DJ Bailey aka Michael Bailey was born and raised in the southern districts of London. He was drawn into the underground scene by the age of 11, and his passion for music began with hip-hop in the 1980s. Where he lived, everyone was involved in sound systems (Bailey later joined one), house parties and mixtapes recorded on reel-to-reel machines. Eventually, Bailey grew tired of overly gentle hip-hop and discovered something new and heavy — acid house — a culture that completely took hold of him and led him to the people of rave. Through acid house, Bailey became interested in hardcore, impressed by its breakbeat elements. And so, eventually, DJ Bailey came to embrace the culture of drum and bass.
Bailey soon landed a show on the local pirate station Energy FM. MC Flux brought him into the Intanatty crew, and at the invitation of Kemistry and Storm he became a resident at the Metalheadz Sunday sessions at the Blue Note club. Some time later, Bailey joined the renowned booking agency Groove Connection, which represented such stars as DJ Fabio, Grooverider, Jumpin’ Jack Frost, Bryan Gee, Storm and Calibre. The agency helped him travel to and play in places including South Africa, Japan, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America and all the major cities of Europe. In the United Kingdom, his list of bookings is just as impressive: his sets at One Nation, AWOL, Movement, Creamfields, Valve, Fabric Live, The End, Dreamscape, Slamming Vinyl repeatedly set dancefloors alight; in addition, his residencies at Metalheadz and Swerve must not go unmentioned.
Bailey’s persistence and intuition brought him to the presenter’s chair at BBC 1Xtra, where his show went out every Sunday from midnight to 2am.
In 2003, Bailey received the Best Radio Show award from the Knowledge Drumandbass Awards.
DJ Bailey has made remixes together with Roni Size and A Guy Called Gerald. In 2004, with the help of Dillinja, Bailey launched his own label, called Intasound.
DJ Bailey is rightly regarded as one of the best DJs in his field.
On 26 November 2005, DJ Bailey will appear as a guest at the All-Russian Drum&Bass Convention, which will take place at the Baltic House.
Source: Respect Family (respectfamily.com).
