Cottam

Cottam is a house and electronic music artist who begins DJing at the age of 14, first through records borrowed from his brother’s collection of 1980s soul and early hip hop. He later discovers house music and develops a lasting interest in club music, spending his teenage years clubbing in the north of England as UK dance music styles shift from acid house to rave and then progressive.

His listening broadens further through DJs such as Dave Clarke, who introduces him to harder techno and electro, and later through artists including Surgeon and the Black Country Crew, whose sets bring dubstep into the mix. That range of influences shapes his own production approach, which starts to emerge in 2009 with house experiments that often rework soul and hip hop material.

His first limited-edition 12-inch as Cottam appears in 2009 and receives strong attention, including record of the week status at Phonica, Rub-a-Dub and Piccadilly in the UK.