Danny Williamson (LTJ Bukem) was born in London in 1967. He was adopted and raised in Watford by strict Baptist parents, earning his nickname from the TV series ‘Hawaii Five O’ (book em’ Danno!).

With Danny’s parents both having a passion for Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov it wasn’t long before he was learning to play the piano, as well as taking trumpet lessons and playing the drums, leading to his involvement in a band. However it was when Danny and his parents moved to Watford that he found his first true musical love. This was thanks to his progressively minded teacher Nigel Crouch, who introduced Danny to the world of ‘Jazz Fusion’, a style which has been the foundations of his work ever since.

It was in the mid eighties at the age of seventeen that Danny discovered the joys of clubbing. He regularly went to Soul and Rare Groove parties, and soon he was buying records and learning to mix. This inevitably led to Danny and a group of friends setting up the ‘Sunshine’ sound system, where they belted out the latest hip hop and electro tracks at DJ battles around his Luton base.

However it wasn’t until 1988 that Danny realised that DJ’ing could offer him a full time career, as the Acid House scene began to unfold. Then in 1990 he got his first big break, playing original Hardcore at Raindance in front of over 10,000 people.

Around this time Danny had also started to produce his own music, and released his first track called ‘Logical Progression’. Although he soon became despondent with a lack of control for his own recordings, and in 1991 he formed his own label ‘Good Looking Records’. From this label came the first offering ‘Demon’s Theme’ which went on to be a massive club anthem. Then came ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Music’ which were also massive, providing a soulful, melodic alternative to the banging Hardcore tracks that were in vogue.

In the summer of 1994 after forming his second record label ‘Looking Good Records’, Danny and his team opened the legendary club night called ‘Speed’ at the Mars Bar off the Charing Cross Road in London. This was intended to run hand in hand with the labels, while also offering a focal point for the ever growing Drum ‘n’ Bass scene. Here you could find the likes of Fabio, Peshay and Bukem spinning their tunes with the lyrical accompaniment of Danny’s side kick MC Conrad. This added to confirm his status as one of the leading Breakbeat DJ’s on the circuit.

Bukem went further as he continued to produce and mix some of the planet’s best Drum ‘n’ Bass albums that have ever been released. Titles such as ‘Progression Sessions’, ‘Earth’ and the ever-popular ‘Logical Progression’ series, as well as solo albums have seen Danny’s status propel to another level.

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