English DJ and producer Daniel Stein, a.k.a. DJ Fresh, is one of the UK's most respected and influential drum and bass producers. Dan began his musical mission at the tender age of 19 when back in 1998 he fronted the hit drum and bass band 'Bad Company', whom NME dubbed 'the Wu-Tang of drum and bass'.
The group made a name for themselves in the drum and bass industry by creating the record label BC Recordings, releasing three albums and a series of singles, and also setting up ‘Dogs On Acid’, the world’s largest UK-based electronic music website to date. Their first release ‘The Nine’ was voted ‘Best track of all time’ by 130,000 members of Drum and Bass Arena. Bad went on to win virtually every accolade thinkable for a drum and bass act and were a phenomenon across the globe. After five years nowever, Dan felt it was time to follow his own path. In 2003 he produced 'Mo-Fire' as his final Bad Company outing and it landed at #22 in the UK national charts. A few months later, Dan produced 'Miracles' with Adam F for The Pet Shop Boys as the lead single for their Greatest Hits album. It reached #4; an almost unprecedented proliferation into the national charts for a genre that was so underground at the time.
In 2003 Fresh started the label 'Breakbeat Kaos' with super-producer Adam F and immediately signed Pendulum, having brought them over to the UK from their native Australia and resettled them in his London flat. Pendulum were described by Front magazine as 'The next Prodigy', and after an incredible escalation of PR and radio hype they became possibly the biggest phenomenon to grace drum and bass since the nineties.
Meanwhile, Fresh himself began working on his own solo outing for Breakbeat Kaos - 'Escape From Planet Monday' - and enlisted the help of The Pet Shop Boys, DJ Shadow and Apollo 440 for an album that Touch magazine described as 'A Triumph', DJ Magazine as 'Breathtaking' and HMV as 'Incredible'. And in August 2010, his first release on Ministry of Sound Recordings, 'Gold Dust', reached #24 in the UK charts with a video that became a huge viral success, having had over 11million YouTube views to date. The same month, Fresh released his successful second studio album ‘Kryptonite’, which peaked at #4 in the UK Dance Chart.
Less than a year later, in July 2011, Fresh absolutely smashed the charts with 'Louder'. Featuring the vocals of Sian Evans and licensed by Lucozade Lite for their TV ad campaign, 'Louder' was the first bass music track to debut at #1 in the UK Singles Chart and has sold over 500,000 copies to date.
Now a household name thanks to 'Louder', DJ Fresh has recently raised the bar once again via a sold-out UK live tour featuring a full band (including a headline performance at Alexandra Palace in front of 6,000 people), his Future Jungle EP, remixes for Katy B, Hervé and Jessie J and winning 'Best Dance Act' at this year's Urban Music Awards - and his new album is already one of the most anticipated albums of 2012.
And now he's back with his new single 'Hot Right Now', featuring the vocal talents of Rita Ora. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter is being hailed as the jewel in the Roc Nation crown and was signed by Jay Z after one phone call. Rita's vocals give 'Hot Right Now' a distinctive twist and the track bristles with the kind of energy and signature beats that Fresh has become known for. The track was given its world exclusive play as Zane Lowe's 'Hottest Record In The World' on 14th December 2011 and the video debuted the same night, achieving over 15,000 views in its first 12 hours!
'Hot Right Now' is released on 12.02.12 on Ministry of Sound Recordings - so keep an ear on this one, because it's looking set to be another big one from DJ Fresh!