Interview and Guest Mix – Neil Pierce

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Ahead of his appearance at the forthcoming Deep Into Soul X Lovedance all dayer alongside DJ Spen, Jovonn, Opolopo, Stuart Patterson and more, we talk to Neil Pierce and receive the amazing gift of music with an exclusive mix for LHM!

LondonHouseMusic – Most London house heads will be very familiar with you Neil, but give us a run down of your career in London, from the record stores to first gigs, moving into production and promotion.

Neil Pierce – Well I’ve had a passion for music from being a child. It was always my escape from reality but never in a million years did i ever think all these years later I’d be making a living from it.

I got my break by working in Release The Groove record store in Soho. I’d been buying records in there for years and after an unfortunate accident at work (I used to work on building sites) i asked if they had any part time work.

That’s what started to connect me with people inside the industry and a year or so later i took over as manager after Jeremy Newall left. This led on to a residency at Paul Trouble Andersons (RIP) infamous Loft parties in Camden and then it really snowballed from there.

Shortly after i was made resident at Soul Heaven at Ministry of Sound and then started doing tours with them all over the UK and abroad and that was also where i met Aaron Ross, my first production partner with whom we collaborated at Fanatix.

I started producing in 2003/04 and we really hit the ground running. Our first ever track with Lady Alma was signed to MAW and it really took off from there. We remixed Blaze, Roy Ayers, Jamiroqui, Kings of Tomorrow, Terri walker and Joey negro to name a few and followed shortly after with our debut Album “This thing of ours”.

Unfortunately Aaron had to leave Fanatix as he’d just got married and had his first child on the way and needed a securer job so i went it alone for a few tracks before meeting Ziggy Funk. Myself and Ziggy hit it off straight away and after working on a few tracks together decided to form Rhemi and start our own record Label Rhemi Music. Within a year we had made some stone cold classics on the Soulful House scene including “Warning” with Lynn Lockamy and “Diamond” with Hanlei and built up a great reputation very quickly. Shortly after we were in pretty high demand as remixers and have remixed for the likes of Louie Vega, DJ Spen, Joey Negro and Tribe records. The ethos back then is exactly the same at it is today. To make music we believed in and always maintain a high level of quality.

When it comes to promoting. I started my first night called ‘Off the cuff” at Ormonds down the west end in 1996. I was basically trying anything i could at the time to get my name recognized as it was so tough to break through in the scene. I did a few nights there, lost a fair bit of dough and gave the promoting a break for a good few years until i started the Fanatix residency at Neighbourhood in Ladbroke Grove. I think that night was the catalyst for really getting into promoting. We had a great couple of years there before we moved on to a really successful night at Herbal and then Beat Players at East Village. When i walked away from Beat Players, shortly after Scott Searle approached me and asked would i team up with him on his brand Deep into Soul. I’d always liked the way Scott worked and decided to give it a shot.

LHM – You mention Deep Into Soul, tell us more about that and what we can expect from the main indoor room at Loft Studios on the 5th?

NP – This year i’m proud to say we celebrate Deep Into Soul’s 8th Birthday of which i’ve been involved for 5 years. I feel we’ve built up a solid brand over the years an have a fantastic following of some of the best party people in the UK. We book DJs we believe in and know will deliver to our ever faithful and always pride ourselves on being approachable and friendly to our ever growing crowd. We’ve also had the honor of hosting a 2000 capacity arena at the Southport Festival and we have been asked back for 2019 as well as hosting our boat party at Suncebeat for the last three years plus afterparties for Liverpool disco festival.

We have wanted to do an event at the Loft Studios for years as it’s such an amazing space and allows us the control of the sound system, visuals and team involved and we are now in the position to deliver an amazing night there. We are so excited for the night as the response has been nothing short of amazing and it’s heading for a sell out before we even open our doors! What you can expect is an amazing space, killer sound system, the friendliest party people in London, and DJs playing their hearts out!

LHM – And Rhemi music, what is out now and plans for the future.

NP – 2019 is looking very promising for Rhemi Music. We have been signing tracks from other artists, and we also have a full length albums forthcoming from Hanlei and myself, as well as a ton of original material to be released as singles. I’m also starting our sister label Rhemi Trax which will focus on the deeper and tougher side to Rhemi Music. Watch this space!