Published
Fri, Jun 8, 2018, 12:00
- Edwards passed away over the weekend.
Liz Edwards, a beloved member of the UK music community, has died.
Edwards, who was undergoing cancer treatment, died this past weekend, according to Brighton radio station 1BTN. Many in the scene, including the team at fabric, Andy Blake and Terry Farley, have been sharing kind words about the local legend, who fabric describes as "a pivotal force for the underground community."
Edwards started in dance music as a professional DJ, travelling throughout Europe, the United Arab Emirates and, later, around the world. 1BTN says she worked her way up to managing director at Swag Records in the '90s, which is when she started putting on Kerfuffle parties. (The last Kerfuffle event was held in April at The Pickle Factory.) After moving to Brighton, she opened her own record store, Ed's Vinyl, where she held personal appointments to help DJs and collectors find gems. On a 2012 Resident Advisor event listing for an Ed's Vinyl party, Edwards was glowingly described as "the hostess with the mostest—the untiring, ubiquitous mover and shaker behind more parties than even she can count."
fabric's promotions manager, Judy Griffith, shared a tribute to her "dear friend": "Liz was a huge inspiration to me, like me, a lifelong vinyl junkie, a promoter with her Kerfuffle nights some of which we hosted here at fabric, a record shop owner of Swag records where numerous DJs including our own Terry Francis, cut their tech house teeth through her extensive buying skills and huge knowledge of electronic music. And this all at a time when it was rare to even see a woman in an independent record store buying vinyl let alone owning one. ... She was a wonderful mentor and encompassed all that I aspired to be. She was beautiful, strong, independent—a fierce lady amongst men, leading the charge, without making a big deal of it."
Listen to her last radio show on 1BTN.