WheelUP

WheelUP is the broken beat moniker of renowned international DJ, drum & bass producer and head-honcho of W10 Records – Danny Wheeler. Turning his hand to the burgeoning sound of West London’s resurgent broken beat scene (aka bruk), Danny Wheeler was knighted the name ‘WheelUP’ by non-other than Afronaught, the founder of ‘Bugz in the Attic’ and a pioneer of the broken beat genre.

“Self Healing Machine” is WheelUP’s debut release on Tru Thoughts, a track that fuses the syncopated rhythms of bruk with the groove sensibility of future-boogie-funk. Layered with cut-up snippets of sound that create space between segments to generate a rhythmic and futuristic dance outing – the track’s sound is closer to the work of Todd Edwards than his bruk counterparts.

Taken from his forthcoming EP, a record that melds the genres of nu-jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, bruk with an idiosyncratic edge of influences from drum & bass, the EP boasts collaborations with the likes of Afronaught (Bugz in the Attic) and American rapper Brint Story. His debut release “Bulawayo EP” (Coopr8), placed him alongside the likes of Marc Mac (4hero) and was picked up and championed by tastemaker Toddla T who played focus-track “33” on his BBC Radio 1/1Xtra show, the first-ever bruk tune WheelUP made.

Originating from the drum and bass world, Danny Wheeler’s debut: ‘Ghost & Lost Highway’, launched him and co-producer, Sub Focus into the top of UK Dance & Indie Charts. Wheeler has made dance music history in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the DJs who broke the world record for the most DJs to consecutively mix one record live on BBC Radio.

An international DJ, Wheeler has graced the decks everywhere from Fabric London (alongside mentor & friend LTJ Bukem) to Womb in Tokyo, Cape Town to Columbia, Beijing to Bosnia and beyond. He started DJing on jungle pirate radio station Transmission One while still at school and would later form part of the Bryan Gee’s original Movement, Bar Rumba crew as head of promotions. After graduating from university Wheeler was headhunted by J Majik to become label manager of Infrared Records where he would A&R the likes of Sub Focus, Marky & XRS, Clipz (Redlight) to the label. The time came to establish his own record label, W10 Records – releasing music synonymous to his sound and ethos of pushing the boundaries of D&B while hosting a plethora of parties with guests such as Byran Gee, DJ Hype, IG Culture and many more.

Mentored by Brazilian legend DJ Marky (who coined the name Danny Wheeler for him), WheelUP aka Wheeler has garnered support from the likes of Julie Adenuga (Beats 1), MistaJam (BBC 1Xtra), Toddla T, Annie Mac (BBC R1), Gilles Peterson (BBC 6Music) Zane Lowe, as well as getting spins across numerous London pirate radio stations and KISS FM, and boasts releases on Liquid V (Bryan Gee), Far Out Recordings and Infrared Recordings.

With a unconventional introduction to the world of the arts, as an actor, singer and dancer on the West End stage at The Royal Opera house and at The Old Vic at just 13 years old, Danny Wheeler has released four full length albums – ‘The Brazil Project’ (Far Out Recordings), ‘Universal Language’, ‘Cultura Futura’ and ‘Magnetise’ making his mark on drum & bass, we are very excited for his next chapter, as a broken beat revivalist – WheelUP on Tru Thoughts.