Main Phase: The Dane Who Mastered British Speed Garage

The funniest, most revealing fact about Main Phase is that most people assume he is British. He is not. He is from Copenhagen, and he learned UK garage the way a teenager in the 2000s would, by running home from school to catch the right show on Rinse FM, a sea and a culture away from the basements that invented the sound. A decade later he is one of the most respected speed garage producers anywhere, co-runs a tastemaking label with one of the genre's biggest UK names, and is busy dragging his own city onto the bass-music map. His is the clearest proof that UK garage has outgrown the UK. This is a working DJ and producer's guide to who Main Phase is, how a Danish outsider mastered a British genre, and why it matters. His real name is Adam Schierbeck, and the facts below were checked against current sources in July 2026.

Main Phase at a glance

• Real name: Adam Emil Schierbeck, a producer and DJ from Copenhagen, Denmark.
• The sound: dark, two-step-flavoured UK garage and forward-thinking speed garage and bassline.
• The label: co-founder, with Interplanetary Criminal, of ATW Records.
• The breakout: a viral Keep Hush set for the London label ec2a in early 2022.
• The catalogue: releases across the UK bass network, including ec2a, Shall Not Fade, Dansu Discs and many more, since his 2020 debut.
• Radio: a broadcaster on the legendary UK station Rinse FM.
• 2026: fresh ATW Records music with Interplanetary Criminal, including "Twizted", their joint track that opens the ATW044 compilation (May 2026), plus a Rinse FM residency and a busy international touring schedule.

Who is Main Phase?

Behind the name is Adam Schierbeck, born and raised in Copenhagen. His route into UK garage is the heart of the story, because he did not have the culture around him. There were no pirate stations rattling out of London tower blocks, no older siblings passing down tape packs. What he had was the internet, and he used it: he has described running home from school to catch sessions on Rinse FM, the London station that has carried underground UK music for decades. He fell in love with a sound from a place he was not, and learned it from the outside in.

That distance turned out to be a strange advantage. With no local scene to conform to, Schierbeck absorbed UK garage as a devoted student, and the result is a command of the genre so complete that British listeners routinely assume he is one of their own. He is the rare outsider who learned a regional music so well he could pass for a native, then started adding to it.

The sound: dark two-step and speed garage

Main Phase is known for a dark, rolling, two-step flow and a deep grasp of speed garage and bassline, the faster, bass-heavier wings of the UK garage family. His productions pair club-ready, peak-time energy with genuine roots in UK bass culture, and they sit comfortably next to the genre's British originators rather than as a tribute act. The 2026 Attenuation EP, made with Talons for the storied dubstep label Tempa, showed the range, moving through bass pressure, dubstep space and speed garage swing.

It is technical, knowledgeable music made by someone who clearly studied the source material closely, which is exactly why it lands. In a revival that can tip into nostalgia, Main Phase pushes the sound forward, part of the same modern surge that has seen speed garage downloads explode and the whole UK garage world come roaring back.

How a Copenhagen kid mastered a British genre

This is the angle worth sitting with. Main Phase is what the internet did to regional music. A sound that was once impossibly local, born in specific London clubs and pirate frequencies, became learnable by a kid in Denmark with a stream and an obsession, and he learned it well enough to lead. His breakthrough came in early 2022 with a Keep Hush set for the London label ec2a that went viral, the kind of online moment that, fittingly, was itself a product of the same internet that taught him the music in the first place.

It says something hopeful about where dance music is. The gatekeeping that once made scenes exclusive has given way to a world where the most devoted student, wherever they are, can become a defining voice. Main Phase did not dilute UK garage by taking it abroad. He honoured it, mastered it, and earned the respect of the people who made it, which is a very different and much rarer thing than appropriation.

ATW Records and Interplanetary Criminal

The proof of that respect is who he works with. Main Phase co-founded ATW Records with Interplanetary Criminal, one of the biggest names in the modern UK garage revival, and the friendship behind it is a great scene story. The pair had been talking online for years before Main Phase booked Interplanetary Criminal to play his party at the Copenhagen club Bakken, originally a lo-fi house and techno night. Interplanetary Criminal started dropping garage, Main Phase jumped on to play back to back, and they ended up going all night. ATW grew out of that, conceived as a platform to give UK garage up-and-comers a leg up, and a monthly Balamii radio show digging into deep-cut UKG, 2-step and speed garage.

A label whose whole purpose is to platform newcomers, co-run by an outsider who was once a newcomer himself, is the kind of generous, scene-building project that keeps a genre healthy. It also places Main Phase right at the centre of the revival rather than on its fringes.

Putting Copenhagen on the bass map

The final piece is what he is doing with the influence. Rather than simply joining the UK scene, Main Phase has set about building one at home, part of a new generation turning Copenhagen, better known for fast, trance-inflected techno, towards UK-indebted garage, jungle and bass. He has put it plainly, saying he wants his city "put on the map for its bass music." That ambition, to take what he learned from afar and seed it locally, completes the loop. The kid who imported a sound through a laptop is now exporting a scene.

2026: Attenuation EP, Rinse residency and global shows

In 2026 Main Phase is fully established. He keeps feeding ATW Records, including "Twizted", their joint track that opens the ATW044 compilation (May 2026) with Interplanetary Criminal, and headlined a large outdoor ATW takeover alongside him; he holds a broadcaster slot on Rinse FM, the very station that first taught him the music; and his touring takes in clubs and festivals across Europe and beyond, including Boiler Room appearances and a celebrated 2023 back to back with Interplanetary Criminal at Boiler Room Festival Berlin. For an artist who started as a long-distance fan, becoming a Rinse FM selector is about as full-circle as a career gets.

Essential Main Phase listening

The best entry points capture his journey. The viral Keep Hush set for ec2a is where the wider world caught on, a perfect showcase of his dark, rolling garage selection. His releases across ec2a, Shall Not Fade and the wider UK bass label network show the production craft, and his recent ATW Records output with Interplanetary Criminal is the most current statement. For the curatorial side, the ATW Records catalogue and radio show map the sound he and Interplanetary Criminal are building.

Why Main Phase matters

Main Phase matters because he redraws the boundaries of what UK garage even is. He proves the genre is no longer bound to its birthplace, that a devoted outsider can master it, earn the respect of its originators and push it forward, and that the internet has turned the most local of scenes into a global conversation. Add a label built to lift up newcomers and a mission to grow a bass scene in his own city, and Main Phase is not just a great speed garage producer. He is evidence of how healthy, open and far-reaching the UK garage revival has become.

FAQ

What is Main Phase's real name?

Adam Emil Schierbeck. He is a producer and DJ from Copenhagen, Denmark, who specialises in UK garage, speed garage and bassline.

Is Main Phase from the UK?

No. He is from Copenhagen, Denmark, but his command of UK garage is so complete that many listeners assume he is British. He learned the sound partly by listening to London's Rinse FM growing up, and now broadcasts on the station himself.

What is ATW Records?

A label co-founded by Main Phase and Interplanetary Criminal to platform up-and-coming UK garage and speed garage artists, with a monthly radio show. It grew out of their friendship after Main Phase booked Interplanetary Criminal to play in Copenhagen.

What kind of music does Main Phase make?

Dark, two-step-leaning UK garage plus forward-thinking speed garage and bassline, pairing peak-time club energy with deep roots in UK bass culture.

How did Main Phase break through?

A viral Keep Hush set for the London label ec2a in early 2022 brought him wider attention, on top of a steady run of releases across the UK bass label network.

What has Main Phase released in 2026?

Fresh ATW Records music with Interplanetary Criminal, including "Twizted", their joint track that opens the ATW044 compilation (May 2026), alongside continued radio work on Rinse FM and an international touring schedule.

Sources

• Resident Advisor and UKF biographies and features on Main Phase (Adam Schierbeck), his catalogue and the ec2a Keep Hush breakthrough
• DJ Mag on Copenhagen's bass-fuelled garage scene and Main Phase's ambitions for the city; Rinse FM show pages
• Mixmag, Balamii and END. features on Interplanetary Criminal and the founding of ATW Records
• ATW Records, Beatport and Songstats for 2026 releases including "Twizted" with Interplanetary Criminal and the ATW outdoor takeover; Boiler Room recordings of his sets including the Berlin back to back with Interplanetary Criminal
• Beatport and label pages (ec2a, Shall Not Fade) for release history

This guide is part of House of MNEEMO's ongoing coverage of the electronic and club music scene, written by London-based DJ and producer MNEEMO, with millions of streams to his name and a party series running through some of London's best clubs.