The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on the albums '' Paul's Boutique'' by

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

, ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at num ...

'', '' Midnite Vultures'' and '' Guero'' by

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, the soundtrack to ''Fight Club'', and " MMMBop" by Hanson. They are based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

History

1980s

Michael "E.Z." Simpson and John "Gizmo" King started working together as the Dust Brothers in 1985 at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

, KSPC, hosting a weekly

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

show called ''The Big Beat Showcase''. They developed writing and producing skills creating music for their show and

DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

and rapping at parties. In 1987, they began

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and producing for the Delicious Vinyl

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. There they wrote and produced tracks on Tone Lōc's

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Lōc-ed After Dark'', Young MC's debut album '' Stone Cold Rhymin''', and other Delicious Vinyl releases. They also worked with the Boo Yaa Tribe on the album '' New Funky Nation'', producing several songs on that album. Mike D of the

stopped by mutual friend Matt Dike's apartment, where Simpson and Dike played music intended to be a Dust Brothers album, and liked what he heard. The Dust Brothers along with Dike ended up co-writing, producing and mixing the Beastie Boys' second album, '' Paul's Boutique'', considered one of the best albums of all time by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' in 2006.

1990s

had the Dust Brothers produce his album ''

'', released in 1996. The album spawned the hits " Where It's At" (#61 on the Hot 100), " Devils Haircut" (#94 on the Hot 100), " The New Pollution" (#78) and " Jack-Ass" (#73). In 1995 the Dust Brothers co-produced Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil's second solo album '' Carved in Stone''. In 1997, they produced a track with Korn called "Kick the P.A." for the '' Spawn'' soundtrack; produced the number one hit " MMMBop" for Hanson's first major label album '' Middle of Nowhere''; and created a song on the #1 soundtrack to the Howard Stern film '' Private Parts'' named " Tortured Man", featuring vocals by Stern. The Dust Brothers also co-produced three songs on

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

album, '' Bridges to Babylon''. The next year, the duo were approached by director David Fincher to assemble the score for the film '' Fight Club'', including "This Is Your Life", a song featuring lines from the film, including a monologue by the character Tyler Durden ( Brad Pitt). The same year also saw the Dust Brothers collaborate with Jeymes Samuel aka the Bullitts on the soundtrack for the film '' Muppets from Space'', recording a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the Earth, Wind & Fire song " Shining Star". In 1999, the two collaborated with

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

and Eagle-Eye Cherry on the track "Wishing It Was" which appeared on Santana's multi-platinum album ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. For that album they won their first Grammy, after having received numerous nominations for their past work with

and with Hanson, and as artists for their instrumental song on the '' X-Files'' soundtrack. They also recorded, produced and mixed an album by 'hip pop' group 10 Cents named ''Buggin Out''.

2000s

In the 2000s, the Dust Brothers had continued success, again collaborating with Beck on the album '' Guero'';

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles in 1994 by the actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Their music showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass' acoustic guitar playing. Critics have described their fusion of ...

on their self-titled debut;

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

with a track called "With You" on their first studio album ''

Hybrid Theory ''Hybrid Theory'' is the debut studio album by American Rock music, rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000, by Warner Bros. Records. Recorded at NRG Recording Studios, NRG Recordings in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywo ...

''; remixing the Styles of Beyond track "Winnetka Exit" on their promotional CD ''Spies Like Us''; and producing the

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

album '' The Else''.

Controversy with the Chemical Brothers

The Dust Brothers name and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

was used by the British duo that eventually became the Chemical Brothers as they began their career. Used as a homage to the American group, they changed their name when they were unable to convince the Dust Brothers to sell the name. Eventually the groups reached an understanding, and the Chemical Brothers' 1997 EP '' Elektrobank'' featured a Dust Brothers remix of the title track.

Production credits

References

External links

Official websiteAt DiscogsMike Simpson's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dust Brothers Record producers from California Beastie Boys Record production duos Grammy Award winners Musical duos from California Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in California