2 Legit 2 Quit: Delano Smith & Steve O'Sullivan

Reflecting on house and techno without Delano’s influence would mean viewing a very different musical landscape. Coming up at a time when the world was just discovering the influence a DJ could have, Smith battled his way to the top in a tough scene full of talent.His story is long and intriguing, running parallel to many of the developments not just in music but society at large that have shaped our modern world. First taking to the decks in a time of liberation and discovery, the economic down turn of the mid 00s brought him back to the house and techno fray. Adapting to new music has not been difficult for Delano, he’s just done what he always has done, piece together perfectly programmed sets of timelessly grooving floor killers.His early tours closed the decade treading a familiar axis between the US and Europe. A pivotal relationship with Berlin label Sushitech began in 2009 with a chance meeting with label head Yossi Amoyal, the setting Panorama Bar, a club that would later help define the pair.After a string of successful EPs, in 2012 the Odyssey LP exploded onto the collective consciousness of the house and techno world. It spawned singles played across the board and gave birth to a clutch of killer remixes. In 2014 his sophomore long player arrived. Loaded with dark and dubby material it was a curve ball to follow the hysteria that greeted his debut. Pressed only on limited edition vinyl it was a statement of intent, that just as when he was breaking through in Detroit, this would be done on his own terms. 2017 saw Smith’s third LP ‘The Detroit Lost Tapes’ land on Sushitech to much critical acclaim.With a return to his own Mixmode and appearances at the leading underground events becoming all the more numerous, the circle is nearly complete for this truly unique artist…

Known for his dubbed out grooves it is no surprise that Steve’s early years were filled with dub, reggae and electro. West London was his musical kindergarten with late 80s house and 90s techno providing his college education. Hearing Robert Hood for the first time in the early 90s was the moment that Steve’s love for minimal techno was given purpose and by 1996 he had firmly established himself as one of the rising names inthe UK underground techno scene. Releases on Ferox, Soma and his own Bluespirit , Bluetrain and Mosaic labels brought attention from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Sven Vath and Ritchie Hawtin and by 1998 Steve was taking his Mosaicshowcase on the road to the likes of Robert Johnson and The End. Steve produces slowly evolving, very minimal, soulful club tracks showing his love for subtle sounds anddub effects. His lengthy discography includes several collaborations with Ben Sims, remixes for SteveBug and Sven Vath and several contributions to Ritchie Hawtin's groundbreaking "DE9: Closer to theEdit." Steve is the owner of the respected Mosaic label, which offers a sound between house and techno and features, apart from his own productions, releases and remixes from Steve Bug, Baby Ford, Mr C, John Tejada, Roman Flugel, The Memory Foundation, Paul Mac, Aubrey, Downlink, Mark Broom and MarkAmbrose, to name just a few.