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ELITE FORCE (U&A, UK)

A few words before we delve into the obligatory biography… those who are fans of breakbeat and tech-funk have no need for a formal introduction of Elite Force – and for those who are new to the genre, there is no better artist to better sum it up for you than this week’s Jungo Road podcast mixed by Elite Force.

I always noticed Elite Force’s tracks and remixes on b-sides of 12″ I was buying – and then in 2006 it finally hit me: this is hands down my favorite producer in dance music. And three years later that has not changed. Whether it is under his name or a plethora of cheeky monikers he has used to put his imprint on the scene, for over a decade Elite Force (aka Shack) has been the pioneer, innovator, and master of tech-funk.

Simon Shackleton’s Elite Force project began way back in 1996, debuting on his own newly founded Fused and Bruised label with a series of peerless 12″ and remixes. After a successful five years, he put Fused and Bruised on the back burner to concentrate on production work. Following several years with Whole9Yards and Moonshine, he became a mainstay recording artist for Adrift Recordings (formally known as Kingsize Records) before moving on to set up his own hugely successful U&A Recordings imprint.

Often credited for being a linchpin in the development of the tech-funk genre (an amalgamation of breaks, house, techno and electro), he has released a series of highly successful singles in the past few years. He received broad support from DJs and musicians across the board, including the likes of James Zabiela, Sasha, Crystal Method, Laurent Garnier and Fatboy Slim to name but five. In 2008, he released a semi-retrospective double album’s worth of remixes and re-workings of a 12-year back catalog, with over 25 mixes coming from such luminaries as Miles Dyson, Rogue Element, Deepgroove, Dylan Rhymes and Calvertron.

In addition to these solo singles, Meat Katie has been a regular collaborator with Elite Force. It’s a creative relationship that began in 2003 with the massive-selling “Toba”, continues with a series of singles under the “Meat Katie & Elite Force” banner, and comes to fruition in 2009 with the launch of their new joint project Dustbowl.

As a remixer, Elite Force has always been in huge demand, with re-workings for the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Crystal Method, Jungle Brothers, Stereo MCs, UNKLE, Infusion, Rennie Pilgrem, Shiloh and Dylan Rhymes all contributing to his reputation as one of the most creative and effective remixers around.

Elite Force’s music has also been the soundtrack to many a movie, with a huge list of impressive A-list credits to his name, including the likes of The Matrix, Charlie’s Angels, Arlington Road, Mortal Kombat, Crow, The Bone Collector, The Jackyll, and Spiderman 2. His music has appeared on a wide array of TV shows, from CSI to Top Gear, from Football Focus to LA Doctors. He’s also soundtracked a number of computer games including no fewer than 5 FIFA games, several of the Wipeout series, The Matrix and Motorstorm 1. He is currently writing some bespoke music for forthcoming games for Ferrari and Motorstorm2.

On the decks, Elite Force has been a prime mover since 1990 when he cut his teeth playing huge student nights and self-promoted acid house nights in the South West of England, before moving up to ….London…. and ultimately gravitating towards his tech-funk style, with which he now has a full diary of global bookings. He has become known as one of the top tech-nicians on a circuit that has included massive shows in Belarus, Hungary, Australia, Italy, USA, Czech Republic, India, Turkey, Spain, Japan, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and China, amongst others, as well as numerous festival slots including Glastonbury, Coachella, Bloom, Wickerman and the Glade. This year will be Elite Force’s debut performance at Burning Man.

He was also responsible for the hugely influential Strongarm Sessions webcasts which became something of an institution since their inception back in 2001, receiving as they did around 20,000 downloads per show, but now put on the back burner to concentrate on other projects, such as his own blog Tech Funk Manifesto and his other musical projects such as Dustbowl.

You can catch Elite Force in the USA this month June 19th at Shorty’s Martini Bar in Baltimore, MD; June 20th at Mission Rock in San Francisco, and June 22nd at Monday Social in Los Angeles.

More info on his MySpace
Booking: {Click to reveal email}

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1. The Loops of Fury – Flick A Switch (Hijack Mix) [U&A Recordings]
2. Hatiras – Scream Train [Hatrax]
3. Uberzone – I No You [Gizmonik]
4. Maelstrom – The Jungle Jacker [Expressillion]
5. Remaniax & Marc Benjamin – Blazin’ (Haggstrom mix) [Audiodamage Records]
6. Wehbba – The Bunker [Lo Kik]
7. Mike Hulme – 100mg [U&A Recordings]
8. The Loops of Fury – Flick A Switch (Original) [U&A Recordings]