*1965 GB
A.k.a. Robert Andrew Deacon
Born: 6th August 1965 Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, England Died: 8th September 2007 Rob Deacon previously headed up the label Sweatbox and the celebrated early-to-mid-90s indie / alternative / electronic music compilation series, Volume Magazine. The key to the series' success was its devotion to indepth articles, offering only previously unreleased music from a wide assortment of groups, and its absurdist sense of humor (the theme of happy tropical fish pervades the entire series, both visually and in the text.) The other hugely successful series under the Volume umbrella was Trance Europe Express, an influential compilation focused on electronic music of the early-to-mid-90s. The final release in the Trance Europe Express series, "Trance Pacific Express", appeared via Deacon's Deviant Records. Deacon was convinced by friend Mark Reeder to launch Paul van Dyk onto the UK market via Deviant. Several years of success for Deviant followed, but when the Out There And Back album floundered, van Dyk jumped ship. Fed up with the industry, Rob chose to dissolve Deviant in late 2006 / early 2007 to pursue his other passions - photography, visual arts, Chelsea football club and scuba diving. Rob Deacon died on September 8, 2007 in a canoeing accident.