From the days of Breakbeat's origins, FreQ Nasty established himself as one of the scene's pioneers, producing many of the genre's defining moments. As Breakbeat came into its own, FreQ Nasty's tunes remained ahead of the pack and now he is on the cutting edge of the FutureStep movement, a chaotic loose assemblage of sonic renegades, steeped in the traditions of Breaks, Dubstep, Rock, Ragga, Grime and Funk: twisting just about anything that moves the masses into new forms for the dance floor. Chopping in and out of slow motion Halfstep beats, FreQ is creating a new sound, referencing Breaks in the spirit that spawned the Genre ? twisting the fuck out of whatever is on hand to create something fresh for the ears, full fat for the feet, and free on the mind!!A UK/US resident by way of Fiji and New Zealand, FreQ Nasty started his career at underground record label Botchit & Scarper in the late nineties and has gone on to release a slew of cutting-edge records through labels such as SKINT (as a label mate of Fatboy Slim), Finger Lickin' Records, and Adam Freeland?s Marine Parade (as High Pryme with BLIM). Whilst tinkering with the back end of dance music culture, from the depths of South London's Peckham and Brixton to Whitechapel in East London, where human interaction is at its most raw and hungry, FreQ's carved a radical aural geometry out of uncut bassline material and diamond-tipped breakbeats, crafting the sound of inner-city danger and excitement into some of the toughest dance floor music of the millennium.FreQ began gestating the Breaks sound at Jungle/Drum&Bass label SOUR in the late 90?s. This new sound rolled with the same rough-edged attitude and dynamism as drum and bass, but at a slower more fusion friendly tempo, incorporating elements of Jungle, HipHop, Techno, Bashment, Electro, Garage, all with the space and bottom end of Dub and Reggae -?Breakbeat? as we now know it. FreQ?s genre-defining debut album FreQ?s Geeks and Mutilations launched him into 1999. Fueled by releases the likes of ?Boomin? Back Atcha? and ?Freq-A?Zoid?, Breakbeat flourished and so did he, punching out the slithering, galaxy-sized bassline of his remix of Steve Reich?s ?Desert Music?, and retooling Sosounde?s Metisse? with fellow pioneer BLIM. Since then, the likes of Fatboy Slim, Kelis, Filter, and KRS One have all felt the benefit of a Freq Nasty re-rub. Past collaborators have been artists as diverse as Roots Manuva, Reggae legend Junior Delgado, Public Enemy, Rodney P, Switch/SolidGroove, Phoebe One and many more.2003?s Bring Me the Head of Freq Nasty impacted right into the rubble of dance music, at a time when genre distinctions were collapsing and orthodoxies disintegrating on an hourly basis. FreQ then marched out on tour with the Video Nasty Experience, an eye-melting DVDJ/VJ fusion of graphics, typography and FreQ?s ?dreaded? cartoon likeness. This multi-screen attack on the senses was perpetrated by a hit squad of animation and motion graphic assassins ? including the Brothers Mogg from Peter Jackson?s company Weta Digital, and Jamie Hewlitt?s Zombie Flesh Eaters. Album tracks ?Amped? and ?Goose? traversed genres effortlessly, being played by Breakbeat, Garage, House, Techno and Electro jocks simultaneously in the same way that Timo Maas?s mix of Azzido Da Bass?s ?Doom?s Night? or Alter Ego?s ?Rocker? was ... tunes for discerning clubbers on any dance floor. FreQ is treading the same path now, only levels ahead with his take on the Halfstep movement, a sound he first experimented with in 1999 on his debut album, and then again in 2003, remixing Kelis at exactly half the tempo of Breaks - creating a deep slow-motion bass roller that kept the energy of the higher tempo inflection whilst playing with beats the way Timbaland might if he munched pills on the weekend with Dillinja and George Clinton. As the Dubstep scene in London has flourished, it seemed a logical stop-in for FreQ and he has been serving up heavy doses of the FutureStep sound in clubs - Breaks, Dubstep or otherwise - across the world.Proving that the ?death of dance music? is the best thing that ever happened to the scene, the next installment of FreQ-Foolery is about to drop in the form of a FreQ Nasty's album "The Missing Channel", set for release in 2007 and ready to bust out the next chapter of his sonic genre-splicing. It aims to drag Breakbeat kicking and screaming to a place where those tired of rigid genre classifications can smash and grab some of the freshness they expect from their favorite Multi/Non Genre without having to hear the same tired formulas regurgitated by the same old names. ?Expect mad vibes and different frequencies for those who wanna get the 2010?s underway NOW? says the one with the hair antennae as he channels alien DNA into the musical genome of underground music.As music attempts to negotiate the chaotic rewiring of popular culture and net revolution, FreQ Nasty has taken the magpie attitude of download culture to FreQsville, extending his repertoire through collaborations with the late Disco D (50 cent and TrickDaddy producer and GhettoTech kingpin), UK Dubstep stalwarts Luke Envoy and Virus Syndicate, Glitch uberlord Si Begg, Killers NYC label mates Stiffed, Mike Skinner's new Hip Hop prodigy Professor Green, Indie LowFi artist and Tricky muse/collaborator Costanza, NYC Punkrap MC Princess SuperStar, Fidget House maestro and MIA producer Switch, and underground UK HipHop star Lethal. Collabs in the pipeline include Drum?n?Bass stars T-Power and DJ Die, and hotly-tipped Grindy (Grime/Indy fusion) band Hadouken. We can even expect a couple of breaks collaborations, with RaggaBreaks cohort and Radio 1 DJ Tayo and the UK?s hottest breaks punks CTRL Z, just to keep the purists happy. In masterminding "The Missing Channel", FreQ has set the controls for the heart of Bass, taking along for the ride a ragtag crew of fellow sonic explorers with nothing but a razor sharp ear and a short attention span to navigate the journey.Following (for UK release) is the eagerly-awaited latest installment of the FreQ Nasty long player series, with a re-cut, re-visioned visual storm based on the Video Nasty Experience. The sound can be likened to a Myspace junkie's iPod, stuck in a blender with equal measures of Dubstep tempos, Trashment aesthetics and Breakbeat intensity, garnished with guitar and vocals from some of London, New York, and LA?s finest. Indie, Hip Hop, Spoken word and Dance Hall well-blended, all good ? and all glued together with a healthy dose of the dub and funk that create the signature FreQ sound. Think the bastard grandchild of Bootsy Collins and Burning Spear lost in the ?Electronica? section of a Lower Eastside guitar shop, the history of beat-based dance music colliding at slow motion tempo with the intensity dial cranked to 11!If you hear a rumbling on the horizon, put your ear to the ground and listen well; you might just get run over by a truck coming in the other direction, the sides scrawled with the words ?FreQ was here ? again!?
Discography
- Freq's, Geeks & Mutilations (1999), Botchit & Scarper Records
- Y4K: Next Level Breaks (2002), Distinctive Breaks Records
- Bring Me the Head of Freq Nasty (2004), Skint Records
- Breakspoll VOL 2 (2006), Super Charged
External links
Freq NastyFreq Nasty
