Vandal (Electronica/Breakbeat producer)

Electronica and breakbeat producer from Sheffield England. Currently recording for Meat Katie's LOT49 record label

Background

From the Vandal Biography...

Born in Sheffield, Vandal, otherwise known as Sam Evans, started his musical career in his very early teens, playing guitar in metal and punk bands. Around the age of 18 Sam discovered Underworld & Orbital and his fascination with electronic music began.

Whilst studying at an art school in Cardiff in the late 90’s Vandal became involved with the Plastic Raygun group, a collective of dj’s, musicians, and film makers who went onto to form Plastic Raygun records. Sam eventually became Plastic Raygun’s label manager and from 2001-05 Plastic Raygun became a hugely respected, award winning label, discovering acts like Baobinga, Napt & Jean Jacques Smoothie. Plastic Raygun went onto release nearly 50 records, four CDs and in 2001 they had a massive top 15 hit in the UK’s national chart with Jean Jacques Smoothie’s “2 People”.

It was during this time that Sam taught himself how to produce and 2001 saw his first vinyl release. Sam’s releases and remixes through Plastic Raygun received amazing support from the breakbeat fraternity and beyond. DJ’s like Andrew Weatherall, Paul Van Dyke, Adam Freeland, Daddy G (Massive Attack), Plump Dj’s and Damian Lazarus all raved about Vandal’s eclectic/electronic style.

After leaving Plastic Raygun in 2005 Sam sent Meat Katie a demo of future single ‘Mad As Hell’ and Meat immediately signed it to his LOT49 label. The track went onto become one the biggest tunes of 05 boosting the profile of both artist and record label to another level. That summer ‘Mad As Hell’ was the soundtrack of breakbeat clubs around the world with all the biggest names in breaks hammering the record. As with previous Vandal releases this amazing support wasn’t limited to the world of breakbeat it went onto become a smash across the board. This included support from arguably the world’s most influential alternative DJ Zane Lowe. Zane cained ‘Mad As Hell’ on his BBC Radio 1 Show and Zane made ‘Mad As Hell’ his “Hottest Record in the World” and “Single Of the Week”. Sam even got to do a live interview on his radio 1 show!! It went on to receive over 25 plays on Radio 1, pretty much unheard of for an underground dance track. 2005 was topped off with a nomination for single of year at the International Breakbeat awards.

Sam’s next release for LOT49 was the equally huge ‘Obey’ which again became another breakbeat smash as well as receiving support from DJ’s from all genres including BBC Radio 1’s indie legend Steve Lamacq. A succession of remixes of some of breaks biggest names followed including Rogue Element and Metric and his huge remix of Meat Katie’s “Round & Round”.

In 2007 Sam upped his game to another level with his single ‘Idiots’. ‘Idiot’s’ proved once again that Vandal was a master of re-invention and delivered a track that kept the breakbeat community happy while also appealing to the fans of the noisy and eclectic French and German electronica scenes. Backed by a class remix from the well respected Audiojack the single became yet another dancefloor anthem. It even gained support from arguably the most influential electronic DJ in the world, Pete Tong. ‘Idiots’ went on to sell well over 6,000 copies on vinyl & mp3, which was an impressive feat considering the poor state of the music industry at the time. Vandal’s 2007 remixes of Elite Force’s ‘Return2Mindfunk’ and Mr Fogg’s ‘Seciov’, made their way into CD wallets of all the major players and by the end of 2007 Sam had DJ’ed all over the UK, Germany, Spain, Holland and the Ukraine. He also made his debut at the infamous Circle Club (Seoul).

As each year passes Vandal keeps coming back stronger. So far in 2008 he has released one of the most exciting tracks in recent times, a collaboration with the hotly tipped Blende called ‘Healthy Boy’. Vandal has also really established himself as one of the most exciting DJs in UK dance music. As well as Djing at some of the biggest clubs in the UK & Europe, he has had a succession of shows at Fabric. Fabric is easily one the most respected clubs in the world and since his debut there in 2007 he played there 9 times, an amazing achievement for a non-resident DJ. This has lead to him sharing bills with some of the biggest names in the world, including the Stanton Warriors, Switch, Adam Freeland, Felix Da Housecat, Hybrid, Plump DJ’s & James Lavelle.

Sam has two singles lined up for release after the Summer, ‘Captain Magic’ & ‘Bad Acid’, featuring remixes from the likes of Ruddi Stakker, Dopamine, Charlie Fanclub, Worthy (Dirty bird Records) and the mysterious Randolph & Mortimer. Vandal and LOT49 are planning their comprehensive campaign yet that will cross into the genres of house, techno, electronica and beyond. This will be the first stage in the build up to the release of the debut Vandal album, ‘Tonight We Ride!’

External Links

* [http://www.vandalmademedoit.com Vandal web site]