The Chemical Brothers

Take two daring youngsters from the UK with a never-ending taste for music, a number of chartbusters in both the UK and the US, splash loads and loads of attitude, and voila; we’ve got The Chemical Brothers. The very name of this duo makes dance floors and clubs go crazy. Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands a.k.a The Chemical Brothers are a household name in the electronica genre for a long time now.

Ed Simons, born 9th June, 1970 in Herne Hill, South London, England was intrigued by just two things as a kid; airplanes and music. As a toddler, he was a frequent visitor to The Mud Club and had a liking for rare groove and hip hop music. He was also inspired by two famous Manchester bands, New Order and The Smiths.

Tom Rowlands, born January 11th, 1971 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, England, was in awe of the Scottish music, especially the bagpipes as a kid. He was a regular follower of electro artists like Heaven 17, New Order, and Cabaret Voltaire. At school, Tom was a part of a band called Ariel, under which he released a single called ‘Sea of Beats’ which was later taken by the Eastern Bloc label.

Both these men met at the University of Manchester and this is where they found their tastes and aspirations similar. They both started frequenting clubs together and were influenced by old school hip hop, electronica, and other funky beats. In 1991, Tom and Ed started a club called Naked Under Leather. At that point of time, they were heavily influenced by the Beastie Boys. So, they decided to call themselves the Dust Brothers, after the original Dust Brothers who were the producers of the album ‘Paul’s Boutique’ by the Beastie Boys.

It was at this point of time that they released the single ‘Song to the Siren’. It got noticed by the right people in the industry and was picked up by Junior Boys Own Records. The duo slowly started remixing tracks by John Lydon, Republica, and the Sandals. They also went on to release two more EPs; ‘14th Century Sky’ and ‘My Mercury Mouth’. 14th Century Sky had a track called ‘Chemical Beats’, which was a phenomenal hit. The rest, as they say, is history.

After receiving legal threats from the original Dust Brothers, Ed and Tom changed their name to the Chemical Brothers. They got signed to Virgin Records in 1995 and released ‘Leave Home’, a single, and ‘Exit Planet Dust’, their first album. It reached #9 at the UK charts and was a super success and they promoted the album by going on a tour across continents and performing live. In the meantime, they also did some remixes for Dave Clarke, the Manic Street Preachers, and Method Man.

In 1996, they released ‘Setting Sun’ which became the #1 track in the UK charts. Their next single ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’ was a phenomenal success and ended up being #1 again in the UK charts. It also won them a Grammy for best rock instrumental. In 1997, they came up with their second album ‘Dig Your Own Hole’. It got rave reviews and Mixmag gave it a 10/10 rating. Later that year, they released their original material, ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’, which reached #3 in the UK charts.

In 1999, they came up with the album ‘Surrender’, which had the phenomenally successful single ‘Out of Control’, yet another #1 single in the UK chart. In 2000, they aired ‘It Began In Afrika’, a single from their forthcoming album, in the New York DJ gigs alongside U2. In 2001, they came up with their next album, ‘Come With Us’ which sold more than 100,000 copies and entered the UK charts at #1. ‘Galaxy Bounce’, an extremely popular song from this album was made the main title music for the Xbox game Project Gotham Racing.

In 2003, they released their ‘best of’ album named Singles 93-03. They also did a remix for the popular Kylie Minogue track ‘Slow’. During this period, they were household names in the festival circuit and made several appearances in Glastonbury Festival, Tokyo, Scotland, Ireland, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and many other countries. In 2005, the album ‘Push The Button’ was released and was an instant success. The single ‘Galvanize’ became very popular and was a #3 track in the UK charts. Another single, ‘Believe’, was #18 in the UK charts. Galvanize also won them a Grammy in 2006.

With an array of super hit singles and albums, collaborations with international stars, huge mainstream success, and worldwide critical acclaim, the Chemical Brothers are here to stay; and man; isn’t that what we want?

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