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SOTO is the combined talents of Sonia Akow and
Toby Edwards. They have been Dj’ing for about
8 years .Their musical style can be described
as electro house, breaks fusion with an emphasis
on MUSICALITY.
As
well as producing breaksey, housey electro bits
for Botchit, Toby is currently working on a new
project “Delempika” that Wall of Sound
are involved with. This project can be described
as a more poppy, electro project. Watch this space…
Toby also works at Fuel Recordings (home of Tipper
etc.)
Sonia is a label manager at the UK’s leading
breaks label Botchit & Scarper records, working
in A&R, and together with Toby, writes record
reviews in the Breaks / Leftfield sections of
Update, ATM and 3D World in Australia.
Toby
has managed Headroom Studios alongside Nick Noize,
(Lawgiverz), and continues to write music for
museums, TV, web-sites and commercials, as well
as fulfilling his SOTO recording commitments.
Summer 2002 saw him supplying the music and sound
designs for Urbis, a 30 million pound interactive
museum for the modern age.
SOTO
have
provided breaks to the drum n’ bass fraternity
at Movement. They hold residencies at 'Crash Position'
at Plan B and 'Herbalism' at Herbal, which has
seen them play along side heavyweight breakbeaters
such as Freq Nasty, B.L.I.M., Rennie Pilgrem,
Ills, Tayo, Hyper, Dj Rap, Future Funk Squad,
2 Sinners, Terminalhead and DeeKline.
The
Summer of 2001 & 2002 saw them undertaking
2 World Tours to promote their releases, such
as “Hold On”, which saw them work with
T-Power and Freq Nasty’s vocalist, Amaziree.
Sonia and Toby played gigs on both coasts in the
States, Canada and Hawaii and had sell-out gigs
all over Australia, returning via Malaysia, Germany
and Italy.
They have appeared on “Mix Masters”
on ITV, a programme dedicated to showcasing UK
labels, artists and DJ’s. The programme features
their live mix and interview with the duo.They
have also featured in magazine articles in the
States, Asia and Australia.
April
2002 saw them mix “Urban Funk Breaks 3”
on Botchit and Scarper. Their
most recent 12” “Hootenanny” (an
electro house breaks cross-over track) is a firm
favourite with Damian Harris (Skint), Freddy Fresh,
Rennie Pilgrem, B.L.I.M., Freq Nasty, Aquasky
Vs MasterBlaster, Chad Jackson, Will Saul, Evil
9, and Lawgiverz and has been licenced to “Breaks
03” mixed by Kid Kenobi on Ministry of Sound
(Australia)
Reactions
on “Hootenanny” –
“I’m
a big supporter. Nice to hear something pushing
the boundaries and crossing the genres” –
Rennie Pilgrem
“The
best track I have heard from Botchit since I can
remember!” – Adam Freeland
“Got
the record, really, really like it… one of
those tracks that bridges styles perfectly, I
will tell all my electro friends… yes, nice
one, thanks” – Damian Harris (Skint)
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