Loading details…
Artist
James Ash
12+ albums
about
The Rogue Traders story begins in London, way back in 1989. That’s when James Ash and Steve Davis, via a mutual friend, found themselves working together on a rap track. “It was a terrible song but Steve and I hit it off straight away and became fast friends,” recalls James, laughing. “We also exchanged a lot of musical information because our tastes were so different. I was listening to European electronic music like Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre and Brian Eno, while Steve was into the blacker, more soulful side of music. So we influenced each other a lot and sort of met in the middle. We recognise each others’ strengths, and I think that’s the secret of the success of our partnership.” The strength of that partnership was put to the test when James moved to Melbourne in 1992. However, thanks to the regular exchange of tapes and computer files, not to mention racking up the frequent flyer points between the UK and Australia, the pair kept working together, releasing tracks under the name Union State and scoring international dancefloor hits with “Out To Get You” and “Retrosexual”. In the mean time, James had already hooked up with Australia’s foremost dance label, Vicious Vinyl (home to Madison Avenue, among others), releasing a track as Thunderchild in 1994. So when James and Steve decided to reinvent themselves as the Rogue Traders, Vicious Vinyl’s house music label Vicious Grooves was their first choice. The first product of this union is “Need You To Show Me”, a r
