boomtang

To casual observers, the story of the Toronto-based production crew began in 1999 with the arrival of their Greatest Hits: Volume 1 debut and its inescapable, chart-topping and wonderfully cheesy single, “Squeeze Toy”. Those slightly more tuned in to the intricacies of the Canadian music industry, however, had become increasingly more familiar with the Boomtang brand during the late ‘90s, as the group’s deft remixing skills turned songs by the likes of Bif Naked (“Spaceman”), Econoline Crush (“All That You Are”), Ashley MacIsaac (“Sleepy Maggie”), Kim Stockwood (“12 Years Old”) and The Philosopher Kings (“Charms”) into dance-inflected pop hits and dance floor crossover smashes. But the Boomtang lads (Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace) didn’t become the country’s most in-demand remix team overnight, either, and their roots lie far deeper in the international dance-music underground than the poppy exterior of their best-known work might let on.

Boomtang started out in 1990 as a 12-inch label, putting out club singles into the U.K. The first three years saw the release of fifteen records, all written and produced by the boys. By 1993, the Boomtang Records mandate had expanded to include artist development, and the team’s focus shifted to producing albums and single for talented performers other than themselves. Their work on Camille’s ebullient “Deeper Shade of Love” single won a Juno award in 1995 for best dance recording, while they showed a knack for hopping between genres by simultaneously earning a Juno nomination in the best R&B/Soul category for their production on Charlene Smith’s “Feel the Good Times”. One U.K. reviewer, commenting on Sean Oliver’s Boomtang-produced “Solitaire” album, called Boomtang Records “the best black record label in Canada” – high praise indeed, leveled mistakenly as it was at a couple of pasty white boys.

In 1995 the boys were getting their production chops together, and were beginning to get notice by the Canadian major labels. Over the next few years, Boomtang developed into something of a “hit factory”; Canadian labels started to see the appeal of having dance remixes done of their more mainstream artists, and the boys consistently delivered radio and chart success.

Domestic remix action eventually led to a Recording Artist deal with Virgin Music Canada in 1998, and the Boomtang Boys’ mainstream profile soared dramatically when “Squeeze Toy”, a delirious piece of pop-dance fluff featuring appropriately squeaky vocals by Kim Esty, took off like a rocket in 1999, becoming only the third Canadian single ever to debut at ..1 on the Soundscan Top 200 singles chart that April (only Shania and Alanis had done it before). Greatest Hits Vol.1 followed in the spring, going on to achieve Gold level sales.

No less of a success was Tony and Rob’s indie side-project called Four80East, an acid-jazz instrumental concoction that first scored a big radio hit in the US in the summer of 1998 and has developed a large and loyal fan base around the world.

So what exactly is Boomtang now? Well, a little bit of everything: production house, indie label, remix team, major label artist, indie artist, music publisher, and basically just all-round nice guys. What kind of music does Boomtang do? Depending on the day, Pop, Dance, R&B/Soul, Jazz, Rock, and just about anything else that tickles their fancy (they seem to have a peculiar fondness for novelty acts).

But then that’s the key to survival in the music industry, isn’t it? Diversify, be adaptable, take chances, take charge, persevere, deliver the goods.

Boomtang does all that.