Nico Sykes

With a solid background in sound engineering, Nico Sykes was turned-on to jungle by his neighbor Ed Rush, and they struck-up a friendship and musical partnership that resulted in the formation of the No U-Turn label. While early releases toyed with the hardstep and jump-up sounds then popular, they soon began to develop a new approach, stripping down their tracks to the barest essentials of metallic, diamond-hard drums and growling, distorted bass. The sound came to be known as Techstep, and No U-Turn set the pace with its dark, futuristic releases. Nico's engineering, ideas and vibes were all-important in the development of the dystopic Techstep sound, nurturing and collaborating with artists like Trace and Ed Rush on classic tunes like Mothership and Amtrak.