Artist Profile

The Nextmen

Label: Universal Records
Agent: Greg Lowe

Unless you have fallen lifeless somewhere thru the cracks you’ve more than likely witnessed Cambridge come Londoners The Nextmen, also known as Brad Baloo and Dom Search, at one of their many sweaty styled-out club sets, festival-stopping performances or heard their incendiary mixtapes on the neighbourhood ghetto blaster.

This eclectic production duo have carved another shiny gem from London’s lovely low-end underbelly with a mix of electronic music styles in the form of their fourth studio LP ‘Join The Dots’ due to hit the streets in August. In typical Nextmen fashion the game has been sonically upped to dizzying heights as ‘Join The Dots’ progressed like a paint by numbers prayer of affection through all the genres and styles that are loved by the pair and their fans alike.

The album was born from their explosive and eclectic DJ sets, which have been the focus of global critical acclaim over the last 12 years. Making this connection between music they love be it dancehall, drum’n’bass, instrumental and actual hip hop, soul, funk, dubstep, indie, leftfield, ambient, pop and straight-up hands in the air party jacking pleasers, is something Baloo and Search always strive to achieve, weaving their way on 4 turntables with mastery and abandon, laced with their own sought after mash-up edits, bootlegs and specials.

This studio record is certainly a reflection and reaction to what they have accomplish as DJs and a natural follow up to their last critically acclaimed album ‘This Was Supposed To Be The Future’ (released in June 2007) ‘Join The Dots’ has those classic Nextmen moments. ‘The Lions Den’ is testimony to that and features co-production from fellow former Cambridge resident Andy Cato, (Groove Armada) and a stunning return to form from the mighty Ms. Dynamite in a tune that is set to burn down dancefloors all summer long. Other performances include stellar contributions from long-time Nextmen collaborator Dynamite MC on the new-reggae sound of ‘So Many Girls’ and The Meters inspired hip hop feel-good throw-down that is ‘Round Of Applause’.

Further moments to inspire the skank and wobble come from the likes of Banana Clan Man Jimmy Screech, newcomers Betty Steeles and Roll Deep affiliate Kivanc, but it also tilts its hat in a major way to the electronic/dance/club music world, something the lads have been keen to do for a long time, with their DJ sets more so inclusive of all good music directions in recent years.

Elsewhere on the record features come in the form of Lindsay West on ‘Burn’, an emotional and detailed piece of electronic nu-folk with haunting strings and crisp, tight drums, not to mention the powerful instrumental tracks again as nods towards the dancefloor in the form of ‘Stay At Home’, complete with punishing beats and basslines and on the stunning title track ‘Join The Dots’, which has been described as ‘underwater jungle’.

The Nextmen in long-form and for those unversed, here’s a quick champion-style summary: Dom (real name: Dominic Betmead) and Brad (real name: Brad Ellis) joined forces when Brad blagged a remix for London Posse and realised he didn’t have any kit with which to do it. In stepped Dom with his Roland S10 and not much else. “The track was called Style,” chips in Dom, “But it put us on the map.

Everybody loved it. Radio 1 got hold of it.”“It was 75 bpm and really pedestrian,” deadpans Brad.

“Fucking terrible.” Terrible or not, London Posse’s Style had something about it, not least the MCing skills of the posse’s Rodney P, with whom The Nextmen have subsequently enjoyed a long working relationship. In 2000, The Nextmen released their debut album Amongst The Madness on the revered 75 Ark imprint.

Originally intended to be a Mo’ Wax-style instrumentals album, their label began sending the beats out to rappers in the States and before they knew it, The Nextmen were hip hop producers, working with Public Enemy, Blackalicious, The Pharcyde and Morcheeba. Get Over It, 2003’s sophomore album for Scenario, confirmed their position as one of the UK’s brightest beatmakers.

The changes in Nextmen direction over the years – if they could even be described as such – grew out of their DJ sets, as they found the space to integrate the outer reaches of their record collections. It was an organic change, but one that was driven by their outlook: “As a clubber, I want to go out and hear varied styles of music,” says Dom “I don’t want to hear one kind of music all night.”

This shift in approach found an echo in the studio too, firstly with reggae compilation Blunted In The Backroom, which they completed for the label Antidote. This was a headlong plunge into the depths of the Trojan catalogue, but re-wired by the Nextmen for the now. It was so successful, Antidote commissioned their third studio album, This Was Supposed to be The Future which featured collaborations with Sway, Fat Freddy’s Drop vocalist Dallas, Zarif, Alice Russell, Dynamite MC, Chicago’s own Kidz In The Hall, Jamaican legends Niney The Observer and Demolition Man, and LSK from Faithless.

This is a pair happily and constantly rubber banding from London around the globe throughout Europe, Australia, Asia-pacific and beyond, as the first choice go-to DJs for every walk of hype-hot party and festival (think: a man-made tropical beach on which The Nextmen closed down the other festival stages on Singapore’s Sentosa Island because the everyone was watching (nay going crazy with) them; a sunken indoor swimming pool in Elizabeth Taylor’s private villa in Cannes; a deep dark bunker in Moscow, a mountain-top ski jump in Val D’Isere; a heaving Sydney harbour-side arena; a much loved local pit stop in Shanghai ; bedlam with over 8000 New Years revellers in a  natural amphitheatre in Perth ; their favourite beats and meats BBQ with Friends & Family in Manchester and you’ll understand).

But having been signed by Universal to complete their fourth studio album meant the pair had to pause their touring schedule and return to their role as composers and musicians: Brad a pianist and percussionist, with Dom playing guitar, both commanding whatever production technology the pair could wrangle into the bleached wood and purple padding of their cosy North London studio.

Catch them this summer at numerous dates across the UK and Europe, and festivals including Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Beachbreak & Wakestock.