Lotus is pleased to present a special Halloween party with Buzzin' Fly founder Ben Watt!  This will be Ben's first San Francisco appearance in over two years and he will be joined by Buzzin' Fly label mate Justin Martin as well as CityDeep creator Halo!

Ben Watt (Buzzin' Fly)

Justin Martin (Buzzin' Fly, Dirtybird)

Halo (CityDeep Music)

Ben Watt

Ben Watt’s career began as a singer-songwriter in the early eighties with a clutch of folk-jazz solo recordings on London independent label Cherry Red Records (‘North Marine Drive’ album, ‘Summer Into Winter’ EP with Robert Wyatt). In 1982 he formed alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl with singer-writer-partner Tracey Thorn. They recorded nine studio albums (1984-1999) over a fifteen year period, scooping one UK Platinum and six UK Gold disc awards, plus a handful of UK Top 40 hits.

Encouraged by DJ-producer Howie B to start DJing, Watt was thirty-two when he first started mixing freestyle sets of jazz, drum n bass and deep house in London in 1995. A quick learner, guest sets followed at top London nights such as James Lavelle's Dusted, Fabio's Swerve and Howie B's own west-side Sunday parties. In 1998, focusing on deep house, he established the seminal London Sunday day-night club and compilation series, Lazy Dog, with Jay Hannan. Moving away from EBTG's mainstream eclecticism and into club-oriented dance music production, he also turned out an accompanying string of acclaimed dance floor remixes for Sade, Sunshine Anderson, Zero 7, Maxwell and Meshell Ndegeocello. Lazy Dog folded at the top in 2003 after five years of sell-out parties around the world and compilation sales of 100,000.

In April 2003 Watt launched his own independent label, Buzzin’ Fly focusing on underground house and techno. As well as being a home for his own club-oriented productions (incl ‘Lone Cat’ (2003), ‘Pop A Cap In Yo’ Ass’ with Estelle (2005), ‘Guinea Pig (2008’)), the label has fostered new talent, unearthing Justin Martin (Breakthrough DJ nominee at House Music Awards 2004 and 2005), Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia (The Times called their debut album ‘a modern classic’), Rodamaal, and new Eastern European talent (BarBQ and Kimouts). It has also drawn defining work from remixers such as Ame, Radio Slave, Charles Webster and John Tejada. The label won Best Breakthrough Label at the House Music Awards 2004 and was runner-up as Best Label at the DJ Magazine Best Of British Awards in both 2007 and 2008. In 2008 the label also secured Best Mix Album Of The Year (Justin Martin’s ‘Chaos Restored 2’) and No. 2 Best Track Of The Year (Stimming’s ‘Kleine Nachtmusik’) in iDJ’s Best Of 2008 Round-Up. Meanwhile DJ Magazine put both Watt’s own ‘5 Golden Years In The Wilderness’ collection and Justin Martin’s ‘Chaos Restored 2’ in their Top 10 Compilations Of 2008.

In February 2007 Watt launched a sister label called Strange Feeling, a home for alt-indie and electronic pop with acclaimed signings including Denmark’s Figurines, Brooklyn’s Tigercity and Budapest’s The Unbending Trees. Now a central figure on London's club scene he DJs regularly in the capital as well as all over Europe, Australia and North America with regular sell-out shows. In 2008 he opened Sonar 2008, headlined at Exit 2008 and was made resident DJ at We Love Space Sundays in Ibiza. In London Buzzin’ Fly was one the major success stories at The End in central London before it announced its closure in January 2009.

2009 sees the launch of a new Buzzin’ Fly residency in London plus a series of new Buzzin’ Fly events in various European cities. Watt continues to edit and present his weekly radio show on KISS in the UK. He is guest panelist at MIDEM 2009 and current Board Member at AIM (The Association Of Independent Music) for whom he has delivered keynote speeches on specialist radio and marketing.

103 Harriet
103 Harriet St. (at Folsom St.)
San Francisco, CA
www.1015.com

                                            

                                              Costumes are encouraged!

Presales available at:

http://www.wantickets.com/EventDetail.asp...

www.buzzinfly.com
www.twitter.com/buzzinfly
www.myspace.com/BenWatt
www.facebook.com/BuzzinFlyRecords
www.dirtybirdrecords.com
www.citydeepmusic.com
www.myspace.com/LotusSF
www.twitter.com/LotusSF