Mr. G

Mr. G is Colin McBean, a DJ and producer from Derby in the UK Midlands who has been working in house and techno since the mid-80s. Born to Jamaican parents, his earliest musical memories are of his dad's tapes, dubbed from old gramophone recordings of Studio One and reggae, and that grounding in soul and rhythm has stayed with him ever since.

He first came up as part of the KCC DJ trio at the Confusion parties, then recorded as one half of The Advent, touring the world with a relentless brand of techno. In 1999 he went his own way and founded Phoenix G, the label he still runs, built around his own analogue, bass-heavy tech-funk. Over the years his productions and remixes have appeared on a wide range of labels, from his own Phoenix G to Defected, Bass Culture, Midnight Shift and Rekids, and his sound moves easily between deep house, tech house and driving techno.

Colin is best known for his live sets, all played on hardware, and for the energy and soul he brings to them. He is widely respected among peers, if a little under-sung with the wider public, and remains refreshingly grounded about the whole thing, still the sort of artist who runs decisions past his wife before saying yes.

Decades in, he keeps a steady stream of records and remixes coming, and shows little interest in slowing down. He is personal favourite of SEVEN roster artist Ackermann and we did invite Mr. G to do a remix for Ackermann's SEVEN7011 release. He politely declined and the mantle was taken up by Cinthie and Deetron who we think did a great job. We still have aspirations to tempt Mr. G onto the label at some time though...