Ultrabeat

Ultrabeat are a British electronic music group from Liverpool, consisting of producer and vocalist Mike Di Scala and producers Ian Redman and Chris Henry. Formed in 2002, Ultrabeat first emerged with their single "Pretty Green Eyes", which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in August 2003. After a succession of further singles - including Top forty hits such as "Feelin' Fine", "Better than Life" and "Elysium (I Go Crazy)" ― the group released their début album Ultrabeat: The Album in 2007, which peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart.

In 2008, Ultrabeat released "Discolights", a collaboration with Darren Styles, which peaked at number twenty three on the UK Singles Chart. Their second album The Weekend Has Landed released in 2009 showed a departure from the sound heard on the first album and peaked at number twenty nine on the UK Albums Chart.

History

2002–2003: Formation and early recordings

Prior to forming Ultrabeat, Mike Di Scala, Chris Henry and Ian Redman previously knew each other as they were all disc jockeys in Liverpool and mixed in the same circle of friends. With a common interest in late-1990s happy hardcore music, the group decided to enter Di Scala's studio for recording sessions. Initially, their productions were bootleg versions of old happy hardcore tracks recorded in order to improve their DJ sets.^[1] In 2002 Ultrabeat produced their first remixes and the first record by the group was a double A-side 12-inch single "Sonic Burnin'"/"Boomcore" released on Di Scala's own label BCD Records in January 2003. Before this Mike Di Scala had already experienced some success with his other group Rezonance Q, who had a hit single with "Someday", a Mariah Carey cover which peaked at number twenty nine on the UK Singles Chart in 2003. Whilst in his studio, Mike Di Scala and Rezonance Q's record label All Around the World were discussing "Someday", when he played them Ultrabeat's demo of "Pretty Green Eyes", a cover of Force & Styles. Following this, Ultrabeat were then also signed by the label.^[2]

2003–2007: Ultrabeat: The Album era

"Pretty Green Eyes" went on to peak at number two on the UK Singles Chart in August 2003, behind Breathe by Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul. It was playlisted on most radio stations including BBC Radio 1, and was performed live on Top of the Pops.^[3] The following single was "Feelin' Fine" which peaked at number twelve on the UK Singles Chart in December 2003. Their next release was "Better than Life", which was issued the following year and peaked at number twenty three on the UK Singles Chart.^[4]

The decline of their mainstream popularity came when their next single, "Feel It with Me", was released some ten months after "Better than Life". It peaked at number fifty five on the UK Singles Chart in 2005. An album (originally titled Better than Life: The Album) was expected to be released around this time, although it never materialised, and this upset many fans.^[5]

In April 2006 "Elysium (I Go Crazy)" was released, and peaked at number thirty eight on the UK Singles Chart and put Ultrabeat back in the top forty after 17 months. This song, which sampled Scott Brown's "Elysium", featured Rebecca Rudd on vocals for the first time with Ultrabeat. "Elysium (I Go Crazy)" was played on TV music channels more frequently than "Feel It with Me", and became one of their most popular songs. MTV viewers voted it number one on their 'Galaxy Chart'.^[6][7]

Their sixth single, "Sure Feels Good", was released in August 2007 and it was a collaboration with Darren Styles. It peaked at number fifty one on the UK Singles Chart. It was the second single featuring Rudd and along with "Elysium (I Go Crazy)" was the second collaboration with another hardcore artist. In September 2007 the band released their album, Ultrabeat: The Album, which peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart. At that time band undertook a national tour in support og Cascada (who are also on the AATW label). Their seventh single, "I Wanna Touch You", was released on 4 February 2008.^{[8] [9]}

2008–present: The Weekend Has Landed era

A new single "Discolights" was released in June 2008. In an interview about the upcoming HTID compilation album, Di Scala mentioned work on the new album. An original release date of 12 January 2009 was set for the album, but despite this, it has been leaked onto the internet on various file sharing platforms.^[10][11][12]

The first single from the album was Discolights. It peaked at number twenty three on the UK Singles Chart. The second single from the album was Never Ever, which did not achieve a peak on the UK Singles Charts. The third single was Starry Eyed Girl, which, like the majority of the album, did not achieve a peak on the UK Singles Chart, and the fourth is Use Somebody, a cover of Kings of Leon's track from their multi-platinum album Only by the Night. The album was released on October 26, 2009 and includes 18 tracks plus a chronology DVD of all of their music videos, including Pretty Green Eyes, Feelin' Fine, The Stalker, Discolights and more.

Since the mixed reception to The Weekend Has Landed album, they have released two singles, which were "Bring It Back" and "Waiting for a Girl Like You". They have been posted on YouTube by AATW Records. Bring it Back to date has achieved nearly 400,000 views. They have received criticism for their change in direction, as they have moved to a more mainstream style.

Other projects

The group produced a track called "Pumpanola" using the alias Hi-Flyerz which appeared on Clubland X-Treme in 2003. In 2012, they had a hit single with "Da Bop" using the alias WTF!, which samples the 1967 song "Our Neighbour" (Russian: «Наш сосед» nash sosed) by Russian singer Edita Piekha.

Mike Di Scala and Chris Henry have also recorded using the name M&C Project, releasing songs "Coming Back" (2005), a cover of Siedah Garrett's "Do You Want It Right Now" (2006) and "Magic Touch" (2007). From 2005 to 2006 Di Scala, Henry and Lee Butler recorded using several aliases such as 3 Amigos, BCD Project, King of Clubs and The Tranceriffs on the BCD Records label.

Outside of Ultrabeat, Di Scala also has an active solo career producing hardcore dance music using the name Re-Con and house music using his own name. During the early 2000s he produced tracks with Les Calvert and Lee Butler as part of Rezonance Q/BCD Project and he also frequently collaborates with Dave Whelan using aliases such as Whelan & Di Scala, Pawn Shop, Chosen Few and Adhesive.

Chris Henry is also a member of N-Force and has produced some hardcore tracks such as "Baby I Know You're Mine" (with Re-Con) and "Untouchable" (with Squad-E) which appeared on Bonkers 14: Hardcore Strikes Back (2005) and Clubland X-Treme Hardcore 3 (2006) respectively.

Members

• Mike Di Scala – producer, vocalist (2002–present)
• Ian Redman – producer (2002–present)
• Chris Henry – producer (2002–present)

Discography

• Ultrabeat: The Album (2007)
• The Weekend Has Landed (2009)

See also

• Rezonance Q
• N-Force

References

External links

• Official artist profile (aatw.com)
• Ultrabeat at AllMusic