Freestylers

The Freestylers formed in 1996 when DJ’s and dance music producers Aston Harvey, Matt Cantor and (initially) Andrew Galea joined forces. All three were already UK dance music veterans, having all been involved in the production scene since the 1980’s.

The Freestylers debut single ‘Drop The Bomb’ released on their own Scratch City Records in 1996 became a dance floor hit around the world. Shortly after in 1996 the group released the Freestyle EP on Freskanova records. Andrew Galea left the group shortly after this release.

In 1998 The Freestylers released their debut album We Rock Hard, which featured the hugely popular singles ‘B-Boy Stance’, ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Here We Go’. We Rock Hard was a defining moment for the group, with sales in the U.S exceeding 150,000 units.

This success saw the band expand to up to a twelve piece live show, consisting of guitars and a full rhythm section, Scratch DJ Jay-Rock, MC’s Tenor Fly and Navigator, Vocalist Valerie M and up to 3 breakdancers. The Freestylers second album Pressure Point was released in 2001, which featured the singles ‘Told You So’, ‘Now Is The Time’ and ‘Get Down Massive.’ The latter cracked the top 20 on the U.S Billboard dance charts in 2002. The Freestylers maintained their position at the forefront of the electro breaks movement, and just to show how talented these two lads were they started releasing singles under the guise of ‘Raw As F**k’. So much was the success of this venture that this became the name of the Freestylers third album.

Raw As F**k, released in 2004, featured their biggest single to date ‘Push Up’ (which featured on Ministry of Sound 2005 Annual, Ministry of Sound Sessions One and Ministry of Sound Breaks 04). Other singles featured on the album were ‘Boom Blast’, ‘Get A Life’ (which features on Ministry of Sound Clubbers Guide To 2004 and Ministry of sound Maximum Bass 2) and ‘Punks’ (which featured on Ministry of Sound Maximum Bass).

‘Adventures In Freestyle’, the bands’ fourth album released in 2006, saw them collaborate with Australian D’n’B maestros Pendulum on the singles ‘Security’ and ‘Painkiller’. The album featured a number of guest vocalist/MC’s and Producers. Most notably was the collaboration with leading Hardcore Production/DJ team Sy & Unknown on ‘In Love With You’ (which features on the Ministry of Sound 2007 Annual).

In 2008, due to the success of the bands biggest single ‘Push Up’, the Freestylers re-released a mash up of the single with 70’s disco group Cameo’s classic ‘Word Up’, aptly titled ‘Push Up Word Up’ (which features on Ministry of Sound Mashed 4).