Simon Dunmore's music career began with the spinning of soul and funk tunes at his local bar in west London, back in 1982. Taking it to the streets, he moved on to promote his own rare soul and groove nights, simultaneously working behind the counter at the Record & Disco Centre in Rayners Lane.
In December '89, Simon joined Cooltempo Records - the much respected Chrysalis dance imprint. In his five-year tenure there, he signed tracks from artists including Juliet Roberts and Masters At Work; and promoted Adeva, Innocence, Arrested Development, Gangstar and Shara Nelson. He also did some remixes of his own, under the guise of Touchdown.
In '95 Dunmore moved to A&M's pioneering AM:PM imprint. Four very successful years on, and it was the takeover of AM:PM that fed Dunmore's determination to set up his own independent label. Having had a 10-year education with the majors, he thought it was time he did something for himself...
Defected Records opened its doors on 1st January 1999, and in five short years has become such an institution, that releases on other labels now get described as 'Defected style vocal house'.
Although best known and much respected for his talent-spotting genius, Simon Dunmore remains an authority behind the decks. As a DJ he is a Southport veteran - having been in the mix there for the past 15 years, and also appears regularly across the UK and Europe.
As part of Defected's Eivissia 05 Album tour Simon will be playing in Grand Cafe '01 in Osaka on the 17th June and Air Tokyo on the 18th June.
www.defected.co.uk
