http://www.chaseandstatus.co.uk/
harrell Williams of N*E*R*D hails them as ‘The most
exciting producers in the UK today’, Rihanna considers them ‘the
backbone’ of her record ‘Rated R’ but this isn’t enough to quench the
musical thirst of multi award winning, platinum record selling
producers, writers and musicians in their own right, Chase & Status
aka Will Kennard and Saul Milton. The duo, who count Jay Z and Snoop
Dogg as fans, as well as drum and bass’ finest Andy C, Hype and
Pendulum; enjoy heavy rotation in the hands of dub-step royalty such as
N-Type and Skream; and have each release enthusiastically supported by
Radio 1 tastemakers Annie Mac and Zane Lowe.
Will and Saul met in London through their mutual love of Drum and
bass in the mid nineties before later cementing their friendship by
Dj’ing together at Manchester University. 2004 saw their first
production, a remix for Future Cut which was followed by a series of
drum and bass anthems for the biggest underground labels including
‘Duppy Man’ for Breakbeat Kaos and ‘The Druids’ EP for DJ Zinc’s
trendsetting Bingo label. Despite a high volume of releases on Ram
Records and constant DJing around the world, Chase & Status managed
to mastermind and release their debut album ‘More Than A lot’ in 2008.
Packed with the kind of drum and bass anthems that have helped build
their reputation, it also features tracks which show the diversity of
their work: such as ‘Pieces’ featuring Plan B and the Radio 1 A-List
single ‘Against All Odds’ featuring Kano. The album is a thrilling
journey through the UK urban scene and truly deserves its title. One
track from the album, ‘Eastern Jam’ was even spotted by Snoop Dogg who
newly released it in April 2009 as ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire’.
In 2009 Chase & Status began crafting their, now renowned, live
show which they debuted at the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend that year. Their
live set up includes the legendary Andy Gangadeen on drums and
enigmatic front man, Rage as their MC. The show features an exhilarating
mixture of lighting, video and guest appearances from vocalists
including Plan B and Tinie Tempah as well as rising stars Delilah, Liam
Bailey, Maverick Sabre and Mali who all appear on ‘No More Idols’. The
live show continues to draw in record attendances through two years of
headline festival appearances, five sold out UK tours, three sold out
European tours, two sold out US tours and repeated festival appearances
across the globe from Coachella to Big Day Out, Ibiza Rocks to
Summersonic in Japan.
Having signed both a major publishing deal with Universal
Publishing and a major record deal with Vertigo / Mercury Records in
2009, the duo smashed straight into the Official UK Top 10 with single
‘End Credits’, their second collaboration with UK vocalist, Plan B which
featured in the gritty British movie ‘Harry Brown’ starring Michael
Caine. The video to this track would go on to win ‘Best Video’ at the
2010 Q Awards.
2010 saw Chase & Status next release ‘Let You Go’ Feat. Mali
which undoubtedly became the anthem of the Summer festivals along with
‘Hypest Hype’ featuring grime artist Tempa T which was released as a
free download. At the end of January 2011, Chase & Status released
‘Blind Faith’ feat. Liam Bailey, which entered the UK singles chart at
No. 4, the bands’ highest charting single to date. One week later, their
hotly anticipated second studio album ‘No More Idols’ was released and
went flying straight into the No.2 spot on the UK Album Chart second
only to Adele’s worldwide smash ‘21’.
Musically, ‘No More Idols’ sees Chase & Status move from the
punk-like riffs of ‘Fire In Your Eyes’ featuring soulful vocalist
Maverick Sabre to the hip-hop beats of ‘Hitz’ featuring Tinie Tempah via
tracks with some of the hottest names in music such as Dizzee Rascal,
Plan B, White Lies and Cee Lo Green who is the only non-British artist
to feature on the album. Will and Saul kept the solidly British flare of
the album alive through working with up and coming UK talent including
Liam Bailey, Delilah and Clare Maguire to name but a few. Spring 2011
saw the release of the single ‘Time’ featuring the vocal talent of
Delilah before ‘Hitz’ featuring Tinie Tempah was released later that
year. The seventh single to be released from ‘No More Idols’ came in the
form of their anthemic collaboration with Sub Focus on ‘Flashing
Lights’.
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Chase & Status became one of the biggest selling artists in the
UK in 2011 selling over 1 million singles in the UK alone. Their album
‘No More Idols’ did not leave the top 40 for 35 weeks and has now
achieved double platinum status. Will and Saul began 2012 with a Brit
Nomination for ‘Best British Group’, a true credit to their enormous
success in the UK and an amazing recognition of drum and bass music by
such a prestigious awards ceremony. Early 2012 also sees Chase &
Status release their ‘Live at Brixton Academy’ DVD capturing their
phenomenal live performance at the legendary venue on their recent UK
tour. The pair also head back into the studio to work on highly
anticipated album number three. Not many bands can headline a dance
festival and be invited to play the mainstage at Download but Chase
& Status will be doing so this Summer as part of a festival season
that also sees them headlining Global Gathering and SW4 Festival as well
as playing a host of other festivals across the UK, Europe and the USA.
