstep as well as electro and breaks tracks on a series of 12”s. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.