The Freelance Hellraiser

Roy Kerr, aka The Freelance Hellraiser, is one of the creators of the UK bootleg scene.

He gained fame with a mash-up called "A Stroke of Genius", which combined an instrumental edit of The Strokes' track "Hard To Explain" with Christina Aguilera's pop hit "Genie in a Bottle". James Hyman who, along with Eddy Temple-Morris, championed mash-ups and the song in particular on the Xfm show The Remix, described it as "so musical. It was the result of a sick mind, and a trainspotter's mind, and a musician's mind."[1] Although originally greeted by a cease and desist order by RCA (the label which both Aguilera and The Strokes are signed to), The Freelance Hellraiser went on to remix Aguilera's single "Fighter", as well as tracks for Placebo and ex-The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft.

In 2004 he was commissioned by Paul McCartney to remix some lesser-known McCartney tracks as preshow entertainment for his tour of that year. Those tracks, and several more, were released under the name Twin Freaks.

In 2006 he made his album Waiting for Clearance, featuring such artists as Jan Hammer, Iain Archer and Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody

In 2007 he formed Kid Gloves with old friend Anu Pillai, writing and producing 2 songs for Ladyhawke's gold selling debut album, including the single "Paris Is Burning". They also wrote and produced songs for Little Boots' gold selling debut album, including her acclaimed duet Symmetry with The Human League's Philip Oakey.

In 2009 he featured on the Little Boots Debut Album "Hands" providing programming on the track "Symmetry".

References

  1. ^ Smells like teen booty, The Guardian, February 27, 2002

External links

Interviews