Freemasons are an English house music duo from

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. The act consists of the

producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...

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 c ...

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. Musical ...

) 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 A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, Freemasons Tavern, which they frequently visit. The duo also record and

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, 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, poem, or photograph ca ...

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

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, ...

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 in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

'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 advertis ...

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

track "

This Time Baby "This Time Baby" is a song written by the songwriting team Bell and James which, after being introduced by the O'Jays in 1978, became a 1979 disco hit for Jackie Moore (singer), Jackie Moore. O'Jays version The O'Jays 1978 album release ''So Full o ...

", and

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

's 1999 hit " When the Heartache Is Over", into an international nightclub hit as " Love on My Mind". A #11 hit in the UK, it was also released in the United States on their U.S. label, the

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

based

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Records ...

. Freemasons were also the remixers on

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

' 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. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance musi ...

hit, " Mesmerized". Their follow-up song, "

Watchin' "Watchin'" is a song by English dance music duo Freemasons. The song is a remake of Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing ...

" was released in the United States in 2006 with

Amanda Wilson Amanda Leigh Wilson (born 13 April 1980) is an English Platinum selling singer/song writer. 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 Eu ...

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

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

of the Hot Dance Airplay chart. The third original single from 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. Freemasons also remixed

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's original song, "

Déjà Vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

" in 2006 (for which they were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

). They followed this up with further remixes of "

Ring the Alarm "Ring the Alarm" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her second studio album, '' B'Day'' (2006). It was written by Beyoncé, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and Sean Garrett. Columbia Records released "Ring the Alarm" as the second sin ...

", "

Beautiful Liar "Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Bey ...

" (duet with

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

), and "

Green Light Green Light, green light, green-light or greenlight may refer to: * Green-colored light, part of the visible spectrum * Greenlight, formal approval of a project to move forward Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * Green Light ( ...

". They also co-produced "

The One The One may refer to: Buildings * The One (shopping centre), a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong * The One (Toronto), a mixed-use skyscraper under development in Toronto, Canada * The One, a residential skyscraper under constru ...

" on

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

'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, Freemasons released '' Unmixed'', 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 Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions of "Unmixed". In 2007, 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 List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

, 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 ani ...

", for the non-American markets. That same year they were rumoured to be producing an album for

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

, 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. The music video premiered in May 2008. The song entered the UK Singles Chart in June 2008 and reached its peak of #23 on 6 July. Beyoncé's sister,

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She expressed an interest in music from an early age and had temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, which featured her older sister ...

used the duo's production skills to create her single " I Decided" for its release in 2008. On 15 June 2009, 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 p ...

", featuring

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and ...

, in the UK.Freemasons & Sophie Ellis-Bextor
The single peaked at #13 in the UK, making it their fifth Top 20 hit on the UK Singles Chart, and was a smash hit on the club charts. It had success in the European charts. ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' 2008 winner

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and releas ...

confirmed on her official website that 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 which 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 Diana Gordon, formerly known as Wynter Gordon (born August 25, 1985), is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. He ...

. In April 2012, Russell discussed with fans after a gig in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

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 publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

'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. 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 "

" -

(Freemasons, R. Stannard) * 2008 "I Decided, Pt. 2" -

Solange Solange may refer to: People with the given name * Solange Knowles (born 1986), American R&B/soul singer * Solange of Bourges (d. 880), Christian saint * Solange (psychic) (1952–2021), Italian TV personality, psychic and commentator * Solange A ...

(Freemasons, The Neptunes) * 2010 " Bittersweet" -

(Freemasons, Biffco)

References

External links

Russell Small Music

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