Eddie Halliwell
‘ Without a shadow of a doubt Eddie Halliwell is a legend, a hero and a massively popular DJ worshipped by many’ DJ Mag
‘Is Halliwell the most exciting DJ on the planet right now? Maybe!’ M8 Magazine
Eddie is a DJ legend to rank among the best of them, so make some noise for clubland’s answer to Rocky.’ - Mixmag
‘There are people who play records and there are DJ’s who blow minds, Eddie Halliwell is the latter…who makes every set, no matter how small the club or how big the festival, feel like the closing party of the end of the world.’ – Mixmag
When any DJ at the top of their game steps up in the booth it has that effect.
Before they cue up a track, or even plug in their headphones, the mood changes – eyes dart to the front, people get up on their toes, breathing quickens as pulses begin to race and there is a murmur of expectation. But with Eddie it’s not merely a murmur, it’s a rapturous roar, one that grows until at its crescendo somewhere in the crowd the chant begins – “EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!” - at that moment the uninitiated know they are in for something special, that they are about to see someone special: Eddie Halliwell, the precocious talent, championed by the dance floor to become one of the biggest breakthrough DJ’s on the planet.
It has been a meteoric rise. Not only is it screamed out on dance floors across the globe, but he’s renowned as one of the major players in dance music, having just been voted 19th (top 20 for the 4th consecutive year) in the ‘DJ Mag Top 100 DJ’s Poll’, and voted DJ of the year twice by Mixmag, the only DJ to win the award more than once.
To understand how all this has happened so quickly you have to see Eddie in a club. Fundamentally when everything else is swept away DJ-ing is about making the dance floor erupt. Few possess the same incendiary talent as Eddie. Behind the mixer he seems frenetic: a hive of activity as his hands move swiftly but deftly. Constantly manipulating the music with lightning cuts, layers of effects and slick scratches, he makes you question both your eyes and ears. Playing tracks from across the musical spectrum – trance and techno, house and electro – he harnesses the energy of every beat, synth, hi-hat, squelch and squeak, making each sound stand out and yell at the people on the dance floor. As the music thunders along he bounces to each twist and turn in the track, interacting with the crowd in a highly visual performance, connecting with them, compelling them to dance.
Eddie reached into millions of UK homes with his own BBC Radio ONE show from 2003 – 2008, along with seven essential mixes under his belt.
Using his technical expertise to generate energy and manipulate new sounds his peers also acknowledge him as one of the leading innovators when it comes to using technology to push boundaries. As Paul Van Dyk pointed out, technology completely changed what clubbers could expect to hear from the most cutting edge DJ’s: “Now kids just use them, for example, Eddie Halliwell — what he does with those Pioneer CD players is f*cking nuts! He had no hesitation; he just went for it and has probably got the best out of the machine”
Tiesto has also always shown great support to Eddie and recently labeled Eddie as a ‘Legend,’ in an interview with DJ Magazine!
The world’s leading DJ equipment manufacturer, Pioneer, used Eddie to help develop the “DJM-909” (the world’s first digital scratch mixer) and showcase it to clubbers worldwide. Eddie still remains part of a select group of forwarding thinking DJ’s who have been selected to work alongside the Pioneer development team.
2009 is set to be another storming year for Eddie, with another Cream in Ibiza residency, the launch of his new DJ concept ‘ED-IT’ and much, much more – keep a eye out for breaking Eddie news by visiting – www.eddiehalliwell.com
Fire it up is a new weekly show presents by Eddie Halliwell.
On demand and every friday @ 17:00 gmt