Submitted By: truskawa83

Genre: Breaks

Date of Set: Feb 8th, 1998

Filesize: 71.66 MB

Total Downloads: 26

So, heres what you probably already know about The Freestylers. Theyve made over 50 songs, sold half a million records, scorched the charts with the 'Push Up and 'B-Boy Stance, appeared on Top of the Pops and opened for Lenny Kravitz. Theyve rocked Glastonbury, criss crossed the world touring with their legendary band and last year released their third album 'Raw As F**k' on our Against The Grain label.

But did you know they once picked a fight with the 'fat dancer from Take That?'

'Yeah, I had a run in with Robbie in a diner in America,' admits Matt Cantor, one half of the breaks duo, sheepishly. 'But I was pretty pissed and cant remember exactly what happened,' he adds, feigning amnesia. 'Dont worry,' laughs Aston Harvey, his partner in crime. 'I remember it perfectly - you came staggering outside and said 'I just called Robbie Williams a twat.'

'Oh, yeah,' Matt grins. 'That was it.'

Its immediately apparent that this pair are firm friends. They swap memories, in-jokes and bicker in the way only people who spend large amounts of their time together can do. 'It feels like were married sometimes,' laughs Matt. These breakbeat banditos met whilst both working at the studios of Fresh [later Freskanova] Records, way back in 1996. 'We were just chatting about old hip hop records,' recalls Aston. 'And realised we both owned all the same tunes. Wed both been making house and Matt had this idea for an electro track so we just started working together.' That electro track became 'Drop The Boom and on release in '98, launched the pair as The Freestylers. 'The first record we ever sampled was by an act called Freestyle,' Aston explains. 'And as sampling plays such a major part in our sound, we felt it would be a fitting name.'

Raised on a diet of Public Enemy, Afrika Bambaataa and, erm, The Jungle Book ['That soundtrack was the first record I ever bought,' laughs Aston. 'I was the original junglist!'], the Freestylers sound is rooted in hip hop but has evolved into a unique British concoction, taking in everything from dancehall to reggae, electro to soul and breakbeat to drum and bass. 'Its pretty tricky trying to sum us up,' admits Matt. 'Our sound is pretty raw, raw and'

'Voluptuous?' chips in Aston helpfully.

'No! Youre not allowed to write that down!' Matt laughs. 'We cant go around saying our music is raw and voluptuous its just very instant. Basically its like breaks for the masses, but as weve both got pretty eclectic tastes we bring a whole spectrum of influences from the seventies onwards.'

'Hip hop heads come to see us,' continues Aston. 'But so do ravers, reggae fans... its quite mad really - two funky white boys bringing all these people together.'

Debut single 'Drop The Boom soon saw a Stateside release [renamed AK48], and 'The Scratch City and 'Uprock EPs followed swiftly on its tail. But it was release of the jump-up breakers anthem 'B-Boy Stance and the boys subsequent brush with the Gallagher brothers, that firmly put them on the media map. MC Tenor Flys vocal appropriation of 'Wonderwall didnt go down to well with the simian siblings, the Freestylers were forced back into the studio to re-record their masterpiece and the hype was enough to send 'B Boy Stance' soaring into the Top 20. It was only when all the fuss had died down that everyone realised it probably would have got there anyway.

Things moved pretty quickly after that. Their debut album 'We Rock Hard sold over 250,000 copies, the boys got a MOBO nomination and picked up the late Muzik Magazines Best Band accolade. 'We had a few drinks at the award ceremony,' remembers Matt fondly. 'There was this girl who I was sure I recognised from my school. I went over and started trying to chat her up, giving her all these lines. She didnt seem too impressed ­ it was only later I found out it was Kate Moss!'

But aside from spectacular drunken failures to pull celebrities, its the Freestylers live performances that really set them apart from other dance acts. 'The sound we get together can best be described as a 3D effect to our albums,' explains Aston. 'When you listen to our albums then come to our shows, youll see the sound literally come out at you - everything is dynamic.'

And it was one of these electric live performances that caught the eye of rock lothario Lenny Kravitz, who was so impressed he personally chose them to open for him. The popularity of their debut album meant they could really take the Freestylers on the road, playing not only the biggest clubs and UK festivals, but also touring America.

'The last time we were there, we stayed with a friend in LA,' Matt recalls. 'He knows a few celebrities out there and we found out that Anastasia was having a barbeque. We thought it would be 'really LA to crash it, thinking it would be this plush pool party.'

'It turned out that it was this intimate meal for just her family and a few close friends,' chuckles Aston, picking up the story. 'There we are on her doorstep without even a bottle of wine to offer! She let us in though and we ended up chatting to her mum for about two hours ­ it was all very surreal.'

The band soon capped a series of stunning live performances, with their legendary gig in front of 23,000 screaming fans on the World Jazz Stage at Glastonbury. The crowd was so blown away they clapped and cheered solidly for over fifteen minutes after the set finished and Time Out declared The Freestylers 'the highlight of the entire festival.' Since the release of their third album 'Raw As F**k, Australia has become the number one hot spot for the band and they recently completed an intensive tour with the 'Big Day Out festival attracting monstrous size crowds of up to 60,000 people!

Back to the second album 'Pressure Point which went on to sell over 100,000 copies. 'We didnt want to just make a We Rock Hard Pt. 2,' explains Aston. 'We wanted to do something in our own distinct style, so we used influences that we had hints of on the first album, but made it harder and clubbier.'

But after touring the second album, the boys decided to take a short break from the studio to recuperate and began to feel it was a time for a change of direction. 'Our label Freskanova had stopped functioning,' explains Matt. 'We were feeling a little disillusioned, so we decided to get back to our grass roots and started doing some tracks for the label Against the Grain. We began to work on a project we called 'Raw as F**k ­ it was great because no-one had any expectations of us. There was nothing to live up to and we feel the music became stronger as a result.'

'We chose the name Raw As F**k, because it was brash and would stand out,' continues Aston. 'We released the track 'Punks and it was meant to be a one off, but the reception was so good we just kept going. We ended up with three number one breaks tunes and won a best newcomer at the International Breakspoll Awards. Before we knew it, we had an album that we felt was our strongest to date.'

From the slavering bass-carnivore 'Slammer, to the purple-rain funk of Push Up, from the off-wall vocals of Reprazent home-girl Onnalee on the albums first single 'Get a Life, to the break-neck toasting Million Dan, 'Raw as F**k is an ambitious album, aimed at more than just hardcore breaks fans. Over thirteen tracks it plays an exhilarating game of genre hop-scotch, the traditional Freestylers sounds on the raga-laced 'Boom Blast and jungle stylings of 'Punks, sitting perfectly alongside more poignant moments like the epic 'Too Far ['Its a slightly more chilled record,' smiles Aston. 'Well ­ we had to have one!']

'We've got some great collaborations on there,' adds Matt. 'Mostly just people we know and respect who are all into what we are doing. At the end of the day,' he concludes. 'We just really enjoyed making that album. Weve got to a stage where we dont feel we have anything to prove anymore. We can concentrate on having fun making music that people can dance their fucking ass off to.'

Fast forward to 2005 and the Freestylers are already hard at work on their forth album, its still early days but we can tell you the guys have collaborated with Australian drum n bass dons Pendulum. More news to follow soon, watch this space!