For over three decades, Nick Warren has long been more than his mixes and cuts. From his Bristol roots to iconic mix compilations, label stewardship, and now his debut solo album ‘Turbulence’, his path is one of evolution, consistency, and depth. If electronic music had a lifetime achievement badge, Warren would have earned it many times over. Yet, with ‘Turbulence’, he adds not just another accolade, but an intensely personal chapter in a story several decades in the making.
Born in 1968, Warren came of age during a moment of musical crosscurrents. Growing up in Bristol in the 1980s, he soaked in the city’s blend of reggae, dub, hip-hop, electronic experimentation, and early rave culture. By the late ’80s, Warren was DJing locally, spinning reggae and indie before house and club sounds took prominence.
Warren’s musical seeds were sown early. He was buying vinyl since he was 12, always choosing records over toys. In a 2022 exclusive interview with Electronic Groove, he reflected: “I was an avid collector of vinyl from around the age of twelve, always spending my money on records instead of toys. My father also had some very cool records and introduced me to electronic pioneers like Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream.”
As Warren matured, so too did his roles. He co-founded Way Out West with Jody Wisternoff, producing melodic progressive house that hit both the heart and clubs. His meeting with Wisternoff (while Warren worked in a record store) led to their early collaborations as Sub-Version 3 and Echo. By the early to mid-1990s, Way Out West had become the main vehicle for their sound: melodic, atmospheric, combining vocals, strong songwriting, lush production, and dancefloor sensibilities. Singles like ‘Ajare’ and ‘The Gift’ crossed over beyond underground clubs, charting, and becoming long-lasting favorites.
Simultaneously, Warren embarked on a series of mix albums, particularly the Global Underground series, allowing him room to tell bigger stories: city-moods, journeys through sound, moments of weight and space. These mixes became benchmarks for progressive house, while his residency at Cream and his tours around the world reinforced his reputation.
As his DJ and mix career expanded, Warren also leaned into curation. Through his and partner Petra Niiranen’s efforts, The Soundgarden became both a label name, a compilation brand, and a global event series. He built frameworks that allowed not just his music but also other artists’ expression to thrive. Nick often talks about playing what moves him, and what might move others, erasing boundaries between underground and mainstream where possible.
It would be easy, by now, for an artist of Warren’s age and stature to coast, but he doesn’t. His sets remain events. Whether in Buenos Aires, Miami, or during his long recurring The Soundgarden showcases, Warren brings atmosphere, pacing, selection, and surprise. Even his work off the stage, curating lineups, selecting unreleased or lesser-known tracks, balancing club energy with emotional meaning, is part of what makes Warren stand out.
And now ‘Turbulence’. After decades, Warren steps forward not just as a DJ or collaborator, but author of his own full album under his name. The record is rich with everything he’s learned: pacing, atmosphere, the arc of energy, the grip of melody, the breathing space between beats. Weaving the threads of his career, ‘Turbulence’ doesn’t attempt reinvention so much as revelation. It reveals the parts of Warren that perhaps most longed to speak for themselves: the ambient textures, the emotional undercurrents, the sense of listening inward as much as outward.
‘Turbulence’ rests on all he’s built: the vinyl crates, the global tours, the mix compilations, the collector’s sensibility, the curator’s eye. But with this album, Warren stages a careful assertion: this is him, fully, as a solo artist, not first & foremost a DJ of others’ tracks, but a creator with something personal to say. “To be honest, I tend to just follow my own instinct when producing music; it’s almost a selfish mindset where I really do not care if anyone else likes it. The ideas that either fail or win, you have to be artistic in your thoughts,” he recently explained to EG.
Nick Warren’s career has always been about continuity rather than rupture. The journey from early Bristol DJ to Way Out West, touring with Massive Attack, mix albums, and curating events does not end. It evolves. ‘Turbulence’ is simply its latest form: a distillation, a testimony, a solo voice arising out of many roles.
Warren’s story teaches that music isn’t just about peaks. Not the loudest track, the biggest roster, or the flashiest moment, but about how you carry your past forward, how you allow your taste to mature, how you build frameworks for others while being honest about your own expression.
In ‘Turbulence’, we hear an artist who has lived many musical lives—selector, collector, curator, collaborator—and finally lets every part of that converge into a statement under his name. It’s not just what he does now. It’s the accumulation of everything he ever was, everything he made, and everything he continues to become.
Nick Warren’s ‘Turbulence’ is out now via The Soundgarden. Purchase your copy here.
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