Shookz
Heage, Derbyshire United Kingdom
Genres:Electronic - Trip Hop/Downtempo, Electronic - Experimental, Electronic - Drum-n-Bass/Jungle, Electronic - Breakbeat, Electronic - Ambient
Bio:
Shookz has had a huge passion for music longer than he can remember. From an early age he got taken to listen to his Dad and Brother in their bands (sometimes sneaking a walkman into gigs so he could listen to some of his music). Later on down the line when Shookz started secondary school, a friend let him borrow an old rave tape, from then he was hooked. He went back to his friend the next day and asked to borrow the whole tape pack.
In 1997 at the age of 13 Shookz got a gift in the form of an old pair of Decks, DJ Mixer and a few random records. He then began to experiment with Dance Music, Hip Hop, Hardcore & Jungle. Every bit of money he had went on buying the latest records to build up his collection. Every Saturday morning he religiously paid visits to Local Record Shops in Derby & Nottingham (BPM Records & Selectadisc). Over the years young Shookz, known as Paul F at the time started making mixtapes for anyone who wanted one, along with organising the occasional party so he had chance to play in front of people.
In 2000 after giving his latest mixtape to a promoter, Shookz got his first proper DJ booking at Time Nightclub in Derby. At this time he was hungry for success and wanted to make a name for himself. Bookings were taken regardless of size or setup. He was soon playing to crowds ranging from 5 to 100 people in no time, purely for the love of music!
Also in 2000 Shookz enrolled in a Music Technology & Recording course at Clarendon College in Nottingham. After abit of networking, Shookz & friend Spam Chop decided to form a UK Garage Crew called “The Riot Squad” and recruited some MCs to host any gigs & tapes they did. A few months down the line Shookz landed a couple of residency’s playing for both The Gatehouse & Time Nightclub in Derby, aswell as winning a DJ Competition on Nottingham’s most popular pirate station 7-11 FM which gave him the opportunity to play a set at the infamous Marcus Garvey Centre.
In 2002 Shookz was fully taken over by the energy that Drum & Bass had and decided that this style of music was for him, then committed fully to the genre! Jungle was always dropped into his sets before but UK Garage was getting repetitive and standing still, so Shookz realised it was time to say goodbye.
In October 2003 after a whole years worth of preparation, Shookz launched his own internet radio station called www.kindafunkyradio.com. The station was launched to help give him and some friend’s exposure with their music. KFR was an instant hit with loads of DJs & MCs asking for shows and the idea worked, people was listening. It was a big thing at the time mainly because KFR was one of the first internet radio stations to be launched.
KFR has broadcasted some amazing “live” events from various clubs around the Midlands in its time, including broadcasting Danny Rampling “live” from Blend in Derby. Also seeing some great artists such as Spyda, Juiceman, Daddy Freddy, Taxman, Devize, Skitty, Drumsound & more performing on there. KFR got featured in Knowledge Magazine a few times along with some Local newspapers for its efforts. 8 years later KindaFunky Radio is still going strong, in 2009 a new station manager was handed the reigns in order to keep KFR running for new up & comers who wanted to try and make a name for there selves. Shookz still presents a monthly show on the station the first Thursday of every month.
In 2005 Shookz co-launched a production project called Bangerang Dubz. The goal of the project was to create some exclusive Reggae / Dub influenced Drum & Bass for their DJ sets. The project really refreshed Shookz’s passion for producing music! After alot of music, the pair created a track called “Shineye Sounds”. This track got featured on DJ Baileys 1xtra Show as up & coming tune of the week and then went up for free download on the 1xtra web site.
In 2006 Bangerang Dubz went their separate ways; this was when Shookz took his music production to the next level by spending as many hours as possible in the studio working on music. At this time he looked to the future and knew what he wanted to do, he then officially left the Paul F name behind and turned into Shookz.
A few months later on down the line Shookz was contacted by Huw Stephens from Radio 1 who told him that he was going to play a track called “You” on his show later that evening. From that point till present Shookz has received some amazing regular radio support with his music. With stations like Radio 1, Kiss FM, 1xtra, BBC Radio Derby, Nottingham, Leicester & Lincoln all supporting a big majority of the tracks that he sent in. To the day Shookz is lucky enough to get DJ support on the airwaves from the likes of DJ Hype, Huw Stephens, Fabio & Grooverider, Zane Lowe, Colin Murray, Dean Jackson and more.
In 2008 Shookz signed his first release over to an American based record label called Sicko Dubz, the track which got released called Request Denied managed to get some serious Radio 1 play. Being played 5 times in two weeks by people like Huw Stephens, Zane Lowe & Colin Murray! It was a huge thing for Shookz.
In late 2007 Shookz joined forces in the studio with DJ Devize. These two producers were on fire together, the music was flying out! The tracks soon started to get noticed and gained support, plays and interest from legends in the Drum & Bass scene.
Since Devize & Shookz were so happy with the music that they were creating and wanted to push it further, the only thing for them to do was to start a record label together. In October 2009 the Krookz Inc imprint was launched and the labels first release “Walk n Skank feat Jah Screechy / Say It All” came out on Vinyl & for Digital Download.
This production project is still going strong and since launching Krookz Inc, the record label has gone from strength to strength. In February 2010 BBC Introducing crowned Krookz Inc as their record label of the month. The Krookz Inc movement also created interest from BBC Radio Nottingham & Derby, who had the pair in for interviews which helped spread the word about what’s happening with the collab. Devize & Shookz are constantly coming up with new music and original ideas to push there selves and the label forward, so expect alot more coming your way from this production duo!
Just before the launch of the record label, Shookz wanted to release an annual DJ Mix with purely his own productions & collabs on there to help get his music heard by new people and to promote himself as a music producer.
To make this series of “mixtapes” special he decided to get in touch with Monsta, an amazing artist who has worked for Goldie & Red Bull. Monsta who would defiantly compliment the series of mixes with his unique art. This series would be released on CD and for download.
About 5 months after “Shookz Mixtape Volume 1” was released Shookz received an email from New York men’s magazine, Nylon Guys who wanted to feature him in their magazine!
In 2009 Shookz started giving DJ & Music Production Workshops at his Local youth centre The Drop Inn which were highly successful. This then led on to him getting asked to do regular Radio, DJ & Music Production projects in Schools, Youth Centres and a variety of different venues around the East Midlands which are really popular and keeping him busy.
2011 is already another good year for Shookz with continued & increasing DJ support on all the mentioned radio stations. This year Shookz has had tracks featured on BBC Introducings “Best Bits Podcast”, 5 tracks featured as Fabio’s “rewind track of the week” on his weekly Radio 1 show along with plenty of more exciting plays across the globe.
Shookz also had music on Channel 4's Hollyoaks in July this year!
Shookz has earnt a reputation as one of the best out & out DJ's which will get any crowd moving due to his creative, tight and varied mixing style. Promoters can always rely on him to cause devastation on any dance floor.
With plans for new experimental projects, performing his music “live” electronically and plenty of more original ideas lined up the years already heating up. Shookz is constantly pushing his music forward and puts so much work into it both inside the studio aswell as out in the clubs, that its not surprising to know why he gets such good recognition from his piers. This year expect more music being snapped up, hot production collabs, radio plays clocking up, music being synched, bookings flying in and him pushing the boundaries as much as he can!!
