Tons Of Friends

Already the hippest act in dance circles CROOKERS will soon unleash their debut album TONS OF FRIENDS on the world…

Things are expected to go mad for the two men from Milan. Their already huge body of work, has attracted the attention of Kanye West and Will I Am, who have both become fans and collaborators. Dolce & Gabbana used their U2 remix for the catwalk and their MySpace page is getting more traffic than Coldplay.

Crookers started in 2003 when two DJ's, nick-named Phra and Bot, paired up over a shared love of hip hop, house and the emerging skewed, bass heavy sounds pioneered by Switch in the UK and Diplo in the States. Though they both grew up listening to a lot of hip hop; Beastie Boys, Tribe Called Quest, Madlib and J Dilla it was when Bot bought second-hand turntables that they first got into house music. "I bought decks and the guy threw in some house records. At first we didn't like it, we wanted to scratch and be hip hop DJ's. But then we got into more quality house like Moodymann and Theo Parrish and then we started to love it." It's from these combined influences that Crookers derive their hybrid sound.

Being based in Milan, away from London where the bassline scene initially thrived, meant they could hone their own musical identity.

Their first release End 2 End, was released in 2006. But it was with Love To Edit in 2007 and 'Knobbers' when they really made an impact with peers and a burgeoning fan-base. There's footage on You Tube of their appearance at I Love Techno last year captures 10,000 people singing the riff to 'Knobbers' Their rising status was confirmed with over two dozen remixes including club smashes for Dusty Kid (The Cat) and Kid Cudi (Day and Night) and their services have also been called on for A-list stars to crook out The Chemical Brothers, U2 and Moby.

After remixing such huge names in pop and rock Crookers have now gone direct to some of their favourite artists to work alongside on their debut album.

Aptly titled 'Tons Of Friends' the roll call of pals involved is jaw dropping…It includes, Kelis, Soulwax, Will.I.Am, Mike Snow, Kid Kudi, Major Lazer, Spank Rock, Pitbull, Kardinal Official and Roisin Murphy. The tracks have been worked on in various studios around Europe or ideas have been developed through i-chat and e-mail....

So watch out this summer as Crookers retain their status as dons of the dancefloor but further their audience with their mutant take on R&B and pop. They already have tons of friends but by the end of the year they'll have a whole load more.