Si Begg
Encyclopedia
Si Begg is electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 DJ
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...

, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 and record 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...

 Simon Begg, from Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, England.
His music combines elements of Experimental, Downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...

, Breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...

 Ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

, Drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

, Turntablism
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...

 and Jazz
Jazz
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...

. Begg grew up in Leamington Spa and moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1991. His recording career began in 1993 and he has used a number of different pseudonyms and band names, and released music in different styles on several record labels.

He has also recorded music for a short films, television advertisements and has performed sound design work for television channels including the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 and MTV
MTV Networks Europe
MTV Networks Europe is a division of Viacom International Media Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom.MTV Networks Europe includes the multimedia entertainment brands: MTV, VH1, TMF, VIVA, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Nick Jr...

.

History

Si Begg studied at Trinity School and Mid Warwickshire college, becoming interested in 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...

 from an early age. Begg confessed that the first electronic-based record he ever heard was "Probably Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...

; my uncle used to be into his stuff, and used to play it in the car. My brother's mate's dad also had Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...

 and stuff like that. I remember being really into all the sounds and noises, the total futurism. And I was right into Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 and Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...

 and all those kinda kids' sci-fi things."

Listening to John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

's BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 show in the late 1980s, Begg was introduced to early Chicago acid
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...

 and bands like Warp's
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....

 LFO, Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...

, Severed Heads
Severed Heads
Severed Heads is an Australian electronic music group based and founded in Sydney in 1979 as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, and were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright eventually left the group, leaving Ellard as a singular...

 and Negativland
Negativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...

. This influenced him to move away from playing guitar and drums with schoolmates and toward creating cut-up
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....

 electronica with fellow electronic musicians, under the group name Cabbage Head Collective.

Career

Begg initially gained experience working as a sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...

 in the early 1990s, helping to produce live music and studio albums for other artists, and began DJing in 1991.
He began creating his own music in 1993, and a year later, released 3 EPs with Techno artist, and fellow-Cabbage Head alumni, Cristian Vogel
Cristian Vogel
Cristian Vogel is an experimental electronic musician.-Biography:Cristian Vogel was born in Chile and moved to England in the mid 1970s. Vogel first began working with electronic compositions in the late 1980s with the Cabbage Head Collective...

, under the band name "Inevitable Technology". The pair later founded a record company, Mosquito, in 1997. During this time, Begg assembled a recording studio (which is now located in Harrow, in northwest London), and learned about A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 and label management.

He moved to London in the 1990s, where he met Jonathan More and Matt Black
Matt Black
Matt Black is a British DJ and one half of music duo Coldcut .As a college student, he was a member of a band called The Jazz Insects, whose first single was played by John Peel in his radio show...

 of Coldcut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...

 through the local music scene. Begg's works as Cabbage Boy were subsequently released on their Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...

 sub-label, Ntone
NTone
NTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...

.
Begg released his solo debut album Commuter World on Caipirinha Productions in 1998. He continued to release 12" singles on a variety of small 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:...

s (including his own).

In 2001, he released The Mission Statement on the Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...

 subsidiary, mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...

, going by the name of as S. I. Futures. This was followed by another Si Begg album, Director's Cut (2003)

Since 2005, he has also released mp3 files on Digital Distortions and further singles on another label that he founded himself, Noodles Recordings and its sub-labels, Noodles Institute of Technology and Noodles Discothèque, which he called "the stupidest recording organisation in the world". The description comes from that fact that the label releases such a wide variety of musical styles, a tactic most labels would avoid.

In addition to working as a recording artist, he also performs live DJ sets throughout Europe. He currently has two DJ residencies in London, Big Beat Boutique at Scala
Scala (club)
Scala is a nightclub in London, England, near King's Cross railway station.-History:The Scala was originally built as a cinema to the designs of H Courtney Constantine, but construction was interrupted by the First World War and it spent some time being used to manufacture aircraft parts, and as a...

 and Freakin the Frame at The End
The End (club)
The End was a nightclub in the West End of London, England. Started in December 1995 by DJs Layo Paskin and Mr C, The End was world-renowned. It was also responsible for the label End Recordings....

. He has also worked as a remixer for over 40 different electronic artists including Alloy Mental
Phil Kieran
Phil Kieran is a DJ, music producer and electronic music recording artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.Kieran is primarily a club DJ, making his name as the resident at Shine in Belfast and later playing at venues across the world. He plays a wide variety of music including techno, breaks and house...

, Atmosfear
Atmosfear
Atmosfear were a British jazz funk band formed in 1979. They consisted of bassist, and keyboardist Lester J. Batchelor, drummer Ray Johnson, guitarist Andy Sojka, saxophonist Stewart Cawthorne, and producer Jerry Pike. A year later singer and guitarist Tony Antoniou joined the main line up...

, DJ Rush, Faultline
Faultline (musician)
Faultline is an electronic music project centred on producer David Kosten.This UK act's enigmatic music has background death threats, Dennis Hopper dialogue and cover versions sung by rock stars. Faultline is the recording moniker for David Kosten, who claims to have turned to samplers and...

, Michael Forshaw
Michael Forshaw (musician)
Michael Forshaw is an electronic musician from Blackpool in England. He has made 25 EP releases under several different names, 23 various artist releases, 9 remixes and 1 CD release, from 1995 to 2010.-References:...

, Lamb
Lamb (band)
Lamb is an electronic music duo from Manchester, England, whose music is influenced by trip hop and drum and bass. The duo consists of producer Andy Barlow, who also produces under the pseudonym Hipoptimist, and singer-songwriter Lou Rhodes...

, Little Nobody
Little Nobody
Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...

, Moguai
Moguai
Moguai , is a German DJ and EDM producer. He is best known for his 2002 hit "U Know Y", and his earlier hit "The Rock" which used a sample from the song "Top Billin'" by rap group Audio Two. Starting in early 2010, he became one of few people to release music on deadmau5's record label, mau5trap...

, Radio 4
Radio 4 (band)
Radio 4 is a band from Brooklyn who formed in 1999. They claim that their sound, which has been described as "danceable punk", is "made in New York, is about New York, and sounds like New York"....

, Tipper
Tipper
Tipper is a British composer and producer specializing in electronic music that ranges from Ambient, through Trip Hop, to uptempo Nuskool Breakbeat...

, Sven Väth
Sven Väth
Sven Väth is a Frankfurt-based DJ who has produced an extensive range of work since his career began in 1982. From 1985, he was part of the band OFF which released the hit "Electrica Salsa" in 1986...

, Cristian Vogel
Cristian Vogel
Cristian Vogel is an experimental electronic musician.-Biography:Cristian Vogel was born in Chile and moved to England in the mid 1970s. Vogel first began working with electronic compositions in the late 1980s with the Cabbage Head Collective...

, Jennifer Delano, Neuflex, Jason Sparks, Bolz Bolz and Stewart Walker
Stewart Walker
Stewart Walker is a US born electronic music producer who lives and works in Berlin. Walker's forté is live performance, a rarity in the world of beat-driven electronic music, and he is known for contributing to the development of minimal techno with his 1999 album Stabiles.Walker played at the...

.

Pseudonyms and collaborations

Begg has recorded under variety of names, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He explains that it is a "necessity because of the way the industry kind of works. Because a lot of people want exclusive names and there's just no way I could. If there was one label that I felt was my home and I didn't want to do stuff for other labels then that would be fine, but no single label is willing to release my full output – my full kind of range. So I have to come up with these different projects all the time.",

Solo recording names include:
  • Si Begg
  • Bigfoot
  • Bigfoot Futures Ltd
  • Buckfunk 3000
  • Cabbage Boy / Cabbageboy
  • Culture Cruncher
  • Dr. Nowhere versus The Maverick DJ
  • Lenny Logan / Lenny "The Stylus" Logan (one Lenny Logan track featured "Zygmunt Janowski", who, again, is actually Si Begg)
  • S. I. Futures


Band names include:
  • Bigfoot & Maverick
  • Cabbage Head Collective (with Cristian Vogel
    Cristian Vogel
    Cristian Vogel is an experimental electronic musician.-Biography:Cristian Vogel was born in Chile and moved to England in the mid 1970s. Vogel first began working with electronic compositions in the late 1980s with the Cabbage Head Collective...

    , Tim Wright
    Tim Wright (UK musician)
    Tim Wright has been active as a musician and composer since the early 1990s, working predominantly at the experimental end of the spectrum of electronica and dance music.-Germ:...

     (of Germ, Neil Landstrumm and Anthony Michael Alexander)
  • Inevitable Technology (with Cristian Vogel)
  • State of the Art (with Tony Thorpe of The Moody Boys
    The Moody Boys
    The Moody Boys was a UK house music production and remix outfit active since 1988 , consisting of Tony Thorpe and, until 1992, Jimmy Cauty.-History:...

    )

Albums

  • Commuter World (1998, Caipirinha Productions)
  • Director's Cut (2003, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )

Singles and EPs

  • Nothing is True Zen Say (1996, Position Chrome)
  • Opus EP (1996, Tresor
    Tresor
    Tresor is an underground techno nightclub and record label. The club was founded in March 1991 in the vaults of the former old Wertheim department store in Mitte, the central part of the former East Berlin, next to the famous Potsdamer Platz, however the history of the club goes back to 1988 when...

    )
  • Cuntok 5 EP (1997, Algorithme)
  • Question the Nature of Your Formula (1997, Drought Records)
  • Working on The Front Line EP (1997, Mosquito)
  • B-Boy of Tomorrow / Strawhead (1998, Hydrogen Dukebox)
  • Commuter World (1998, Caipirinha Productions)
  • Untitled (1998, Mosquito)
  • Network Southeast Vol. 1 (1999, Under 5's)
  • Bad Doo Doo (2000, Mosquito)
  • Network Southeast Vol. 2 (2000, Under 5's)
  • Testosterone Testicles (2000, Drought Records)
  • Restoration EP (2001, Mosquito)
  • Welcome to the Discothèque (2001, Feis)
  • You Aint Got this Shit in Yo Crate / Sumba Lo Remix (2002, Howlin' Records)
  • Moveup (2003, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • Trigger / Lost in Time (2003, Trigger Recordings)
  • Buss (2004, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • John Peel Session 003 (2004, Noodles Recordings)
  • Revolution (2004, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • The Third Paper (2004, Noodles Institute of Technology)
  • Revelation (2005, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • The Fourth Paper (2005, Noodles Institute of Technology)
  • The Tyranny of Pesto (2005, Digital Distortions)
  • Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 1 (2006, Noodles Recordings)
  • Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 2 (2007, Noodles Recordings)
  • Signals 002 (2007, Uncharted Audio)
  • Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 3 (2008, Noodles Recordings)
  • 24 bit error (2009 sibegg.com)

Singles and EPs

  • Franks Birthday (1995, Eukatech)
  • I Can't Get In EP (1996, Eukatech)
  • Sasquatch EP (1996, Eukatech)

Singles and EPs

  • Interplanetary Music (1996, Eukatech)
  • Tommy Crunch 2 (1996, Eukatech)
  • Drumz (1997, Eukatech)
  • Part 4 Return Of The Big Mack (1997, Eukatech)

Singles and EPs

  • Modulation (1996, Language)
  • 3000 / Economics (1997, Language)
  • In is In / Planet Shock Future Rock (1997, Language)
  • Systematic (1997, Language)
  • Fried Funk & Microchips / Planet Shock Future Rock (1998, Language)
  • There is Life on Mars (1998, Language)
  • High Volume (2001, Fuel Records)
  • Jump & Disrupt (2001, Fuel Records)
  • 2 Much Booty (2004, Bowwow)

Singles and EPs

  • Sausage Doctor EP (1995, Ntone
    NTone
    NTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...

    )
  • Planet EP (1997, Ntone
    NTone
    NTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...

    )
  • Molecular Millionaires (1999, Ntone
    NTone
    NTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...

    )
  • The Lost Tapes Vol 1 1998-2000 (2004, Noodles Recordings)

Singles and EPs

  • Vol. 1 (2000, Noodles Discothèque)
  • Vol. 2 (2001, Noodles Discothèque)
  • Vol. 3 (2001, Noodles Discothèque)
  • Vol. 5 (2002, Noodles Discothèque)

Singles and EPs

  • Freestyle Disco (2001, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • Freestyle Disco Remixes (2001, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • We are Not a Rock Band (2001, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )
  • Eurostar (2002, Novamute Records
    Novamute Records
    Novamute Records was the electronic music subsidiary of Mute Records which was started in 1992.In the beginning the label licensed records/music from small labels like Tresor and Plus 8.-Artists:* 3 Phase* Acid Casuals* Aftrax* Beyer and Lenk...

    )

Singles and EPs

  • Etherion EP (1994, Trope Recordings)
  • Reform EP (1994, Trope Recordings)
  • The Wheel EP (1994, Berlin Records)

Singles and EPs

  • Feel This / Party Time (1994, Full House Records)
  • Shifting Mercury EP (1995, State of the Art)
  • Automatic (2004, Inform / Noodles Recordings)

External links

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