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Full On Intentions

House producers Michael Gray and Jon Pearn get together again

While the reformation of musical acts usually follows a predictable failure to live up to the chemistry that made them so potent together, Full Intention's Michael Gray and Jon Pearn return to the project which saw them Grammy nominated, with a new UK top 10 each under their belts.

Splitting in 2006 after 10 years of commercial success, Pearn's new Bodyrox project produced ubiquitous electro-house anthem 'Yeah Yeah', storming clubs and radio before hitting No.2, while Gray reached No.7 with MTV favourite 'The Weekend', as well as producing Luciana and Portobello.

But when they already had the likes of Jennifer Lopez and The Sugababes knocking on their door, why did Full Intention split in the first place?

"It's like all things, you need a break so you enjoy it even more when you go back," said Gray when we caught him in the studio finishing off the second single for their new Full Intentions label. "We felt like a factory churning out remixes and wanted to explore our own avenues and music."

Playing together at ADE 2009, for the first time in four years, on the suitably modern set-up of Ableton Live and Traktor Scratch, Gray says they have no immediate plans to return to the kind of huge vocals of old, as evidenced on new release, 'Once In A Lifetime' (out now), which, with its tracky, club-focused vibe, signals a return to their roots.

"It's different these days, a lot of records are Beatport-led so we've just gone out to make good grooves," Gray explained. "We're still going to do vocal records as that's what we love but it's time to go back to basics at the moment. We're also going to continue to do our own stuff."

Fans of their older material need not fear, however. Releasing roughly one track a month, the label will include remixes of classic Full Intention material by today's new wave of house producers. And with next single, 'I Will Follow', released in February, featuring Shena on vocal duties, it seems only a matter of time before they're back doing what they do best.