SKOOL OF THOUGHT
Owner and label manager behind the award winning Against The Grain & SuperCharged Music record labels, home to the likes of the Freestylers, Krafty Kuts, Splitloop, Ed Solo and of course Skool Of Thought. He is the guy responsible for the enormous Groove Armada 'Superstylin' and Freestylers v Pendulum 'Painkiller' breaks remixes. He has appeared on the front cover of 3D magazine in Australia, described by IDJ magazine as 'an underrated genius' and recognized by DJ magazine as helping form the 'nu skool breaks' scene. He has produced countless breakbeat monsters over the years including Heavyweight Breaks Volumes 1 & 3, Breakspoll 3, numerous 12" singles and is currently celebrating the success of his debut artist album with Ed Solo entitled 'Random Acts Of Kindness'. To top it all off he has just launched a third label called 'Cool & Deadly' with Tayo. Phew! Time to take a lesson from Skool...
So, if you had to list the top 10 hottest DJ / producers in breaks over the past 12 months, Skool of Thought would be a dead cert for a podium finish. Hotter than an aerobics class held in a sauna with the central heating cranked up to the max, he has cemented a reputation for laying down insane tracks and killer DJ sets across the globe. Since joining forces with Ed Solo, he has provided a host of huge singles, including 'When I Was a Yout,' 'Love Your Life' and 'Babylon Breaks', along with the thundering remixes of Groove Armada's 'Superstylin' and Freestylers v Pendulum 'Painkiller' which have seen them jointly and individually in high demand for production work as well as for DJing. Their debut album 'Random Acts Of Kindness' has whipped up a press frenzy with DJ Mag, IDJ, Knowledge, EQ, Beatmag and lots more.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's spin back through the misty turntables of time, to the days when Skool of Thought was a young, slip of a lad, a time when you weren't worth your salt unless you had an Atari ST in the studio. We find our man flipping through some dusty vinyl in a Brighton record shop, when a chance meeting with a little known DJ by the name of Krafty Kuts produced a meeting of musical minds. Discovering a mutual love for the breaks, Skool Of Thought and Krafty Kuts set up the world-renowned SuperCharged club night in Brighton. As residents of the night, the two DJs played every week to an ecstatic crowd, in what is now a legendary Wednesday session on the south coast. As the club night exploded, demand for vinyl releases of the SuperCharged sound grew, and two record labels were born.
The first Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought single was the double a-side 'Feel The Music' and 'Loud Noise', the bottom heavy thumpers with a soulful twist which caught the attention of many in the scene and shot the 12" to number 1 in DJ Magazines Beats & Breaks chart. Their tunes were spotted by a production company that was working with MTV, and the boys were soon commissioned to write the music for the MTV EMA's (European Music Awards), which later won an award for 'Best Title Sequence'.
Following these early successes, the labels went into collective overdrive and soon they were celebrating signing the Freestylers to the Against The Grain stable. The release of Freestylers 'Push Up' single blew the roof off, selling over 100,000 copies worldwide, going top 10 in 5 countries and picking up a gold disc along the way, 'Push Up' was by far the biggest selling breaks tune ever. Skool Of Thought, found himself in charge of two of the most highly regarded breaks labels in the world. This led to him spending increasing amounts of his time at the business as label manager, rather than as an artist. Over the next few years he dedicated the majority of his time to this role and his success at the job soon saw the additional signings of Krafty Kuts and Splitloop, plus another album from the Freestylers. It wasn't until last year that time permitted Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought to join forces once again and start work on their own album 'Random Acts Of Kindness' - OUT NOW!
ED SOLO, SKOOL OF THOUGHT & BEARDYMAN ALBUM PROMO VIDEO:
DJ MAG - SINGLE OF THE MONTH FOR 'LOVE YOUR LIFE':
'Random Acts Of Kindness' encompasses all of the sounds and styles that have influenced Skool Of Thought over the years; from soul, funk and reggae to drum n bass, hip-hop and breaks. Effervescent, opener 'Love Your Life' isn't just for the ska jump up crowd, it's great song based fare and an early indicator of how the album delivers to more than just the dancefloor. Next up is King Tubby sampling soundbwoy stylings of Babylon Breaks. Reggae influences rear their head again on slowburning skankers 'Life Gets Better' and 'Raspberry Dub', while the D&B Remix of 'Feel The Music' does exactly what it says on the tin. Dipping into the UK underground with a bassline to loosen your fillings on 'Sludge', the guys show they have an eye for the retro too with their reworking of Incognito's classic 'Always There'. Throw in piano-laced hip hop ('Sometimes') and beeps and bleeps aplenty ('Tug Nut') and you’ve got an album, which could never be described as samey.
WATCH THE SUPERCHARGED AND AGAINST THE GRAIN DOCUMENTARY
KNOWLEDGE MAG FEATURE:
PRESS QUOTES:
"This is a scene and a sound quite like no other and SuperCharged's Skool Of Thought rules triumphant" 5/5 DJ magazine
"powerful, bass-heavy belters from most of the major players on the breaks scene. My advice, kids? Take a break from Skool." 8/10 DJ magazine
"Speaker busting, ball tingling, body rocking breakbeat" 5/5 Knowledge mag
"If youre in to filthy raw breakbeat then this is for you, tearing simply tearing." 5/5 IDJ
"This (Heavyweight Breaks CD) sets out to represent the sounds of respected Brighton breaks night, SuperCharged. Kicking off with 'Sound Check', the work of residents Krafty Kuts & Skool Of Thought, it charges straight in with heavy b-lines. Hard but funky it takes in respected artists from Player One and Soto to more recognisable names including Tipper, Plump DJs, FreQ Nasty and Ils. Heavy indeed." 5/5. SEVEN
"A quality peak-time mix that never lets you down." Large magazine
"Skool Of Thought is an underrated genius" IDJ
DISCOGRAPHY:
Artist album:
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Random Acts Of Kindness' Against The Grain
Mix Albums:
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Breakspoll Volume 3' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought presents 'Heavy Weight Breaks 3' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought presents 'Heavy Weight Breaks' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought & Void 'Life in Brighton' SuperCharged / Stompaphunk
Singles:
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'When I Was A yout Remixes' Against The Grain
Skool Of Thought & Deepcut 'Tug Nut' SuperCharged
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Babylon Breaks' Against The Grain
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Believe In The Funk' Against The Grain
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought feat, Darrison 'Love Your Life' Against The Grain
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'When I Was A Yout / Hot & Heavy' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought 'Funky Town' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought 'The Devil' SuperCharged
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Feel The Music' SuperCharged
Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought 'Loud Noise' SuperCharged
Krafty Kuts v Skool Of Thought 'Sound Check' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought 'Devastate' SuperCharged
Skool Of Thought 'World Of Music' Filth
Skool Of Thought 'Turn it up' Trigger / Botchit Breaks
Remixes:
Freestylers feat. Pendulum 'Painkiller' Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought Remix
Groove Armada 'Superstylin'
Beastie Boys 'Fight For Your Right'
Freestylers 'No Replica'
Pressure Drop 'Spirits Fall' One Eye
Echoic & Ransom 'Seven Of Nine' SuperCharged
