NAT CLARXON AKA NJC BIOGRAPHY - THE STORY SO FAR
Nat Clarxon A.K.A NJC is developing a niche of his own through the years of experience he has gained working in and around the Music Industry. He has been involved in music all his life, starting out as a drummer in various different bands in the early years then moving on to production and sound engineering. Hailing from East Anglia (UK) he has worked with several high profile record labels, artists and bands in and out of his local area. Nat has a firm understanding in music particularly in Dance/Urban including: Drum and Bass, Breaks, Garage, Hip-hop, Reggae & Dancehall and more recently Indie and Live music; "if the music has a strong beat or rhythm section you'll find him in his element".
HOW IT ALL STARTED
In the beginning Nat worked with various artists in the East Anglian area which saw him create a UK Garage label with two local DJ’s Jay Funk (Ministry Of Sound, Pams House) and Danny J, it was called Finesse Recordings, although they only ever had one release this gave Nat a real eye opener to how the a record label should be run. In the same period Nat collaborated on a remix for Edel Records (Germany) of a Brian Harvey & Wycleff Jean track. Nat’s career started to take shape when in 2001 'YT' (UK Dancehall/Reggae Artist) approached him through a mutual friend to work on his debut album. After a few sessions it was clear that a good working relationship was fused and their journey to the present day began. During the first year of the 'YT' project Nat was introduced DIGITAL aka Steve Carr (a prolific D 'n' B producer from the same area). "Me & Steve got talking, exchanged numbers and the rest is history". NJC's debut 12" single was released on Drum & Bass Label L.Plates in March 2003, with tracks entitled 'Dispatches' & 'Feelz Good' which featured the vocal talents of 'Shelley Dee' (2nd Nature, MC Deeizm - Good Looking, Human Elements) who he worked with on a number of tracks over that period. Nat also collaborated with DIGITAL on a track entitled 'Open Up' which is featured on the 2nd volume of Timeless Music Artist EP's. Quad 2 was released on Function Records in May 2003. He then went on to release a number of tracks on various different D 'n' B labels including: Timeless Records, Function Records, Cosmic Web, L.Plates, Horizons Music, and Phantom Audio. Additionally he completed a remix alongside 'Digital' of New Zealand's outfit 'Salmonella Dub' which was released worldwide with the Video version receiving TV network coverage in New Zealand and Australia.
SATIVA RECORDS
2002 saw Nat, YT, Innerheart and Digital create the label Sativa Records which has gone on to become a well respected Urban label in the UK, the label has had a number of big releases seeing YT at number one in the UK reggae charts. All the releases to date have been given 5/5’s or 10/10 status in many magazine reviews and receiving Radio plays on all of the UK’s finest Stations: Radio 1, 1Xtra, Choice FM, KISS FM, Galaxy FM to name a few.
LIBRARY, PUBLISHING & PRODUCTION MUSIC
Finding it natural to move from BPM to BPM has seen his productions played on BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra, Choice FM, Ministry of Sound and T4's 'Chancers'. The summer of 2003 saw him work on a project for 'Sony' composing the promo track for a new 'Playstation 2' game called 'Dogs Life'. He also completed remix work for American Sky TV channel 'TV Land'. In addition to working on his own productions NJC also completed commissioned projects for Film and T.V. companies. This has given him the opportunity to experiment and develop his skills even further plus take his ideas into different genres of music and bring his sound to new mediums like TV, radio & the web. During this time Nat worked alongside Ola whose publishing company 'Stage One Music' signed him for a 3-year period in which a lot of these projects were completed, in addition to writing music Nat began to engineer and complete the final mixes for a number of productions on the Stage One Music library. As Nat began to work closely with Ola he was also drafted in to help co-ordinate the administration of the companies database all be it for a short period - enough time for Nat to get an understanding of copyright and the distribution methods of a publishing company including royaltiy payments and licensing laws.
ALBUM DEBUT FOR NAT AS PRODUCER
2004 to 2005 was pretty much spent working on the debut album for UK Reggae/Dancehall star YT. The album called [STRAIGHT OUTTA BRITAIN] gave him the opportunity to work on totally new material, he co-produced a number of tracks on the album alongside artists like Luciano, Horseman, ARP, JD aka Dready & Curtis Lynch Jr. At the beginning of the album project Nat was introduced to artist and fellow producer Gordon 'Innerheart' Mulrain (Jah Warriors, Prince Buster, Bonnie M, Mad Professor, Desmond Dekker & Dawn Penn). Innerheart became a valuable mentor to Nat, together they've worked on various productions and collectively have a handsome catalogue used in Film and Television and have written for music production companies like, 'Extreme Music', 'Ded Good Music' and 'Carlin'. The YT album was released in June 2006 and was nominated for 'Best Album 2006' in the Urban Music Awards.
MOVING INTO THE INDIE & LIVE MUSIC SCENES
In 2005 Nat hooked up with the massive East Anglian band [THE MARVELOUS] to take on the task of producing, engineering and mixing their debut single with a view to completing their debut album over the coming months. The band are currently tearing up the live scene in London and around the UK, they have a sound that fits like a glove with his musical vocabulary so it's been a natural progression for him to take this project on. 'Genepool - Universal' distributed the debut single which was released in April 2006, the band have built up a large fan base so its only inevitable that like with the release of YT's album they will also make a huge impact when the album drops - so watch this space!
WHATS NEXT?
Another artist who Nat has been developing is Voodoo Browne aka Marley Browne, a British Hip-Hop MC who is no stranger to working with him, these guys have worked together for years and have built up a large collection of tracks ready for Voodoo Browne's debut album.
The future will see Nat continue to work on the various projects he's started, as he further develops his style which can be described as kaleidoscopic; because of the vast knowledge he has gained through his willingness to switch between musical genres which definitely influences his production, this is the ultimate proof that Nat aka NJC can adapt in the ever changing world of modern music. With over ten years of producing and writing music there's no doubt Nat will complete an album of his own one-day.
NAT AS A FREELANCE ENGINEER
During the year Nat also works as a freelance engineer, which has seen him working at Festivals right down to small venues and pubs around the UK. Over the last year he has worked closely alongside King Billy an the Marvelous whilst they toured the UK and is YT's live engineer, Nat has ventured into some of the UK's most prestigious venues including: Dublin Castle - Camden, Hope & Anchor - Islington, The Garage - Islington (Home of Allen Mcgee's club night), Liverpool Academy, Shepard's Bush Empire, The Waterfront - Norwich, Sound - Leicester Square (Formerly Sound Republic), The Waterats - Kings Cross and has worked for various event co-ordinators like: Gofer, VW Whitenoise, Judgeday, IMG & Mean Fiddler.
Words adapted by Sahra @ Sonik Suite PR. Press contact Sahra @ Sonik Suite PR
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