How Jaden Thompson Scored a Residency at Iconic London Club fabric
At just 19 years old, Jaden Thompson managed to secure a residency at fabric, the infamous London club twice voted #1 in the world by DJ Mag (2006 and 2008). Thompson’s meteoric rise through the ranks as an unknown producer from Swindon to spinning at one of the most hallowed venues in dance music is a testament to the producer, DJ, and label founder’s talent and tenacity.
Thompson’s cousin, a session drummer, helped instill a love of music after introducing production software to the hip-hop-loving 10-year-old. His early beats were nothing like the sharp house tunes he currently creates he shared with Notion. “At the time, I was making hip-hop and R&B beats. Around the age of 13 or 14, I was just messing around, trying to make something that I thought was cool. I had a lot of inspirations and people that I looked up to.”
From there, Thompson dove into an eclectic world music discovery, studying Boiler Room sets and mixing on Rockstar Games and Timbaland’s long-forgotten Playstation Portable rhythm game, Beaterator. This sparked Thompson’s interest in house music, drawing him to the sounds of Masters at Work, Omar S, and The Martinez Brothers.
“From about 14 to 18, I was working on my sound, trying to create something that is quite unique. At 18 I started playing out, doing gigs, and DJing. I’d been practicing, so I was almost ready to go, I had just been waiting until I was old enough to get into clubs. So it was production first, and then DJing after.”
Clubbing became integral to his passion for house music, leading him to a chance encounter with the Martinez Brothers following a gig in Barcelona. Thompson eagerly provided a pair of headphones and a demo at the ready to show the brothers, who immediately took a liking to the track and signed Thompson to their label, Cuttin Headz. His debut EP on the label, All Day, caught the ear of longtime UK radio presenter and tastemaker Pete Tong, who sang the young Brit’s praises across Radio 1 airwaves.
This, to Thompson, felt like his breakthrough. It was enough to put him on the radar of fabric, with Thompson joining the elite tier of the club’s residents in 2018. Of the Manchester-based musician, fabric effuses that the bubbling house artist’s “impact has been undeniable.” With a growing swath of supporters throughout the industry, Jaden Thompson is taking his electrifying influence to the next level with curated lineups at the club and his boutique label, Midnight Parade.
