Mike Di Scala
Encyclopedia
Mike Di Scala also known as Re-Con, is a British
electronic
musician, record producer
, disc jockey
and singer-songwriter
from Liverpool
, England
. Di Scala began producing records as Re-Con in the late 1990s and he first emerged as the producer of English dance group Rezonance Q
(also known as BCD Project) and was also the vocalist of Ultrabeat
who had a No. 2 hit with "Pretty Green Eyes
" in 2003.
He has produced numerous records of various genres of dance music including hardcore dance, house
and electro and uses several aliases such as Re-Con, Rezonance Q and Pawn Shop. He is also well known for his work with Dave Whelan as the duo Whelan & Di Scala and he has also collaborated with many other artists such as Darren Styles
and Hixxy
.
Mike Di Scala is usually the vocalist for his own Ultrabeat and Re-Con tracks but has also sung for other artists such as Hypasonic and WAVE. Mike will perform sometimes Live PAs of his songs when DJ'ing or when he is touring with Ultrabeat.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
electronic
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
musician, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Di Scala began producing records as Re-Con in the late 1990s and he first emerged as the producer of English dance group Rezonance Q
Rezonance Q
Rezonance Q are an English electronic group from Liverpool, England formed by producers Mike Di Scala, Lee Butler and Les Calvert...
(also known as BCD Project) and was also the vocalist of Ultrabeat
Ultrabeat (English band)
Ultrabeat are an English electronic music group from Liverpool, England consisting of producer and vocalist Mike Di Scala and producers Ian Redman and Chris Henry. Formed in 2002, Ultrabeat first emerged with their single "Pretty Green Eyes" which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart...
who had a No. 2 hit with "Pretty Green Eyes
Pretty Green Eyes
"Pretty Green Eyes" is a song originally written and recorded by Force & Styles featuring Junior. A remixed version appeared on their debut album All Over the UK and the song was released as a 12-inch single in 1997. The song achieved mainstream popularity in 2003 when it was covered by Ultrabeat...
" in 2003.
He has produced numerous records of various genres of dance music including hardcore dance, house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
and electro and uses several aliases such as Re-Con, Rezonance Q and Pawn Shop. He is also well known for his work with Dave Whelan as the duo Whelan & Di Scala and he has also collaborated with many other artists such as Darren Styles
Darren Styles
Darren James Mew , better known as Darren Styles, is a British record producer, disc jockey and singer-songwriter from Colchester, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & The Evolution, Darren found success during the 1990s as one half of Force & Styles...
and Hixxy
Hixxy
Hixxy or DJ Hixxy, born Ian Hicks, is a British UK Hardcore and previously happy hardcore DJ and musician from Portsmouth, England....
.
Re-Con
Mike has also launched a successful career as a hardcore DJ and producer using the alias of Re-Con. As Re-Con, Di Scala has worked with some of the other big names in hardcore and dance music, such as Darren Styles, Hixxy, Mark Breeze, Alex K and Squad-E.Rezonance Q/BCD Project
Di Scala's early career was as a disc jockey in Liverpool's nightclubs and as a studio engineer for other producers. His first productions were mainly "scouse house" and in 2001 he started his own record label, BCD Records, with his studio partners Lee Butler and Les Calvert. Butler, Calvert and Di Scala produced and released many "scouse house" records and bootlegs on this label using many different aliases such as Rezonance Q, One Long Sausage, Sumo and Uproar. In 2002, Mike started getting his productions signed and remix work for big dance record labels (as Rezonance Q and BCD Project). In 2003 his first commercial single, "Someday", was released as Rezonance Q and this charted in the top thirty of the UK Singles Chart. He also started producing with Chris Henry and Ian Redman as Ultrabeat. BCD Records continued to release 12" records until 2006.Ultrabeat
The success of Rezonance Q led to the record label releasing his Ultrabeat record "Pretty Green Eyes", which became a smash hit at #2 in the charts. Following this, Ultrabeat released other successful singles "Feelin' Fine" and "Better Than Life".Whelan & Di Scala
Mike continued producing "scouse house" and commercial dance as Rezonance Q, BCD Project and Ultrabeat et cetera, but began producing more funky house and electro styles of dance with Dave Whelan, using aliases such as Adhesive, The Chosen Few and Whelan & Di Scala.Solo career
Mike's DJing career takes him the length and breadth off the UK, DJing in all the major clubs in the country playing under the names of Ultrabeat/Re-con and Mike Di Scala. Mike is also regarded as an international DJ, touring Australia twice, with various gigs in America and not forgetting Ibiza, Majorca and the rest of Europe.Mike Di Scala is usually the vocalist for his own Ultrabeat and Re-Con tracks but has also sung for other artists such as Hypasonic and WAVE. Mike will perform sometimes Live PAs of his songs when DJ'ing or when he is touring with Ultrabeat.
Solo discography
Albums
DJ mixes (as Re-Con)- Harcore Til I Die 2 (2004)
- Bonkers 15: Legends of the CoreBonkers 15: Legends of the CoreBonkers 15: Legends of the Core is the fifteenth set in the Bonkers series of happy hardcore compilation albums, which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time...
(2005) - Bonkers 16: Maximum Hardcore Energy!Bonkers 16: Maximum Hardcore Energy!Bonkers 16: Maximum Hardcore Energy! is the sixteenth set in the Bonkers series of happy hardcore compilation albums, which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time. It is the second set in the series to feature multiple DJs on each disc...
(2006) - Best of BonkersBest of BonkersBest of Bonkers is the first "best of" set in the Bonkers series of happy hardcore compilation albums, which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time...
(2007) - Hardcore Til I Die (2008)
- Hardcore Til I Die 2 (2009)
- Hardcore Til I Die 3 (2010)
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||||||||||||
| 2003 | "So Emotional So Emotional "So Emotional" is a song recorded by American pop/ R&B singer Whitney Houston. The song was the third single from her second album Whitney, and was released on November 12, 1987.... " (as Masta Blasta UK) |
161 | |||||||||||
| "Don't You Want Me Don't You Want Me (Jody Watley song) "Don't You Want Me" is the third single from singer Jody Watley's eponymous debut album. The song was produced by Bernard Edwards of Chic-fame.... " (as Masta Blasta UK) |
197 | ||||||||||||
| 2004 | "Like a Dream Like a Prayer (song) "Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna on her fourth studio album of the same name . It was released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records as the album's lead single... " (as Maximum Hustler) |
175 | |||||||||||
| 2006 | "Shot Away Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling... " (as Pawn Shop) |
100 | |||||||||||
| 2007 | "Turn My Life Around" | — | |||||||||||
| 2008 | "Space & Time" (with Colin Airey) | — | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Aliases and groups
- 3 Amigos
- Adhesive
- Agent X
- Bag of McCoys
- The Bassline Hustlers
- BCD Project
- CamelPhat
- The Chosen Few
- Clear Vu
- Da Mode
- Da Revolution
- Das Cockster
- Dino
- Finally Out
- Footwork
- Hardknox
- Hi-Flyerz
- High Society
- Holdon
- The Jetson
- King of Clubs
- M&C Project
- Mancini
- Masta Blasta UK
- Maximum Hustler
- Men from Mars
- O-Leta
- One Long Sausage
- Overdose
- Pawn Shop
- Re-Con
- Rezonance QRezonance QRezonance Q are an English electronic group from Liverpool, England formed by producers Mike Di Scala, Lee Butler and Les Calvert...
- Sax on the Beats
- Shake n' Jack
- Sumo
- The Tranceriffs
- UltrabeatUltrabeat (English band)Ultrabeat are an English electronic music group from Liverpool, England consisting of producer and vocalist Mike Di Scala and producers Ian Redman and Chris Henry. Formed in 2002, Ultrabeat first emerged with their single "Pretty Green Eyes" which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart...
- Uproar
- Well Hung
- Wheels & Disco
- Whelan & Di Scala