Loftgroover

UK Hardcore Techno / Speedcore pioneer and owner of Redhead Records. Born in Stamford Brook, London on 5th July 1965. Loftgroover is a name which is synonymous with the UK Hardcore Techno movement since its inception. Lofty (as his friends and fans call him) career started out in the late 80s playing at a small London club run by Danny Rampling, and recalls probably his first Techno gig at the infamous ‘UFO Club’ in Berlin at this time. Tony's first vinyl releases were in 1992 on legendary Oldskool Hardcore label ‘Basement Records’ as Techno Bros (with Jack Smooth aka Ron Wells). Around this time when Breakbeats and Jungle was making an Impact in London clubs, Tony as well as playing this style (his way), found himself drawn to the European Techno sound from Belgium, Italy and Holland. Tony was working in London- based shop 'Dancefloor Records' and had access to a wealth of exciting fresh music. He soon found himself making trips to mainland Europe to buy records for the shop direct (and himself) from the big distribution companies and record labels of the time like R&S, Big Time, Music Man, Hithouse and MidTown. On these trips he made friends and contacts with many of the biggest players in the industry. Loftgroover has always has had a unique and creative tune selection and mixing style, with an arsenal of exiting new harder music at his fingertips. Lofty's style evolved as did the scene and he quickly found himself not through intention one of the hardest Djs on the circuit. As Hardcore and Techno grew in popularity Loftgroover sets stood out from his peers earning him a massive following in the UK with regular appearances at every major event. In 1995 Tony started and released (with Vince Watson) on his own record label 'Redhead Records'. In 1997 Loftgroover found himself the unwilling focus of a Daily Star front page "scoop" about "Nazi gabber hell" menacing Britain. The Star printed a badly informed article falsely linking Gabber / Hardcore Techno music with neo nazism and white supremacy. Something which in fact there has never been a link in the UK. Loftgroover's names was mentioned automatically being one of the most popular Djs about. The article writer obviously did not bother to do his research and failed to notice Loftgroover was in fact black. In the late 90s Loftgroover's BPM's were getting faster and beats more furious. Lofty had started to incorporate screaming guitars and dropping full on Death Metal tracks by bands such as ‘Morbid Angel’ in to Dj sets at raves. Loftgroover style was being called 'Speedcore' and in terms of Djing he was one of the leaders in the genre. In 1998 Lofty was asked to compile and mix a double CD UK compilation, one of the first and only major releases of this kind of music in the UK. The CD titled 'Speedcore' featured key Gabber, Hardcore Techno and Speedcore tracks from 1993 til then.