Freemasons are an English DJ duo from

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

, England. The act consists of the producers Russell Small (who is also one half of the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

production duo

Phats & Small Phats & Small are a British electronic dance music duo formed in Brighton, in 1998, and composed of Jason "Phats" Hayward and Russell Small. They are best known for their single " Turn Around", which became an international hit in 1999. Musica ...

) and James Wiltshire (who also works with Phats & Small under the alias 'Jimmy Gomez').

Biography

2005–2007: Early career

Their name is taken from the Brighton pub, Freemasons Tavern, Hove, which they frequently visit. The duo also record and

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

under the similar-sounding "Freemaison" name, which is also the name of their

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

that was founded in 2005. Freemasons have also produced tracks under the names of Alibi, Walken, Funk Fanatics and BN3 (which is part of their hometown of

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th ...

's postal code). In 2005, the duo transformed Jackie Moore's 1979 #1 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

track "This Time Baby", and

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

's 1999 hit " When the Heartache Is Over", into an international club

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

as "Love on My Mind". A #11 hit in the UK, it was also released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on their U.S. label home, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

based

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

. Freemasons were also the remixers on

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

' 2005 #1 Hot Dance Club Play and #4

Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...

hit, "Mesmerized". The Freemason's follow-up, "Watchin'" was released in the United States in 2006 with

Amanda Wilson Amanda Leigh Wilson (born 13 April 1980) is an English singer. She is a member of house music act Freemasons. As part of the act she has scored two major UK hit singles, one of which went on to success in several European charts, and the US ''B ...

as their lead vocalist for the track. "Watchin'" peaked at #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play and within the Top 20 of the Hot Dance Airplay

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. The third original single from the Freemasons, "Rain Down Love" reached the Top 20 of the Hot Dance Airplay chart. Their fourth single (released digitally), "Nothing But a Heartache" featuring vocals from

Sylvia Mason-James Sylvia Mason-James (born 8 December 1958) is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist. Early life and career Mason-James was born on 8 December 1958 in south London, United Kingdom to immigrants from J ...

was released in June 2007. The Freemasons also remixed

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's original song, "

Déjà Vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univers ...

" in 2006 (for which they were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

). The Freemasons followed this up with further remixes of " Ring the Alarm", " Beautiful Liar" (

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

with

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

), and " Green Light". They also co-produced " The One" on

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's album '' X'' with Richard Stannard and remixed the song for single release in May 2008.

2007–2009: ''Unmixed'' and ''Shakedown 2''

On 29 October 2007, the Freemasons released ''

Unmixed ''Unmixed'' is the second album by house production duo Freemasons. It was released on 29 October 2007, with the lead single "Uninvited" being released one week earlier. The album is unique, as unlike most DJ/Producers, the tracks are all unmi ...

'', an album containing unmixed versions of most of their mixes to date. As a bonus, there is a data track containing samples and

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

versions of "Unmixed". In 2007, The Freemasons worked with

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the g ...

, to produce the remix of her single "

Work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...

", for the non-American markets. In 2007 they were rumored to be producing an album for Donna Summer, but the project fell through due to scheduling commitments. The follow-up to their own version of " Uninvited", "When You Touch Me", was released in the UK on 30 June 2008. The song featured

Katherine Ellis Katherine Ellis (born Katherine Jane Margaret Wood on 21 June 1965 in Bromley, England) is an English electronica vocalist and songwriter. A mainstay of the house music genre past and present, she has been featured on vocals since 1990. Backg ...

. The

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...

premiered in May 2008. The song entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in June 2008 and reached its peak of #23 on 6 July. Beyoncé's sister, Solange Knowles used the duo's production skills to create her single "I Decided" for its release in 2008. Freemasons released the song "

Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)" is a song by English production duo the Freemasons and English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song was written by the production duo James Wiltshire and Russell Small, Richard Stannard and Ellis-Bextor, and ...

", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor, on 15 June 2009 in the United Kingdom.Freemasons & Sophie Ellis-Bextor
The single peaked at #13 in the UK, making it their fifth Top 20 hit on the

, and was a smash hit on the club charts. It had success in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an charts. '' X Factor'' 2008 winner

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series '' The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and S ...

confirmed on her official website that the Freemasons had produced tracks for her debut album.

2010–present: ''Shakedown 3''

The duo released a remix EP ''Summer of Pride Mix'' digitally on 15 August 2010 and peaked at 23 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. The single (including an edited version) was released in the UK on 5 December 2010. "Believer" features R&B singer Wynter Gordon. In April 2012, Russell discussed with fans after a gig in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

about talk of signing a new contract on

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. Jame ...

's label, to release an album in early 2013. He is quoted as saying "It's still early days, however they have said that they will want lots of collaborations. It's something to look forward to." Wiltshire now produces music with F9-Audio F9-audio. Small continues to DJ around the world and produce music with production partner DNO P.

Discography

Freemasons albums

Freemasons singles

Notes

Pegasus singles

Pegasus promotional singles

Remixes

Production credits

* 2007 " The One" -

(Freemasons, R. Stannard) * 2008 "I Decided, Pt. 2" - Solange (Freemasons, The Neptunes) * 2010 " Bittersweet" - Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Freemasons, Biffco)

References

External links

Russell Small Music

www.freemasonsmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freemasons (Band) English house music duos Electronic dance music duos Male musical duos Remixers Musical groups from Brighton and Hove DJs from Brighton and Hove DJ duos Ultra Records artists