MC Lethal - Profile part 3

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It was then that the telephone began to ring. Record deals were offered as the track was starting to blow up in the clubs and on radio. Labels such as Shut Up and Dance, Production House, Big Life, Perfecto and Network Records all called to sign the track. Mark Archer from Altern 8, who had become friendly with Lee through working together at Shelleys, suggested that Lee sign to Network as they were Midlands based and they'd done a great job for him. Lee, duly signed to Network and was advanced enough money from a couple of singles (Ravedigger & The Phantom) to buy some essential studio equipment as he was now very much considering record production as a serious option. Due to packaging and bar code errors it only managed to get to number 66 in the national charts but at eighteen years of age the exposure and income overrode it. 1993 was a transitional period as Lee started to move away from the music he had recorded as MC Lethal. He began to record house tracks under various pseudonyms with different session players, programmers and engineers and started up a couple of labels as output for his music. One of the promoters he had worked for in Manchester had obtained a slot, on a Sunday evening, on Signal Radio. This combined with their night being moved from Manchester to Newcastle under Lyme, would see New Dawn at the Gallery (now Metropolis). Lee dropped off some promos for the New Dawn DJs at Signal Radio and they asked him to go on air to advertise their club night and read some shout-outs. This would become a regular weekly instalment combined with an MCing/DJ slot at their club night. It was during this time that Lee moved away from the MC Lethal tag and started to DJ under the name of Lee Fredericks.

Baseroom in Shelton was in financial difficulties and because of Lee's contacts with Network Records negotiations began to take place for Network to use Baseroom as an in house studio which would eventually see them buy into it. Lee`s money through his own recordings was sporadic and needed remix work to provide a more stable income. His remix of 'This Time Baby' by Pandella really started to make things happen for him. Number 1 in numerous Club Charts saw it become a big record in clubland and spawned a steady stream of other remixes. This meant spending more and more time in the studio. Nic Britton had now moved his home based studio onto the middle floor of Baseroom under the name of MidiRoom. Standing in for Mike Bell, the head engineer at Baseroom for a session, Nic and Lee started working together again on a remix for Network and a long term partnership began.

Through a meeting of producer Grant Nelson via Lee's recordings and association with Network's ‘Dansa’ imprint he was introduced to Grant's label partner in ‘Nice ‘n’ Ripe’, George Power. Lee would start up the ‘Ruff Def’ label with him. An outlet for Lee's more underground U.S. styled tracks would see this label run for about 18 months with the inclusion of releases from some of Lee’s producer friends at the time, in particular Scott Latham who Lee saw as a real fresh and exciting producer to work with.

Lee who started to manage MidiRoom and a new label, Freebass Records, saw that Network were starting to have financial difficulties of their own and suggested that they move MidiRoom to new premises. At the end of 1995 MidiRoom relocated and Baseroom and Network Records folded. Lee and Nic concentrated on turning MidiRoom into the Midlands and North’s leading studio for trance and progressive house which was a speciality of Nic`s. Regular clients included Parks & Wilson, Tilt and Quivver. As the reputation of the studio grew, Sasha enthusiasts wanted to get into making tracks and desperate for that MidiRoom seal of quality, the opportunity was given and outfits such as Breeder and Tarrentella made their very first records at Midiroom. Various other big names to come to the studio included artists such as Paul Van Dyk and Grace. Lee and Nic`s own productions would be in many different styles under as many guises ranging from Killahurtz, Fred & Ginger, Outdare, The Son and Dirk Diggler to name a few. Remixing and producing for labels as diverse as Ministry of Sound, Fantazia (F1) Hooj Choons, Perfecto, BMG, Estereo, Loaded and Duty Free and their own in house label, Freebass Records, have seen Lee and Nic put out over a hundred records and remixes between them.

During this period Lee`s Djing gigs were much more sporadic as he had no residency but saw him DJ at one off gigs through his recording success and contacts. A Bank Holiday gig at the Ministry of Sound with Paul `Trouble` Anderson and a back room gig for Renaissance in Sheffield with Derek Dahlarge were the highlights amongst many university gigs and the Pure nights at The Place. In 1998 Lee had become quite bored with the club scene and along with long time friend and DJ, Oliver John, (who had previously done some scratching for Lee on his MC Lethal records), decided to put on a night at Satchmo`s in Hanley. Wanting to play a broad selection of music that house had borrowed from was a big part of the music policy and the way they played it was another of the night's unique features.

Reckless, has been the most successful Friday club night that Stoke has seen. Bringing the holy trinity of hip hop to Stoke, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash, amongst other hip hop and house legends have been some of the most talked about nights in Stoke that Lee and Oliver have organised. This has obviously seen Lee with his longest running residency to date that he constantly enthuses about. With the Reckless music policy being so broad there’s never a dull moment.

Under the umbrella of Sexafonic Records, Lee and another producer Richard Lane (of Clevland City Fame) started to record under various guises, the main one being Hi Fi Serious. Getting props from DJs as diverse as Fat Boy Slim, Felix Da Housecat, Roger Sanchez, Steve Lamaq and Pete Tong has seen Lee and Rich sign their Hi Fi Serious project to Gut Records. Still keeping their hand in with the more progressive side of things they have also been recording as Decepticons and Positano which has seen DJs such as Sasha championing their records and labels such as Strictly Rhythm releasing them.

After over thirteen years of recording and Sixteen of clubbing, Lee's enthusiasm for dance music is still as strong as ever. A varied path has seen him take in MCing, Djing, Record Producing/Remixing, Studio Managing, Running numerous Record Labels and Club Promoting so far. With Reckless going from strength to strength, the near future will see them putting on some of the biggest names in Hip Hop as well as entertaining their loyal regulars every Friday and Saturday.