DJ Sharkey
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Sharkey (real name: Jonathan Kneath, born ~1975, Plymouth) is a popular British DJ/MC/producer, and one of the key originators of the freeform genre of hardcore dance music.
Sharkey initially became well known as an MC at hardcore rave events in the UK in 1993, with a popular and charismatic style. In 1995, he moved into music production, teaming up with DJ Hixxy to release the track “Toytown”, which proved one of the biggest signature tunes of the UK’s happy hardcore scene in the 1990s. This led both Sharkey and Hixxy to being signed by the UK’s leading dance music label, React Music, and the pair released “Bonkers”, the first in a series of albums which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time. “Revolutions”, a release on React, reached 53 in the UK charts, and Sharkey consequently released the album “Hard Life” in 1998.
He established a relationship with the up-and-coming DJ Kevin Energy in 1998, and the pair were, with several other DJs, instrumental in the creation of the freeform genre of hardcore (a term which was coined by Sharkey himself). This moved the sound away from cheesier sounds of happy hardcore to a faster, more layered, technically more complex sound. A major keystone of the freeform movement is The Nu Energy Collective, of which Sharkey and Kevin Energy are the best-known faces, and the freeform sound played a lead role in the renaissance of the hardcore sound in the early 2000s.
Sharkey initially became well known as an MC at hardcore rave events in the UK in 1993, with a popular and charismatic style. In 1995, he moved into music production, teaming up with DJ Hixxy to release the track “Toytown”, which proved one of the biggest signature tunes of the UK’s happy hardcore scene in the 1990s. This led both Sharkey and Hixxy to being signed by the UK’s leading dance music label, React Music, and the pair released “Bonkers”, the first in a series of albums which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time. “Revolutions”, a release on React, reached 53 in the UK charts, and Sharkey consequently released the album “Hard Life” in 1998.
He established a relationship with the up-and-coming DJ Kevin Energy in 1998, and the pair were, with several other DJs, instrumental in the creation of the freeform genre of hardcore (a term which was coined by Sharkey himself). This moved the sound away from cheesier sounds of happy hardcore to a faster, more layered, technically more complex sound. A major keystone of the freeform movement is The Nu Energy Collective, of which Sharkey and Kevin Energy are the best-known faces, and the freeform sound played a lead role in the renaissance of the hardcore sound in the early 2000s.
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