​Lee Purkis AKA In Sync has died aged 54

Lee Purkis, otherwise known under his In Sync alias, has passed away aged 54, Resident Advisor reports. The cause of death is currently unknown.

The British techno DJ was best known for releases alongside Chris Hartley and David Manuel as the trio Insync vs. Mysteron, and solo records on labels including Plink Plonk, Fragmented Records, Peacefrog, and One Way Static.

In 1992, Purkis founded an imprint titled 10th Planet with Hartley and Manuel, and played a fundamental role in the creation of legendary UK label FatCat Records in Crawley, Sussex, in 1997 before moving to London.

Outside of production, Purkis was known as one of the purveyors of UK techno and house, bringing records from across the pond on frequent visits to Chicago and Detroit. He was widely regarded as “one of the first" DJs to support, promote, and play house and techno in the UK.

In 1992, Purkis released ‘Storm’, a single that would go on to rule future dancefloors. By 2006, after a short hiatus, Purkis announced the launch of his own label Fortune8, and returned with new music and archived material recorded in the late ‘90s.

Kirk Degiorgio, a close friend of Purkis, told Resident Advisor that Purkis was one of the “trailblazing music heads who first went to Detroit to seek out the makers of the early techno records”.

“In 1991, he came to my place and played me a poorly recorded but stunning cassette master of the now classic Storm / Warm EP. Recorded using just two SH101's triggered by a Roland TR909 and 808, it was due to be the first release on my ART label,” he told RA.

Read some tributes for Lee Purkis below.

[Via Resident Advisor]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter