Only a select few dance music artists rise from obscurity to international recognition in under a year, but that’s exactly what 23 year old Southampton based DJ / producer Gareth Emery did in the last twelve months. Coming from a diverse musical background which encompassed classical piano training, jazz, and punk-rock along the way, Gareth initially caught the attention of the dance music scene in early 2002 with his first release. The track, titled ‘Nervous Breakdown 2002’, was a white label bootleg of The Shrink’s infamous classic which found its way onto BBC Radio 1 after being supported by a host of DJs including Eddie Halliwell, Guy Ornadel and Dave Pearce. It was immediately picked up by Nutrition for an official release and later featured on a number of compilations including the Godskitchen Direct mix album. The track that truly put Gareth on the production map was GTR – ‘Mistral’. Never destined to become an anthem, it was produced entirely on a laptop computer over the course of a two week holiday in Provence. Nevertheless, the sole CDR that Gareth sent to Paul van Dyk caused such a storm when van Dyk debuted it live on radio from the Nature One Festival, that Five AM records wasted no time in signing it, helping it to become a truly global trance anthem.
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