Erol Alkan

Not to be confused with Erol Erdal Alkan.
Erol Alkan

Erol Alkan Live
Background information
Also known as Kurtis Rush
Mustapha 3000
Beyond The Wizards Sleeve
Born (1974-05-30) 30 May 1974
London, England
Genres Electro house[1]
Occupation(s) DJ, producer
Instruments Turntables, guitar, bass, drums, voice, CDJ-2000
Years active 1994–present
Labels Phantasy
Website erolalkan.co.uk

Erol Alkan (born 30 May 1974)[2] is a London-based electro DJ of Turkish Cypriot descent.[3]

Career

DJ and club promoter

In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various indie nightclubs in London.

In 1995, he was a resident DJ of club night 'Going Underground' co-founded by Glyn Peppiatt and James Dickie. It was held weekly on Mondays at the Plastic People venue which was situated at its original Oxford Street location in Central London.

In 1997, Erol re-launched the club under a new name: Trash. Over the next years, Trash became one of the most influential clubs of its time.[4] Until its closure in 2007, Trash saw performances by Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, Klaxons, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Electric Six and many more up and coming bands.

From 2001 onwards, Erol Alkan started to play regular DJ sets outside Trash, focusing on dance music, influenced by his sets at Bugged Out. Bugged Out are credited as launching Erol's dance music career after offering him a residency halfway through his debut set for them at Fabric, when Erol filled in for David Holmes who had missed a flight into London. His profile increased considerably during 2003 when he was voted 'Best Breakthrough DJ' by Muzik magazine, and in 2006, when he earned the Mixmag 2006 "DJ of the Year" award. Erol has also been voted Datatransmissions 'DJ Of The Year' in both 2008 and 2009, which is seen as an alternative to the DJ Mag Top 100 awards but consists only of British DJs.

Remixer

Erol Alkan released a series of mash-ups using the alias Kurtis Rush in the early 2000s, including a mix of Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" and New Order's "Blue Monday", which was performed by Minogue at the Brit Awards. Erol also used the alias Mustapha 3000, and is half of the psycho-balearic act Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, along with Richard Norris. Alongside Soulwax and Richard X, Erol is recognised as one of the pioneers of the 'mash up' or bootleg craze of 2001.

Erol Alkan has remixed tracks from artists including Klaxons, Alter Ego, Bloc Party, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Gonzales, Tame Impala, MGMT, Connan Mockasin, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, ZZT, Fan Death, Digitalism, Scissor Sisters, Justice, Franz Ferdinand, LA Priest, Interpol, Hot Chip, Death From Above 1979, Alter Ego, Metronomy, Mylo and most recently Temples.

His personal website and forum is considered to be one of the most influential in the scene and has been shortlisted for several awards.

Producer

Erol Alkan has also taken a hand to producing, working on 3 albums within a 2-year period. His first production credit is the entire Mystery Jets' second album, Twenty One, which contained the 2 top 40 hit singles "Young Love" and "Two Doors Down", Late of the Pier's debut record, Fantasy Black Channel, and The Long Blondes' second album Couples

In 2007 Alkan founded his own label, named Phantasy. In mid-2009 he collaborated with German DJ and producer Boys Noize, producing two tracks titled "Death Suite" and "Waves", these marked the first of Alkan's original releases. They both then followed it with another single titled "Avalanche" which was backed by the club hit 'Lemonade'

Discography

Original releases

Year Title
2009 "Waves / Death Suite" (with Boys Noize)
"Waves" (Chilly Gonzales Piano Rework)
2010 "Lemonade / Avalanche" (with Boys Noize)
2011 "Avalanche (Terminal Velocity)" (with Boys Noize feat. Jarvis Cocker)
2012 "Roland Rat / Brainstorm" (with Boys Noize)
"A Sydney Jook" (with Switch)
2013 "Illumination EP"

Mix and compilation albums

Year Title
2001 Trash Companion #1
2003 Louder (Muzik Covermount)
2004 A Bugged Out Mix
2006 Disco 2006 (Covermount)
2008 Ark 1 (As Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve)
2009 Re-Animations Volume 1 (As Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve)
2012 Door to Tomorrow / Black Noise (As Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve)
Another "Bugged Out" Mix & "Bugged In" Selection
2014 FabricLive.77

Remixes as Erol Alkan

Year Artist Track Title
2004 Mylo "Drop the Pressure" Erol Alkan's Extended Re-Edit
Alter Ego "Rocker" Erol Alkan's Death Disco Re-Vised
Death from Above 1979 "Romantic Rights" Erol Alkan's Love From Above Re-Edit
2005 The Chemical Brothers "Believe" Erol Alkan's Feel Me Rework
Bloc Party "She's Hearing Voices" Erol Alkan's Calling Your Name Dub & Vocal Re-Works
Mystery Jets "Zoo Time" Erol Alkan Re-Work
Franz Ferdinand "Do You Want To" Erol Alkan's Glam Racket
2006 Daft Punk "The Brainwasher" Erol Alkan's Horrorhouse Dub
Justice "Waters of Nazareth" Erol Alkan's Durrr Durrr Durrrrrr Re-Edit
Hot Chip "Boy From School" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Scissor Sisters "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" Erol Alkan's Carnival Of Light Rework
2007 Klaxons "Golden Skans" [5] Erol Alkan's Ekstra Spektral Rework
Digitalism "Jupiter Room" Erol Alkan's Simple, Yet Effective Re-Edit
Interpol "Mammoth" Erol Alkan Rework
La Priest "Engine" Erol Alkan's Transonic Re-Edit
2008 Fan Death "Veronica's Veil" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Sebastian "Momy" Erol Alkan’s Murrr/O/Durrr Re-Edit
ZZT "The Worm" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
2009 Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Zero" Erol Alkan Rework
2010 Chilly Gonzales "Never Stop" Erol Alkan's Piano Pella
Chilly Gonzales "Never Stop" Erol Alkan Rework
MGMT "Congratulations" Erol Alkan Rework
Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" Erol Alkan Re-Edit #1
2011 Tame Impala "Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" Erol Alkan Rework
Erol Alkan & Boys Noize "Death Suite" Erol Alkan Edit
Connan Mockasin "Forever Dolphin Love" Erol Alkan Rework
Metronomy "The Bay" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Ladytron "Flicking Your Switch" Erol Alkan Remix
2012 Justice "Canon" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Saint Etienne "Last Days of Disco" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Kindness "Gee Up" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Connan Mockasin "Forever Dolphin Love" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework Version 2
Spandex "The Bull" Erol Alkan Rework
2013 Night Works "Long Forgotten Boy" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Tame Impala "Be Above It" Erol Alkan Rework
2014 Manic Street Preachers "Europa Geht Durch Mich" Erol Alkan's Mesmerise Eins/Zwei Rework
The Emperor Machine "RMI Is All I Want" Erol Alkan's Extended Rework
Klaxons "Love Frequency" Erol Alkan's Mild Pitch Remix
Margot "Waldorf" Erol Alkan Rework
2015 Emil Nikolaisen, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, and Todd Rundgren "Runddans" Erol Alkan Rework

Remixes as Beyond The Wizards Sleeve

Year Artist Title
2006 Peter Bjorn And John "Young Folks"
2006 Dust Galaxy "Come Hear The Trumpets"
2006 Midlake "Roscoe"
2007 Findlay Brown "Losing The Will To Survive"
2007 Tracey Thorn "Raise the Roof"
2007 Badly Drawn Boy "Promises"
2007 The Chemical Brothers "Battle Scars"
2008 The Real Ones "Outlaw"
2008 Late Of The Pier "The Bears Are Coming"
2008 Goldfrapp "Happiness"
2008 Simian Mobile Disco "Love"
2009 Franz Ferdinand "Ulysses"
2010 De De Mouse "Station To Stars"
2014 Temples "Sun Structures"

Album production

Year Artist Title
2006 The Long Blondes "Weekend Without Make Up (B-Sides)"
2006 Mystery Jets "Diamonds In The Dark EP"
2006 The Long Blondes "Once And Never Again (B-Sides)"
2006 Mystery Jets "Half In Love With The Radio b/w Umbrellahead"
2007 The Long Blondes "Giddy Stratospheres (B-Sides)"
2007 Klaxons "Electrickery"
2007 Mystery Jets "Zoo Time (American LP)"
2007 Franz Ferdinand "All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem cover)"
2007 Klaxons "The Night"
2007 Late Of The Pier "Bathroom Gurgle"
2008 Late Of The Pier "The Bears Are Coming"
2008 Mystery Jets "Twenty One"
2008 The Long Blondes "Century"
2008 The Long Blondes "Couples"
2008 Late Of The Pier "Space And The Woods & Focker"
2008 Mystery Jets "Two Doors Down"
2008 Late Of The Pier "Heartbeat"
2008 Late Of The Pier "Fantasy Black Channel"
2008 Whitey "Do The Nothing (7")"
2009 Late Of The Pier "Blueberry"
2010 Late Of The Pier "Best In The Class"
2010 Late Of The Pier "Best In The Class (Remixes EP)"
2011 Kindness "Cyan"
2012 Daniel Avery "Need Electric EP"
2012 Daniel Avery "Water Jump EP"
2013 Daniel Avery "Drone Logic LP"

Other work

Erol Alkan has produced remixes for Headman, Ali Love and Voodoo Chilli under his Mustapha 3000 alias.

He is also one half of psychedelic rock group Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve. BTWS have remixed tracks (often listed as "Re-Animations") for Peter Bjorn and John, Midlake, Simian Mobile Disco, Franz Ferdinand, Badly Drawn Boy, The Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, Late of the Pier, Tracey Thorn, Dust Galaxy, The Real Ones, and Findlay Brown. They've also released an album called "Ark 1" in 2008, and four EPs - "Birth", "Spring", "George" & "West".

Erol compiled a 2xCD mix for the Bugged Out series. The second disc, "A Bugged In Selection with Erol Alkan", is a collection of downtempo tracks. Erol has also released mix compilations for Muzik Magazine and Mixmag.

He also produced the Klaxons song "Electrickery", which was the b-side to the 2007 re-release of Gravity's Rainbow, & "The Night", which was the b-side to "Not Over Yet" single.

After signing to Rough Trade Records, Erol produced all of The Long Blondes' b-sides including their second album "Couples".

Other productions: Whitey's "Do The Nothing", Franz Ferdinand's "All my Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)"

Erol was working on remixes for Björk and Interpol in summer 2007, but lost them due to a hard drive failure.[6]

Erol produced the Mystery Jets' second album entitled 'Twenty One' which was released on 24 March 2008 from which the first single, "Flakes" debuted online.[7]

He has also produced Late of the Pier's debut album "Fantasy Black Channel", which was released 11 August 2008 on Parlophone Records. Despite not being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize (as widely expected) it was awarded an alternative Album Of The Year accolade by Drowned In Sound, in which the public voted.

References

  1. Murray, Robin (6 September 2012). "Erol Alkan Tackles 'Forever Dolphin Love'". Clash. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  2. The Guardian
  3. BBC. "T in the Park: Erol Alkan". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  4. http://music.guardian.co.uk/electronic/story/0,,1982835,00.html Article on Trash's influence from The Guardian
  5. Klaxons' Official Website. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  6. Erol Alkan Forum Post. Retrieved Tuesday 31 July 2007.
  7. "Flakes", Retrieved Saturday 5 January 2008.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erol Alkan.

Audio links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Paul van Dyk
Mixmag Number 1 DJ
2006
Succeeded by
Armin van Buuren
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