Manhattan Clique

The backstory of Manhattan Clique opens in 2001 when Philip Larsen and Chris Smith meet in London through a mutual friend and comes up to date by way of Mary J. Blige, Human League, Soft Cell, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Liberty X, Kylie Minogue, Erasure, The B-52's, Moby & Stereophonics, among others.Larsen cut his teeth in music in his father's home studio. Later, he built a studio of his own and began gaining work on high-profile club and radio mixes, including a Mary J. Blige project which also found him favour with celebrated songwriter Dianne Warren. Smith's first construction was his own music PR company, developed while he also spent long weekends DJ-ing far and wide. After he and Larsen met, the pair through mutual contacts procured the parts for a single by Madonna producer and Sony recording artist Mirwais and so began their first project, a club remix, as Manhattan Clique.The duo's skills quickly gained them remix work and club chart credentials for such artists as Liberty X, Lighthouse Family and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, while a pair of one-off releases (Remember, Starting To Happen) on their own label sold out their limited runs and established Manhattan Clique as serious club contenders.Larsen and Smith also introduced an alter-ego, Groove Collision, to avoid over-exposure in a fickle business. This led to a deal with Virgin Records for the ultimate DJ mash-up album, devised with collaborator Matt Dixon.Meanwhile, as electro enjoyed a resurgence, Manhattan Clique took on remixes for such genre pioneers as Human League and Soft Cell. When the duo was asked by Mute Records to remix a new Erasure single, it was a significant step forward. Huge fans of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, Larsen and Smith not only accomplished that task, plus the subsequent single, but later ended up co-producing and co-writing Andy's debut solo album "Electric Blue" released to great acclaim through Sanctuary. The album included collaborations with Propagandas Claudia Brücken and Jake Shears, frontman of the multi-platinum selling Scissor Sisters.The kudos kept coming in 2004 when Larsen won a Grammy award for his production on Kylie Minogue's U.S. breakthrough single, Come Into My World, taken from her Fever album.Late 2005 saw Manhattan Clique on the road touring with Andy across Europe, including gigs in Moscow, St Petersburg, Madrid, Berlin and London. Chris and Philip also filled in for Vince Clarke headlining at a special Erasure concert at the Radio 2 Roadshow in Blackpool, in front of their biggest crowd to date - 40,000 people!Manhattan Clique's forthcoming projects include the long-awaited Groove Collision DJ mix album finally cleared for release by Virgin and a splash of remixes. Moby was so impressed with the MHC treatment on 'Raining Again', he personally insisted four additional tracks get re-workings by the duo. Edited versions of the mixes also ended up as radio mixes - most notably the recent no.1 Moby single in France - Slipping Away (Crier La Vie). A duet with leading artist Mylene Farmer, produced by Manhattan Clique.Leading UK act Stereophonics were also delighted with the club monster that MHC turned out, and asked them back to remix a subsequent single. The electro end has also been kept up with further remixes for acclaimed acts Goldfrapp, Fischerspooner and The Knife, while the duo have recently consolidated their new French campaign with a remix for Rinocerose.Smith and Larsen continue to be entrepreneurs, having launched a label, Planet Clique, as an outlet for their own club outings. The first two releases - The B-52's 'Whammy' and 'Mesopotamia' EPs won support from DJs all around the world, and enjoyed particular success in Ibiza. Subsequent release SuperJupiter's "You Know" was a Top 5 Club hit in the UK and has been signed on to RCA.As if that were not enough, Manhattan Clique are currently putting the finishing touches to their first album release through Planet Clique - Robopop - The Return...a compilation of the finest new electronic music of the moment.Adam White