
“Nobody on planet Earth is more passionate about dance music than Dave. Every ounce of his unique sense of play, indomitable spirit and total immersion in the genres of dance have gone into this album. Yes, it’s a masterpiece as it had to be, and we’re beyond delighted to bring it out on Jack Said What.” – Irvine Welsh
2025 will see Dave Beer release his debut album under his own name, preceded by a number of top-notch singles. First up comes ‘For The Beloved’, which features some amazing soulful vocals from Chicago house music legend Robert Owens, recorded when he stayed over in Leeds.
“‘For The Beloved’ is dedicated to all of my beloved and anyone who’s ever felt the love that comes from the dancefloor and behind the decks of Back To Basics,” Dave says. “It’s dedicated to those who you truly treasure and who you have real gratitude for for having them in your lives, and friends and family that make you feel blessed. Thank you, I love you.”
‘For The Beloved’ is the first single from Dave’s forthcoming album, ‘What Goes Around’, and is being followed by some remixes by none other than US House god Todd Terry, a Back To Basics regular over the years.
“I’m at my happiest when I’m making music, and it feels right to be getting this collection out now — the first music I’ve ever released under my own name,” Dave says. “For me, it’s essential that you make music from the heart, for the love of making music and people getting together.”
‘For The Beloved’ in its various iterations is a fine way to kick off the 2025 album campaign from a bona fide legend in the game.
A teenage punk rocker, Dave Beer began following The Clash and The Cure around until he fell into jobs as roadie and tour manager for various 80s indie bands. When acid house arrived in the late 1980s, Dave threw himself head-first into the movement and at the turn of the 90s started a club night with best friend Alistair Cook in their home city of Leeds in the north of England. With its punk rock attitude, Back To Basics was an instant success. Tragically, Alistair was killed in a car crash in March 1993 but Dave decided to carry the club night forwards in his great pal’s memory.
It was the friendly, community feeling and hedonistic aesthetic that made Basics one of the success stories of the 1990s. Musically, the award-winning nights were on-point: they gave UK debuts to US DJs such as Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter and Francois K, early opportunities to Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, and helped nurture resident DJs such as Ralph Lawson, Denney, Paul Woolford, Tristan Da Cunha, James Holroyd, Huggy and Burnski. At the centre of the dancefloor madness was Dave Beer — the life and soul of the party, always thinking of others before himself.
Hosting a long-running party is a talent in itself. What a lot of people haven’t realised is that Dave also became a great DJ himself, an artist (the edgy Basics flyers were all his own work), a surrealist painter of some repute, and has dabbled in producing music himself over the years — releasing tracks under a number of different pseudonyms like The God Squad, Out Of Order, and, more recently, The Blessed. He also remixed giants such as David Bowie and the Rolling Stones over the years, as well as Afrika Bambaataa and Manchester indie band Intastella.
As Back To Basics’s 33rd birthday approached, Dave was diagnosed with cancer. While the cancer was cut out during an operation in early November, Dave had to be taken to intensive care to have a blood transfusion, but he ultimately rallied — it’s not the first time he’s dealt so closely with death. Now recuperated, it’s time to refocus on his music, putting himself squarely in the limelight to receive the plaudits he so heartily deserves.
As he convalesced in the hospital, Dave was truly moved by the literally thousands of well-wishers who sent him messages. “I’ve been blown away by the love, and empowered by it,” he says. “This is the real me now. It’s a new chapter, I’ve been feeling enlightened by it all. I’m a different person now — stripped bare, it’s the true me. As my new monk friend says: ’It’s only when the tide goes out that people can see you’re swimming naked.’
Without the mask of intoxication, Dave is relishing this new chapter of his eventful life. “It’s taken all this time for me to escape being the prisoner of my own identity,” he says. “It’s hard to be taken seriously with my music, but I think the tunes speak for themselves. The album is honest in its innocence.”
Jack Said What co-founder Irvine Welsh has known Dave since the 90s, while other JSW cohorts Steve Mac and Carl Loben have also had long associations with the Basics man. When Dave said he wanted to send his album over, it was received at JSW HQ with some trepidation — in case it wasn’t up to scratch — but the guys needn’t have worried. The album is called ‘What Goes Around’, and a nice circular element to the relationship came when Jack Said What and Back To Basics jointly hosted a takeover of the main dance tent at Mucky Weekender in September 2024. Marshall Jefferson headlined, while Dave, Ralph Lawson and the whole JSW crew made it a night to remember.
And now for the music. The first single ‘For The Beloved’ has several iterations and, a few weeks later, will be followed by several remixes by house music pioneer Todd Terry. It’s a corking first package, a fine way to kick off a priority album campaign for 2025.
One of dance music’s true characters, and a fighter, this music by Dave Beer demands to be heard. Proper underground house music with an acid house attitude, Jack Said What is delighted to welcome another legend into the fold.
Stream / Download new single here
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