The rise and rise of Jaguar Skills has been well documented. Honing his craft and love of music for the last 20 years Jag has remained true to his school and kept a mysterious edge to his character; with details of his real name, age and home town etc..
One thing is known though. He has been responsible for some of the most exciting musical projects of the past few years. Largely centered around producing stunning mixes comprises his personal unique edits and mash-ups, Jag has caught the ear and worked with the likes of fashion label Maharishi, fashionista Jade Jagger, Urban Outfitters, Carling Zest, Renault Clio, and of course BBC Radio 1. His relationship with the public service broadcaster started with a weekly 10 Minute Mash Up Mix for the Trevor Nelson Show which ran for several years. This led to him turning in his now legendary mixtape “1979-2006: A Hip-Hop Odyssey – 800 Tracks In 45 Minutes” which was downloaded over a MILLION times. Follwing this Jag also turned in his ‘History of DnB mix’ and also a ‘History of Ayia Napa’ Mix for the station, such was the demand for his mixing prowess.
Unsurprisingly respected labels eventually came knocking. 2011 saw him release his first major compilation album on Toolroom Records. The ‘Toolroom Knights Mixed by Jaguar Skills’ CD, received widespread critical acclaim and cemented his place as ‘King of the Mash-ups’. To round-off that fantastic year, Jaguar Skills was featured in The Red Pages ‘Top 100 people to watch in 2012’ and was also given the accolade of being asked to produce a series of one-off mixes for Radio 1 to celebrate 25 years of Pete Tong and the Essential Selection.
Numerous sell out UK tours along with tours in North America and Australia bridged the gap before his second compilation on Ministry Of Sound, titled ‘Jaguar Skills And His Amazing Friends Vol 2’. Quencing his thirst for gaming and technology also meant the release of the ‘Jaguar Skills & His Amazing Friends Vol 2 Game’ which was available via facebook and across all tablet and mobile devices.
Jaguar Skills has consistently been a regular festival feature, having forged lasting relationships with a number of high profile events across the planet. As ever Jag continued to push boundaries on stage, and as such in 2013 introduced an impressive new ‘live’ show which comprised visually stunning graphics and immense interactive stage props that have enhanced Jag’s live show experience.
The end of 2013 saw an exciting new development as Jaguar Skills was unveiled as one of the newest DJs to sign to Global, with his first ever “Jaguar Skills Shooooow” launching on Capital XTRA on Friday’s at 6pm on Capital Extra during the ‘MOS Clubbers Guide’, before airing again on Capital FM at 10pm, Saturday.
April 2014 witnessed Jaguar Skills release a special one-off project with him moving away from his normal genre-defying style and embracing his Hip-Hop roots, as he breathed fresh life into legendary US label, Nervous Records classic Hip-Hop back catalogue. The compilation features 65 tracks, remixes and acappellas from Nervous’ unparalleled Hip-Hop catalogue from pioneering artists such as KRS-One, Black Moon, Mad Lion, Funkmaster Flex, Smif-N-Wessun, and more. Notably, Jaguar Skills has painstakingly reconstructed and remixed every track that features on the compilation from the original Nervous 24 track master tapes, using the same raw production techniques so as to stay true to the classic versions.
Naturally this piqued interest among Hip Hop circles, and led to Def-Jam coming knocking requesting the mix-master’s skills for their own catalogue. His “30 Years of Def Jam” saw him mix material from the likes of Jay-Z, Redman, Kanye West, 2Chainz, Nas, Ludacris, DMX, The Roots and many more household names.
2014 also saw Jag continue further down the path to producer with an EP with Chords on Andy C’s legendary RAM Records. Titled “Lust” and released in October, the released featured the vocal talents of Matti Roots, the release to specialist radio by storm. To compliment the release, the original ninja also turned in a ’60 minutes of RAM’ that premiered on MistaJam’s 1Xtra show, and was later available as a free download. Featuring only music from the revered imprint’s canaverous back catalogue, the repertoire got the full Jaguar Skills workout.
Amazingly, Jag also found time to sell out three (yep three) KOKO shows in London, whilst also playing a host of leading festivals.
2015 sees Jaguar Skills develop his burgeoning relationship with dance music monoliths Prodigy. Following supporting them at Ushuaia in 2014, Liam and co have asked him to turn in an official remix for ‘Roadblox’ which will be the fourth single from their new album.
As ever Jag is back on the festival circuit with gigs at Parklife, Glastonbury, Bestival, Common People, SW4, Shakedown and Leeds all confirmed. He will return to Amnesia in Ibiza, and will also return to Australia with dates in Sydney, Auckland, Perth and Sunshine Coast throughout October. In between all of these Jag will be locked in his secret lab working on more exciting productions.
So make sure you stay locked in with the rest of the Jaguar Skills army to hear an impending aural assault of every tempo; from house to drum n bass, and everything in-between.