Ultrabeat are an award-winning electronic music production group based in Liverpool, who primarily produce dance and house music and are most famous for their 2003 massive hit Pretty Green Eyes.Their output is generally classed under the genre known as scouse house. The earlier efforts was commercial UK Vocal Trance productions. Ultrabeat release their work via the All Around The World record label. The group is comprised of Mike Di Scala, Chris Henry and Ian Redman.Their records have been constantly supported by Scouse House and Radio City 96.7 DJ, Lee Butler, who helped launch them into stardom. He famously played their cover version of I'm Not in Love on the radio, just a few hours after it was recorded.The band's debut album, called "Ultrabeat - The Album", was released on September 10th 2007 and includes all of their singles and reached #8 in the UK album chart. The new single following from the album was "I Wanna Touch You" released on 17th December 2007.
Band Members
- Mike Di Scala - main producer, songwriter, main singer
- Chris Henry - additional producer, songwriter
- Ian Redman - additional producer
- Rebecca Rudd - additional singer (since "Elysium ")
History
Origin
Mike, Chris and Ian were friends before Ultrabeat started. They grew up near each other in Liverpool, Mike and Chris attending schools just a mile away from each other, with Mike attending Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in West Derby and Chris attending Broadgreen High School in the Old Swan/Broadgreen area. They were part of the same circles of friends, and also DJs, in the up and coming scouse house scene. They all shopped in the underground dance record shop "3 Beat Records", and they all used to perform DJ sets across Liverpool nightclubs. The three decided to go into Mike's studio for some amateur recording sessions were they made some bootlegs of old happy hardcore tracks from 1997 onwards.
Record Deal (2003)
All Around The World first met with Mike di Scala through Rezonance Q and their single, "Someday", which went to #29 in early 2003. In Mike's studio he and All Around The World were discussing "Someday", when he played them Ultrabeat's demo of "Pretty Green Eyes", a cover of the 'Force & Styles' Happy hardcore song from 1997. It was then that Ultrabeat were signed by All Around The World.
Mainstream Popularity (2003-05)
"Pretty Green Eyes" went on to be a #2 hit in August 2003. It was playlisted on most radio stations including BBC Radio 1, and was performed live on Top of The Pops.
[1] The following single was "Feelin' Fine" which charted at #12 in the Christmas chart of 2003. Their next single was "Better Than Life", which was released the next year in 2004 and reached #23 in the chart.The decline of their mainstream popularity came when their next single, "Feel It With Me", was released some 10 months after "Better Than Life". It charted at a low #57 in 2005. Their album (originally titled "Better Than Life - The Album") was expected to be released sometime after this but it never materialised and this upset many fans.
With Rebecca Rudd (2006-07)
Rebecca Rudd had already sung vocals for the M&C Project, a group which featured both Mike Di Scala and Chris Henry, on a track called "Coming Back"; as well as a cover of Siedah Garrett's "Do You Want It Right Now" and a song called "Magic Touch".In 2005 she had also did the vocals for Pawn Shop, an alias of Whelan & Di Scala, on a song called "Shot Away" which samples The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".In April 2006 "Elysium " was released, and charted at #38 and put Ultrabeat back in the top 40 after 17 months without a top 40 hit. This saw a re-surge in popularity for Ultrabeat. This song, which sampled Scott Brown's "Elysium", featured Rebecca Rudd on vocals for the very first time for Ultrabeat."Elysium " was played on TV music channels much more than "Feel It With Me" and became one of their most popular songs. MTV viewers voted it #1, on the 'Galaxy Chart', of best songs in the clubs at the time.Their sixth single, "Sure Feels Good", was released in August 2007 and it was a collaboration with Happy Hardcore artist Darren Styles who has influenced their work greatly. It achieved #51 in the chart. It was the second single featuring Rebecca Rudd and along with "Elysium", this is also a collaboration with another hardcore artist.===Album===sIn September 2007 the band released their longly anticipated album titled "Ultrabeat - The Album" which achieved #8 in the charts. Also in September - October of 2007 the band went on a national tour of the UK with Cascada (who are also on the AATW label) on their successful Everytime We Touch Tour which included a gig in their hometown of Liverpool. The release of their album and the national tour saw a boost in popularity for the band.After the success of "Ultrabeat - The Album" and tour supporting Cascada, Mike Di Scala said there may possibly be another tour for Ultrabeat were they are headliners, and he also said he was working on a second album in his head. The seventh single, "I Wanna Touch You", is also due to be released December 17 2007.
Discography
Albums
- Ultrabeat - The Album - #8 (UK Albums Chart)
Singles
Trivia
- Their single "Elysium (I Go Crazy)", which was done with Scott Brown, is consistently mistitled as "Elysium - I Go Crazy", leading to this being its name on playlists/charts from MTV Dance and similar stations. It is also mistitled as "Don't Leave Me Hangin'"; the name being taken from the lyrics of the single.
Footnotes
External links
British electronic music groupsMusic from LiverpoolHouse musicElectronic music
