Formed in 1991, 2 Bad Mice are an English

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave, oldskool hardcore or simply hardcore) is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from ...

group, composed of Sean O'Keeffe, Simon Colebrooke, and Rob Playford who was originally the third member and the owner of the

Moving Shadow Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass record label which was founded in 1990 by Rob Playford. History The label began in 1990, operating from Playford's Stevenage home. Playford had become a focal point for ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

. In the 1990s, the group had two singles that charted in the UK.

History

O'Keefe and Colebrooke first experimented with music in 1990, using equipment and spare time at Playford's home studio. The trio formed 2 Bad Mice in 1991. Their first chart success was "Hold It Down" which reached number 48 in February 1992.Roberts, David. 2 Bad Mice stopped producing as the hardcore scene began to wane. A best-of compilation of the group's work appeared on the American Sm:)e Communications label in 1995.

Post split

In September 1996, " Bombscare" which reached number 46 in the UK charts. A new label was created in 1996 called Moshed (MOving Shadow HousE Dept). It was set up with the help of Terry Donavan ( A&R at

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, who went on to co-found

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

). This label, released new mixes of "Bombscare" by

Tall Paul Tall Paul may refer to: * Tall Paul (song), a 1959 song by Annette Funicello * Tall Paul (DJ), English DJ, producer and remixer * Paul Sturgess (basketball), British basketball player {{dab ...

DJ Sneak Carlos Sosa (born November 5, 1969), known as DJ Sneak, is a Puerto Rican-born American DJ and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, (alongside Derrick ...

, and Graham Gold, along with the original and Parliament Squares versions. In 1997, the song "Waremouse" appeared in the movie '' The Jackal'' in the scene where

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

kissed a man in a gay nightclub. Playford continues to record as under the alias Timecode, while O'Keeffe records under the name Deep Blue and as a member of Black Rain. The members of 2 Bad Mice are also members of Kaotic Chemistry. In 2020 2 Bad Mice set up a new label Over/Shadow which incorporates the original Moving Shadow Artists with new talent. www.over-shadow.co.uk

Musical style

2 Bad Mice are credited as among the first

UK hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s ...

acts to begin incorporating

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

s into their style. They were part of the early to mid-1990s hardcore scene, and were instrumental in the music's steady mutation into

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

References

External links

Official 2 Bad Mice website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:2 Bad Mice English electronic music groups English techno music groups Hardcore techno music groups English musical trios Breakbeat hardcore music groups Electronic music groups from London