Adrian Sherwood has been involved with music since the 1970s.
Adrian (born 1958 in London) is a record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing pop acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy.
He is co-founder of Carib Gems and Pressure Sounds, and founder of Hitrun Records as well as Green Tea Records and Soundboy Records. His most well-known label is On-U Sound Records. He is also the fourth member of industrial funk outfit, Tackhead, credited as "mixologist."
He describes his role as "I organise the bands and make them up, because a lot of them are studio bands before they become real bands, I produce the records, record the records and mix the records, and then I try and make sure our records are presented in a way that is suitable to me, that feels right with my own sensibilities."
In 1986 he began working Jamaican dub producer and singer Lee Perry. They produced the classic album "Time Boom X De Devil Dead" and Sherwood's support helped relaunch Perry's career.
He made contributions to the industrial genre in his remix of Einstürzende Neubauten's song Yü Gung, on the album Halber Mensch, as well as his production work with Ministry, Cabaret Voltaire, KMFDM and Nine Inch Nails. Adrian has also contributed to the blues, with his Little Axe project with Skip McDonald, producing his album on Real World Records “Champagne and Grits” in 2006.
In 2003, Adrian Sherwood released his first album as a solo artist, Never Trust a Hippie? which featured collaborations with various artists such as Sly & Robbie, Steven "Lenky" Marsden, Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie and Jazzwad.
In 2006 he released his second album Becoming A Cliché that again featuring numerous artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, the late Bim Sherman, Dennis Bovell, Little Roy, Lee 'LSK' Kenny, Samia Farah, Raiz and Mark Stewart. A limited 2-disc version was released simultaneously with the second disc titled "Dub Cliché".
On beginning a solo career, Sherwood stated, "I wanted to do some of my own writing and make something that was challenging for me...As a producer, it’s my job to satisfy the artist foremost. I wanted to make something that was a little more aggressive and modern. I wanted to paint a picture that was contemporary, one that specifically showed where my brain was at. I’ve got to the point in my life where it’s time for me to call all of the shots."
Most recently, Sherwood received notice for the original reggae score he created for the acclaimed 2006 independent film, Johnny Was starring Vinnie Jones, Roger Daltrey and Samantha Mumba.
On music, Adrian said, "Music is lovely because it stimulates people; superficial music doesn't. If you make something that you put your heart and soul into and really try to push it so it leaps out the fucking speakers at you, and if there's a good feel to it, then you've achieved something."
Impossible to create a representative selection, so here's a random one (tomorrow the pop stuff):
Doug Wimbish - Logdrum (Sherwood Remix)
The Unknown Cases - Masimbabele 89 (The Adrian Sherwood Remix)
Adrian Sherwood/Doug Wimbish - Karma Kola
