Dieselboy

For the punk rock band, please see Diesel Boy.

Dieselboy

Dieselboy is the stage name of Damian Higgins, one of the most recognized figures in American drum and bass. A DJ, producer and label owner, Dieselboy has been an icon for American d&b since the early '90s, and since the 2000s has become an international symbol as well. America's best-selling d&b artist, Dieselboy was the first American to be voted into the UK-based Drum & Bass Arena Top 10 DJs 2004 online poll.

Dieselboy has played a key role in the expansion of d&b across North America, beginning first in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, spreading across the continent from there. He is known for the intense, high energy atmosphere of his music. Dieselboy was the first d&b artist to chart a single on Billboard's dance chart with Invid in 2000. (Source: The Washington Post)

Currently based in Brooklyn, Dieselboy is the most in-demand American d&b DJ on the international club, rave and festival circuits including the UK (home of d&b), Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South Americas. In addition to the dance circuit, Dieselboy has also performed at rock festivals and X-treme sports exhibitions. Dieselboy tracks have been heard on MTV and ESPN, and in videogames.

Higgins has also designed graphics for T-shirts, logos, fliers and record sleeves.

Biography

Dieselboy was born Damian Higgins in Tarpon Springs, Florida in 1972. At the age of six he moved to Rye/Colorado City, Colorado, where he and his two sisters were raised by their mother (1st - 8th grades). He moved with his family to Oil City, Pennsylvania, on the third day of school in the 9th grade, and is a graduate of Oil City Senior High School. He is the eldest son of singer/songwriter, Bertie Higgins, of Key Largo fame.

Higgins's early music experience included playing drums in a school marching band and DJing for high school dances. "I originally started DJing (before learning to beatmatch) back in 1989 and 1990 at dances at Oil City Senior High School and also a small nightclub in Franklin, Pennsylvania, called Shenanigans. I DJ'ed three of my high school's dances, but I was just playing tunes, not mixing."

Higgins attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he gained additional DJ'ing experience (particularly in beat-matching records) playing on a Carnegie Mellon University radio station (WRTC).

The name Dieselboy originated from Higgins' internet chat handle, "Diesel." Upon discovering a local graffiti artist shared the alias, he "made it Dieselboy. Back then I looked like a kid - I was 19, but I looked like I was 14. It also reflected my interest in video games and animation."

Career

In 1994, Higgins created a mixtape entitled "The Future Sound of Hardcore," and sold about 100 through online LISTSERVs. "Through [the mixtape], people heard about me and I started getting bookings on the East Coast. It was a very slow process that eventually snowballed into my getting flown various places,"

In 1996, Dieselboy made a mix-CD, "Drum & Bass Selection USA" for British d&b label Suburban Base, being the first American to do so. Suburban Base had him follow up with 97 Octane (1997), this time allowing him to submit track suggestions, resulting in a more varied selection.

In 1998, Nigel Richards gave Dieselboy full artistic control for his next mix-CD, 611 DJ Mix-series Vol. One (1998), for which he even did the graphics. Also in that year, Dieselboy made a mix-tape called Director’s Cut which he had packaged in film cans, his first experiment in presenting a dance mix in a quasi-cinematic framework.

In 1999, Dieselboy released his fourth mix CD, "A Soldier's Story" on the Moonshine label. The CD became the year's best-selling American D&B release . It opened with his first original “intro” and marked his CD debut as a producer with Atlantic State, a track co-produced with Technical Itch. Also released on the Moonshine label was “System_Upgrade” (2000).

2000 saw Dieselboy joining forces with Palm Pictures/Island Recordings and his releases The Descent, Invid, Render. The 6ixth Session was a double CD release on Palm Pictures featuring a cyborg-themed mix described by the Washington Post as “hard-edged hyperdriven dance music,” which marked the beginning of Dieselboy’s VIP remix phase. Also for the first time he bundled a second unmixed CD with original tracks.

In 2002, Dieselboy founded HUMAN, the d&b imprint of electronic dance music label System Recordings. HUMAN releases include Dieselboy's “projectHUMAN” (2002) and “The Dungeonmaster's Guide” (2004), as well as releases by a number of other artists.

For projectHUMAN (2002), Dieselboy presented a mix framed as a movie trailer, hiring movie trailer voice extraordinaire Don LaFontaine for his intro and outtro. projectHUMAN was also Dieselboy’s first foray into massive remix commissioning, most of the tracks featuring American producers remixing UK and other international producers, and vice versa.

In 2003, Dieselboy was invited by globally distributed DJ Magazine to create a mix showcasing American d&b entitled DJ World Series: D & B From The United States, on which he featured American producers Hive, Echo, Mason, Juju, Kaos, Karl K, Jae Kennedy, Stratus and Sinthetix.

For his next mix-CD, The Dungeonmaster’s Guide (2004), Dieselboy asked Peter Cullen, well-known for his work as the cartoon voice of the Transformers’ Optimus Prime, to be the voice of the Dungeonmaster who introduces the d&b fantasy and appears throughout the mix to narrate. Again Dieselboy commissioned remixes, this time asking d&b producers from around the world to remix tracks by non-d&b dance music luminaries including Tiësto, Sasha, BT and Josh Wink. Dieselboy also released a triple vinyl LP pack featuring remixes by various artists such has Gridlok, Kaos, Karl K, Jae Kennedy, Stratus, and KC.

In April 2006, Dieselboy released his first HUMAN IMPRINT compilation, a 2XCD set called "The HUMAN Resource", which debuted at #14 on the Billboard electronic album chart. Disc One Selected Works, is a 12-song un-mixed selection including club anthems and VIP remixes from Bad Company UK, DJ Fresh, The Upbeats, Dieselboy + Kaos, Counterstrike and more. Disc Two Evol Intent Assemble the Monster features a continuous DJ-mix from one of America’s top d&b DJ/producer crews, Evol Intent, picked by Dieselboy to stitch together some of the best of the HUMAN catalog, plus exclusive tracks and remixes from Gridlok, Infiltrata + Hochi, Vector Burn, Dieselboy + Technical Itch and others.

In May 2008, Dieselboy released his ninth major mix-CD SUBSTANCE D (HUMAN IMPRINT) which includes all exclusive tracks commissioned or licensed specifically for this project. CD1 includes remixes of Meat Beat Manifesto's "Helter Skelter" by Mayhem + Evol Intent, MSTRKRFT's "Paris" by the Upbeats, Adam Freeland's "We Want Your Soul" by Raiden, Computer Club's "Load Rocket" by Gridlok, Technical Itch + Kemal's "The Calling" by Evol Intent + Ewun, Dieselboy's "N/V/D (Zentraedi remix)" by Counterstrike, and two duomixes: Demo's Trauma and "Cell" by SPKTRM, and Current Value's "Fear" and "Machine" by Demo. Special VIP tracks: Technical Itch "Pressure Drop" and Counterstrike "Timewarp." Vocal intro and outtro are by Tom Kane, whose credits include Oscars announcer, Yoda in Star Wars videogames, and numerous documentaries. CD2 is eleven new unmixed tracks for DJs to play from including Dieselboy + Evol Intent + Ewun's "Midnight Express," Demo's "O.D.," and SPKTRM's "Machine March." In conjunction with this release, Dieselboy has initiated the "Monsters of Jungle" tour with rotating HUMAN IMPRINT label artists including Evol Intent, Ewun, Demo, Mayhem, SPKTRM, Infiltrata and MC Messinian.

Dieselboy tracks have been heard on MTV and ESPN, and in videogames including Gran Turismo 4, Saints Row, and Need For Speed.

Higgins has designed the graphics for T-shirts, logos, fliers and record sleeves for 611 Records, Breakbeat Science, HUMAN IMPRINT, the Planet of the Drums, and the Monsters of Jungle, as well as for his former Philadelphia club night "Platinum."

Touring

Dieselboy has played gigs on six continents, countries including: England, Scotland, France, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Holland, Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Lithuania, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Israel, Venezuela, Costa Rica, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Pueroto Rico, as well as in every major city in the United States and countless towns and cities in between.

Festivals played include U.S. Virgin Festival (Baltimore, 2007), Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra Music Festival, Love Parade, Bassrush, Creamfields, Shambala (Canada), DEMF (Detroit Electronic Music Festival), HFStival (DC).

Major tours include Area2 (Moby, Busta Rhymes, David Bowie), Salem (The Roots, Outkast), Playstation 2 (Bad Boy Bill).

In 2000 Dieselboy united with two other North American D&B DJ's, AK1200 (Dave Minner, Orlando, FL) and Irish ex-pat DJ Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle, New York, NY), to create an annual tour, the Planet of the Drums. Dieselboy brings his trademark hard edgy pyrotechnics, Dara a mellower dub/reggae flavored vibe, with AK1200’s arsenal tearing up the space between. MC Messinian (James Fiorella, Philadelphia, PA) is usually present to MC. 2008 marks POTD’s 9th North American tour, making it the longest running annual electronic dance music tour of any subgenre. The Planet of the Drums typically moves D&B out of the siderooms and onto the main stage.

Dieselboy has played metal concerts with Orgy and Disturbed, and was the only D&B artist invited by Moby to his Area2 national tour that included David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, Blue Man Group, Tiësto, and Digweed. Dieselboy (with MC Messinian) tag-teamed with Andy C (with MC GQ) at the second annual U.S. Virgin Festival, held at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore,Maryland in August 2007, which also included artists Smashing Pumpkins, The Police, Beastie Boys and Wu-Tang Clan.

Early 1999 saw Higgins complete a North American tour with drum and bass producers Technical Itch & Decoder in support of his track Atlantic State, co-produced with Technical Itch. He has also toured with other drum and bass DJ's including DJ Rap (Dirty Beats Tour, 2002), DJ Fresh (Bass Invaderz Tour, 2005), Bad Company UK (Bad Human Tour, 2006), and Hive (Human Violence Tour, 2006). In 2008 he launched the Monsters of Jungle Tour including Human artists Evol Intent, Ewun, Demo, Mayhem, SPKTRM, Infiltrata and MC Messinian.

Dieselboy plays at the largest drum and bass events worldwide including the infamous HomeGrown party in Cape Town, South Africa.

Awards and Recognition

In 1998, Dieselboy was the first American drum & bass DJ to be nominated for Best Drum & Bass DJ at the Global DJ Mix Awards, tying with LTJ Bukem.

In 1998 Dieselboy initiated Philadelphia's first 21+ d&b weekly Thursday club night entitled "Platinum" at club Fluid, which ended on October 14, 2004. It was widely considered the premier North American drum and bass club night of its time. Platinum residents included Dieselboy, Kaos, Method One, Sine, Icon, Karl K, Mason, and MC's Dub2, Messinian, Armanni Reign, Sharpness, and Illy Emcee.

Dieselboy's 2000 2XCD album “The 6ixth Session” is currently the best-selling D&B mix-CD in the world.

Dieselboy is sponsored as a DJ by DC Shoes.

Media coverage (articles and reviews) includes DJ Times, DJ Magazine, BPM magazine, URB magazine, Remix magazine, Mixer magazine, Big Shot magazine, Lotus magazine, XLR8TR magazine, The Washington Post newspaper, Selekta.com, Suicidegirls.com.

Coverage by drum and bass media includes articles and reviews in RINSE magazine, Knowledge magazine, ATM magazine, Drum & Bass Arena, and dogsonacid.com.

Cover stories: URB magazine (April 2002), RINSE magazine (Nov./Dec. 2002), Big Shot (with DJ Rap).

Discography

Mix Compilations

• Drum And Bass Selection (CD) – Suburban Base
• Drum And Bass Selection USA (CD) – Moonshine (11/11/1996)

Mixed By Dieselboy 01. Macca (feat. Tempo) - Everyday 02. Ill Figure - Jam Hot 03. The Dream Team - Rollin' Numbers (The Joker Remix) 04. Rude Bwoy Monty - Steppa Style 05. Remarc - In Da Hood 06. The Dream Team - Raw Dogs (Re-Lick) 07. Shy FX - Funkindemup 08. DJ Nut Nut - Now Listen 09. Dope Skillz - 6 Million Ways 10. 45 Roller - Shotz 11. Pascal - Reality 12. Marvellous Cain - Da Power 13. Ed Rush - Check Me Out 14. Undercover Agent - Dub Plate Circles 15. Apollo 13 - Let It Roll 16. Pascal - Movin' On

• 97 Octane (CD) – Moonshine (1997)

Mixed By Dieselboy 01. D'Cruze (feat. Shelly Nelson) - Land Speeder 02. IQ Collective - Mode 1 03. Shimon & Andy C - Night Flight 04. The Dream Team - Switch 05. Swoosh - Ya Rockin' 06. Substance - L.F.Ant 07. The Joker - Punx 08. Ill Figure - Style 09. Swift - Twisted 10. Future Forces Inc - Synthesis 11. Decoder - Twister 12. M.T.S. - Instigator

• Sixeleven DJ Mixseries, Vol. 1 (CD) – Sixeleven (611) Records (1997)

Mixed By Dieselboy 01. Hoax - The More I See You (Urban Flavour Remix) 02. D.T. - Serious 03. E-Z Rollers - Tough At The Top (Origin Unknown Remix) 04. Concept 2 - Unlock The Secrets 05. Dom & Matrix - Footsteps 06. Facs - Rupture 07. Technical Itch - Hidden Sound (Dom & Roland Remix) 08. Solar Nine - Audio Distortion 09. Embee - The Power 10. Secret Methods - Animation 11. Swift - Mission 12. Decoder & Mark Caro - EKO 13. Decoder - Dhr 14. The Vagrant - Space Boogie 15. Sharp Scientific - Stratocruiser

• A Soldier's Story (CD) – Moonshine (1999)

Mixed By Dieselboy 01. Konflict - The Beckoning 02. Usual Suspects & Fierce - Sawn Off 03. DJ Friction - Photon (Remix) 04. Future Cut & Marcus Intalex - Plastic 05. Technical Itch - Deception 06. Technical Itch - Stack 07. Moving Fusion - Sexdrive 08. Jonny L - The Bells 09. Usual Suspects & Loxy - Stalker 10. Vertigo - The Drained 11. Danny Breaks - Dissonance 12. Peshay - Vegas 13. Kosheen - Yes Men (Decoder Remix) 14. Technical Itch & Dieselboy - Atlantic State 15. Decoder - BS9

• System_Upgrade (CD) – Moonshine (2000)

Mixed By Dieselboy 01. Dieselboy - Loading Program 02. Ram Trilogy - Mindscan (Ed Rush & Optical Remix) 03. E-Sassin - Symptom 04. Hive - Ultrasonic Sound (Dillinja Remix) 05. Biostacis - Brain Hack 06. Dom & Roland - Can't Punish Me 07. Decoder - Road Rage 08. Future Cut - Overload 09. Kemal & Rob Data - Konspiracy (VIP Mix) 10. Kraken - Side Effects (Stakka & Skynet Remix) 11. Dieselboy - The Descent (Decoder Remix) 12. Jonny L - Selecta 13. Decoder - Dumb! 14. Facs & B-Key - Antics 15. Technical Itch - Deadline 16. Bad Company - Sentient 17. Absolute Zero & Subphonics - The Code (Usual Suspects VIP Mix)

• The 6ixth Session (2xCD) – Palm Pictures (2000)

• projectHUMAN (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2002)

Disc 1 (Mixed By Dieselboy) 01. Dieselboy & Joshua Ryan - Genesis 02. Optical & Ryme Tyme - Shapecharge 03. Styles Of Beyond - Subculture (Dieselboy & Kaos VIP Mix) 04. Funk Parlor - Something For The Dancefloor (Stakka & Skynet Remix) 05. Stratus - You Must Follow (Dieselboy & Kaos Remix) 06. Stakka & Skynet (feat. DJ Friction) - Altitude (Ryme Tyme & Fierce VIP Mix) 07. Dylan & Ink - California Curse (Technical Itch Remix) 08. Billy Lo - Carjackers (Ram Trilogy Remix) 09. Robbie Rivera - Harder & Faster (Weapon & E-Sassin Remix) 10. Kemal & Rob Data - Hostile 11. Usual Suspects & Loxy - Stalker (Danny C Remix) 12. Rob & Goldie - The Shadow (Hive VIP Mix) 13. Dom & Roland - Soundwall (VIP Mix) 14. Dom & Optical - Quadrant 6 (E-Sassin VIP Mix) 15. Rascal & Klone - Terminal Velocity 16. Technical Itch - Reborn (Weapon Remix) 17. Bad Company - Mind Games 18. Dieselboy & Joshua Ryan - Revelations

Disc 2 01. Stratus - You Must Follow 02. Styles Of Beyond - Subculture (Dylan & Ink Remix) 03. Decoder - Tension (Usual Suspects Remix) 04. Hive - Surreal Uncut (TeeBee Remix) 05. Joshua Ryan - Pistolwhip (Stratus Remix) 06. Danny Breaks - The Bear (Universal Project Remix)

• DJ World Series: D & B From The United States (CD) – DJ Magazine (2003)
• The Dungeonmaster's Guide (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2004)
• Dieselboy Presents: The HUMAN Resource (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (CD1: mix by Evol Intent)(2006)
• Substance D (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2008)

Singles

• Patriot Games EP (2x12") – Tech Itch Recordings
• The Descent (12") – Palm Pictures (1999)
• The Trans-Atlantic Link Part 1 (12") – Tech Itch Recordings
• Invid (12") – Palm Pictures (2000)
• Render (12") – Palm Pictures (2000)
• Invid (Remixes) (2x12") – Palm Pictures (2002)
• Barrier Break/Submission (2X12") – (Dieselboy & Kaos) HUMAN (2003)

Remixes

• Hard Times – Baby Namboos (Dieselboy + Decoder) Palm Pictures (2000)
• Opticon – Orgy (Dieselboy + Technical Itch Arena mix) Reprise (2001)
• Subculture – Styles of Beyond (Dieselboy + Kaos VIP) HUMAN (2002)
• You Must Follow – Stratus (Dieselboy + Kaos) HUMAN (2003)
• Grunge 3 – Bad Company UK (Dieselboy, Kaos + Karl K) HUMAN (2003)
• Moulin Rouge – Dom + Roland (Dieselboy, Kaos + Karl K) HUMAN (2005)

For a complete listing of Dieselboy releases see his entry on Rolldabeats

Videogames

Gran Turismo 4 (2004)

• Dieselboy + Kaos + Karl K (feat. Messinian) Nitro

Saints Row

• Styles of Beyond Subculture (Dieselboy + Kaos Remix)

Need For Speed

• Dieselboy + Kaos Barrier Break

Amplitude

• Styles of Beyond Subculture (Dieselboy + Kaos Rock Remix)

Mixtapes

• Take a Fantastic Trip in 3D Sound (July 1, 1992; Pittsburgh, PA)
• Future Sound of Hardcore (March 1, 1994; Pittsburgh, PA)
• Witness the Strength 95 (January 1, 1995; Pittsburgh, PA)
• Supreme (October 1, 1995; Pittsburgh, PA)
• East Coast Science 1 (January 1, 1996; Pittsburgh, PA)
• Live at Pulse (October 5, 1996; Pittsburgh, PA)
• East Coast Science 2 (January 1, 1997; Pittsburgh, PA)
• The Director's Cut (November 1, 1998; Philadelphia, PA)
• Live at Junglodium (March 24, 2001; Cleveland, OH)
• DJ Magazine Mix July 2003 (August 12, 2003;UK)

(can be downloaded at www.djdieselboy.com)

External links

• http://www.djdieselboy.com – Official Website
• Dieselboy at Rolldabeats

• http://www.myspace.com/humanimprint
• http://www.systemrecordings.com
• http://www.planetofthedrums.com

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HumanImprint