Stereo MCs Chat To ilikemusic

In 1990 Elevate My Mind by the Stereo MCs was the first UK hip-hop track to reach the US R&B Chart. DJ and Producer Nick Hallam and Vocalist Rob Birch, who founded their Gee Street Recordings Studio and Label in London, went on to score considerable sucess. Not only with their Stereo MC's outfit - perhaps most famous for their 1992 LP Connected, live shows and Brits for best artist and album, but also as sought after producers, working predominantly under the name Ultimatum. After a break from releases for a few years the Stereo MCs are back with their latest release Double Bubble. We caught up with Nick to chat about the new release, the Connected album and his thoughts on modern music and current issues.

"I Like Music because… It is about freedom. Freedom of expression. It's an escape but it can also change the world." NICK HALLAM, STEREO MCS

ILM: Your latest album Double Bubble is out now...What is the vibe of the album?

Nick: I think we deliberately wanted to make a record that was a bit more up tempo and a bit more dance floor friendly. With the last album we realised we had reached a bit of a cul-de-sac with our record deal with Island. We realised that we needed to get out of the deal, because we had been there too long and we had become a piece of the furniture to them. Paradise helped us to get back into the process and get our confidence back. When we toured we just thought it would be nice to do something that was a little bit more up. Also, we had been listening to a lot of the electro music that has been happening in the last four years. That really inspired us. Rob had been out DJing and playing much more up-beat sets. That really helped. In a way a lot of that electro music does harp back to the early rap and early electronica. It is much more compatibable with what we are into, the rap and funk side of things. We were never really into just straight house music.
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