Billy Nasty is well known all over the
World as one of the major electronic music icons for his mixes,
productions and label management. He has been living a very
impressive journey, which began in the late eighties under
the influence of house music and its roots, such as rare groove
and funk.
The first job of William 'Billy' Nastri
at Zoom record shop in 1989 gave him the opportunity to be
in contact with the forefront of the dance music, changing
the curse of his life forever. In the beginning of the following
year, he initiated his first residency with Steve Bicknell,
the “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” at the legendary
Brain Club in Soho. There, he was able to play several styles
of dance music that inspired the first steps of the progressive
house scene, between others.
In 1991, he was invited to make a mix
CD named “Journeys By DJ Volume 1: In The Mix With Billy
Nasty”. With that one, he became one of the first DJs
to produce a mix set sold commercially. With the aid of his
bootleg mix tapes and his mixing talent, he upgraded his techniques
with gigs such as Venus, Renaissance and Back2Basics. One
of his initial productions was his remix with Dave Wesson
for ‘Acorn Arts - II’, released by X-Gate Records
in 1992 (they also did a remix for ‘Body’, which
came out at “Trance” compilation by Rumour Records,
a fine example of the progressive and trance atmosphere of
that time). Another one, very well known at that time, was
one of his first solo experiences: Nosh Not Nush remix for
‘Nush – Nush’, released by labels like X:treme
Records and ZYX Music.
Billy turned to be quickly one of the
main names of the underground electronic scene of his country.
It didn’t take long to be a regular on events such as
The Drum Club, Open All Hours, Final Frontier, and Strutt.
In the mid nineties his gigs all over England and Europe increased
seriously and he developed his own DJ agency focusing more
and more on his career as producer.
His natural inclinations guided him progressively
to techno. He was elected in 1996 best national DJ and the
best Radio One Essential Mix in the UK Muzik awards. Not long
after that, Billy choose his “Billy Nasty Race Data
E.T.A” recorded set released by Avax (UK) (1997), as
the ideal action for the techno audiences, conscious that
they were looking for new mixed CDs of the genre. Of course,
it was another success. These professional highlights granted
him a place in bigger events such as Tribal Gathering, among
many others. His Mixed CDs saga continued: by Trust The DJ,
he mixed the “BN01” in 2002, which impacts caused
the creation of the second chapter - “BN02”, that
appeared some time later.
Anxious to see his personal kind of music
spreading, he started his own label, Tortured Records, as
a way to connect the technoheads to his work. His eclectic
musical backgrounds drove him to other sonorites, such as
electro: with the master Anthony Rother he did "Celebrate
The Roots" (the track is on the "In Electro We Trust
- A Datapunk Compilation (Limited Edition)" tracklist).
Under a full time dedication schedule,
Billy Nasty made use of his enormous potential to become one
of the great DJs, producers and label owners of the international
techno scene these last years, with a full agenda. He is frequently
appearing in many big festivals, and also organizing some
of his personal label showcases.
