Dark by Design

Around 1999: Gaz West was introduced to the world of Trance, Harddance and the joys of clubland. Gaz spent every weekend dancing his ass off of to the latest anthems and partying hard at the super clubs of the day such as Gatecrasher and Godskitchen. I wasn't long before Gaz had higher ambitions than being just a clubber and was trying his hand at producing his own music. Come 2002 his first 12" vinyl entitled 'Whacked' was released on a small independent label called 'Rated Records'. Dark by Design had been born, and after this there was no looking back!

It was not long before Gaz under the Dark by Design name found himself releasing a constant flow of fresh and groundbreaking Harddance & Hardtrance tracks on the biggest labels of the time such as Nukleuz, Goodgreef, Tranzlation and Tidy. Dark by Design soon took things one step further and making the obvious step of getting behind the decks and soon found his Dj Career kicking off at a rate of knots. DbD (Dark by Design) was new to the scene but his popularity and rise to the top was happening at a fantastic speed!

Dark By Design's booking schedule was soon out of hand with DbD smashing up dance floors up down the UK every weekend, with sets which unlike his peers, consisted of 100% his own original material! Dark by Design's live energetic performances meant reputation soon preceded him and bookings soon came in from all corners of the world. USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Sweden are all regular destinations for the man that is Dark by Design!

Along the way (circa 2007) Gaz further spread the Dark By Design brand with not one but two of his own labels "Dark By Design Recordings" and "DarkbyDesgn Breakthru" to keep up with the flow of high quality tracks coming from the DbD Studio. The labels have helped set the high standard in the Harddance scene of today.

Gaz has released dancefloor hit after hit with tracks such as 'Shrank & Tingz', 'Techno Terror', 'The Rotten Egg', 'Shut The Fuck Up', 'Insomniak' and 'Good Life'. Understandably Dark By Design became a popular choice of both the clubbers and his peers playing his tracks every weekend. Gaz soon found himself collaborating and remixing for the biggest names in Harddance the likes of Lisa Lashes, Alex Kidd, Amber D, Anne Savage, Organ Donors and Phil York.

Gaz's production skills and song writing abilities have also been recognized on countless occasions - not only often receiving national radio attention from Radio1 but of course gained recognition by picking up the accolade of "Best remixer" at the famous Harddance Awards a phenomenal five years in a row!

Today Dark By Design is undoubtedly one of the biggest producers and performers in the Global Harddance / Hardtrance scene.

Dark by Design's CV of festivals is also formidable, playing at some of the biggest and most prestigious festivals across the world. Previous bookings include such as Defqon1 Fesival, Dancevalley Festival, In Qontrol Festival, Qbase Festival, Ground Zero Festival, Coloursfest, Atomik Weekender, Parklife, Planet Love and Creamfields Festival.

Dark By Design's list of club appearances even longer, some notable mentions including the likes of Goodgreef, Hardhouse Academy, HTID, Infexious, Kiddfectious, Ministry Of Sound, Raverbaby, Slammin Vinyl and Tidy.

In 2011. After experimenting with some other sounds Dark By Design has taken a conscious decision to back to his routes. This year expect some phenomenal Hardtrance Anthems, More show stopping performances all over the globe, and a new artist album in a run up to DbD's 10 year anniversary "Decade in the Dark".