DJ Vadim

DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim performing live in 2012.
Background information
Also known as	Daddy Vad
Origin	Russia
Genres	Alternative hip hop
Occupation(s)	DJ, producer
Instruments	Turntables
Years active	1995-present
Labels	BBE, Ninja Tune, Jazz Fudge, OGS Records, Soulbeats Records
Associated acts	The Electric
Website	www.djvadim.com

Vadim Peare, known professionally as DJ Vadim, is a prolific DJ and producer born in Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia) and raised in London. He's also a promoter, record collector, radio presenter, occasional painter and writer, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica. He previously ran Jazz Fudge.

His music combines hip hop, soul, reggae, and electronica. He has been described as "one of the few artists creating genuinely new work in the Hip-Hop field"^[1] and an artist who "cannot be ignored".^[1]

Career

In 1994, Vadim founded his own independent record label, Jazz Fudge, but signed to Ninja Tune the following year, before his current label BBE, in 2007. Aside from DJ-ing and producing, he has also worked as in A&R and promotion, as well as a radio presenter on the BBC's "Around the World in Eight Relays" programme.

Throughout his career, he has worked with a variety of musicians, singers and groups, including DJ Krush, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Prince, Public Enemy, Dilated Peoples, Kraftwerk, Sly and the family stone, Fat Freddys Drop, Super Furry Animals, and Paul Weller. He is also known for having worked with a number of unsigned artists who later went on to find commercial success.

In addition to his regular album releases, he has also recorded under the names "Andre Gurov" and "Little Aida" and has appeared as a member of the various artists project The Isolationist. He is also the DJ and producer for Spanish hip hop group 7 Notas 7 Colores, and, in 2001, was nominated alongside them at the Latin Grammy Awards.

His album, U.S.S.R. Life from the Other Side, featured Scratch Perverts, Iriscience (from Dilated Peoples), Blade. To promote the record, Vadim put together a live group - The Russian Percussion - consisting of Mr Thing (turntables), Killa Kela (beat box), Blu Rum 13 (MC), John Ellis (keyboards). The tour consisted of 200 live shows taking in twenty four countries throughout Europe and North America.

His central project for 2005-2006 was DJ-ing for the hip-hop group One Self album, which was released on 20 September 2005. U Can't Lurn Imaginashun was his return on BBE records May 2009 that featured the single "Soldier" by Big Red (MC). To promote the record, Vadim put a live group together consisting of Sabira Jade (singer), Ste Keyz (Keyboardist), Pugs Atomz (MC). They would later become a group called The Electric and put out an album called " Life is Moving" on Vadim's on imprint Organically Grown Sounds (OGS) in 2010. His latest album, Don’t Be Scared (BBE, 2012) was praised for the "inventiveness of the beats" (incorporating dubstep, breaks, bhangra, Afrobeat and vintage house) by Q reviewer Paul McGee who rated it 4/5 and tagged "The One to Buy!" Dubcatcher (BBE, 2014) DJ Vadim & Sena - Grow Slow (BBE, 2015) Dubcatcher 2 Wicked My Yout (Soulbeats Records, 2016) This is DJ Vadim's 11th official album. DJ Vadim in his super hero outfit, comes to take us on a Luke Skywalker like, adventure to fight the baddies(babylon federation) in his musical kitchen. He takes well known ingredients like reggae, dub ,ska, mixes in some hip hop, soul, jungle and adds some big b line’s to spice up the mix.

^[2]

He has made many remixes from The Cure, Erykah Badu, Alice Russell, Paul Weller, Prince, and CL Smooth.

On average he performs 170-180 shows a year and has played in over 63 countries.^[3]

Style

DJ Vadim composes both music for MCs, singers and poets and soulful instrumental hip-hop beats. In both cases, certain stylistic trends emerge;

• Dominating rhythmic percussion, heavy use of drum programming which are sometimes broken or stuttering, heavy bass and synthesizer use.
• Organic, soulful touches often using studio musicians, with undertones of roots reggae and ragga and driving, hip-hop drum orchestration.
• Original sounding compositions, arrangements that fuse many genres from hip-hop and electronica to soul and reggae.
• Heavy use of ethnic sounds, including Asian, South American and African.

"Anyone recalling Sly & Robbie's mid-80s exercises in electro-dub fusion might see DJ Vadim’s latest as almost an update of that aesthetic," Paul McGee wrote in Q, reviewing Don’t Be Scared LP (2012).^[2]

Discography

References

External links

• Official website
• DJ Vadim at AllMusic
• DJ Vadim discography at Discogs