FreeStylers release ‘Frozen’ EP and Video
Watch new music video for ‘Frozen’ here.
Following the success of Flux Pavilion’s remix of their ‘Cracks’, the Freestylers were pleasantly surprised when Flux hopped on another track, this time as a singer. ‘Frozen’, the title of the Freestylers latest EP and single, features vocals from Joshua Steele who is also known as Flux Pavilion, the master remixer behind ‘Cracks’. The 60s-style vocals from Joshua Steele help to establish a record primed for maximum dancefloor detonation.
“We always try to make as big a club record as possible,” said Aston Harvey, one half of the Freestylers, in an interview with DJmag.com
The ‘Frozen’ EP draws from the Freestylers deep rooted history with hip-hop and reggae breakbeats. The Freestylers say that ‘Killasound’, the second song on the EP, remixed by Wizard of Deekline and Wizard fame, was heavily influenced by the work they did with Congo Natty.
“He used to fuse loads of reggae with hip-hop and jungle,” said Aston. “He is one of the pioneers of the whole kind of junglist sort of scene, I reckon, of fusing reggae with drum and bass beats before there was even drum and bass.”
‘Killasound’ is based on a reggae beat but listeners will definitely notice an updated sound with a Freestylers twist on it, said Aston.
Like many other producers, Aston had a humble start as a teenager and worked for years developing his sound.
“When I was about 15 or 16 some friend of mine when I was at school said 'why don’t we start doing some discos to earn some extra money?' and at that time I was really into hip-hop and I just wanted to learn how to scratch and mix,” said Aston. “I got these turntables and I ended up doing a few of my school discos and a couple of other discos, but it wasn’t as much work at 16 as I expected. I thought I’d get more work.”
Eventually his hard work and creativity fuelled his interest in recording sound.
“My mates used to come over to my house and we use to scratch the beats up and we used to record them rapping on tapes and stuff, and then I said 'why don’t we try to do this in the studio?'” said Aston. “I thought, well if I can learn how to use the equipment myself, I can do it myself.”
Although Aston never had the opportunity to attend music college like many people do today, he said he learned his craft from hanging out in the studio.
“I managed to get myself a job working at a studio, and I learned the trade from there really,” said Aston.
While he admits things have been tough on the road to success, he remembers the experiences that have made it all worth while, like preforming on Top Of The Pops, what was once one of the biggest music TV shows in the UK.
“We’ve been in all these different periods where we’ve had a bit of success and then it's kind of gone downhill, then we had a bit of a resurge then it's gone downhill again. There’s never been anything really constant with us for some mad reason or another,” said Aston.
But after nearly 20 years the Freestylers are still in the game and their music is still relevant to the times.
“I think reggae has always been a UK London kind of sound,” said Aston. The new EP ‘Frozen’ definitely shows how UK music is still being influenced today.
The music video preceding the release of the EP also says a lot about the Freestylers and their music.
“We like to think our music is being fun and I think that video is a fun video,” said Aston. “It definitely stands out.”
The EP will be released 6th June 2011 on Freestylers Music with remixes from Cookie Monsta.
Watch the official music video for ‘Frozen’ here.