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Jon Carter is a man who specialises in the unexpected, dropping tunes from the Scots' Guards to Glenn Campbell's 'Rhinestone Cowboy' into his volatile sets and exporting his particular brand of quality madness to the four corners of the globe over the last decade.

Jon Carter rose to prominence as a resident of the era-defining Heavenly Social in ‘94, playing legendary weekly sessions alongside the Chemical Brothers and Death in Vegas at the infamous Albany pub in central London. He succeeded these sessions with a succession of monster dancehall influenced singles under the name 'Monkey Mafia' including 'Shoot the Boss', 'Work Mi Body' and the '15 Steps' EP, the later making No. 25 on Mixmag's end of year chart in 1997 and releasing his debut album 'Shoot the Boss',  a year later uniting the critics in unbridled praise. Rolling Stone was just one of several major music publications praising Carter, describing 'Shoot the Boss' as a mix of "deep, dubby dance mixes, reggae toasting and puréed sample soups thick enough to clog a speaker with a ragged, street-smart edge too seldom found on the polished post-modern dance floor."

In its live incarnation, Monkey Mafia developed into a loose collective of musicians with Jon at the hub landing them nationwide tour support slots for both Mercury prize winners Reprazent, Massive Attack and the Chemical Brothers. The same year, 1998,  Jon played as a guest DJ on the Prodigy's 'Fat of the Land' tour, cementing him as one of the brightest young DJ talents around and bringing in the 21st century spinning his mantra as resident DJ at four of the UK’s biggest clubs: Bugged Out in Liverpool/Manchester, Shine in Belfast, Home in London's Leicester Square and The Boutique in Brighton.

Sponsored by Radio 1 in 2000 the English version of 'Love Parade' was launched with Jon being  selected amongst a small number of  choice DJs who entertained a crowd of around 350,000 (the largest outdoor event attendance in the UK). Jon has also been turning his hand outside clubland playing live for a Stella McCartney show in Paris,  mixing the likes of the Beatles 'Hey Jude' over a drum and bass beat with McCartney senior looking on inquisitively. 

2001 saw Jon remixing contemporary musical heavyweights The Stone Roses’ ‘I Am The Resurrection’, The Manic Street Preachers' 'Kevin Carter' and commissioning U2’s ‘Elevation’ after he re-worked the band’s Last Night On Earth single in 1997 with Jon’s version being selected 10 years later for inclusion in the ‘Popmart - Live’ DVD released in 2007.

Jon’s criss-crossing of the globe continued with massive gigs on Sydney’s Bondi beach (bringing  in the Millennium), the Rio Big Beach Boutique (with Fatboy Slim and DJ Marky) in front of 300,000 people and the Soca dominated carnival in Salvador.

The Brazilian influence was layered through his 2002 mix CD for his residency - 'Viva Bugged Out' - switching from chilled beats to tribal with the album also featuring his single for Bugged out - 'Everlasting Life.

Later that year Jon recorded the well received 'Humanism" - the debut release for Shine Recordings, the label of the long running Belfast techno institution.

Add to this annual trips to Ibiza for residencies at Cream and Manumission, regular dates in Singapore, China and Japan and a picture starts to form of someone who permanently lived out of a suitcase but Jon’s studio work kept the home fires burning.

After recording  ‘Go Down’ on his own Saville Row label, sampling the Coen Brothers ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ Ministry Of Sound in London handed Jon, and his nascent label, their own residency featuring, among others, acid legend DJ Pierre as a regular guest leading to another mix CD for the Ministry label - 'Saturday Sessions'.

Around the same time, Jon was commissioned to remix Happy Mondays’ ‘24 Hour Party People’ which was such a success ending up as the theme music to the celebrated film.

Recording with Wall of Sounds’ Two Culture Clash project in 2003 at Gee Jam in Jamaica  on ‘Who Do You Love?’ Jon worked on another collaboration with the infamous graffiti artist Banksy on 'Irrational Anthem' - an alternative take on 'God Save The Queen' likely ending any knighthood chances.

Moving from the streets to farm land Jon was part of the newly formed 'Lock Tavern' tent at Glastonbury in 2003, where he has played every year since 1999. Named after the cutting edge pub/music venue in Camden that Jon had been a director of since its launch , the tent hosted Hot Chip and Editors in its afternoon sessions whilst the evenings featured a more upfront line-up of Jon, guests and most famously a raucous set from Erol Alkan.

Later in the year it was off to Taiwan where Jon marked another first, headlining the opening of the island's Ministry of Sound club. New residencies followed of the back of his massively successful year seeing him play regularly at the groundbreaking Chibuku in Liverpool, Basics in Leeds, Shine in Belfast and Ministry and Fabric in London.

A year on, Jon was one of the first British DJs to play at another newly opened Ministry of Sound, in Singapore.

Jon underlined his 'anything goes' credentials with his set at the opening night of 'Guilty Pleasures' at Koko in London whilst further afield, Eastern Europe has fallen under the Carter spell with roof-lifting sets in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Currently a regular at Shindig, Fabric and the genre-defining 'Underwater' night at the End, Jon also has a not-too-shabby residency at the exclusive ski resort of St Anton and continues to fly all over the world.

Closer to home and Jon has been equally focused on bringing new talent through at the Lock Tavern and its sister venue The Amersham Arms. The Lock Tavern has brought Rob da Bank’s famed 'Sunday Best' night north of the river and also gave birth to the likes of the Filthy Dukes and Simian Mobile.

DJ, remixer, producer, recording, artist, pub landlord. And if all else fails he holds a fork-lift driver’s licence. One thing's pretty certain - if you're looking for him, he's probably not in...