Rae & Christian

Infobox musical artist
Name = Rae & Christian


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Origin = England
Genre = Electronica, Hip Hop
Years_active = 1995–present
Label = Grand Central Records
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"Rae & Christian" are Grand Central Records' founder Mark Rae and fellow producer and DJ Steve Christian. Their music is broadly classed as Hip-Hop / soulful dance music and features such vocalists as The Jungle Brothers, Jeru The Damaja and The Pharcyde as well as contributions from Bobby Womack and The Congos. In addition to releasing their own albums, they have also produced and remixed the music of several established artists.

History

In 1995 Mark Rae fulfilled a long-term dream by founding Grand Central Records in Manchester. He first met sound engineer and producer Steve Christian when they both utilised the same rehearsal space in Ducie House in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. The first meeting took place when Christian, who is the production strength of the duo, walked past Rae’s studio and informed him that his music was out of key. The pair embarked on a partnership that has seen them achieve critical and public acclaim for their work. fn|1

In an interview with "Pride Of Manchester" fn|2, Rae said: cquote|We committed ourselves to promoting good music; hip-hop, soul, jazz, breakbeat, jungle, Jamaican reggae, house...we work with everything. I think a lot of people are under the impression we're just a hip-hop label, but we're actually just an "anything" label which is based in the pioneering sounds of everything from bleep house from Sheffield to London jungle."

Naturally, this new act was the first to release records on the Grand Central Records label. Their first release was an EP, "Pure Arithmetic", released in June 1995 under the band name First Priority. A year after their emergence, Rae and Christian enlisted the vocal skills of Veba to add a more diverse flavour to their sound. Contributions to the Grand Central Records compilations Frying The Fat and Central Heating attracted attention from the dance music press.

In 1998, they released their debut album as Rae & Christian, "Northern Sulphuric Soul", which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. Their appreciation of hip-hop's flavours did justice to the respected hip-hop acts they were able to call upon. The Jungle Brothers and Jeru The Damaja both contributed to the album's songs, giving them an edge over other sampling groups of the late 1990s. They undertook a heavy touring schedule, travelling with their own percussionist, double bass player, female vocalist, scratch DJ, sax, flute and rhodes players, to compliment the skills of Mark behind the deck and Steve on the guitar.

At the same time as nurturing other acts on the Grand Central Records label, their production and remix skills have been in demand by their peers (Lamb, The Pharcyde, Wai Wan) and mainstream stars such as Natalie Imbruglia, Simply Red and The Manic Street Preachers. Their second album, "Sleepwalking" marked a change in approach, a movement towards more live instrumentation and more varied songwriting partnerships with veteran musicians such as Bobby Womack, Tania Maria and The Congos.

Although they never officially split as a group, Rae & Christian released their last material in 2002. The album, "Nocturnal Activity", consisted of remixes of tracks from "Sleepwalking".

The Future

Mark Rae has since released several solo and DJ mix albums and has undertaken a new partnership with sound engineer, Rhys Adams. However, he has expressed an interest in working with Steve Christian again. fn|3

cquote|"Unfortunately, Steve walked away from Rae & Christian. I've asked him a few times if he was up for doing an album and he said no. I'm still friends with him but I don't think he particularly enjoys the music industry. I don't see why he doesn't. We did fairly well to be honest with you.

But I've got to do my third (studio) album, which I'm halfway through. Basically, I work very fast and after that, I'll ask him again, and if he wants to do it, we'll have a go. But I can’t persuade someone who doesn't really want to do it anymore. I could buy the name off him but that's a bit of a rip-off for the fans. It has to be done properly and Steve has to be involved with all the music that’s made for it. That's the bottom line. I'm sure he'll be up for it in the future but it has to be on his terms for wanting to do it because I can't do it with someone who is not interested."

In his new partnership with Rhys Adams, initial releases came out under the band name ARP (Adams.Rae.Productions). After the demise of Grand Central Records, Rae started a new record label, "Yes King Recordings", and his second project with Adams, the band Yes King.

However, in early 2007, Rae stated on his MySpace page, that new recordings were forthcoming both from himself as a solo artist and once again in partnership with Steve Christian, within 18 months. In addition, Rae stated that he and Adams are currently in the process of re-editing the Rae & Christian back catalogue for a double CD of remixes, including acapella versions of tracks over alternative backing music. fn|4

Discography

* "Northern Sulphuric Soul" (1998)
* "Blazing The Crop" (1999) (DJ mix album)
* "Sleepwalking" (2001)
* "" (2001) (DJ mix album)
* "Nocturnal Activity" (Sleepwalking Remixed) (2002)

Related artists

* Mark Rae
* Aim
* Veba
* Mr Scruff
* Nightmares on Wax
* Fingathing
* Buck 65

External links

* [http://www.yeskingrecords.com/ Yes King Records official site]
*Last.fm|Rae+&+Christian

References

* http://hiphop.discogs.com/artist/Rae+%26+Christian
* http://www.prideofmanchester.com/music/RaeandChristian.htm
* http://www.threedworld.com.au/archives/archive_record.php?c=Magazine&id=23
* http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53321554