Eamon Downes, AKA Ame of UK rave duo Liquid, has died

Eamon Downes, AKA Ame – one half of classic rave duo Liquid – has died, a close friend has confirmed.

Fellow DJ and producer Billy Daniel Bunter shared the news earlier today (July 21) via Instagram, explaining that Downes had been suffering from a brain tumour for the last five years.

“It’s with heartbreaking sadness that I’m letting the world know we’ve lost Eamon Downes, devoted husband to Stella, proud dad to Bea, and one of my closest friends ever,” he wrote. “This one really hurts.”

Alongside Shane Heneghan (AKA DJ Model), Downes formed Liquid in the early '90s, a duo who would help to amplify the early sounds of rave and breakbeat in the UK.

In 1991, the duo signed to XL Recordings with their self-titled debut EP, of which the track ‘Sweet Harmony’ became prolific. The cut featured a sample of CeCe Rogers’ ‘Someday’.

“We started out in a record shop in ’89, before I was DJing. Before ‘Sweet Harmony’,” explained Bunter. “From curry and chips in Stepney, to Labrynth, to him dropping me at Kings Cross chewing my lips off, some of the best memories of my life with Eamon.”

“I still remember him playing me ‘Sweet Harmony’ down the phone before it got cut. When XL signed it, he was buzzing,” he said. “Sending dubplates by bike to Pete Tong and then straight to me at Labrynth, he loved that side of things.”

After their first few releases, Downes and Heneghan parted ways as a duo, but Downes continued to share music under the alias for more than 30 years as a solo act.

“He fought so hard the last five years,” Bunter wrote. “I’m thankful me and Sonya got to visit, to laugh, to sit with him, to just be together. I’m thankful he got our message before he passed, his family said he waited for it.”

Read some tributes below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter