Signed
to UK label Marine Parade, FREE*LAND
CEO and Marine Parade founder Adam
Freeland has already started his
assault on the UK with his blistering
productions and thought provoking
subject matter. His debut single
has caused capitalists to choke
on their Latte’s and consumers
to question their McBurgers. While
also storming in to the UK chart
and every national UK radio playlist.
He, Marine Parade and Gronland
are now preparing to lead the rebellion
in to Europe! “Skywalkin’ to
every meeting…” of
course.
The
dancefloor is a wonderful place.
It’s hard to find someone
more aware of it than DJ, producer
and man about Brighton, Adam
Freeland. But there’s more
to music than that. And there’s
much more to Adam Freeland than
that. "Although my roots
are on the dancefloor it’s
a relief to be able to express
my influences beyond that, the
idea of making twelve breakbeat
tunes and calling it an album
was about as appealing to me
as a hard kick in the nads," says
Adam.
He’s
not kidding. Freeland the band
aren’t about double CDs of
seamless, soulless mixing. Freeland
are a living, breathing band. They
have already played some astounding
forward thinking live shows. Their
debut gig at London’s Cargo
was so packed with lights, projections,
ear-tickling sound tricks and talking
robot heads – no, really – that
it is already been spoken of as
one of the shows of 2003. This
is no side-project flimflam, Free*Land
is the real thing.
So
who are they? Well for the main
part, they are two nutty Chileans,
a bald wizard drummer, a soul diva,
and a DJ.
On
Guitar: Antonio. A Chilean, who
escaped Pinochet’s regime,
became a master of linguistics,
a political campaigner and a guitar
virtuoso.
On The Bass: Carlos, Tone’s
cousin. A Board freak reggae don
who recently returned from a life
in LA, where he had been signed
by Fred Durst. Things are much
better now!
On The Drums: Jim Carmichael. Having
played for about every significant
band to come out of Brighton in
recent years, he is so on the money
that at their debut gig, Free*Land’s
own manager refused to believe
that all beats we live!
On Vocals: Alison David. This stunning
diva met Adam by fluke on a bench
in front of his house. Alison has
the soul of Shirley Bassey combined
with the raw funk of Betty Davis.
On Vocals: Martin Fishely. Horace
Andy protege, former Pressure Drop
collaborator and really quite superb.
The
Hip hop fundamentals are supplied
by Juice Aleem and Toastie of New
Flesh (Britains deeply underestimated
rap icons), Cage from Smut Peddlers
(Rawkus) and the unlikely Justin
G (North London Via Wales). Also
integral to the project have been
co-producers Damian Taylor (U.N.K.L.E,
Bjork, South, Prodigy) and Australia's
finest and Marine Parade label
mates, Infusion.
It
is fair to say that Free*Land is
a thoroughly modern proposition.
Nowhere
does Free*Land’s message
get through louder than on album
opener; ‘We Want Your Soul’.
Featuring the classic line "Your
pills, your grass, your tits, your
ass, your laughs, your balls, we
want it all", the song wastes
no time in mocking the insane drive
of brand-led, useless consumerism.
Look out too for a whacking Bill
Hicks sample and the throb and
pulse of God’s own kick-drum.
It’s the album’s biggest
dancefloor moment.
"It’s
about the destructive side of consumer
culture," says Adam. "About
how we get force fed meaningless
crap which distracts us from the
issues that really matter. It's
the first time I had ever tried
to write any lyrics, but it’s
a subject I feel strongly about.
Bill Hicks has long-time been my
hero, he was fucking funny, but
also spot on in the way he revealed
the bullshit illusion we are living
in.
"It’s
been rewarding playing this record
in America," Adam continues. "I
always assumed it would piss a
lot of people off, but kids come
up to me with a psychotic look
on their faces and say, ‘You
have no idea how much we need to
hear this message right now!’."
Album
highlight ‘Supernatural Thing’ features
Alison David’s neck-licking
vocals, all coos and sighs. "It’s
a love song," says Adam. Simple,
really. While raw angst propels ‘Mind
Killer’. Inspired by the
line, ‘Fear is the Mind Killer’ from
Frank Herbert’s Dune, the
song is about rising above fear; "It’s
a media induced, comatose anaesthetic". "It’s
rocky, angsty, hard," offers
Adam, "it’s about letting
go. We live in a culture that uses
fear to keep us down, be it terrorism,
SARS, paedophilia, and we’ve
become conditioned to it." |