Richard West, predominantly known by the stage name Mr. C, is an English DJ, musician, actor and rapper. He also uses the monikers Sycophant Slags and Indigo Kidz. West is best known as the frontman for The Shamen during their most commercially successful era. He is also a house music DJ and was co-owner/co-founder of London's The End nightclub with Layo Paskin. He is a proponent of tech house, a fusion of house and techno music.
Music career
West was born in London in 1965. He started MCing in the London clubs aged 16 and earned a reputation as a fast-talking, vivacious rapper working with LWR radio's Ron Tom, Jasper the Vinyl Junkie and Jazzy M. He joined with Colin Faver and Evil Eddie Richards to become resident rapper at Camden Palace. West recorded his first deep house track with Eddie Richards as Myster-E, "Page 67", which was released in August 1987. This inspired West to become a DJ in late 1987. He has since organised, promoted and been resident DJ at: Fantasy, Base, Release, Harmony, Drop, Cyclone, Vapourspace, Flavour, Subterrain, Superfreq and Super Disco Freq. In December 1995 West opened the night club The End in London with Partner Layo Paskin and AKA bar three years later, which had its 23rd anniversary in December 2018. West is founder and owner of Plink Plonk records, co-founder of End Recordings and co-founder and owner of the Superfreq label. He has recorded under the names Myster-E, Unity 2, Nu Jacks, Bass Bureau, Mantrac, Somnambulist, Animus Amour, Killer Loop, Mr. C and Tom Parris, Mr. C and 16B and the Sycophant Slags. West is best known as frontman of The Shamen with whom he achieved a string of top 10 hits including "Move Any Mountain" and the UK number 1 hit "Ebeneezer Goode". The Shamen won an Ivor Novello award for Songwriters of the year UK in 1992. In 1995 he created the mix albumFantazia DJ Collection 3 – Back to the Old Skool. He has also released mix albums Psycotrance vol 1, X-Mix 6 on Studio K7, Sunterrain 100% Unreleased on his End recordings imprint and most recently Superfreq Express on his Superfreq label. West now records solo as Mr. C and collaborates as the Sycophant Slags with Francis Harris aka Adultnapper, as the Indigo Kidz with Affie Yusuf, with Apendics.shuffle|pendics.shuffle and with Omid 16b. He has released on Poker Flat, Wagon Repair Records, Get Physical Music and Adjunct Audio. He has released a solo EP titled "I'm gonna Give You Some" and the albums Smell The Coffee and Incidents. He has collaborated with Affie Yusuf, Omid 16b and pendics.shuffle. He has remixed for Mikael Stavöstrand and David Scuba, Francis Harris, Xo Chic, Joint Custody & Affie Yusuf. His "Soulfuric" track was released on Alola and his "Liquid Acid" track was released on DJ Pierre's Acid 88 album on Afro Acid.
Superfreq events
West runs and promotes Superfreq events, which turned 15 years old in March 2017 and ran monthly at The End until it closed down in January 2009. Superfreq now functions bi-monthly in London including a bi-annual residency at the nightclub Fabric. Superfreq also operates in London's popup warehouse venues and various clubs including London venue The Steelyard since December 2015. Superfreq does regular events in Los Angeles; bi-monthly events in Calais, France; and annual events in Brooklyn, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Washington DC in the United States and also Vancouver, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico DF, Moscow, Ibiza, Bogota, Montañita. Superfreq completed an Asia tour that included Manila, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Beijing and Shenzhen. Superfreq has had 7 seasons in Ibiza—3 at Club Underground, 2 at the DC10, 1 season at Blu, and 3 events at Aura.
Superfreq released eight EPs from various artists and one mix CD by Mr. C, but had then been a dormant record label since 2006. Superfreq relaunched in February 2013 and has since released prolifically with forty digital EPs and two albums.
Personal life
West is married to Mexican actress and model Xochitl Marbach.
