Doc scott

Doc Scott (born Scott McIlroy) is the stage name of a drum and bass DJ from London.

Biography
Coventry born Scott McIlroy got into music at the age of 12 where he bought his first record (Street sounds electro 2) and saw the sci fi classic Bladerunner. This set him off on a path into 1980's Hip Hop, Electro and film soundtracks.
At aged 14 he had his first pair of turtables and started making mixtapes for his friends at school (Mash up elctro/hip hop/ mixes to breakdance to), which earnt him the nickname 'The Doctor':

"People used to say it was like going to the doctors to get a pescription when they used to come to my house for a new tape and it kind of stuck".

McIlroy / Doc Scott continued DJing and making mixtapes during 1985-1989 until a journey to an import record shop in Birmingham (1985/6) where he heard a strange new sound, an evolution of electro from detroit. Techno. Scott started buying records from artists like Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins. Towards the end of the 1980's Scott also discovered Chicago House and New York Garage as well as European Techno from the likes of R&S & DJAX.

Career
At about this time, the rave scene was born in the United Kingdom. Rave parties started popping up all over the country and Doc Scott went to his first big rave in London in 1989 where he heard Grooverider, Jumping Jack Frost and Carl Cox,
Doc Scott started playing out in 1989 and quickly became a headliner on all the big raves and clubs in the midlands and north of England by 1991. In 1991 Scott (armed with an Akai s950, 2 years of DJ experience and 10 years of record buying) produced his first record. 'THE NHS EP' containing a track called 'SURGERY'. This was a driving 4x4 track with breakbeats that sampled Joey Beltram's "Mentasm". The response was overwhelming, it was an instant rave anthem, smashing into the dance charts at no.3 and breaking into the national top 40 12" sales.

From being a regional headliner in the midlands Doc Scott became known all over the UK and Europe. He continued to DJ and carried on in the studio, remixing the anthem and started up his own label 'NHS Records' to put out tracks like "Street Knowledge" & "Let's go".

In 1992 he followed up the NHS EP with the NHS EP VOL 2. Also in 1992 Scott remixed the title track 'NHS' the create the 'NHS DISCO REMIX'. At age 21, Scott was playing all over the UK and especially in London, at big parties at the Roller Express and the Astoria. His work was also being noticed at Reinforced Records, and by Goldie. Scott had been asking Grooverider about Goldie after hearing 'Terminator' and they were introduced to each other by Grooverider in a North London record shop. They went to Rage together the same night - an instant friendship was struck up that remains to this day. Through Goldie, Scott was introduced to Gus, Mark & Dego at Reinforcedwho signed Scott for a tune called 'HERE COME THE DRUMZ'. 'HERE COME THE DRUMZ' was a seminal moment in the birth of Drum and bass, influencing the likes of Ed Rush, Trace, Crystal and countless others. This tune was recently named by Knowledge magazine as 1 of the 10 most important drum and bass tunes ever.

Metalheadz Sunday Sessions
A firm relationship with Goldie now existed and in late 1994 Scott realised that Goldie was keen to start up his own label, after 3 happy and very inspirational years at Reinforced, Scott and Goldie collaborated on METALHEADZ 001 - 'UNRELEASED METAL'. Jungle was dominating the landscape and both Scott & Goldie felt this was the wrong way to go for the scene's sound. 'VIP DRUMZ' & 'VIP RIDERS GHOST' was the first release on Metalheadz and was a massive hit. Through club Rage, Scott and Goldie were close friends with the likes of Wax Doctor, Photek, Dillinja, Lemon D, Source Direct and Peshay. They all felt the same way towards the jungle sound and joined Doc Scott and Goldie at Metalheadz to release 12's "to make a statement".

In 1995 and in reaction to the dominance of jungle, 2 new club nights appeared, 'the Metalheadz Sunday Sessions ' and 'Speed' with Fabio & LTJ Bukem; Scott played at Club Speed, but really found his home at 'The Sunday Sessions' at the legendary 'Blue Note' in Hoxton, London.Scott then released 'DRUMZ 95' (a metalheadz and tech step anthem) 'FAR AWAY' (a firm favourite at club speed) 'THE UNOFFICIAL GHOST' (another metalheadz anthem that bootlegged goldies classic with the unforgetable 'ghost face killa' vocals) and 'TOKYO DAWN' for ltj bukems good looking records.

It was also in 1995 that scotts djing really started to get attention, especially through his sets at the blue note. Becoming dj of the month in every major publication through 95-96 and releasing a DJ mix for the MIXMAG LIVE series.
MIXMAG LIVE 22 - 'BREAKBEAT EXPERIMENTS' was a masterclass in the cutting edge sound of drum n bass.

The sunday sessions were now roadblocked and were becoming world famous.
"I can remember the queues being round the block at 10pm, it was crazy, i mean it finished at 12.30 ! I just remember the heat, the sound system, people from all over the world being in the club and the excitement, because the music was so cutting edge, and the crowd wanted it to be that way. Absolutely awesome. I used to get there knackered because it was a sunday, but by the time i got to the decks it was like having an adrenalin boost. "

International DJ
Now djing accross the UK & europe on a regular basis, Doc Scott was clocking up the air miles. But that was n't enough, he was one of the first dnb djs to play in america, brazil and japan in 1996 and in new zealand and australia in 1997.
Blazing a trail of cutting drum n bass around the world and helping fledging scenes establish themselves and get of the ground.

Although that did n't stop him recording in the studio - 'SWARM' for metalheadz, '4 DA CAUSE' for reinforced, & remixing ADAM Fs 'METROPOLIS' amongst many remixes during that hectic period.
"I love to travel, I love going to places where i have n&..39;t been to before and where drum n bass is fresh or even unheard! If i get an invite to play somewhere then im there so long as there is n't a war going on!"

31 Records & Shadow Boxing
Though now a fully fledged international dj, scott did not forget about the studio, and in 1996/1997 went into the studio to write a track that would litterally stun the drum n bass world.
'SHADOW BOXING' under his alias 'NASTY HABITS' was quite simply mind blowing. It would also jump start his own label - '31 RECORDS'

"I wanted to create that loop that everyone had in their head when they went home"

Nothing had been heard like it before, a simple loop that grew into godzilla on a bad day, speckled with kung fu fx, 'SHADOW BOXING' was scotts biggest selling record to date.
"It was crazy because i remember doing the track and not thinking that much, i gave it to rider on plate and then went abroad for about 2-3 weeks to dj, when i got back my phone was full of messages so i knew something was going on, but i had no clue that shadow boxing would be that big or that important."
'SHADOW BOXING' is a regular on all time top 10's and was remixed in 1998 by scott to crate another monster - 'SHADOW BOXING - THE REMIX'.

Keen to get his own label more renowned and to look for new talent, doc scotts '31 RECORDS' put out releases by DOM & ROLAND, ED RUSH & OPTICAL, DECODER, & CALYX.

A Change of Pace
Djing relentlessly through the late 90's , scott noticed a trend in the music that was it was getting too hard,
"there was too much hard stuff being played, it was the bad company effect! They were brilliant, but as is with these artists, you get 100 clones for the real thing."
So in 2000 scott signed a track called 'HOW YOU MAKE ME FEEL' (a beautiful vocal tune that went against the grain of the current hard dnb trend) from long time friend 'MARCUS INTALEX' and recorded 'LIQUID FINGERS' (a reworking of his favourite chicago house anthems, forged together with aquatic, dolphin sounds!)
"They were deffinately released together as a statement"
The statement worked, the tracks were massive and a shift to more vocal, melodic orrientated dnb tunes returned.

These were followed up by releases by DIGITAL 'DEADLINE', KLUTE 'SONG SELLER' & long time friends TOTAL SCIENCE.

More air miles followed as scott contined his global dj circuit, making regular trips to the USA, Europe, New zealand, Japan, Russia, Australia & taking in new countries all the time.
(blessing many with 3, 4 and sometimes 6 hour sets!)

Kingz of the Rollers
In 2003, 31 RECORDS started the 'KING OF THE ROLLERZ' series of EPs, taken form the nickname given to him by goldie,
"scottys deffinately the king of the rollers" (goldie 1997)

Amongst the many artists and remixes that appeared on the series were a certain trio from perth, australia.
PENDULUM 'VAULT' was quite simply one of those tracks that come along and change everything and was typical of doc scott's timing.
"I have been in the right place at the right time on more than one occassion for sure" recalls scott.
The tune was a monster and PENDULUM are arguably the biggest name in drum n bass today,
"I am very proud that many artists who have recorded for 31 RECORDS early in their carears have gone on to be big names in the scene, DOM & ROLAND, ED RUSH & OPTICAL, CALYX, MARCUS INTALEX, KLUTE, TOTAL SCIENCE, CALIBRE, PENDULUM, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, COMMIX, STATE OF MIND ...."

Today
Doc Scott is a true veteran and 'hall of famer' of the drum n bass scene, but is still as excited by it as ever.
As a DJ he travels far and wide, making his regular stops around the world on his global dj circuit, to give people "the whole spectrum".
A term which people who have heard doc scott play will understand. Never one to concentrate on one sound or one style, he plays across the board, just like his production work. Truly giving crowds around the world the A-Z of drum n bass.
Now back in the studio after a break after the birth of his first son, get ready for some more inspirational drum n bass.

But as doc scott says himself -

"Im a DJ who makes music, always a DJ first."

Selected discography
*'
*31R002 Nasty Habits:Shadow Boxing / Prototyped
*King of the Rollerz

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