Since moving to London from Sao Paolo 7 years ago, Carlos Lima aka S.P.Y hasn’t looked back. Initially drawn to the city for it’s music and culture, S.P.Y soon settled in amongst the vibrant drum & bass scene. With a background in DJing stretching back to the age of 12, his skills behind the turntables were already in place and he set out to make his mark as a producer. A natural talent for music production certainly helped and, after just six months of learning on basic equipment, he signed his first ever release to Metalheadz in 2005. His impressive debut ‘Til Dawn’ was included on the Winter of Content compilation album and a sure sign that S.P.Y would be one to watch.
In 2006, he quickly followed up with ‘Black Flag b/w Double Dragon’ for new label Med School and helped set the standard for Hospital’s alternative, more experimental imprint. Developing his own brand of original yet dancefloor-friendly beats, S.P.Y stepped up his game with a further single (‘Ghost Ship b/w Silent Sleeper’) before moving on to release on diverse labels including Critical and Samurai.
A series of collaborations followed with the likes of Mosus, Physics, BCee and Kiat: no surprise, given S.P.Ys reputation in the studio and professional yet easy-going outlook. Together with fellow Brazilian C.A.B.L.E., he forms Damage Inc and the duo have released on Total Science’s Advanced imprint. In 2008, two of his joint productions (‘Close Encounters’ with Kiat and ‘Cold 909s’ with Mosus) were among the standout tracks in the excellent DAT Music 2 compilation and marked his debut for Soul:r.
2009 brought his first solo EP for Soul:r, demonstrating his diversity drawing together deeper vibes and dancefloor sensibilities. He also established lasting production partnerships with Total Science and DJ Marky and dropped further releases on Digital Soundboy, Innerground and Metalheadz.
In 2010 S.P.Y stepped it again and proved to be capable of both quality and consistency, delivering standout releases for Ram, Metalheadz, Shogun and Spearhead. His tracks won DJ support across the scene, with Friction featuring 5 S.P.Y productions on his Ministry of Sound mix CD and Andy C selecting 4 for his Nightlife CD. Marky & S.P.Y also took on high-profile remixes for the likes of Deadmau5, Claude von Stroke and Zinc Ft. Miss Dynamite, with S.P.Y’s own personal unofficial relicks of Zero 7 and LTJ Bukem becoming a signature in his live sets.
He’s keeping up the pace in 2011, with further releases set for Soul:r, Subtitles, Razors Edge and Reinforced early in the year before turning his attentions to album projects later in the year. Look out for collaborative appearances on Marcus Intalex’s album and more alongside Total Science and Marky as well as solo material forthcoming from this dynamic and hard-working DJ/producer.
