Loved the new DJH podcast with Fabio - priceless anecdote about playing in Italy
Rage and Speed are rightly viewed as being his key moments of influence and innovation - but as someone who came to dance music with dnb as an entry point he, and also Bryan Gee, were the two most high profile djs who championed the more interesting musical, soulful sounds while largely in my view dodging the tedious, nonsense āintelligentā tag. In the late 90s and early 00s when the darkest, tech sounds ruled, he was an absolute oasis.
I spent the summer after I left school in 2001 flyering outside clubs promoting Movement at Bar Rumba - the deal was you left the club an hour before close, but you got in free. Most of my fellow flyerers wanted to get into the big events like Slammin Vinyl at the Sanctuary, but I always made a bee line for Swerve at the Velvet Rooms on Charing Cross road - no lairy MC action and youād always get at least a couple of hours of Fabio playing such great stuff like early Marcus Intalex and Calibre in a tiny space. It was so different and refreshing, hearing someone play what felt like quite unique music in an unfussy, skilful way, rather than one hour sets where everyone bangs out the big tunes of the moment, double dropping tracks on top of one another, as was customary at the big raves. Such a huge and lasting influence - amazing dj.