UK House Legend Phil Asher has Died

UK house music legend Phil Asher has died aged 50. According to friends of the DJ, he passed away in his sleep after suffering a heart attack.

Since his first DJ slot at Delirium in 1991, Phil Asher has slowly built an extensive résumé as an international jock, producer, and integral figure in London’s dance music community. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Asher was central in the evolution of broken beat, as a founder of West London’s Co-Op club, and as a prolific artist with countless remixes and numerous recording projects under his belt.

Asher started his life in music in a rather unique fashion. As a youngster, he’d sneakily filch some of the records his father would bring home from a record store job and sell them to his schoolmates. Later on, he followed in his father’s footsteps by working at record shops and developed his taste for several styles of music, encompassing jazz, funk, soul, disco, and house. He ventured into DJ’ing in the early ’90s, became part of Slip ‘n’ Slide’s extensive Jazz in the House compilation/mix series, and by the late ’90s, he was into production work and even began hosting a radio program — R Solution with Kirk DeGiorgio and 4hero’s Dego and Mark Mac — on London’s Kiss FM.

Speaking about the broken beat scene with us in 2017, he said: “All I can say is I was lucky enough to be involved in a scene that was so creative and talented, it blew my mind. Some of the singers and musicians and producers from that era are visionaries. I truly believe that. Few snapshots are Co-op at the Velvet Rooms, passing by IG’s or Bugz studio and hearing new tunes in progress. Travelling the world spreading the vibe was priceless. The corner of Plastic People waiting to go on at Co-Op was always exciting.”

Our thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP Phil.