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Dieselboy
Dieselboy
Background information
Birth name	Damian Higgins
Born	1972
Origin	Born Dunedin, Florida, raised in Colorado, United States
Genre(s)	Drum and bass, Hardstep, Darkstep
Occupation(s)	DJ, record producer, label head
Years active	1991 - Present
Website	www.djdieselboy.com

Dieselboy is the stage name of Damian Higgins, one of the most recognized figures in American drum and bass. A DJ, producer and label head, Dieselboy has been an icon for American d&b since the early '90s, and since the 2000s has become an international symbol as well. America's best-selling d&b artist, Dieselboy was the first American to be voted into the UK-based Drum & Bass Arena Top 10 DJs 2004 online poll.

Dieselboy has played a key role in the expansion of d&b across North America, beginning first in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, spreading across the country from there. He is known for the intense and atmospheric quality of his music. Dieselboy was also the first d&b artist to chart a single on Billboard's dance chart with Invid in 2000. (Source: The Washington Post)

Currently based in Brooklyn, Dieselboy is the most in-demand American d&b DJ on the international club, rave and festival circuits including the UK (home of d&b), Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South Americas. In addition to the club circuit, Dieselboy has also performed at rock festivals and X-treme sports exhibitions.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 3 Touring 4 Awards and Recognition 5 Discography 5.1 Singles 5.2 DJ Mixes 5.3 Unreleased 6 External links

Dieselboy was born Damian Higgins in Florida in 1972. He and his two sisters were raised by their mother in Colorado. His early music experience came from playing drums in a school marching band, and DJing for high school dances.

Higgins attended the University of Pittsburgh, and there gained additional DJ experience (particularly in beat-matching records) playing on a Carnegie Mellon University radio station (WRTC).

The name Dieselboy originated from Higgins' internet chat handle, "Diesel." Upon discovering a local graffiti artist shared the alias, he "made it Dieselboy. Back then I looked like a kid - I was 19, but I looked like I was 14. Also, it reflected my interest in video games and animation."

In 1994, Higgins created a mixtape entitled "The Future Sound of Hardcore," and sold about 100 through online LISTSERVs. "Through [the mixtape], people heard about me and I started getting bookings on the East Coast. It was a very slow process that eventually snowballed into my getting flown various places,"

In 1996, Dieselboy made a mix-CD, "Drum & Bass Selection USA" for British d&b label Suburban Base, being the first American to do so. Suburban Base had him follow up with 97 Octane (1997), this time allowing him to submit track suggestions, resulting in a more varied selection.

In 1998, Nigel Richards gave Dieselboy full artistic control for his next mix-CD, 611 DJ Mix-series Vol. One (1998), for which he even did the graphics. Also in that year, Dieselboy made a mix-tape called Director’s Cut which he had packaged in film cans, his first experiment in presenting a dance mix in a quasi-cinematic framework.

In 1999, Dieselboy released his fourth mix CD, "A Soldier's Story" on the Moonshine label. The CD became the year's best-selling American D&B release^{[citation needed]}. It opened with his first original “intro” and marked his CD debut as a producer with Atlantic State. Also produced on the Moonshine label was “System_Upgrade” (2000).

2000 saw Dieselboy joining forces with Palm Pictures/Island Recordings and his releases The Descent, Invid, Render and a full length album on Palm Pictures label called The 6ixth Session, a cyborg-themed mix described by the Washington Post as “hard-edged hyperdriven dance music,” which marked the beginning of Dieselboy’s VIP remix phase. Also for the first time he bundled a second unmixed CD with original tracks.

In 2002, Dieselboy founded HUMAN, the d&b imprint of electronic dance music label System Recordings. HUMAN releases include Dieselboy's “projectHUMAN” (2002) and “The Dungeonmaster's Guide” (2004), as well as releases by a number of other artists.

For projectHUMAN (2002), Dieselboy presented a mix framed as a movie trailer, hiring movie trailer voice extraordinaire Don LaFontaine for his intro and outtro. projectHUMAN was also Dieselboy’s first foray into massive remix commissioning, most of the tracks featuring American producers remixing UK and other international producers, and vice versa.

In 2003, Dieselboy was invited by globally distributed DJ Magazine to create a mix showcasing American d&b entitled DJ World Series: D & B From The United States, on which he featured American producers Hive, Echo, Mason, Juju, Kaos, Karl K, Jae Kennedy, Stratus and Sinthetix.

For his next mix-CD, The Dungeonmaster’s Guide (2004), Dieselboy asked Peter Cullen, well-known for his work as the cartoon voice of the Transformers’ Optimus Prime, to be the voice of the Dungeonmaster who introduces the d&b fantasy and appears throughout the mix to narrate. Again Dieselboy commissioned remixes, this time asking d&b producers from around the world to remix tracks by non-d&b dance music luminaries including Tiësto, Sasha, BT and Josh Wink. Dieselboy also released a triple vinyl LP pack featuring remixes by various artists such has Gridlok, Kaos, Karl K, Jae Kennedy, Stratus, and KC.

In April 2006, Dieselboy released his first HUMAN IMPRINT compilation, a 2XCD set called "The HUMAN Resource", which debuted at #14 on the Billboard electronic album chart. Disc One Selected Works, is a 12-song un-mixed selection including club anthems and VIP remixes from Bad Company UK, DJ Fresh, The Upbeats, Dieselboy + Kaos and more. Disc Two Evol Intent Assemble the Monster features a continuous DJ-mix from one of America’s top d&b DJ/producer crews, Evol Intent, picked by Dieselboy to stitch together some of the best of the HUMAN catalog, plus exclusivetracks and remixes from Gridlok, Infiltrata + Hochi, Vector Burn, Dieselboy + Technical Itch and others.

Dieselboy is currently at work on his next mix-CD, his ninth, entitled Substance D, due out in fall 2007, in conjunction with a HUMAN IMPRINT tour with rotating label artists.

Early 1999 saw Higgins complete a North American tour with Technical Itch & Decoder in support of his track Atlantic State, co-produced with Technical Itch.

In 2000 Dieselboy united with two other North American d&b legends, AK1200 (Dave Minner, Orlando, FL) and Irish ex-pat DJ Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle, New York, NY), to create an annual super-tour, the Planet of the Drums. Dieselboy brings his trademark hard edgy pyrotechnics, Dara a mellower dub/reggae flavored vibe, with AK1200’s arsenal tearing up the space between, but when these three forces of nature tag-team, with MC Messinian (James Fiorella, Philadelphia, PA) hyping the crowd, the combined effect is magical mayhem. 2007 marks POTD’s 8th North American tour, making it the longest running annual electronic dance music tour of any subgenre. The Planet of the Drums proudly claims credit for moving d&b out of the siderooms and onto the main stage.

Dieselboy has played metal concerts with Orgy and Disturbed, and was the only d&b artist invited by rock superstar Moby for his Area2 national tour that also included David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, Blue Man Group, Tiësto, and Digweed. Dieselboy (with MC Messinian) will play a historic tag-team set with Andy C (with MC GQ) at the second annual U.S. Virgin Festival, to be held at Pimlico Race Track in Maryland in August 2007, where the Smashing Pumpkins, the Police, and Beastie Boys will also play.

A true musician, Dieselboy makes sure he reaches as many of his fans as possible and his high demand has caused him to reach the some of the biggest drum and bass parties around the globe including the infamous HomeGrown party in Cape Town South Africa among others.

In 1998, Dieselboy was the first American D&B DJ ever to be nominated for Best Drum & Bass DJ at the Global DJ Mix Awards, tying with LTJ Bukem.

Aside from DJing, in 1998 Dieselboy initiated Philadelphia's first 21+ d&b weekly Thursday club night entitled "Platinum" at club Fluid, which ended on October 14, 2004.

Dieselboy's 2000 record “The 6ixth Session” is currently the best-selling D&B mix-CD in the world.

• Patriot Games EP (2x12") – Tech Itch Recordings
• The Trans-Atlantic Link Part 1 (12") – Tech Itch Recordings
• The Descent (12") – Palm Pictures (1999)
• Invid (12") – Palm Pictures (2000)
• Render (12") – Palm Pictures (2000)
• Invid (Remixes) (2x12") – Palm Pictures (2002)

For a complete listing of Dieselboy's releases see his entry on Rolldabeats

• Drum And Bass Selection (CD) – Suburban Base
• Drum And Bass Selection USA (CD) – Moonshine (1996)
• 97 Octane (CD) – Moonshine (1997)
• Sixeleven DJ Mixseries, Vol. 1 (CD) – Sixeleven (611) Records (1997)
• A Soldier's Story (CD) – Moonshine (1999)
• System_Upgrade (CD) – Moonshine (2000)
• The 6ixth Session (2xCD) – Palm Pictures (2000)
• projectHUMAN (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2002)
• DJ World Series: D & B From The United States (CD) – DJ Magazine (2003)
• The Dungeonmaster's Guide (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2004)
• The Human Resource (2xCD) – Human Imprint Recordings (2006)

• Substance D (due out Fall 2007) – Human Imprint Recordings

• http://www.djdieselboy.com – Official Website
• Dieselboy at Discogs
• Dieselboy at rolldabeats

• http://www.myspace.com/humanimprint
• http://www.systemrecordings.com
• http://www.humanimprint.com
• http://www.planetofthedrums.com
• http://www.myspace.com/damianomen