Andrew "Andy Votel" Shallcross (born 4 November 1975 in Marple Bridge, Stockport, England) is an English musician, DJ, record producer, graphic designer and co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissue label Finders Keepers Records. As musician Violators of the English Language Votel began making music in the late 1980s as the youngest member of the group Violators of the English Language (from which the VOTEL stage name is derived). The group appeared on the Howard Jacobson BBC documentary Think of England in 1991 performing a rap song with a young DJ Semtex as a backing dancer. Violators of the English Language failed to gain label interest as a group but Fat City released the Violators of the English Language instrumental tracks as VOTEL in 1996. Solo career In 2000 Votel signed to XL Records. He recorded two albums for the label, Styles of the Unexpected (2000) and All Ten Fingers (2002). These albums featured original Can singer Malcolm Mooney, Guy Garvey, Gramme, and Jane Weaver. Votel's music is often released under a pseudonym. His aliases include Applehead, Anworth Kirk, Tandy Love, Xian Orphic, Slant Azymuth, Neotantrik, and Tony Deval. As DJ Having built a reputation through Violators of the English Language, Votel began mixing psychedelic music with jazz and hip-hop records at clubs like The Hacienda and Home And South from the early 1990s. He is an internationally renowned DJ and has performed at events such as Sonar, All Tomorrow's Parties, and the Green Man Festival. Votel founded the B-Music DJ Collective alongside ex-Hacienda DJ and journalist John Maccready. Other B-Music collaborators include David Holmes, Belle And Sebastian, Edan, Bob Stanley, and Gruff Rhys. Votel has presented shows for Radio 4 such as 2011's Free Wales Harmony, which documented the history of Welsh protest music. He appears regularly alongside Stuart Maconie on The Freakier Zone show on BBC 6 Music. As record producer and remixer Votel has produced extensively for Badly Drawn Boy, including tracks on the Mercury Music Prize winning album The Hour of Bewilderbeast. He has also produced music for Gruff Rhys including the single 'Shark Ridden Waters' on the album Hotel Shampoo. Votel has also remixed or produced material for Ian Brown, The Avalanches, Lamb, Elastica, Texas, Death in Vegas, Kings of Convenience, Tim Burgess, Broadcast, and Elbow, among others. Votel also creates mix compilation CDs, including the Music To Watch Girls Cry series, Vertigo Mixed,