YouTube Diggin With Cottam: Part 1 - Early Days and Influences

When Cottam’s music broke, through a series of anonymous vinyl in 2009, we learned a lot about him in the swirls of excitement that ensued. Initially anonymous, the curtain was soon lifted and behind these records (3 of which were in the Phonica top 50 for the whole year) we found the producer, Paul Cottam, and the humble story behind the tracks. We learned that his early influences were Surgeon, Dave Clarke and Sandwell District, that he was a DJ in Preston for years supporting these kind of guys but took a break for a while and it’s then, when a friend gave him a copy of Ableton, while relaxing with his wife in the evenings that he crafted those tracks that have now captured the hearts of the house community with their intoxicating mid-tempo grinds. Here in the first of a two part feature for the fabric Blog Cottam shares with us some tracks from his very first days of enjoying music, his early DJing and the tracks that introduced him to the dub disco that he has nailed down and made his own. Then on Thursday he’ll be giving us a sneak peek at the records that are doing it for him today, tracks that might appear in his DJ sets and have had an equally as impressive impact on dancefloors as his early records did on the industry back in 2009. Grace Jones - Pull Up to The Bumper In my very early teenage years I used to share a bedroom with my eldest brother who was the only one of us (4boys 1 girl) who used to collect vinyl at the time. I remember an album he used to play called something like "The Disco And After" and the Grace Jones-Pull Up To The Bumper was one of the tracks on the album that blew me away. I was into bad 80s soul at the time which I would never play now but this track has stayed with me. Thank you Stephen (my oldest brother). The Jam - Funeral Pyre Another of my brothers records which has stayed with me since my early teenage years is The Jam-Funeral Pyre. There are loads of tracks I could have chosen by The Jam but this maybe edged it. An energetic, rhythmic, percussive bomb of epic proportions that makes me pogo around the front room every time I hear it. Nightmares On Wax - Aftermath Nightmares On Wax-Aftermath was one of those tracks I'd hear in the early days my clubbing that was hard to ignore. It reminds me of dark sweaty clubs and dancefloors vibrating from the bass. I still dig this out from time to time and it still gives me shivers up my spine. Model 500 - Starlight Model 500-Starlight is one of my favourite tracks of all time. Deep, lush, blissed out techno by the legend Juan Atkins. It's one of them tracks that I haven't stop playing, it's never strayed to far from the front of my collection and probably never will. 69 - Desire Carl Craig is an artist who I have loved, followed and played his records for the most part of my immersion in music, but for this list I'm just going to choose 1 though there feasibly could be 5 or 6. 69-Desire, machine music with so much feeling and emotion it blows me away every time I play it, it never fails to make goosebumps appear all over my body. I remember a few instances of listening to it and being literally moved to tears. Genius is a word used all to often but on hearing this it was a word I attached to Carl and to this day he does not disappoint. Moodymann - I Can’t Kick This Feelin’ One of the biggest musical mistakes I've ever made was selling nearly my entire house music collection after deciding techno was the music I wanted to spinn. Moodymann-I Can't Kick This Feelin' was one of many records I deeply regret parting company with. I used to play this at my first residency at a night called "Feel" where I played the back room. I remember several instances of the crowd really coming to life as the intro started to unfold. What possessed me to sell this gem I'll never know....... Yellow Sox - Flim Flam Another of my big tracks from that first residency was Yellow Sox-Flim Flam. This track gave me some of my first experiences of playing records in a club and a dancefloor going wild. It still makes me smile now and it has found it's way back into my box (though I keep forgetting to play it).. Inner City - Share My Life (Kenny Larkin Remix) A track I used to play regularly and have recently started to play again is Inner City-Share My Life-Kenny Larkin Remix. Larkins music moved me from the beginning and this remix along with the album "Metaphor" are amongst the most played vinyl's in my collection. New World Aquarium - Trespassers New World Aquarium-Trespassers is a track that hasn't left my box since I bought it. Fantastic sub-aquatic deep house that is so subtle and basic but is absolute dynamite on the dancefloor. If you've seen me play in the last 8 years or so you'll have most likely heard me play this. Fantastic in the mix or as a stand alone track it has a kik drum to die for, no bells or whistles, just a subtle meandering riff/loop that keeps you hooked in a hypnotic groove of the highest order... Sleazy D - I’ve Lost Control I couldn't do a list like this without including some Acid, but which track to pick..... Ahhhr... Decisions.... Armando, DJ Pierre, Fast Eddie, the list could go on and on and on. I'm gonna plump for Sleazy D-I've Lost Control. An awesome drum attack with a killer overlaying acid line with mad eire vocals telling us "I've Lost Control", which in my experience is usually the reaction the dancefloor has when this bomb is dropped in the right place. The Revenge - Heavy Love One of the tracks that turned my head onto the slower/edits/disco side of things, The Revenge-Heavy Love completely flipped my outlook on music. Not sure why I suddenly got this style of music, my pal had been playing me this kind of thing for a few years, but suddenly it clicked. Graeme has an impressive list of production/remixes and very quickly became a bit of a hero to me, his sound somehow changed my outlook on music and, along with Mark E, inspired me to start messing about with my own productions. I got signed to the Warm Music agency which Graeme was also signed to and got to meet him, not only is he a fantastic producer/dj he's also one of the most down to earth, nicest people you could ever meet. Mark E - Slave 1 Another of the tracks that turned my head and again a new hero of mine, Mark E - Slave 1 blew me away on first listen on the same night as The Revenge-Heavy Love. Again I listened to all his works and his sound has really influenced the type of music I buy and search for and again inspired me to start messing around with my own projects. I can't put my finger on why I like his sound so much but his tracks have definitely put a spell on me. Again, he's at Warm Music so I've been lucky enough to meet him and warm up for him at a couple of events, he's another down to earth, super nice bloke who's an inspiration to me. LTJ - A Mellow Mood I'm quite new to the slow house/edits/disco scene, my old school pal (and my long time music guru), Paul Watson, played me a couple of Mark E and The Revenge tracks and since then I've been hooked. Was quite a transition after playing techno for many many years. I immersed myself in this new (to me) sound and tried my hardest to find as much as I could for myself. One artist I stumbled blindly across was LTJ or Luca Trevisi. LTJ-Mellow Mood on the Super Value Edits label is probably my favourite of his many killer tracks. It's a fantastic groove that just goes and goes and goes. I think I might have to source another copy as I've played it that many times I'm sure I'm gonna wear it out. Madvillain - Rhinestone Cowboy I couldn't do a list like this without including at least one hiphop track. Hiphop has been a big part of my life, from listening to Public Enemy and De La Soul in my early teenage years I've always loved it. My choice for this list is, Madvillain-Rhinestone Cowboy off the Madvillainy album. I could have put the whole album on here and as a listening experience is second to none. I never dabble with making hiphop type stuff but it influences my productions massively...... Surgeon - Magneze Not denying my hard techno past I'm including a harsh punishing track Surgeon-Magneze. Surgeon is one of my techno hero's along with Regis, Mills, Hood, Larkin, Pullen and DBX (too many others to mention). Magneze is a sensory assault which used to (and probably still does) send techno clubs into a throbbing frenzy. The Downwards label was at the forefront for me , with it's industrial, dark, no rules techno and this was one of the tracks that was a permanent fixture in my box.