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Grant was born
in April 1971 just on the outskirts of London.
From a very
early age he showed more than an interest in music but oddly enough
it wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. He was always the
class joker and overall entertainer through his school years and
it was maybe his love of cinema that convinced him to become an
actor. To this date, he swears that if things hadn't unfolded the
way that they did he would have gone to R.A.D.A and who knows, maybe
we would be watching him on the silver screen now.
So when did the music bug first bite?
At around the age of 9 he first began dabbling in acoustic engineering
- oh okay, pulling his parents hi-fi system apart and recording
the results onto his granddads old reel to reel cassette recorder.
He claims that he was a mix DJ before the term had even been invented.
"I used to take a bit of Queen's 'Another one bites the dust',
throw in some beats from some dodgy old Hawaiian drums LP and, very
poorly, scratch in orchestral hits from my 'Star Wars' original
motion picture Soundtrack album. The result was nearly always terrible
but it was the fact that you could make something different by layering
pieces of music that first drew my attention to the intricate workings
of music production".
Then came the classical training….
Nope, not in this case. With a present of a keyboard for his thirteenth
birthday he started tinkering away at his own pace. Within a few
short months he had set up a band with some school friends. Sadly
the highlight of the band's career was playing a few Pet Shop Boy's
covers to the rest of the school in an assembly period one morning,
but it was his first taste of musical performance and he liked it.
The Demo tape and Deal …..
1990 - Grant had just returned from a summer season Djing gig in
Jersey, CI. Coming down from the buzz of being the resident DJ in
the islands top club wasn't easy and he couldn't really settle into
a career job. "I've tried everything from working in KFC to
Bingo Calling…" During his illegal stay, ("The bursar
just thought that I was a student"), at his girlfriends college
halls of residence he began working on a demo tape that would eventually
get him his first deal. "I used to spend a lot of time tinkering
on the communal piano in the TV room while other education skivers
were trying to watch Oprah. It didn't take me long to realise that
everybody was probably too stoned to even know I was there so I
thought, what the hell, and brought my 4 track tape recorder, Korg
mono/poly synthesiser, a £50 Casio sampler and my sorry little
Boss drum machine down into the TV room and set up my own little
studio…. Between hiding under my girlfriends bed when she had
a room inspection and working at Rymans the stationers I managed
to record an entire album of tracks." Tracks, so good in fact
that Kate, his girlfriend, persuaded him to send off his tape to
a record label. Reluctantly Grant sent the tape off to Kickin' Records.
A couple of days later he received a phone call, went for a meeting
and had a record deal…
Wishdokta was born ….
As Wishdokta Grant bounded onto the stage, his face painted with
3d blocks and astounded crowds Europe-Wide with his eclectic blend
of rock, hardcore, ragga and breakbeats. "At the time I was
telling members of the press that I sacrificed goats before I went
on stage and all sorts of weirdness like that…"
His first single release was entitled "Evil surrounds us"
and went straight into the UK's top 75 singles chart and his first
ever review stated "Is Wishdokta the Ozzy Osbourne of House?".
Not bad for a new artist making devil worshipping hardcore nonsense.
As Wishdokta he toured extensively at festivals, raves & clubs
in the UK & Germany building up a fan base that actually lead
to one crazed American guy ringing the Kickin' offices and stating
that he had just come out of a rave and he 'totally understood what
Wishdokta was saying!'. So much so that when he was told he wouldn't
be be able to speak to the Dok he threatend the lives of the people
on the end of the phone. Happy days.
From Hardcore to House….
Growing more and more discontent with the musical restraints of
the Hardcore scene, he teamed up with top Happy Hardcore DJ, DJ
Vibes. "I know it sounds like jumping from the pan into the
fire, but it wasn't. Vibes and I used to hook up once every month
or so and record a couple of tracks in my bedroom studio. We pressed
up the vinyl on our own label 'Asylum' and Vibes took them off to
sell them to the shops. During the rest of the time I was experimenting
with different styles from, R&B to out and out Pop. It gave
me the financial freedom to try a few things out…." The
pair enjoyed a huge amount of success with their work and one of
the singles even lead to an introduction to the person who later
became Grant's partner in the company Nice 'n' Ripe records.
Nice 'n Ripe.…
1993 Grant met George Power, former Kiss FM DJ & Founder. After
explaining to George where he wanted to go musically, the pair founded
"Nice 'n' Ripe Records". George would be the financial
backbone while Grant made the music. The work Grant recorded during
this period of his career would later be heralded as the birth of
UK Garage. "A lot of people assume that I had a fantastic time
during the Nice 'n' Ripe days, that I revelled in the acclaim and
fame I was receiving and that it must have spurred me on in the
studio… The truth is that I was blissfully unaware of the impact
my music was having at the time. I was locked away in the studio
day and night and the only time I was aware that my work was being
heard was when it was played on pirate stations that I happened
to be listening to.."
So how long was it before he realised?
"It must have been around mid '95 when I really discovered
how popular my sound was… It was quite a shock, I had known
that there were a hardcore group of pirate Dj's on my records, but
had no idea it was as widespread as it was.. I was getting calls
from DJ's & Producers in the states asking me to work with them
and considering that I had originally based my style on an American
garage vibe this was a huge compliment"….
For reasons we can't discuss here, Nice 'n' Ripe came to an end
in early 1996 but Grant had already moved on by then.
Swing City records....
During his time at Nice 'n' Ripe he had been discussing ideas for
a new label with his long-time partner, Kate Ross. In the summer
of 1995 Swing City Records was born. It has established itself as
one of the main international House & Garage independent labels
with a strong following worldwide. Grant doesn't have anything to
do with the actual running of the label himself, he prefers to keep
himself locked away in the studio leaving all the hard work to his
partner Kate Ross, he says, "I wouldn't have the first clue
about running a label, all I know is music and it's what I do best,
If Swing City were left to my devices I'd be selling tapes at Oxford
Circus tube station". Grant's Production / Remix of Negrocan's
"Cada Vez" released on Swing City in 1999 has become a
Universal smash topping the pop charts in several countries and
has so far totalled World-Wide sales of nearly 2 million copies.
To date Swing City has featured a host of international artists
and producers and continues to supply high quality house music for
the dance fraternity.
Remix Duties…..
Grant has remixed and re-produced songs for a multitude of Artists
including the likes of James Brown, Kelis, Jodeci, Frankie Knuckles,
Artful Dodger, Mis-Teeq, Liberty X, Aaliyah, The Brand New Heavies,
Guy, Another Level, Juliet Roberts, Rosie Gaines, Gabrielle, Hinda
Hicks, Thelma Houston, Beverley Knight & Faithless to name a
few. He unwillingly takes a breather from the mixes every now and
again so he can concentrate time on his own productions. Unwillingly
due to the fact that he enjoys tampering with other people's work.
His remixography gives a little insight into why he is constantly
in demand as a remixer.
The UK Garage explosion….
In 1997 a new sound was born out of the London club scene. 2 step
was a mixture of US Garage songs with a breakbeat styled drum pattern
and bouncy UK basslines. Bump & Flex was a project set up initially
as a way of releasing some this 'harder' garage music without confusing
people about Grant's more melodic and bumpy musical style. From
the first remix of Indo's "R U Sleepin'", Bump & Flex
was a huge name on the scene. To this date it still remains one
of the most prolific of all the UK Garage production outfits. Grant
also teamed up with Norris 'da boss' Windross and together they
formed the act N'n'G. Their first single, "Right Before My
Eyes", debuted in the UK charts at number 12 in March 2000.
As well as his contributions to the UK Garage scene Grant continued
to produce House music evident with him getting signed to Virgin
records with the release of "Step 2 Me" featuring US Vocalist
Jean McClain. Following a multitude of remixes achieving 'classic'
UK Garage status, Bump 'n' Flex signed a major deal for one of their
own singles to Warner Brothers UK. He also managed to find time
to get on production & mix duties for the hit UK band Mis-Teeq
with their single "Be With Me". The single debuted at
number 4 in the UK charts.
Current Projects….
Grant is currently in the midst of production on his first ever
'Grant Nelson' album. Involving a plethora of international vocalists
and musicians he aims to have the project ready for release in late
2005.
Grant is co-writing and producing a brand new album with CeCe Rogers.
Grant has teamed up with MJ Cole (Uk Garage Don) & Matt Schwartz
(Deepest Blue) to work on an album concept as a band. None of them
will reveal any more about the project than that at the moment.
As always he continues his production & remix work with recent
clients including Tyler James, Keisha White, Bebel Gilberto, Reel
People & The Brand New Heavies.
2004 saw Grant's busiest ever Djing schedule which has taken him
all over the World and earned him a nomination as 'Best House DJ'
at the Urban Music Awards.
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