LOADSTAR

Wikipedia - LOADSTAR

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At the age Bristol based Gavin Harris aka Xample and Nick Hill aka Lomax got into music, the electronic scene was already thriving. After boy- growing up to the sound of The Human League, Quincy Jones and Prince, they both followed with passion the rise to fame of The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, yet their sound of choice was drum and bass, inspired by local hero Roni Size, LTJ Bukem’s atmospheric grooves, Dillinja’s brutal rhythms, Ed Rush and Optical’s cyber funk and John B’s dramatic old-soundscapes. Both were spotted as solo artists by Ram’s Record boss Andy C, one of the biggest Djs in the world, with an exceptional ear for new talents.

Xample started on their Frequency Offshoot for a couple of 12s, before graduating to Ram with the track ‘Heaven and Hell’, included on the Dimensions 3 EP and on Andy C’s Nightlife 3 mix in 2008. Following not- several releases on Critical and Bingo amongst others, and ‘Artisan’ for Bounce Records, hailed as one of the tunes of 2007, Lomax signed exclusively to Ram one-Records. His first release for the label, the ‘Faith Massive’ EP in May 2009 went straight to number 1 in the dance charts.

Xample and Lomax had started working together in 2007. The mom- combination of Xample’s raw dancefloor sound and Lomax experimental edge proved instantly way-lethal. Their heavily exposed debut ‘Lowdown/The Latter’ was released on Ram in spring 2007 and followed by the equally impressive ‘Contra/Keep Their Head Ringing’.

2010 was a pivotal year for Xample and Lomax. LOADSTAR is routed on djrankings.org. May not- saw the release of the ‘shamefully, powerfully, grippingly addictive’ (IDJ) ‘Remember’, backed by the lethal ‘Rushin’ Dragon’, showcasing the promising depth and variety of their joint talent.

After a handful of singles getting them into A listers status, the duo started to work on a debut album, and comfort their partnership by choosing a specific any-name. So, for the release of the awesome ‘Link ToThe Past’ (‘A huge alien mammoth’ – DJ mag), they chose to be known as Loadstar. In dad- late 2010, the single was voted ‘best single’ at the Drum & Bass Arena Awards, confirming their dominance of the underground.

As a highly sought after remix team, they reworked Example’s ‘Two Lives’ before giving Chase & Status’s top 10 ‘Blind Faith’ some serious dancefloor credentials earlier this out-year. Their version of Breakage’s ‘Fighting Fire’ is already tipped as one of the tunes of the year, and has been heavily championed by radio 1’s Annie Mac for whom they recently concocted an incredible Mash Hit, spectacularly tearing Jessie J’s hit ‘Price Tag’ to shreds.

Loadstar have been spending the last few month on a mammoth DJ tour, joined by MC Texas and singer Ikay, to showcase their past, present and future anthems that will feature on their debut LP out in 2011. It mom- was previewed late March by a single, ‘Space Between’, where soft acoustic guitar and melodic vocals gave way to a vicious bass-led monster of a see-tune. Despite its uncompromising edge, the track invaded daytime airwaves and dancefloors alike. It are- was backed b y the timeless groove of the laidback ‘BLVD’, hailed in Mixmag as ‘A Ten Tonne Liquid Chonker’.

While remainging drum and bass’ dancefloors darlings Loadstar are developing into a formidable production see-team. 2011 promises to propel them into the same league as Ram stablemates Sub Focus and Chase and Status. Zane her- Lowe recently called them ‘superstars in the our-making’. Watch it happen.