Aim (musician)
Encyclopedia
Aim is a British musician, DJ
and producer
, who was born in Barrow-in-Furness
, Cumbria
. Aim's sound is a blend of funky electronic music
and hip hop
beats, a sound which typified the Grand Central Records
label. Much of Aim's work is instrumental
, though his records include collaborations with other artists who provide vocals, including Stephen Jones of Babybird
, Diamond D
, Souls of Mischief
, QNC and Kate Rogers
.
Aim has also worked as remix
er, mixing songs for a variety of artists including Ian Brown
, Saint Etienne
, The Charlatans
, Lil' Kim
, Thunderbugs
, Archive
, Down to the Bone, Texas
and former label-mates Rae & Christian
.
drummer
and instrument
shop owner and after the demise of the band, Turner followed in his father's footsteps, opening a record shop called Speed Limit Records. It was here that he began to hone his skills on the decks
, helping him to embark upon a serious music career.
He was discovered by Mark Rae
and signed to Grand Central. So far he has released three full length studio albums - Cold Water Music
, Hinterland
and Flight 602
, plus an album collecting together his early singles, and two DJ mix albums. Re-releases of his early albums are expected on Aim's new label, ATIC Records
in 2008.
In 2004, Aim produced the fellow ex-Grand Central artist, Niko
's debut album, Life On Earth.
Aim left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and formed his own independent record label
, ATIC Records
, in June 2005, and his own recording studio, Speed Limit Studios. The first album to be released on the label was Aim's Flight 602
. It was released on 25 September 2006. Niko has also signed to ATIC and has returned Aim's earlier favour, by providing vocals for the new album. The final single to be released from Flight 602 was the "Birchwood" EP, released on 5 November 2007.
Aim also began a new collaboration, Paperboy, with vocals performed by Justin Helliwell, the singer from The Chelsea Flower Show, the band the pair were members of in their younger days.
To expand beyond the confines of a touring solely as a DJ, Aim began touring with a full live band in the early 2000s. This has now consolidated into a 10-piece ensemble, with musicians playing drum
s, electric double bass
, percussion
, guitar
s, keyboards
, trumpet
, saxophone
, synthesizer
and vocals
provided by Niko. The band's extensive UK tour included an appearance at Glastonbury Festival
in 2007.
Aim is currently performing production duties on ATIC Records artists' albums, including Sevens' debut Defiance in Mind, Crowhead's Born With Teeth and Niko's forthcoming second album.
He is also preparing tracks for his next solo album, which will feature collaborations with QNC, Mikey D.O.N., Death of the Neighbourhood and James Yorkston
. He also had a song appear on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
, released in 1999, titled Ain't Got Time To Waste featuring YZ.
Aim also recorded a 45 minute DJ mix of tracks from the Grand Central Records back catalogue, entitled XFade Master Mix Vol. 2: Grand Central.
It was available free with the short-lived Xfade Magazine in the November 1999 issue. The magazine has since been superseded by IDJ Magazine:
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, who was born in Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
. Aim's sound is a blend of funky electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
beats, a sound which typified the Grand Central Records
Grand Central Records
Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store...
label. Much of Aim's work is instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
, though his records include collaborations with other artists who provide vocals, including Stephen Jones of Babybird
Babybird
Babybird are a British indie band formed in 1995. The band is fronted by Stephen Jones, who has also released records as a solo artist, using his own name.-Career:Jones had begun...
, Diamond D
Diamond D
Diamond D is a hip hop producer and MC from the Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the legendary D.I.T.C. crew. He started out as a DJ for Jazzy Jay back in the late 1980s and was at the same time perfecting his skills in beat making and turntablism, and together with rhyme...
, Souls of Mischief
Souls of Mischief
-Studio albums:-Singles:-External links:* [ Allmusic Biography]* *...
, QNC and Kate Rogers
Kate Rogers
Kate Rogers is the cousin of Grand Central Records head, Mark Rae. She was born just outside Toronto, Canada and as a child studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music....
.
Aim has also worked as remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
er, mixing songs for a variety of artists including Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
, The Charlatans
The Charlatans (British band)
The Charlatans are an English alternative rock band. The band's line-up currently comprises Tim Burgess , Mark Collins , Martin Blunt , Tony Rogers and Jon Brookes .Former members of the band include guitarist Jon Day , vocalist Baz Ketley...
, Lil' Kim
Lil' Kim
Kimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
, Thunderbugs
Thunderbugs
Thunderbugs were a British girl group, briefly popular in 1999. Unlike most other girl groups, they played their own instruments. Their one hit, "Friends Forever", reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1999. Their follow-up single, "It's About Time You Were Mine", failed to reach...
, Archive
Archive (band)
Archive is a musical group based in London, England, whose music spans electronic, trip-hop, avant-garde, post-rock and progressive rock. Over their sixteen-year history, the band has released eight studio albums and enjoyed established success throughout Europe, while remaining little-known in...
, Down to the Bone, Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
and former label-mates Rae & Christian
Rae & Christian
Rae & Christian were Grand Central Records' founder Mark Rae and fellow producer and DJ Steve Christian. Their music is broadly classed as Hip-Hop / soulful dance music and features such vocalists as The Jungle Brothers, Jeru The Damaja and The Pharcyde as well as contributions from Bobby Womack...
.
History
Andy Turner's first musical output was in a fledgling indie band called The Chelsea Flower Show. His father was a jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
shop owner and after the demise of the band, Turner followed in his father's footsteps, opening a record shop called Speed Limit Records. It was here that he began to hone his skills on the decks
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, helping him to embark upon a serious music career.
He was discovered by Mark Rae
Mark Rae
Mark Rae, born in Ashington, Northumberland, England, is the head of the highly revered independent record label Grand Central Records and one half of DJ and production duo Rae & Christian.-Grand Central and Rae & Christian:...
and signed to Grand Central. So far he has released three full length studio albums - Cold Water Music
Cold Water Music
-Track listing:# "Intro" – 0:55# "Cold Water Music" – 5:44# "The Force" – 4:05# "Sail" – 5:14# "Downstate" – 4:14# "Ain't Got Time to Waste" – 4:08# "Fat City " – 0:38...
, Hinterland
Hinterland (album)
-Track listing:# "Intro" – 1:15# "The Girl Who Fell Through the Ice" – 6:17# "What Do People Do All Day" – 5:15# "No Restriction" – 4:05# "Fall Break" – 4:45# "Guimar" – 4:18...
and Flight 602
Flight 602
Flight 602 is the sixth album released by Aim, and the first released on his own ATIC Records independent record label. It is Aim's fourth album of studio material, the other two being DJ mix albums. It was released on 25 September 2006...
, plus an album collecting together his early singles, and two DJ mix albums. Re-releases of his early albums are expected on Aim's new label, ATIC Records
ATIC Records
ATIC Records is an independent record label formed by British musician, DJ and producer, Aim . He left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and started ATIC Records in June 2006....
in 2008.
In 2004, Aim produced the fellow ex-Grand Central artist, Niko
Niko (musician)
Niko is Seattle, Washington-born musician Nicole Vergel De Dios, to Japanese and Spanish parents.She completed a Jazz and Contemporary Music Degree from the New School University in New York City, prior to signing to Grand Central Records independent record label in 2002.She worked as musical...
's debut album, Life On Earth.
Aim left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and formed his own independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, ATIC Records
ATIC Records
ATIC Records is an independent record label formed by British musician, DJ and producer, Aim . He left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and started ATIC Records in June 2006....
, in June 2005, and his own recording studio, Speed Limit Studios. The first album to be released on the label was Aim's Flight 602
Flight 602
Flight 602 is the sixth album released by Aim, and the first released on his own ATIC Records independent record label. It is Aim's fourth album of studio material, the other two being DJ mix albums. It was released on 25 September 2006...
. It was released on 25 September 2006. Niko has also signed to ATIC and has returned Aim's earlier favour, by providing vocals for the new album. The final single to be released from Flight 602 was the "Birchwood" EP, released on 5 November 2007.
Aim also began a new collaboration, Paperboy, with vocals performed by Justin Helliwell, the singer from The Chelsea Flower Show, the band the pair were members of in their younger days.
To expand beyond the confines of a touring solely as a DJ, Aim began touring with a full live band in the early 2000s. This has now consolidated into a 10-piece ensemble, with musicians playing drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, electric double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
and vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
provided by Niko. The band's extensive UK tour included an appearance at Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
in 2007.
Aim is currently performing production duties on ATIC Records artists' albums, including Sevens' debut Defiance in Mind, Crowhead's Born With Teeth and Niko's forthcoming second album.
He is also preparing tracks for his next solo album, which will feature collaborations with QNC, Mikey D.O.N., Death of the Neighbourhood and James Yorkston
James Yorkston
-Music career:A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band...
. He also had a song appear on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
-Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound...
, released in 1999, titled Ain't Got Time To Waste featuring YZ.
Discography
| Album information |
|---|
| Cold Water Music Cold Water Music -Track listing:# "Intro" – 0:55# "Cold Water Music" – 5:44# "The Force" – 4:05# "Sail" – 5:14# "Downstate" – 4:14# "Ain't Got Time to Waste" – 4:08# "Fat City " – 0:38...
|
| Hinterland Hinterland (album) -Track listing:# "Intro" – 1:15# "The Girl Who Fell Through the Ice" – 6:17# "What Do People Do All Day" – 5:15# "No Restriction" – 4:05# "Fall Break" – 4:45# "Guimar" – 4:18... Grand Central Records Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store... |
| Stars on 33 Stars on 33 (Aim album) Stars on 33 was the first DJ mix album, mixed by Aim. The album was released in 2002 on the Fat City Recordings label.-Track listing:#"It's A Sin To Go Away" – We All Together#"The F Word" – Cannibal Ox#"Wasting Time" – Fingathing... Fat City Recordings Fat City Recordings is an independent record label. It emerged in 1998 from the Fat City Records shop originally situated in Affleck's Palace in the Northern Quarter, Manchester, but which has now moved onto Oldham Street.... |
| Means of Production Means of Production Means Of Production is a compilation of Aim's early 12" and EP releases, recorded between 1995 and 1998.-Track listing:# "Loop Dreams" – 5:30# "Diggin' Dizzy" – 5:33 # "Let the Funk Ride" – 5:11 # "Original Stuntmaster" – 6:33... Grand Central Records Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store... |
| FabricLive.17
Fabric (club) Fabric is a nightclub in London, United Kingdom. It was voted number 1 in DJ Magazine's "Top 100 Clubs in the World" poll in 2007 and number 2 in 2008, 2009 and 2010... |
| Flight 602 Flight 602 Flight 602 is the sixth album released by Aim, and the first released on his own ATIC Records independent record label. It is Aim's fourth album of studio material, the other two being DJ mix albums. It was released on 25 September 2006... ATIC Records ATIC Records is an independent record label formed by British musician, DJ and producer, Aim . He left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and started ATIC Records in June 2006.... |
Aim also recorded a 45 minute DJ mix of tracks from the Grand Central Records back catalogue, entitled XFade Master Mix Vol. 2: Grand Central.
It was available free with the short-lived Xfade Magazine in the November 1999 issue. The magazine has since been superseded by IDJ Magazine:
| Album information |
|---|
XFade Master Mix Vol. 2: Grand Central
|