Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 –17 February 2020) was a British musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of tracks by the likes of Happy Mondays, New Order, Björk, The Orb, The Future Sound of London and My Bloody Valentine. His production work on Primal Scream‘s album Screamadelica, adding samples, loops and creating a revolutionary mix of hard rock, house and rave, helped the record win the first ever Mercury Music Prize in 1992 and become one of the most celebrated albums of the 1990s.
Weatherall was born in Windsor, Berkshire and went to the local grammar school. He spent his teenage years going to Funk & Soul Weekenders and disco parties. After leaving home at the age of 18, he worked a variety of jobs including building sites, working as a carpenter and shape-shifting furniture.
He moved to London in the late ’80s; his record collection and his musical knowledge is what brought him requests to DJ at parties.[1] Terry Farley hires him to play at the Trip club, Weatherall playing mostly northern soul and indie records.[3]
Weatherall started writing as a freelance music journalist (using both his own name and the pseudonym “Audrey Witherspoon”). Together with Terry Farley, Cymon Eckel and Steve Mayes, they started Boy’s Own, initially as a fanzine commenting on fashion, records, football and other issues.[4]
Weatherall’s DJ career started to take off when he met Danny Rampling at skater Bobby’s party that he played at in Chapel Market, Islington, and Rampling invited him to play at his club night Shoom.[5] Farley and Weatherall became regular Shoom DJs, playing the upstairs room, and also at Paul Oakenfold‘s Future/Spectrum nights and Nicky Holloway‘s Trip. They also did their own parties and started a record label under the name of Boy’s Own Recordings.[5] Along with Pete Heller (who was also a Shoom DJ), engineer Hugo Nicolson and singer Anna Haigh, they released two singles as Bocca Juniors on the label, “Raise (53 Steps to Heaven)” and “Substance”.[4][5] Weatherall’s first studio work was alongside Paul Oakenfold on the club remix of “Hallelujah” for the Happy Mondays.[6] Other remixes followed, notably “World in Motion” for New Order, “Loaded“,[4] a hit remix of Primal Scream‘s earlier track “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”,[6] and the widely acclaimed ‘A Mix of Two-Halves’ version of Saint Etienne’s cover of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart“.[5] His remix of My Bloody Valentine‘s “Soon” was ranked at number 1 in NME‘s list of “The 50 Best Remixes Ever”.[7]
In 1992, Weatherall left Boy’s Own, which changed its name to Junior Boy’s Own. He formed the electronic music trio The Sabres of Paradise in 1993, starting a record label under the same name.[4] The Sabres of Paradise released three albums between 1993 and 1995.[8] In early 1996, after shutting down Sabresonic, Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood became Two Lone Swordsmen, signing to Warp.[8] After this disbanded, they set up the Rotters Golf Club label in 2001 for their own dancefloor-orientated work.[9]
Weatherall produced for such artists as Beth Orton, Primal Scream and One Dove, and remixed the work of Björk, Siouxsie Sioux, the Orb, the Future Sound of London, New Order, Manic Street Preachers, My Bloody Valentine, James and many others.[10] He produced the album Tarot Sport for Fuck Buttons to “vast acclaim”[5] and assisted the Twilight Sad with the production of their third studio album, No One Can Ever Know.[11][12]
In 2006, he released his debut solo EP The Bullet Catcher’s Apprentice,[13] followed by his debut solo album A Pox on the Pioneers in 2009.[14] Both were released on his Rotters Golf Club imprint.[13] His music has soundtracked commercial advertisements for vehicles; Weatherall’s “Feathers” was used for the Volkswagen Tiguan in 2007 and Two Lone Swordsmen’s “Shack 54” was used for the Ford Fiesta in 2009.[15] In 2013, the Asphodells, formed by Weatherall and collaborator Timothy J. Fairplay from Battant, released the album Ruled by Passion, Destroyed by Lust on Rotters Golf Club, followed by Covenanza in 2016.[16] In 2017, he released the album Qualia, with the Swedish label Höga Nord Rekords.[17]
Weatherall cited humour as an important component in his musical ideology.[18]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Weatherall