Operating in House music since the late '80s, Charles Webster is revered as something like the producer’s producer, spoken about in the same breath as Larry Heard or Ron Trent amongst the DJ cognoscenti.
Growing up in the Peak District and falling in love with electronic music through a parent’s Kraftwerk records, Charles’ apprenticeship was at the feet of the Belleville Three when they would record at Square Dance studio in Derby, where Charles worked as a recording engineer. His production work began in the roots of electronic music in the British Isles, writing tracks for the electro/breakdance outfit The Rock City Crew and, in 1987, the UK early house crew T-CUTF. Since then, he has released music under 36 different pseudonyms with over 600 remixes. With such an auspicious start, it’s no wonder Charles would go on to create a revered discography. He was at the forefront of the halcyon years of deep house from 1991, working with vocal talents like Terra Deva (as Furry Phreaks), Robert Owens, Shara Nelson, Ingrid Chavez, and Tracey Thorn. He moved to San Francisco in 1993, starting the acclaimed Love From San Francisco. But his debut full-length record under the alias Presence, “All Systems Gone,” was released on February 22nd 1999, which would prove to have the greatest legacy. Praised at the time as “probably the first classic record of the 21st century,” it never received the blanket mainstream overplay of contemporaries like Massive Attack but has lived on as something of a forgotten masterpiece (receiving a never-repeated 11/10 rating in Mixmag). In fact, the “pillowy” sound design of this subtle classic is cited as a key influence on his music by Burial. For “Decision Time,” Burial has paid tribute, contributing a rare co-production, “The Second Spell'' which also features poetry legend and Prince muse Ingrid Chavez. It’s a moment of intergenerational UK mirroring, the iconic ambient sound reflecting and refracting back onto itself. Chavez has a storied career, playing Prince’s love interest in the 1990 movie “Graffiti Bridge” as well as famously writing the spoken word poetry in Madonna’s hit “Justify My Love”. On a parallel track to the Burial influence, Charles is also a foundational influence on the South African house scene that finally blossomed 20 years later in the international star Black Coffee. Presence's single “Better Day” was a huge radio hit in SA in 1997, with Charles first visiting South Africa then. In fact, in March 2019 he moved to South Africa and immersed himself in the scene there, collaborating with some of the country's most exciting talent like: Sio, Thandi Draai and Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, while also mentoring a new generation of producers. “Decision Time” is Charles's first major solo record since 2001’s “Born On The 24th July”. With an album of this quality and the 20-year cycles of electronic culture, it feels like this is the perfect moment to celebrate the brilliance of his legacy. From citing Rickie Lee Jones as a key influence, storytelling and song writing has always been important for Charles, as he used house music as the medium. From the downtempo impressionistic soul of “This Is Real” that moves like slow morphing clouds across the soundscape to the irresistible two-step and impressionistic words of Ingrid Chavez on “The Spell” (over 1 million streams on Spotify so far), a new generation of ears deserves to discover the influential underground sound world of Charles Webster. Charles continues to work and push the boundaries of electronic music, since Decision Time he has; signed a deal for a follow up long player (details soon), remixed countless artists ( Luciano, Sio, Nutty Nys, Frank & Tony, Luka, Ingrid Chavez amongst many others), DJ’d worldwide and has just completed an album of South African colabs set for October 2025 release, preceded by the first single on March 2025 (collabs include; Muzi, Sio, China Charmeleon, Armos Blaq, Bokani Dyer, FKA Mash etc)…no signs of slowing down at all we see.
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