Not what you expect from skinny white guy from Glasgow?

Two skinny wee white guys from Glasgow. A hip-hop head (Paul Hunter) & an ex-northern soul dj (Colin Gate) met across the counter of defunct vinyl emporium- Bomba records.

A mutual admiration for the funk, soul & disco past of New York & Chicago lead to producing cassette demos to send to their favourite UK labels.

Too funky & not hard enough was the response. So they tried all their favourite US labels instead. Nearly all of them called back & nearly all offering deals.

Washington DCs' Deep Dish then signed them as the very first act outside of their local area to the fledgling Yoshitoshi Recordings. Their debut 12" Better Love / Reelin With The Feelin was received enthusiastically by the NYC house heavyweights, leading Deep Sensation to conclude there was perhaps more opportunities to be had across the Atlantic. After a re-release on Tribal America, a second 12": Get Together, was then signed to Cajual ( seminal 90's label of techno hero Green Velvet ) with support from house godfathers Tony Humphries & Frankie Knuckles. Todd Terry was so impressed; he suggested he set them up in New York to make tracks exclusively for his new label Freeze.

And so they did. Across the Atlantic they went to meet their house heroes from afar. And it was more than four years before they would return home.

"Its really weird two wee skinny white guys from Glasgow meeting these big, fat American Dj's" said Gate to DJ magazine. But it seems they're not the only ones from the post-industrial Glasgow, Scotland ignored locally & revered in the US. From Fresh & Low to Kevin McKays' Glasgow Underground,more Scottish music seems likely to find success from afar- than at home in the UK.

The tracks came quickly with further releases on Todd Terrys' Freeze label, then the newly created Guidance from Chicago took a chance with the Philly disco-influenced Somehow, Somewhere (There's A Soul Heaven). The gamble paid off.

After receiving rave reviews from Mix Mag, Muzik & DJ Magazine- an almost endless series of licensing deals began, resulting in Soul Heavens eventual re-release with London's (Defected offshoot) Fluential Records and a UK top 40 placing.

As Space Jam; the electro/ D-train influenced Guidance out-takes were somewhat anonymously released, again receiving wide-spread acclaim and global support from as far as NZ from locals Bevan Keys & Box Godfather Simon Grigg.

EP's on Guidance by the duo as Deep Sensation & by Hunter as Brother of Soul continued, furthering their reputation for classic floor fillers across the black music spectrum.

Djs from Ashley Beedle,Danny Rampling,Farley & Heller to Norman Jay & Coldcut collected & selected their offerings. Naked Music, Hed Kandi, Ministry of Sound & other imprints of note have taken to the smoothed Scottish sound of Black America (often mistaking its actual origin). But in a return to their deeper darker beginnings with Yoshitoshi (Hunter also released as Small World with Leftfields' label Hard Hands) Deep Sensation signed Stay A While to Junior UK.
It was a track that progressive producers Danny Tenaglia & Sasha pounded, bringing them a new audience & new found appreciation on British dancefloors.

Returning to their hometown of Glasgow- Scotland,after 4 years in NYC: Gate & Hunter set about starting up their own label Deep Jazz & vinyl emporium Defunkt, home to an eclectic range of rare & unusually funky black plastic. Today Colin Gate continues to compile, record / remix & release for the converted & curious between djing for gigs near & far. He debuts here for Deep Hard & Funky-Friday Nov14