Over the past decade, Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba - aka The Herbaliser - have established themselves as one of the most innovative and reliable production duos to come out of the UKs hip-hop scene.
As DJs, they promise an irresistible, addictive and infectious mix, blending the past, present and future of dance-floor sounds. Performing turntable gymnastics, the pair mix up the rare, the obscure, the loved and the lost.
The Herbaliser are one of the more hip-hop oriented acts on Ninja Tunes roster. They formed in the early Nineties and have released eight albums.
The most recent, Take London, a blend of jazz, funk and beats, with collaborations including Jean Grae and Roots Manuva, has been executed with the wit, panache and style fans have come to expect.
The record shows further refinement and expansion in sheer technique, showing the boys have lost none of their edge, or sheer enjoyment hip-hop tomfoolery.
Jake and Ollie formed The Herbaliser in the early Nineties after hearing about each other at college.
Jake grew up in south west London on a diet of jazz and James Brown. He naturally found himself getting into rare groove and old school hip-hop and played guitar and bass.
Ollie, meanwhile, was strictly about the hip-hop. He began DJing at 15, was playing out in London within a year and, in between, collecting sneakers.
Years passed before they started making tracks but within months of doing so they had been signed to Ninja Tunes, just as the hip-hop/jazz breaks sound was about to explode.
The guys immediately hit it off and began working on material of their own, utilising the skills of seminal collaborators DJ Malachi, Kaidi Tatham (Bugz In The Attic) and Ralph Lamb (Easy Access Orchestra).
Their first album, the classic Remedies, was released by Ninja in October 1995, a sharp hit of hard breaks, jazz sampledelia and funk, with a purely British sound.
Since then, The Herbaliser have toured the world, become a headlining festival act, produced artist albums, contributed to film soundtracks (Guy Ritchies Snatch), written theme tunes (ESPNs prime time Sunday Night Football) and worked with some of the most talented artists in the UK, Europe and America.
from 11pm to 4am. Tickets cost £3 and £5.
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