Jackmaster, Scottish DJ and Producer, Dies at 38

In 2010, Jackmaster merged his record labels Dress 2 Sweat and Wireblock, the latter of which was co-run with brothers Calum and Neil Morton, with Stuff to form the new label Numbers. It naturally took its name from the club night that they all ran together in Glasgow, which still hosts dance nights there and in other cities. Under the joint Numbers label, they went on to release records by Sophie, Jamie xx, Hudson Mohawke, Jessie Ware, Rustie, and others digitally and on vinyl.

Jackmaster won the Breakthrough DJ honor at DJ Magazine’s Best of British Awards in 2010. It marked the first of many accolades in his career, which went on to include future DJ Magazine rankings, scaling Resident Advisor’s Top 100 DJs polls, and landing a residency slot on BBC Radio 1. He was also the inaugural winner of the Sub Club Electronic Music Award at the 2016 Scottish Music Awards, and was honored with the Tennents Golden Can Award for Contributions to Scottish Culture in 2017.

Although Jackmaster released a number of original singles throughout his career, including “Nitro” and “Let’s Go,” arguably his most well-known releases are FabricLive.57, which he was directly invited to curate by Fabric in 2011, and the 2016 mix DJ-Kicks Jackmaster. His most recent releases were 2023’s Party Going On EP and the Avision collaborations “Bumpin’” and “Just Get Up.”

In 2018, Jackmaster publicly apologized for “attempting to kiss and grab people against their will” at the festival Loves Saves the Day. “I was abusive and acted lewdly and inappropriately towards numerous members of staff at the festival—both female and male—during a drug-induced blackout,” he wrote, “which I had put myself into after my performance by drinking a substance called GHB.”

Dozens of artists have posted tributes in Jackmaster’s honor after hearing the news of his death, including Diplo, Honey Dijon, Modeselektor, Black Coffee, Dillon Francis, and Peggy Gou. “Inspiration. Pure talent. Pioneering DJ. Friend,” Disclosure wrote on Instagram. “The music scene will never be the same without you. Thank you for all the amazing memories, shows & laughs we had together. 🙏🏻 Rest in peace Jack.”