4hero - History Mix - Part 2

Biography of 4hero

From Jungle to Hip Hop, Jazz to Broken Beats, Marc Mac and Dego are the nucleus of Reinforced Records, one of the godfather labels of Drum n' Bass. They started their career in a tiny Dollis Hill studio packed to the rafters with the kind of old electronic kits you'd more often see in second hand stores. It was here they made their first Jungle album ('In Rough Territory') and followed it in the early 90s with a bewildering array of artiste aliases to unleash an unstoppable avalanche of progressive Drum n' Bass into a fledgling genre crying out for innovators. From these beginnings, there has followed a rollercoaster ride, crowned by a Mercury Music Prize nomination and a MOBO award for their 4 Hero identity which produced two albums for Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label.

Marc and Dego are real world musicians. Rather than simply integrate, they interrogate and still strive to innovate: able to mix sounds from past, present and future. The Jungle/Drum n' Bass scene was unquestionably both their home and training ground but the acclaimed moody, filmic album 'Jacobs Optical Stairway' (1996 on R and S Records)was probably their last production that could even remotely be called Drum n' Bass. Since then, Marc and Dego have progressed to a level where they are happy to be judged for their music rather than their reputation. But what a reputation! Their touch can still be felt in virtually all corners of the post-dance music world.

And so to the present. Marc has set up the labels Omniverse Records and Twisted Funk, while Dego has launched his imprint 2000Black, which covers, in Dego's words: 'every style of music other than Drum n' Bass. But unfortunately today's commercial radio isn't geared to such diversity'. Yet this isn't some misunderstood-artist chip carried on the shoulder because Dego is fiercely proud of the fact that 2000Black isn't scared to release artists (the compilation album 'GoodGood' for example) which only Dego believes in because 'it's still just all about the musical content.'

Like Marc, Dego finds that working with people from the 'street' is more rewarding then dumbing down for cheap biz sucess: 'They are a lot more open minded, without these misguided preconceptions of what goes into making a track. These people are down for some maad shit! We just try and help them to explore.' Most artists disappear after commercial success. Not Marc and Dego. The last few years have found them venturing further and further in hitherto unknown musical fields, creating patterns that no-one else has imagined. Working with diverse and talented poets and singers, right now they are shaping a new musical sound with Broken Beats-meets-Jazz-Latin-Soul.

Marc and Dego have only just started...

True originators are thin on the ground but 4hero's claim is more robust than most. As pioneers of jungle and drum n bass, they massively changed the face of 90s music and made a huge contribution to dance culture. Forging ahead with new beats and new techniques, the London duo have released a steady stream of precious moments and crafted a sound which is entirely their own.

Play with the Changes will be their first album for 6 years in a prolific career that has gained critical acclaim, a Mercury nomination, MOBO award and widespread respect from the music fraternity. It is 4hero's duality of approach which makes them truly unique. Influenced by underground techno as much as Chicago soul, their music is a synthesis of past and future, artificial and organic, strange and familiar. Intertwining live and electronic sounds, 4hero create futuristic soul for real music heads.

Play with the Changes is a richly textured and musically complex album. Fluttering, delicate beats mutate into orchestral excursions. Strings and live drums give way to abstract sounds and disjointed electronica. It features a role call of superior vocalists of the quality one has come to expect from 4hero, including Carina Andersson, whose contribution to 'Les Fleur' made it a straight up masterpiece. Poetess extraordinaire and long-time cohort Ursula Rucker lends her lyrical wisdom and Grammy award winning legend Jody Watley makes a special appearance. Daughter of Cosmic Jazz Bembe Segue, Bugz in the Attic's Kaidi Taitham, Phonte of Little Brother, Jack Davey (J*DaVeY) and Larry Mizell (who has written and produced for the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye and countless others) join a host of new evolving talent.

Suffused with a love of black music history (think Roy Ayers, Rotary Connection, Sun Ra, Minnie Riperton, Afrika Bambaataa), and technical innovation, 4hero's unique brand of alchemy has given us genre-defining albums and breakthrough anthems which stand out as milestones in the history of dance music. After releasing early rave classic Mr Kirk's Nightmare, they established Reinforced Records and unleashed Goldie onto the world, as well as material by Doc Scott, Photek, Peshay and Grooverider.

Parallel Universe set a precedent for successive drum and bass long players and was labelled NME album of the year. Two Pages, their debut album for Talkin' Loud in 1998, was one of the most anticipated albums of that year and was nominated for a Mercury music Prize and also won 4hero a MOBO award. 2001's Creating Patterns explored more acoustic sounds and featured Jill Scott, soul-folk legend Terry Callier and 60's psychedelic poet Mark Murphy. As well as working with some of the great voices of soul, they set new standards as remixers and their stunning reinterpretation of Black Gold of the Sun'...one of the best remixes ever....'

Using various pseudonyms more recently Visioneers and DKD., and through their own labels, (Reinforced, Raw Canvas, 2000 Black, Omniverse and Twisted Funk) Marc and Dego continue to venture into hitherto unknown musical fields, create sounds that no-one else has imagined and work with diverse and talented musicians, poets and singers. Their pedigree is beyond dispute and their music has always has a much deeper significance than simply moving the crowd.

http://www.myspace.com/4hero