Neil Pierce may be known as a DJ, Producer, Remixer and Label Manager but all these titles can be summed up with one thing in common – he is a name you can rely on for good quality soulful house music you can dance to. Playing exclusives to classics, gospel to dubs, Neil’s DJ sets are full of energy that never fail to take you on a musical journey that will have you smiling and letting loose on the dance floor.
It was whilst Neil was the Manager of Release the Groove record shop in London’s Soho that he began to make his way in the industry and became friends with many of the people that he would eventually play alongside. It wasn’t long before Neil was DJing at legendary nights such as Garage City and Paul Trouble Anderson’s Loft parties in Camden.
In 2001, a new night was launched at the infamous Ministry of Sound super-club in London. That night was Soul Heaven and it soon became a club night synonymous with playing quality house music with soul. It is of no surprise then that not long after its launch, Neil was asked to be a Soul Heaven resident. Nearly a decade later and Neil continues to be part of the Soul Heaven nights representing the brand in the UK and Worldwide.
In 2003, Neil partnered up with fellow Soul Heaven resident Aaron Ross as producers under the name Fanatix. Since their collaboration, they have made a name for themselves by working with some amazing artists such as Blaze, Kimara Lovelace, KOT, Kenny Bobien, Roy Ayers and Stephanie Cooke, as well as homegrown talents, Terri Walker, Kele le Roc, Jamiroquai, Alex Mills, Don-E and Sunburst Band. Recognition for their music came with releases on respected major ‘house’ labels including Sony, Defected, BBE, Ricanstruction, ZR, Def Jam, Soulgroove and of course Soul Heaven Records.
In March 2008, Fanatix released their debut album, There It Is on London based label BBE to great critical acclaim and the No. 1 spot on Traxsource. Singles from the album included Lesson Learned featuring Kele Le Roc and the massive Love Connection with newcomer Alex Mills working alongside quality musicians such as Kaidi Tatham (Bugz in the Attic), Mike Patto (Reel People) and Marc De Clive Lowe. The Fanatix success story has gone from strength to strength and in 2009 they had productions such as Fly with Alison Crockett & Nathan Haines which went straight to No. 1 in the Traxsource chart, and a remix of Byron Stingly’s Keep The Love Going, for Nervous Records. The boys also remixed a track for Nathan Haines’s new album.
During this time, Neil also found time to work on some solo projects. In 2005 he set up his own label Hustle Music which most famously is responsible for originally signing The Way You Love Me by Ron Hall & The Muthafunkas featuring Marc Evans which is now a house classic.
Neil’s reputation for recognizing and pioneering good music continued to grow and in 2009 he was the obvious choice to replace Aaron Ross as Label Manager at Soul Heaven Records. As well as finding new up and coming artists and music, this gave Neil the opportunity to put out his own music and in 2010, his debut solo record Relish Your Soul performed by Kadija Kamara was released on Soul Heaven Records. Written by Neil, Kadija and Mike Patto (Reel People) this cutting edge soulful house track received huge support from DJs worldwide.
His follow-up track Get Out of my Head with the wonderful vocals of Dawn Tallman was released in January 2011 on MN2S, reaching No.2 in the Traxsource chart and featured mixes by DJ Spen (Muthafunkas) And then Followed up with he’s smash “time is Now “ .
2013 saw Neil team up with the super talented Ziggy funk to form the production duo RHEMI .In a short period that have already caused a massive stir with Remixes for Dj Spen on Quantize, Liquid Deep, Room Control ,Tribe , King Street ,ZR ,Makin moves and with many more to come.
In May 2013 Neil and Ziggy Launched Rhemi Music .Their first release (a remix of a the classic “call on me “ by Fanatix reached number number 2 on the singles chart on traxsource and was quickly followed up with a succession of Top Ten hits with the standout being the summer anthem that Featured Lynn Lockamy “Warning”
Not content with just producing, remixing and finding new music, Neil’s skills on the decks and seem-less mixing has seen him become a headline DJ taking him all over the UK and Worldwide to Miami, Italy, Ibiza, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Sweden, Dubai, Australia, Russia, Norway ,Ukraine ,Spain and New York as one of only a handful of Brits to grace the decks at the legendary Shelter club. His past DJ credentials include playing at long standing and respected promotions such as Garage City, Southport Weekender, Winter Music Conference, Need2Soul, Soulogic, To The Manor Born and Soul City.
2014 is set to be a massive year for Neil, with non-stop studio commitments and a full dj schedule as well as his new club night with partner Ziggy Funk.After all Neil’s hard work over the years, his time is now !
