Background

Ed Simons was born in Herne Hill, South London, England on 9 June, 1970, to a barrister mother and a father who was not around much when Ed was growing up. Ed's two main interests when he was young were aeroplanes and musicals. Simons went to school in Alleyn's School in South London, and left with 11 O levels and 3 A-levels. Ed developed a fondness of rare groove and Hip hop music, having frequented a club called The Mud Club when he was 14. By the time he left school, his two main musical interests were two Manchester bands, New Order and The Smiths. Simons studied Middle Ages Medieval History at the University of Manchester.

Font

The font which was used to write the typical "The Chemical Brothers" logo is Sho, designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer in 1992. Hoefer died in October of 2000. The Chemical Brothers original logo is only in a few details different from Sho i.e. the letters a and b. Linotype is holding the licence for this font where it is possible to buy it.

Ariel

Rowlands was also in a band called Ariel prior to meeting up with Simons. Ariel was formed in London by Rowlands and his friends Brendan and Matt before they all moved up to Manchester. Their first single was "Sea of Beats". Other songs, mostly released on 12" included "Mustn't Grumble" and their most well-known, "Rollercoaster". Their record label, deConstruction, insisted that they get a female singer, and after some disappointing songs like "Let It Slide" (Rowlands would later describe it as "a stinker") the band fell apart. One of the last things Ariel did was the song "T Baby" which was remixed by the pair.

Naked Under Leather

Rowlands and Simons then started to DJ at a club called "Naked Under Leather", in the back of a pub, in 1992 under the alias of "The 237 Turbo Nutters" (named after the number of their house on Dickenson Road in Manchester and a reference to their Blackburn raving days). The pair would play hip hop, techno and house. Other DJs at Naked Under Leather were Alex Kohler and Phil South.

The Dust Brothers

Rowlands and Simons called themselves The Dust Brothers, after the US production duo famous for their work with the Beastie Boys. After a while, they began to run out of suitable instrumental hip hop tracks to use, so they started to make their own. Using a Hitachi hi-fi system, a computer, a sampler and a keyboard, they recorded "Song To The Siren", which sampled Meat Beat Manifesto. "Song To The Siren" was released on their own record label, called "Diamond Records" (after Ed's nickname). In October 1992, they pressed 500 white-label copies. and took them to various dance record shops around London, but none would play it, saying that it was too slow (The track played at 111 BPM). They sent a copy to London DJ Andrew Weatherall, who made it a permanent fixture in his DJ sets. Weatherall also signed the band to his Junior Boy's Own label. In May 1993, Junior Boy's Own released 'Song To The Siren'.

The Heavenly Social

In October 1994, The Dust Brothers became resident DJs at the small, but hugely-influential Heavenly Sunday Social Club at the Albany pub in London's Great Portland Street. The likes of Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, James Dean Bradfield and Tim Burgess were regular visitors. The Dust Brothers were subsequently asked to remix tracks by Manic Street Preachers and The Charlatans, plus Primal Scream's "Jailbird" and The Prodigy's "Voodoo People". These two remixes received television exposure, being playlisted by MTV Europe's "The Party Zone" in 1995. Early in 1994 however, The Dust Brothers were approached in the club one Sunday by Noel Gallagher, from Oasis, who at the time were becoming one of the most prominent guitar bands in Britain. Gallagher told the duo that he had a Balearic inspired track which he had written, which he would like the Dust Brothers to remix. However, over time, Gallagher changed his mind, and in the end the Brothers did not remix it. The track was "Wonderwall".

From Dust to Chemical

In March 1995, The Dust Brothers began their first international tour, which included the United States – where they played with Orbital and Underworld – then a series of European festivals. Also around this time, the original Dust Brothers threatened legal action over the use of their name, and so Rowlands and Simons had to decide on a new name quickly. They decided to then call themselves "The Chemical Brothers" after "Chemical Beats" (Simons' grandmother had suggested they call themselves "The Grit Brothers").

Exit Planet Dust

In July 1995, The Chemical Brothers released their debut album Exit Planet Dust (the title inspired by their name change) on Freestyle Dust/Junior Boy's Own. It entered the UK charts at #9 and featured guest vocalist Beth Orton on the song "Alive Alone". It eventually went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Shortly after its release, The Chemical Brothers signed to Virgin Records, to which they took their own offshoot label, Freestyle Dust. For their next single, in September 1995, they again used a guest vocalist, for the release of "Life Is Sweet", featuring their friend Tim Burgess, singer with The Charlatans. It reached #25 in the singles charts. The single was also Select Magazine's Single Of The Month for October. The release included a Daft Punk remix of "Life Is Sweet".

"Setting Sun"

During the 1995 Glastonbury Festival, Rowlands and Simons had had another conversation with Noel Gallagher. Gallagher told them how much he liked Exit Planet Dust, and asked if he could sing on a future track, similar to the way Tim Burgess had worked on "Life Is Sweet". They didn't think much of the offer at the time, given how busy Gallagher would be with the release of Oasis' "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", plus the complexities of dealing with each others' record companies. However, the duo later worked on a track which they thought would benefit from having a vocal on it. They sent Gallagher a tape of what they had done so far. He worked on it overnight, and left a message with them early the next morning that he was ready to record it. The track was called "Setting Sun" and was finally released in October 1996. It entered the UK charts at the top, giving the duo their first ever Number One single. "Setting Sun" was backed by a longer instrumental version, and also a new track "Buzz Tracks", which was not much more than a DJ tool. The three remaining Beatles' lawyers later wrote to the Chemical Brothers, mistakenly claiming that they had sampled "Tomorrow Never Knows". Virgin Records hired a musicologist to prove that they did not sample the classic 1960s psychedelic song.

Dig Your Own Hole

On April 7, 1997 the Chemical Brothers released their second album, Dig Your Own Hole. It was recorded at the band's own south London studio, with the title taken from graffiti on the wall outside. The album was well received in most circles. Mixmag rated it 10/10 and gave it the "Album of the Month" label, calling it "mad enough to be thrilling, slick enough for not even remotely coffee tables".

More mixing

Surrender

The third album Surrender was released in June 1999. It featured vocals from Noel Gallagher, Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue and Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval. As "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" had suggested, the album was more house-oriented than the previous two. On one of the album's stand out tracks, "Out Of Control", Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and New Order's Bernard Sumner provided vocals. It reached Number 1 in the UK album charts, and was widely praised in the print media. The Michel Gondry-directed music video for "Let Forever Be", which utilized ground-breaking video and film effects in its depiction of a young woman's nightmares, also received a lot of attention.

"It Began in Afrika"

In August 2000 they played to a large crowd at the main stage at Creamfields festival, Ireland. Highlights of their live set included "Out Of Control" and "Hey Boy, Hey Girl". Shortly after Creamfields, Tom and Ed played the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festival pulling in the largest audience ever seen in the Festivals history. In December 2000, The Chemical Brothers aired one of their new tracks, "It Began in Afrika" at their New York DJ gigs, supporting U2. According to Rowlands, the new track was described as having:

Come With Us

The Chemical Brothers finished work on another album, Come With Us, in October 2001. It featured collaborations with Richard Ashcroft ("The Test"), formerly of The Verve, and long-time collaborator Beth Orton ("The State We're In"). The album was released in January 2002, preceded by a single, "Star Guitar", a melodic, Balearic number, with a promotional video by Michel Gondry. It featured the view from a train window at the passing scenery, with everything outside the train moving to the time of the music and sounds in the track. "Star Guitar" was also released as a DVD single, the pair's first time.

Ten years of The Chemical Brothers

Late 2002 and early 2003 saw Rowlands and Simons back in the studio, working on new material, including "The Golden Path", a collaboration with Wayne Coyne, the lead singer of The Flaming Lips. This was released in September 2003, at the same time as a "best of" album, entitled Singles 93-03, marking ten years of The Chemical Brothers' releases. Singles 93-03 included most, but not all, of their singles. A second new track, in addition to "The Golden Path", was included on the album, called "Get Yourself High". Singles 93-03 was also released on DVD, whose extra features included selected live performances and interviews with Rowlands, Simons and many of their collaborators from throughout the period. "Get Yourself High", which featured Canadian rapper k-os on vocals, was released as a single in November 2003.

Push the Button

In 2004, The Chemical Brothers began work on Push the Button, their fifth studio album, which features collaborations with Tim Burgess, Kele Okereke and Anwar Superstar, amongst others. The album was released on January 24, 2005.

Tate Tracks

In September 2006, the Chemical Brothers were revealed as the first musicians to be involved in Tate Tracks. Tate Modern invited various groups and songwriters to choose a work that inspired them from the gallery's collection of modern art and then write a track about it. The Chemical Brothers' submission, Rock Drill, was inspired by the Jacob Epstein sculpture Torso in Metal from The Rock Drill, and can be heard on headphones in front of the work in the gallery. From October 2006, it also became available to hear online at the Tate Tracks website.

'Chemical 6' & Electronic Battle Weapon 8

In the beginning of June 2006, Ed Simons announced on the chemicalbrothers.com forum that the band are indeed working on a new album, codenamed 'Chemical 6,'[1] and although no release date has been confirmed, some speculate it will see a summer 2007 release. Typically an announcement is made on the band's website two to three months in advance of the release of a new album. Simons also announced that the band will be playing select venues this summer, in Rome, and also Fabric in London. He also stated that the band are 'hoping to put a battle weapon out for the summer,' referring to the 'Electronic Battle Weapon' series, which are somewhat experimental tracks the band occasionally release on white label. The last Battle Weapon, EBW 7 , released in 2004, was a marked departure from the Chemical Brothers' previous musical endeavours, featuring a screeching 303 bassline and a pitch-altered sample of Freddie Krueger proclaiming "You are all my children now!." Coupled with the projection of a sinister clown mouthing these same words at their live gigs made for quite an experience.

Live

See also: List of live performances by The Chemical Brothers

Discography

Albums

Compilations

• 1996 Live at the Social Volume 1 #19 UK (In The Compilations Chart)
• 1998 Brother's Gonna Work It Out #7 UK (In The Compilations Chart), #95 US
• 2002 American
• 2003 Singles 93-03 #9 UK
• 2005 Live 05 (Download only)

Singles

From Exit Planet Dust

• 1995 "Leave Home" #17 UK
• 1995 "Life is Sweet" #25 UK

Non-album EP

• 1996 "Loops of Fury EP" #13 UK

From Dig Your Own Hole

• 1996 "Setting Sun" #1 UK, #80 US (1997 release)
• 1997 "Block Rockin' Beats" #1 UK
• 1997 "Elektrobank" #17 UK
• 1997 "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (chart ineligible EP)

From Surrender

• 1999 "Hey Boy Hey Girl" #3 UK
• 1999 "Let Forever Be" #9 UK
• 1999 "Out of Control" #21 UK
• 2000 "Music:Response" (chart ineligible EP)

From Come With Us

• 2001 "It Began in Afrika" #8 UK
• 2002 "Star Guitar" #8 UK
• 2002 "Come with Us/The Test" #14 UK

From Singles 93-03

• 2003 "The Golden Path" (with The Flaming Lips) #17 UK
• 2003 "Get Yourself High" (chart ineligible EP)

From Push the Button

• 2005 "Galvanize" #3 UK
• 2005 "Believe" #18 UK
• 2005 "The Boxer" #41 UK