Slacker, Shem McCauley and Simon Rogers, may go by the name Slacker however, they are not slackers when it comes to bringing a unique perspective to progressive music.

Shem McCauley, considered as one of the UK’s leading scratch DJ’s in the eighties, began his career after stumbling upon the developing UK rap scene and pirate radio. Two plastic turntables and wobbly mixer later, McCauley began playing parties at various London warehouses. During the early days of London and Brighton dance, McCauley was asked to bring his knowledge of rap, funk, and rare groove into the studio where he worked with musical contemporaries Tim Simenon and Norman Cook (Fat Boy Slim). He also began running club nights in Brighton with Cook. McCauley soon became a much in demand remixer, working for the likes of James Brown, Roxanne Shante, Was Not Was, and Digital Underground. Not long after, McCauley was out on tour with the She Rockers, Bomb The Bass in Europe, and Norman Cook’s Beat’s International in Africa.

Seven years later, McCauley set off on a vinyl path of his own. In 1990 McCauley met Simon Rogers, a highly versatile musician and producer. Like McCauley, Rogers had a long list of credentials. During the years of 1984-1987, Rogers was a member of Mark E. Smith’s The Fall where he played guitar and keyboards. After touring America and Europe with The Fall, Rogers produced their 1987 LP The Frenz Experiment. Rogers has co-produced the Lighting Seeds last three albums and collaborated with Boy George on Generations of Love.

McCauley and Rogers decided to join forces and formed Ramp in 1990. Ramp had great success with Rock the Discotek which became an American rave classic and Stomp on the Loaded Label. Ramp remixed tracks for D:Ream, Grace Jones, Sister Sledge, Armand Van Helden, Strike, Yazz and Boy George.

Simon’s production work with the Lighting Seeds often led him to be detained in a Liverpool studio for months on end and soon McCauley found himself with ideas bursting forth and plenty of time on his hands. So, McCauley coined the moniker Slacker and the tracks came thick and fast. First came Feel Space and Jukebox In The Sky, then Flying, Baby, all three became critically acclaimed underground club hits. McCauley’s fourth single Scared was a powerful, atmospheric house groove with a highly effective sample from Peter Gabriel. This track not only captured the mood perfectly but also generated a huge buzz even though for five months only one copy existed, in the capable hands of Sasha.

In 1997, Simon decided to bring his production skills to the Slacker camp and Slacker re-released Scared and followed with the single Your Face. Both tracks were released on the XL label and became Top 40 hits in the UK. Slacker also did several remixes including Ascension Someone, T-Era El Tren, Prodigy Smack My Bitch Up and Locust No One In The World. Slacker continued their success with an extensive tour in the UK and Europe, where they had a breakthrough performance at Creamfields in 1998.

In 1999, Slacker launched the record label Juke Box in the Sky and released the first single Psychout Thing. Slacker’s first US live performance was at the 1999 Winter Music Conference where Slacker showcased their back catalog of progressive house anthems with vocal samples, slamming beats, and McCauley’s classic scratching skills. Recently, Slacker remixed the Golden Girls Kinetic and Jark Prongo Movin Through Your System and are currently in the studio with Hybrid.