UK Hardcore Spotlight Artist – Gammer!
As we edge closer to the final weeks of the year, I think it’s safe to say that 2016 has been a defining year for the UK Hardcore movement! We’ve been closely following the UK Hardcore scene this past year and we’re starting to publish some feature articles shedding the spotlight onto our some of our favourite UK Hardcore artists and events.
The time has surely arrived then to celebrate the talents of our very first UK Hardcore “spotlight artist” – and the crown goes to none other than… Gammer!
Christmas is coming early this year for ravers in my home city of Sydney! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a bloke with a beard who’ll be flying in from his cold, and maybe even snow-covered homeland in Europe to deliver us the gift of his phenomenal mixing skills and showmanship.
Gammer’s upcoming tour will see him performing in Sydney at Knockout Circuz and at OneSeventy vs Hardcore Masif Summer Showdown. In addition, he will also be stopping off for gigs in Tokyo and Adelaide on the way and will even be showing the kiddies UK Hardcore’s ropes at an under 18’s event!
The legend you know as DJ Gammer is also known as Mr. Matthew Lee, a lad who hails from the very lovely town of Northampton, UK.
As a young whippersnapper, Gammer was busily making music in his bedroom and harbouring dreams of a DJ career. His big break came when a friend was able to put him in touch with one of his idols, DJ Dougal, who recognised Gammer’s incredible talent. Not only did Dougal set him on the path to success, but the two also formed a production partnership that is still going strong today.
Working together as Dougal & Gammer, this notorious pair have been responsible for some of the biggest anthems in UK Hardcore history, including “Knight In Shining Armour”, “Trust In Me”, “Everytime I Hear Your Name” and “Float Away,” just to name a few.
Gammer has never been afraid to break out and do his own thing, always running ahead of the crowd. After several successful years working with Dougal, Gammer also set up his own solo label, Muffin Music, to release his own productions in which he would go on to be as traditionally UK Hardcore or as experimental as his mood might take him on any given day.
Around the same time as Muffin Music, Gammer also worked on a number of Hard House style productions under the alias Matt Lee and also dabbled in a little side project called Lego Pornstars, whose album dealt with many hard-hitting social issues, such as how difficult everyday life must have been before the invention of sandwich bags.
One of the first hints of Gammer’s future sound came about when Gammer teamed up with Whizzkid to create the iconic UK Hardcore anthem “We Killed The Rave”, which went on to win “Track of the Year” at the Hardcore Heaven awards in 2012.
Around two years ago, Gammer joined forces with Darren Styles, Dougal, Breeze, Re-Con and Whizzkid to create a brand new label, Together We Rise, the arrival of which heralded the kick-start of the new era of UK Hardcore, subsequently placing the genre on the world stage.
Since starting the label, Gammer has released some of the biggest tunes of recent times including “Shoulder Lock” and “Snakebite” with Dougal, “Burn You Tonight” with Galaxy Fox and “Stay Young” with Darren Styles and Dougal.
Gammer’s latest moves have seen him spending a lot of time in the USA bringing UK Hardcore to the biggest events in the country, including the mighty EDC Las Vegas, Project Z and Basscon. Gammer has been working closely with USA based artist Kayzo, a partnership which is taking Gammer into yet more ground-breaking territory, with innovative remix projects and brand new tracks in the works.
All the signs are telling us that Gammer is getting ready to change the game yet again in 2017 and we can’t wait to see what surprises he’s got up his sleeve!
Ravers in Australia and Japan can catch Gammer in December at the following events:
Sat 3rd Dec – Weekend Ravers, Tokyo
Fri 9th Dec – HQ Complex, Adelaide –
Sat 10th Dec – Knockout Circuz, Sydney – SOLD OUT
Sun 11th Dec – Cloud 9 U18s, Sydney – UNDER 18s – SOLD OUT
Fri 16th Dec – OneSeventy vs Hardcore Masif Summer Showdown, Sydney