Crookers began in 2003 when two DJ’s, nick-named Phra and Bot, met and paired up over a shared love of hip hop, house and the emerging skewed, bass heavy sounds pioneered by Switch in the UK and Diplo in the States. “We decided to call ourselves Crookers to descibe what we do. To make beats and tracks that are not straight up, that are twisted or crooked.” Though they both grew up listening to a lot of hip hop; Beastie Boys, Tribe Called Quest, Madlib and J Dilla it was when Bot bought second-hand turntables that they first got into house music. “I bought decks and the guy threw in some house records. At first we didn’t like it, we wanted to scratch and be hip hop DJ’s. But then we got into more quality house like Moodymann and Theo Parrish and then we started to love it.” It’s from these combined influences that Crookers derive their hybrid sound. Being based in Milan, away from London where the bassline scene initially thrived, meant they could hone their own musical identity.
Their first release was 'End 2 End' in 2006 but it was with 'Love To Edit' in 2007 and 'Knobbers', for their current label Southern Fried that they really made an impact with peers and a burgeoning fan-base. There’s footage on You Tube of their appearance at I Love Techno last year that captures 10,000 people singing the riff to Knobbers. Phra recalls it as the pinnacle of their DJ gigs so far, “It felt like nothing else, because people were there for us and knew all our tracks so it was very personal.” Their rising status was confirmed with over two dozen remixes including club smashes for Dusty Kid (The Cat) and Kid Cudi (Day and Night) and their services have also been called on for A-list stars to crook out The Chemical Brothers, U2 and Moby.
After remixing such huge names in pop and rock Crookers have now gone direct to some of their favourite artists to work alongside on their debut album. Aptly titled 'Tons Of Friends' the roll call of pals involved is jaw dropping. It includes, Kelis, Soulwax, Major Lazer, RadioClit, Spank Rock, Pitbull, Tim Burgess, Kardinal Offishal and Roisin Murphy. The tracks have been worked on in various studios around Europe or ideas have been developed through i-chat and e-mail. “Will I am was great to work with, he's constantly searching for new sounds. He was full of energy in the studio, bouncing ideas around all the time.” "Roisin was amazing, she wrote to a beat in the studio and recorded her song in one day. So did Spank Rock, just heard the beat and then wrote and recorded that same night"
'Tons Of Friends' is due out on Southern Fried in March 2010.
