Richard Fearless was born in Africa, to an engineer and an artist. He began collecting music at eight or nine; at first he loved film soundtracks and 60s stuff, then his older cousin gave him some Stooges and Velvet Underground. By his early teens - and having won a scholarship to nurture his own artistic talent - he'd discovered Chicago house and techno via ex-NME staffer Barbara Ellen, his sister's flatmate, and unearthed a whole new set of possibilities. At eighteen he started working in record shops and put on his own night, Job Club. He invited his favourite DJs to play - Derrick May, Andrew Weatherall, Dave Angel, The Chemical Brothers and more. There were no Technics; records were taken on and off the decks on an upright home system. The legendary Heavenly Social followed, though between times he made his first record, Opium Shuffle, and signed to a major. 1997's Dead Elvis LP and it's follow-up, 2002's Scorpio Rising (featuring collaborations with Iggy Pop, Dot Allison, Paul Weller, Liam Gallagher and more) established Death in Vegas as a true dance/rock crossover act.