TRUE HOUSE STORIES WITH FARLEY & HELLER INTERVIEW BY LENNY FONTANA PODCAST 025 (PART 2)
Respected UK dance music producers and remixers, Terry Farley and Pete Heller initially found success in the UK in the early 90s. Londoner Terry Farley was a fan of Studio One reggae and ska before becoming involved with the London soul club scene during the 80s.
Pete Heller grew up on the south coast of England and began his musical career by Djing in a Brighton discotheque, playing disco, hip-hop and house. After playing warm-up sets for Danny Rampling, Heller and Andrew Weatherall formed the Boy’s Own collective, running a fanzine, Boy’s Own club nights and eventually a record label - Junior Boy’s Own.
Farley and Heller’s initial productions as a team with Hugo Nicholson were released as Bocca Juniors. Since then, they have remixed for many artists including Michael Jackson, Jamiroquai, Sunscreem, K-Klass, Simply Red, New Order, U2, Janet Jackson, Boy George, and the Pet Shop Boys.
Their own productions have appeared under the name Fire Island and have been hugely popular on the club scene. As Fire Island, they covered Machine’s 1979 classic ‘There But For The Grace Of God’.
Their 1997 recording ‘Ultra Flava’ was a huge hit in European clubs and Ibiza and eventually became a UK Top 40 hit when the vocals of Ultra Naté were added.
In 1999, Heller’s track ‘Big Love’ was signed to Pete Tong’s London Records and quickly became ubiquitous on European dancefloors (especially those in Ibiza) before entering the UK charts at number 12.
Building on their reputation as excellent club DJs, they also mixed Late Night Sessions for the Ministry