COL HAMILTON

About me:

"I dj’ed with Col Hamilton at lush! And every tune he played was amazing, I hadn’t heard any of them before”
- Paul Van Dyk:

"Col has been at the forefront of the Irish club scene for as long as I can remember, and is still as relevant today as he ever was”
- Pete Tong:

..........

Review of Fatboy Slim Beach Party in Portrush

The local favourite was always going to have it easiest. One of the biggest cheers of the day may have welcomed him to the decks, but that didn't make for any complacency. Col's set began pretty safe, reeling out the kind of tunes wrecking Lush! week in, week out. But then he drops a gorgeous, epic remix of Snow Patrol's ‘Eyes Open’ which we're told Col produced himself. And the biggest curve ball of the day is The Automatic’s ‘Monster’ - re-jigged for the occasion. Who'd have thought a reasonably new indie band would bring Col Hamilton's set to such a splendid, crashing conclusion. The first "moment" of the day. BBC radio ulster.

When Col dropped The Undertones- teenage kicks at radio 1’s one big weekend in Derry(home of the undertones) it was possibly the moment of the weekend! 10,000 clubbers singing along with their hands in the air was indeed a view to behold” Matt priest head of dance radio 1.

Background

Col began dj’ing/promoting on new years day 1993, at a 400 capacity club in Portstewart, N.Ireland. Everybody warned him that it would be empty as ‘nobody goes out the night after Nye’, even the venue owner advised him not to do it. But col knew deep down that the time was right for him. The result…. 400 people in by 11pm and a total sell out.

From that night on col has promoted & dj’ed at every major club in Ireland, introducing dj’s like Danny Rampling ,Carl cox, Sasha & John Digweed. Remember this was still only 93-95 when the majority of Irish venues played happy hardcore.

From day one Col has pushed his own brand of chunky electronic twisted house.

It was in March 1996 that the now world famous Lush! @ Kellys Portrush was born. With Col installed as resident Dj and promoter he now had a weekly outlet to develop his skills as a Dj and to Invite an array of world wide talent to play along side him at the mighty Lush!

During the last ten years both lush! And Col have gone on to greater things. With Lush! winning irish club of the year awards virtually every year, and also being nominated for UK club of the year by Muzik magazine not once but 3 times. Lush! Was also voted 24th best club in the WORLD by Dj magazine in march 2006.

Col himself has been voted Irish Dj of the year twice, and a highly respectable no:5 in the best 20 Irish residents ever, by BBM magazine.

He now regularly plays across the UK and Europe including:Pacha/amnesia Ibiza, God’s Kitchen, Turnmills & Type london,Stadio Milan & The Rhumba & Colours Scotland to name but a few,and has captivated crowds as far from home as Hong Kong & Miami.

Col was the only UK resident Dj to Appear on Bbc Radio 1’s NYE millennium broadcast live from Lush!, which with over 2million tuned in, had the largest listening figures for any dance show ever broadcast, he is a regular on Pete Tong’s usual suspects and has racked up two 30 minute mixes for both Seb Fontaine and Danny Rampling’s shows .

Col Has both Dj’ed and promoted Lush! Arenas at Creamfields, Homelands and hi:fi festivals in Ireland and has secured coveted Dj sets at Creamfields & homelands festivals in the UK.

Col’s sound is still a fusion of all things House,ranging from chunky and funky to full on driving rhythms,with the dance floor always in mind.

This year has seen col return to the studio and his collaboration with aaron mclelland “C-Sixty four” On a good thing, was snapped up by manifesto records for a worldwide release. After major support from Pete Tong/Judge Jules on radio 1 it reached no. 4 on the buzz chart & no. 43 on the national chart. He also released “Hamilton:Cargo-Broken Piano” on pravo recordings.

Col has also just returned from a sell out 4 date tour of China, taking in Hong Kong, Shenzen,Shanghai & Changsha city’s. He has already been asked to return in April 06,

Being a resident and promoter for so long has given me the opportunity to play so many styles of music. I refuse to be pigeon holed into only playing what is deemed to be trendy by some magazine or other’

I know it is a cliché, but there are two kinds of records, good & bad. I play good. Simple as that’