How many artists/producers can count Jay Z, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell as fans, as well as drum and bass’ finest Andy C, Hype and Pendulum; enjoy heavy rotation in the hands of dub-step royalty such as N-Type and Skream; and have each release enthusiastically supported by Annie Mac and Zane Lowe? This is what Saul Milton and Will Kennard, producing under the name Chase & Status, have achieved in 5 years, and the highlight of their young career so far has been their debut LP ‘More Than Alot‘ which has helped turn them into a unique urban phenomenon, and become the biggest crossover act to come out of the underground since Pendulum.
They met at Manchester University through their mutual love of drum and bass in the mid nineties and have DJ’d ever since, waiting until 2004 for their first production, a remix for Future Cut (better known these days for their production work with Lily Allen). It was followed by a series of drum and bass anthems for the biggest underground labels including ‘Duppy Man‘ for Breakbeat Kaos (home of Pendulum’s platinum selling debut album) in 2005 and ‘The Druids‘ EP for DJ Zinc’s trendsetting Bingo label a year later. Their production work for Jenna G’s ‘In Love‘ the same year earned them their first award, Best Single, as voted by over 40,000 listeners for the BBC 1Xtra Drum & Bass Awards.
Despite a high volume of releases on Ram Records and constant DJing, Chase & Status managed to mastermind and release their debut album in 2008. Packed with the kind of drum and bass anthems that have helped build their reputation, it also features tracks which show the diversity of their work: such as ‘Pieces‘ featuring Plan B and the Radio 1 A-List single ‘Against All Odds‘ featuring Kano. The album is a thrilling journey through the UK urban scene and deserves its great title: ‘More Than Alot‘. One track from the album, ‘Eastern Jam‘ was even spotted by Snoop Dogg who newly released it in April 2009 as ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire‘.
If keeping themselves busy in the studio with multi-platinum artists and DJ commitments all around the world wasn’t enough, Chase & Status have completed 2 massive live tours of the UK and Europe in the last 12 months. Their first ever Live tour in 2009 came off the back of ground breaking debut performances at the 2009 BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend and Relentless’ Nass Festival. Their live set up includes the amazing Andy Gangadeen on drums and appearances from vocalists including Plan B and Kano who both feature on ‘More Than Alot’ and, on their most recent tour, rising star Delilah who has also been working in the studio with the guys.
2009 also saw Chase & Status sign a major record deal with Vertigo/Mercury Records and smash into the Top 10 with single ‘End Credits‘ feat. Plan B, which featured in the film ‘Harry Brown‘ starring Michael Caine. 2010 has seen Chase & Status remain just as busy, spending a summer smashing up the European festival circuit, for which they received numerous award nominations, and in August, they released ‘Let You Go‘ Feat. Mali which undoubtedly became the summer anthem of 2010. The newest accolade to add to Chase & Status’s growing list is the Q 2010 Award for Best Video for ‘End Credits‘ Feat. Plan B. They are currently putting the final touches to their second studio album, due for release at the beginning of 2011: it’s set to be a genre bending phenomenon.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Nneka – Heartbeat (Chase & Status Remix)
Electro/dubstep experimental producer “The 83rd” recently sent us some of his new material in the making. It’s impressive. With his debut EP “The EXperience on the horizon, he’s currently pushing a remix that has been getting a lot of love on Hype Machine called “On and On and Ocean” which samples Erykah Badu, Bjork and The Dirty Projectors. Another great track from his repertoire is his dub take on Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
