Sav Remzi

Sav Remzi is a music producer and consultant. He is responsible for a number of ventures over the past 20 years, most notably the music label Nuphonic Records, The Blue Note Club in Shoreditch, the London Xpress radio shows for Xfm, Tirk Records, the Lovebox Festival, and the championing of various hit bands including New Young Pony Club and Fujiya & Miyagi.

Whilst directing his Tirk Records label, Remzi also creates music based campaigns for brands which have included Virgin Media, NFL, The Guardian, Pernod Ricard, Intel, Mazda^[1] and Bowers & Wilkins.

Career

In 1989, Remzi began working with early musical pioneers such as Andrew Weatherall, Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay, where he recruited them for his newly built Jazz club, the Red-Eye.

He went on to co-found the record label, Nuphonic Records in 1993. Nuphonic's first release was Faze Action's club classic, In The Trees. In the following years, the label went on to release a broad spectrum of dance music ranging from Afro rhythms to House music. Nuphonic ceased operations in 2002. Nuphonic titles included David Mancuso's Loft series, Norman Jay's Good Times, Andrew Weatherall, Faze Action and Ashley Beedle.^[2]

In 1994 Remzi took charge of the Blue Note club in London's Hoxton Square. By hosting residencies from the likes of DJ Harvey, Weatherall, James Lavelle, Gilles Peterson, Goldie's 'Metalheadz', Talvin Singh's 'Anokha' and Ninja Tune's 'Stealth', the club proved to become a platform from which audiences could sample the various new musical movements that were emerging at the time.^[3]

In 2000, Remzi secured the production of a new weekly radio show called London Xpress radio-show which launched Xfm's drive towards dance audiences.

In September 2000, Remzi acquired and built his own venue, the Bridge & Tunnel, a two-floor 400 capacity venue in London's Shoreditch. Previously a bank, the site was converted into a club/restaurant/bar. The club closed in 2003.

Remzi now A&R's his own record label Tirk Records^[4] which was founded in 2003. The label's first signing, 2007 Mercury Award nominees New Young Pony Club attracted critical acclaim with their singles 'Ice Cream' and 'The Get Go'. Tirk subsequently unearthed Fujiya & Miyagi with their album (Transparent Things). The Tirk roster also include acts such as Richard Norris (Time & Space Machine Richard Norris (musician)), Architeq, Maurice Fulton, Tom Findley (Groove Armada Groove Armada), Idjut Boys, The Bees, Escort, Greg Wilson (DJ), Chaz Jankel Chaz Jankel, and Martin Rushent.

In 2005 Remzi secured partnership in London's Lovebox Festival, facilitating its move to East Londons' Victoria Park.

In 2008 Remzi was recruited as panel judge together with Carl Barat Carl Barat and other industry figures in Virgin Media's call for bands competition Road To V, where bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club and Young Knives were first aired. The show was an 8-part TV series aired on Channel 4 and subsequently across the Virgin networks^[5]

Remzi now acts as music strategy consultant to various brands including Virginmedia, Mazda, Bowers & Wilkins and Virginmedia.^[6] Projects have included The Guardian and Intel for the creation of the world's first ever on-line festival, Secondfest,^[7] which was aired live in June 2007 within the virtual environment of Second Life. Secondfest was subsequently awarded the AOP (Association of Online Publishers) prize for the 'Innovation' category.^[8]

Since 2012, Remzi has been Music Director ^[9] of the House of St Barnabas in London's Soho, a not for profit members club run by The Charity.

In 2014, Remzi began working alongside Harvey Goldsmith ^[10] on various events including Onblackheath Festival^[11] in SE London, and Onroundhay^[12] in Leeds.

References