Artists Profile

Current Location :: London, UK

Music Genres :: Techno

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.