Reid Speed

Reid Speed began her DJ career in the New York City drum & bass underground. As a teenage raver full of passion for music she bought her turntables in early 1996 and began playing out less than a year later. Her early sets generated curiosity as one of few female DJs at the time but Reid quickly came to earn respect for her skills and wicked selection in the highly competitive NYC scene. By the summer of '97 she was a resident of rave promoters Stuck on Earth and the following year a member of the Direct Drive crew. At their numerous events she cut her teeth playing alongside the top names in US & UK drum & bass, 2 step and breaks. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2002, and now with partner Josh David she currently co-hosts "Breakdown" which is both a party and a radio show on ibreaks.co.uk every Monday from 6-8 PM PST. Breakdown the Party's guests have included Krafty Kuts, The Rogue Element, Deekline, Lee Coombs, Ctrl -Z & Screwface, Autobotz, NAPT, Aquasky, Baby Anne. Even in her early days, Reid was always ready for a good opportunity. She served as her college radio station's RPM director and was working at Breakbeat Science, the US's first exclusively drum & bass store. Capitalizing on their large and widespread customer base, her demos soon spread across the country, which led to her traveling the US, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Canada, and Mexico. She also visited England and developed a love for UK Garage/Speed Garage/ 2step which inspired her to promote her own events. In 1998 she distributed her first garage/2 step mix and in 2000, Reid, DB and 4.0 Marketing came together to do a successful series of events, including the first UK Garage showcase at the 2000 Winter Music Conference, with Deekline and Emma Feline headlining. By 1999 Reid had also begun working on original production, releasing "SIMPLOT" with FS on Jungle Sky, and in 2000 assisting Datcyde with a remix of NYC jungle anthem "Naughty Ride" featuring MC Blaise, which was released on Taciturn. 2001's saw the release of her debut mix cd, "Resonance", which yielded "Mr Fix It" with Ming & FS, and "Picture This" with DJ Seen. Then a remix of Le Tigre's "Dyke March" followed on Kill Rock Stars. In the spring of 2001, after thirteen self released mix tapes and one animated short movie for Showtime's Shonext channel, "Resonance" was released by Breakbeat Science. The mix garnered massive critical praise in publications like URB, Fader, Flaunt, and Paper, and was a commercially successful debut. In support of the release, a 40 date tour sponsored by Mixer magazine introduced her sound to an even wider audience. Immediately after wrapping that tour, Reid came home to NYC only to jump right on another tour, this time with Madhattan breakbeat kings Ming & FS. They did 28 dates in 30 days across America in an RV, like an indie band. Warming the crowd up for an average of 3 hours a night, Reid developed and fine tuned her now signature genre-blending style. After that month on the bus Reid was primed for a massive change. That's when she moved to Los Angeles, home of all things music- to take her career to the next level. She found a different audience on the West Coast, fans who embraced her love of breaks and house and welcomed her with open ears. She started Rude Sound, a party showcasing UK Garage and nu skool breaks. Then in the summer of 2003, Breakbeat Science came calling for their second mix, a stormer entitled "Life After Dark". Inspired by the terrible tragedy of 9/11 and the bureaucratic decline of the NYC scene, it was another classic for Ms. Speed. Yet another tour followed, supported by a number of full page ads and an extensive street marketing campaign with Triple 5 Soul, their "Define Your Soul" series with Jean Grae, Charlie Dark, and Peanut Butter Wolf. During that summer, Reid also recieved a call from a TV show looking for a special DJ to provide on-air flavor to the show. After competing against hundreds of male scratch/hip hop DJs, Reid was personally chosen by Jamie Kennedy to spin her own blend of drum & bass on his show, the Jamie Kennedy Experiment (WB). She went on to also appear as the DJ in an episode of Spike TV's MDN. 2005 saw Reid chosen to judge BPM Magazine & Rockstar Energy drink's "Beauty & the Beats" contest with Dj Rap and Colette. She and Colette then toured with the winner and appeared in more full-page ads as well as on an episode of Bravo's "Blowout". Reid is also fully immersed in original production. Her and Queensyze's nu-skool breaks tearout track "Danger" was picked up by Phonomental, her Beep! project with Dj Origin is set for a release on Re:Connect, Reid & Sense's "Bring It Up" was licensed for use on the Pumawomen.com and also appeared on the Baby Anne cd, "Baby Anne Rocks". She also produced several tracks for DMC champ DJ Swamp's upcoming album. Her mixes and original tracks are consistently featured on Power 106's "Power Tools" show, Groove Radio, ibreaks.co.uk, planetdnb.com, and she has received almost 200,000 plays on MySpace! On top of that, Reid is the official DJ of Matix clothing, and has an exclusive endorsement with Shure needles. Stay tuned; keep it locked, for the best sounds are yet to come from the little beauty with the big beats!