Biography
Born 7 August 1973, Welwyn Garden City, England. Like James Lavelle of Mo' Wax Records, Freeland rose to prominence as a dance music wnderkind, becoming a highly successful, DJ, remixer, club promoter and record label boss while still in his early twenties. Originally a deep house DJ, Freeland became known for seamlessly blending hip-hop and electro into his sets. He pioneered "nu-school breaks" - breakbeats with an eclectic range of influences including techno, drum 'n' bass and world music. Although DJing on the London club scene from 1992, his first mix compilation, Coastal Breaks, was not released until 1996. A double CD comprising 32 tracks, it received high praise from the critics and raised Freeland's profile, enabling him to tour in the UK and the USA. He won the admiration of many respected UK DJs such as Carl Cox, Sasha, the Chemical Brothers and Andy Weatherall. He supported Cox on several dates of his F.A.C.T. 2 world tour.
In 1997, he ran a successful night, "Friction", in Soho, London with DJ friends, Rennie Pilgrem and Tayo. In that year, he also released a single with his friend Kevin Beber, "Number 43 With Steamed Rice Please" under the name Tsunami One. The popularity of the track in the clubs led to remix work for the Orb, DeeJay Punk-Roc, Headrillaz and Orbital. Freeland began 1998 by touring Australia with DJ Krush, Pressure Drop and Jos‚ Padilla. Coastal Breaks 2 was released and was a critical and commercial success. Further mix albums on the Marine Parade label preceded a surprise move by the DJ, which saw him forming his own band, Freeland, and performing a series of excellent live shows. The band's debut album, Now & Them, was released in September 2003.
Discography:
with Freeland Now & Them (Marine Parade 2003)***.
Compilations:
Coastal Breaks (Avex 1996)****, Coastal Breaks 2 (React 1998)****, Tectonics (Marine Parade 2000)***, On Tour (Marine Parade 2001)***, Fabriclive.16 (Fabric 2004)***.
Music Albums
Tectonics
Ultra Records
05/30/2000
On Tour
Kinetic
10/09/2001
Fabric Live 16 *
Fabric Records (DJ)
08/24/2004
Source: Encyclopedia of Popular Music
