sHack's
Elite Force project began back in 1996, debuting on his own newly founded fused and bruised label with the 'mainframe wrekka' ep,and following through to become one of the most respected leading lights of the breaks world with a series of peerless 12's and remixes with 12"s such as 'Spirito', 'Bombin' the Subway' and 'Here Come the Flow/Krushyn'. Early remixes for the likes of Red Cell, Grand Royal, Surreal Madrid and his other main alias 'Lunatic Calm' (of which he was one half) confirmed his dancefloor credentials. In 2001 he put fused and bruised on the backburner to concentrate on production work and began recording for tech-funk pioneers,
Meat Katie's whole9yards.
In the summer of 2003 the first
Elite Force album ('no turning back') was released on whole9yards to widespread critical acclaim, leading to a re-press for 2004 and a fresh marketing campaign along with new sampler 12"s. Since then
Elite Force has become the mainstay of the label and has spearheaded their campaign for global domination with no fewer than 4 massive 12's , finding support from dancefloors and DJs across the globe (
Plump DJs to Digweed and all points in between)....
In addition to the whole9yards releases, from 2001-3 there have been numerous other singles on labels such as TCR (as 'Killer Elite'), Moonshine ('Crew One'/'Hi>5'),
Lee Coombs' Thrust imprint (as 'Double Black'), and Dylan Rhymes' Blue Black label (as 'Killer Elite'). There have also been a series of hugely successful collaborations in 2002/3 with
Meat Katie, on 12"s 'Toba' (Kingsize) and 'Juju', on TCR, as well as several notable remixes from the pairing including work for Apollo Kids,
UNKLE and Forme. Recent solo remixes for the likes of crystal method,
UNKLE, los paranoias, ajello, kraymon and
Meat Katie have helped cement
Elite Force's reputation as one of the most creative and effective remixers around, a reputation that was marked with a nomination for Best Producer of 2003 at the prestigious 'International Breakbeat Awards'.
On the DJ front, sHack's been playing out since 1990 when he cut his teeth playing huge student nights and self-promoted events in the South West of England, before moving up to London and gravitating towards a predominantly breaks blend around 1995. Numerous residencies and guest slots followed during the fused and bruised days, but it's since 2000 that
Elite Force has become known as one of the top technicians on a circuit that in 2003 alone took him as far afield as San Francisco, Shanghai, Sheffield and Seville (to 8,000 people) amongst many others.
His Strongarm Sessions webcasts are an opportunity to check out his unique tech-funk manifesto on a weekly basis on BreaksFM.com, with each show receiving over 2,000 listens a month.The latest solo outing from
Elite Force, 'Melodik-Hypnotik/Jack the Joint' was released in December 2003 on Kingsize to massive response, scoring high placings in all the major charts including the Cool Cuts and Buzz Charts. Major support from
Plump DJs ('another slice of elite magic') Satoshi Tomiie, Koma and Bones ('another top class production from the mighty sHack'), Drummatic Twins ("love it, playing both sides")
John Digweed ('loving jack the joint') and Terminalhead ('fucking brilliant'). Next up in 2004 is another collaboration, 'The Answer', for Kingsize with
Meat Katie the vocal genius of Roland Clarke, a further solo single as
Elite Force for TCR, 'driving me crazy' (with a
Rennie Pilgrem Vs
Elite Force remix on the flipside), and then the release of solo single 'Reclaim the Airwaves' on Lot49 (the sequel label to whole9yards).
Butane are very proud to bring the Liverpool debut of sHacks
Elite Force. Along with it his long awaited release and launch of "Reclaim The Airwaves" on LOT 49. The biggest release to date from Meat Katies faultless label contains a double pack of remixes backed with a future calssic "Pure and Free". Reliable warm up dutys from
Magik Kingdom and Mr McCarthy Going ...Going...GONE!
