Ethan Fawkes

ETHAN FAWKES

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GRUNGE ROCK DJ MIX 

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Review By: SAM LOUGHLAN

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Giving Heads Up North Manchester readers a little bit of something different today as we’re reviewing a DJ set. Now this is the first mix we have reviewed so we hope it’s to your tastes. Before you sit down to read this, grab yourself a cup of coffee and a fag and prepare to have your ears opened to the immense sounds of Grunge that have been hand-picked by DJ Ethan Fawkes…

 

Ethan Fawkes is an old-school rave techno and EBM DJ producer, based in Tilff, Belgium. He’s known for his charismatic presence and combat ready style on stage, comfortably playing anywhere from raves to clubs or shows and festival stages with his signature sound which is a masterclass in unmistakably powerful and personal tracks. His unique vision and tireless work ethic are evidenced by a growing catalogue of original EPs, LPs and remixes for top international labels, winning the respect of his peers, the adoration of fans, and the full attention of DJs and dance floors worldwide.

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Growing up in the 80's and 90’s, his passion for music starts at 10 years old with New beat, EBM followed by Belgian Techno. Over the next few years he loved listening to grunge and metal bands like Nirvana and Sepultura. This inspired him to learn the guitar. He then got engulfed into 90’s rave, techno, EBM, electro, acidcore, industrial and dark ambient music which ultimately led him to accumulate hardware to fuel this new electronic fire within.

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Inspired by these sounds and from the huge influence of his favourite artists like The Horrorist, Al Ferox, Nitzer Ebb, Apotheosis (Luke Riga), T99, Quadrophonia and Mark Archer (Altern 8), he started DJing around 1995 and eventually creating his own brand of menace in 2001.

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In 2022 Ethan released an EP in collaboration with Jean Bruce on Tripalium Rave Series and one in collaboration with Dreadfool on Nu Body Records, and in 2023 a remix ep of his hit "Belgium Is Back" on N9 Multimedia Lab.

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Since Ethan has always had a great passion for rock, he started his podcast Grunge Rock Mix which takes place 3 times a year.

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Super excited about this one so lets get stuck in…

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So the mix I’m going to concentrate on for this piece is the third grunge mix by this amazing mixing artist, available to listen to here àListen to Ethan Fawkes - Grunge Rock Mix 003 by Ethan Fawkes in Ethan Fawkes - Grunge Rock Mixes playlist online for free on SoundCloud I personally chose this one as when I looked at the track listings one particular song jumped out at me as it is one of my all-time favourite rock tracks.

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The mix comprises of 17 sensational tunes beginning with ‘Smallest One’, from the Indie Rock band Packs, and finishing with ‘Sucker Punch’, from the high-energy Rock band Tear Down the Sun. It’s great when a set covers a multitude of genres, even within a similar range, as it widens the audience boundaries. This in turn gets more listeners. Win, win!

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Each track leads into the next flawlessly, and although it would have been nice to hear the voice of Ethan Fawkes himself maybe introducing or commenting on the occasional track, this fifty-two minute and thirty-six second compilation really does pack a punch. I especially enjoyed how he placed my favourite track ‘Would’ by Alice in Chains back-to-back with ‘TimeTheif’ by Frogpond. These two tracks are in complete contrast to one another varying in tempo as well as energy. Tunes that make you want to hit the dancefloor, possibly a great set to have been played in the Fishbowl in Jillys Rock World on a Friday night.

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This set really does have it all. Bouncy head-bopping tracks to slower darker grunge melodies. It’s important to keep things exciting for the listeners and Ethan seems to know what the people of the alt scene want when it comes to classic grunge rock tracks.

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Pleasure working with you Mr Fawkes, and we can’t wait to see what you compilations you come up with next!