Toxic Black

As a fanatical house music follower throughout a continually changing scene dating back to the late eighties DJ and producer Gary Wood has a grasp of the industry that knows no bounds.

From the very awakenings of the dance music era, through going out to underground warehouse parties across London, the likes of Mr C, Eddie Richards, Terry Francis and Bushwacka inspired many of Gary’s choices as a consumer, a house night promoter and profound artist from there on in.
Having already discovered a passion for synthetic sounds through his electro influences of the eighties including Kraftwerk and D?p?che Mode, and after dancing and partying his way through most of the nineties, by the time 2000 came it was time for Gary to do some musical manipulation of his own.

After building up a substantial collection of vinyl Gary was glued to his first set of 1210’s and he landed his first booking in 2001. Within a year Gary had won Best DJ in a Radio 1 competition hosted by Pete Tong and Mr C, earning him a slot at ‘Sub Terrain’ at The End nightclub, a massive achievement and honour, playing alongside his greatest.

The contemporary tempo combined with the authentic acid sounds of Gary’s sets began to land him gigs at reputable underground events across the south, including The Egg, Ministry of Sound and Mr C’s spin off show Superfreq in Southampton. In 2004 Gary decided he wanted to bring his kind of music closer to home and set up his own night in Portsmouth, named after god of mischief, Loki - his artistic alter ego. The monthly night was graced by the likes of Nathan Coles, Terry Francis and some of Portsmouth’s finest Dave Spoon, Dave Robertson and Tim Cook to name a few.

But now Gary’s attention turns increasingly towards his production skills and more importantly his creative urges. Having completed a BA (Honours) Degree in Creative Music Production at the Academy of Contemporary Music Guilford, Gary’s studio ability and technical know-how are second to none. Being nothing short of an equipment junkie, Gary now dedicates all his spare time to his state of the art studio, fine-tuning tracks such as quirky classic ‘Too deep’ out on Endemic Digital, or interpreting other artists’ tracks like his remix of Greg Mak’s ‘Liquid Memories’.

Toxic Black as he is artistically recognised aptly reflects Gary’s extremities as a producer. Characteristically his music encapsulates a mixture of sharp techy beats embedded in dark undertones with a distinctly twisted energy throughout, echoing that revolutionary acid house scene where artistically, Gary was born.