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3 Jan 2022
Ed Colman is a London born remixer who is now one of Australia’s top reaching DJ’s! He has worked with the likes of Sneaky Sound System, Flo Rida, The Presets and many more. As a well diverse man of music, Ed is well acclaimed in each area he works in. He earned two number 1 positions on the Aria Club charts and frequently finds himself in the top 10 with both original tracks and remixes.
When he was just 13 years old his passions sparked from him simply messing around with a deck and mixer. This then progressed when he attended City of Westminster college and was advised to take up a sound engineering course. Through this course Ed was then able to secure work placements in a few studios. Considering the college was so central Ed was then given access to some of the best studios in London.
Starting off as a runner, Ed would spend much of his time making teas and coffees and cleaning the odd toilet, but this got his foot in the door. “You got to peak over the shoulders of these amazing people and amazing artists and you know, learn your trade”. There aren’t as many studios around today as the business has evolved so much and so it’s super rare to get these kinds of opportunities now. However, in Ed’s case, he was able to work in several London studios, one of them being Soul II Soul, Jazzie B’s studio in Camden where he worked as Jazzie’s chief engineer for six years.
Ed had nothing but good things to say about the time he spent working at Soul II Soul, which is in fact where Ed met our very own, Major. Ed mixed major’s debut album ‘My Mood’. The two have recently got back in touch and are now working together on Madi Mai’s debut album. Ed has also done a remix of Madi’s soon to be released single – ‘Anti Clockwise’. Ed and Major were both enthusiastic at the chance to work together again as the vibe is very much still there.
Ed now currently lives in Australia and hosts a radio show called The Hype, a national radio show in Australia that goes right round the country every weekend. The show obtains over four million listeners per week and is international, getting a good reach in the UK as well as having a huge listenership in Brazil.
Though Ed already had strong links to Australia – with both his mum and wife originating from there – he admits that the move was not so easy on his career. Ed practically had to start his career all over again. Going back to making teas was not an option for Ed and so he built himself back up in Australia through making music on Sony PlayStation games. Eventually he moved onto radio and producing the national charts show. Through progression and connections, Ed was then given the opportunity to help rebuild a struggling dance radio show that he managed to completely turn around and has become the number one show of its time slot. Ed has since went on to tour Australia as a DJ and has played pretty much every club and festival over there since.
Ed states that the craziest difference he’s noticed between the UK and Australian club audiences is that Australian’s have a much shorter attention span – “it’s good training because literally one wrong track and everyone’s off the dancefloor”. Good to know that a UK audience will at least try to stick it out if they aren’t feeling a song.
Ed has practically done a full circle in his career since moving from the UK to Australia. He’s jumped from mixing to DJing to radio and back again. He explains that having a good understanding of all aspects of music is highly important. “It goes hand in hand, you know. You need to see people react to music to understand what works” which ultimately aids him in creating and remixing. Ed admits that moving to the other side of the world has taught him a lot and has done nothing but better his skill set. Nevertheless, the UK is where it all started for him.
“I still miss home, and I miss the UK. I still obviously love working with people from the UK and that’s never going to change”.
Regardless, the art of producing and mixing is a job that can be done remotely. Even during the midst of COVID and lockdown, Ed was still able to be productive and continued to create. Even though he was unable to partake in live events or performances, Ed’s work progress was not dampened in the slightest.
Earlier this month Ed dropped his latest track ‘Torn’ which is a remix of Natalie Imbruglia’s 90s hit that he worked on alongside Melbourne DJ SOUNDCHECK and producer Ryan Riback. These three talented creators had this mix in the works for two years. And even though it’s still early days, the song has already received an amazing response.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1bNuWn8t6f83oD7Nz0kVNx?si=MIVkZ665RsCnR2Q1Vxx2aw&dl_branch=1&nd=1
“After a long process of waiting for clearance from publishing the song is now out and it’s doing well, as specially on the club scene”. And it’s clear the track will move forward well as Ed states that labels in Europe are already interested in licensing the tune! Although Ed has gradually steps aside from radio he still continues to work on The Hype as a part time while focusing much more of his attention on studio work. And if that means he has more time to work on bangers like ‘Torn’ or mixing Madi Mai’s debut album alongside Major, then were not complaining.
https://music.youtube.com/tasteprofile
When asking Ed what’s next he simply said, “bigger tunes that are going to hit the radio, working with more big artists and big song writers and to just produce some hits.” All in all, we can expect nothing less than big things from Ed Colman to come.
https://m.facebook.com/DJEdColman/
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