The Nextmen

Widely regarded the globe over as the two most indispensable ingredients for a blazing party, amiable Cambridge born production duo The Nextmen (Brad Baloo and Dom Search) continue to set 2006 alight. In the wake of their two internationally successful albums ‘Amongst The Madness’ (75 Ark) and 'Get Over It' (Scenario Records), countless mixed releases, singles, remixes, bootlegs and the launch of their own label Custom Records, this brilliant pair continue to up the ante for home-grown hip-hop and eclectic electronic music in general.

Their music, in both performance and production, continues to embody some stunningly cool conundrum. It’s an eclectic, uncompromising sound that is becoming more and more their own. On one hand it's a blend of their own razor sharp slice of forward-thinking UK production which reconfigures the format for British urban music, drawing on lessons learned from diligent drum’n’bass programming, the highest grade riddims of dancehall, the sway and seduction of classic soul, and their families musical backgrounds ("We both grew up around mysterious prominent figures in 70s folk, jazz and rock"). On the other, they channel a supremely funky groove that’s reminiscent of New York 's formidable defining hip-hop blueprint. And they've done it all on the downlow over the past eight years, quietly responsible for pushing their musical peers to step up their production game.

Which is all a long way from the humble hip-hop beginnings of The Nextmen: Brad abandoned a weekend job playing covers of The Police on a piano in a Cambridge pub after hearing an Ice Cream Tee track on the radio and Dom found his first turntable in a rubbish skip aged 13 years old. "I found that turntable just after 'The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff' had come out and I couldn't believe what he was doing on it with a turntable. I wanted to work it out for myself and using this old shitty thing with a tape deck attached where I had to use matchsticks and bluetack to make it work, I used the rotary volume fader to cut with. Copied Jeff syllable for syllable."

Despite the fact that they both attended virtually every hip-hop show that called into Cambridge during the late 80s and early 90s - Stetsasonic, EPMD, KRS-1, De La Soul, and Ice T, the pair didn't link until later on when Brad had been offered the opportunity to remix the London Posse's 'Style' single in 1997. "We had really basic equipment and didn't really know what we were doing," admits Brad. "But everyone loved it and Westwood and John Peel played it on Radio 1. I still think it's the third worst remix of all time though."

Constant badgering from punters, mates and the remarkably insightful label Fat City also pushed the pair to try and cage their feisty live DJ sets into a series of promotional mix CD releases, always with naughty Nextmen touches. Try the weight-loss bible ‘Listen and Lose’ or the hip-hop guide to modern sports etiquette with ‘The Nextmen’s Personal Golf Instructions’. Widely popular the globe over, with thousands currently enjoying their latest comic newsreel ‘Not The Nextmen’, the series has really only just begun. Rumour has it punters will soon be learning to fox trot or dazzle peers with homespun super powers, all swimming amongst the season’s hottest sounds, in the very near future.

http://www.thenextmen.com