Loadstar is music production duo from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They produced predominantly drum and bass however they worked in other genres such as dubstep and electro. The duo consisted of Gavin "Xample" Harris and Nick "Lomax" Hill. They previously produced under the alias Xample & Lomax.

Career

2007–2009: Record deal and formation

The two artists met while Bristol-born Xample was studying sociology at Liverpool University. Lomax was one-third of the production trio Holdtight at the time. Xample booked Holdtight for a drum and bass event, and Lomax moved to Bristol shortly afterwards. Xample sent some tracks to

Andy C Andrew John Clarke (born 7 April 1976) is a British DJ and record producer and is co-founder of RAM Records, a pioneering label in the drum and bass genre. Music career Early years Andy C was a DJ in his own right but gained a strong reputa ...

via instant message, and soon afterwards was signed to his label

RAM Records RAM Records is an independent record label established in 1992 by Andy C with the help of his friend Ant Miles. It specialises in drum and bass. The label and business is run by Andy C and business partner Scott Bourne (Red One). Ram Records ...

. The duo's first release was the track " The Latter" which was released on 28 May 2007. It featured as a B-side to Xample's track " Lowdown" and was released on

. Their second collaboration was "Contra" (released as a single on 2 February 2009). Throughout 2009 they shared studio space and began to release more material together.

2010: Formation of Loadstar

On 26 April 2010, they released a single on RAM titled "Remember / Rushin Dragon". On 27 September 2010, they released their first song under the Loadstar alias: "Link to the Past / Rapidas". To tie in with the song title they looked through old rave tape packs and computer game cassettes until they found an old

E-mu E-mu Systems was a software synthesizer, audio interface, MIDI interface, and MIDI keyboard manufacturer. Founded in 1971 as a synthesizer maker, E-mu was a pioneer in samplers, sample-based drum machines and low-cost digital sampling music ...

sampler. The old interface took a long time to load each sample and displayed a spinning star while loading. Hence the moniker "Loadstar" was born.

2010–2011: Commercial breakthrough

During late 2010, the duo also started producing for Hadouken!, starting with their singles " Mecha Love" and "

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

". On 14 November 2010, their remix of Example's " Two Lives" was released as their first Loadstar remix. In 2011 collaborations became more frequent, including remixes for Breakage,

Chase & Status Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in J ...

and

Jess Mills Jessica Rosemary Frances Mills, commonly known as Jess Mills, is an English singer/songwriter and musician, currently signed to Island Records, who has collaborated with many UK electronic music producers including Photek, Distance and Brea ...

. They received airplay from major radio stations such as

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, and were asked by Annie Mac to create a mashup of Jessie J's "

Price Tag A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means. Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the pri ...

". On 28 March 2011, they released the second Loadstar single, titled "Space Between / BLVD". "Space Between" was their first track to have an official music video. On 24 July 2011, their track "Kaoss" was released as part of ''RAM 100'', the label's hundredth release. They went on to release the single "Berlin / Hit the Ground" and a remix of

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

's "

You Need Me, I Don't Need You "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" (or simply "You Need Me") is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2011 as the second single from his debut studio album, '' +'' ("Plus"). The track " ...

" in 2011.

2012–2013: ''Every Weekend'' and ''Future Perfect''

2012 saw a redesign of Loadstar's image: they created a new logo and began to gain recognition from a wider audience. The duo remixed "Tommy's Theme" by

Noisia Noisia (stylised as NOISIΛ; "VISION" turned upside down) was a Dutch electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands. They produce a wide variety of music including ...

which appeared on the special edition of their album Split the Atom, re-released by

mau5trap Mau5trap (stylized as mau5trap; pronounced "mousetrap") is an independent Canadian record label founded in 2007 by electronic music producer Deadmau5. The label was formerly a vanity label, hosting releases through labels such as Ultra Music, V ...

. They produced "Parasite", the lead single from Hadouken!'s third studio album ''

Every Weekend ''Every Weekend'' is the third studio album by British electronic band Hadouken!. The album was initially set for release on 18 February 2013, but was released on 18 March 2013 via Surface Noise Records. Track listing ;Notes * Track listin ...

''. It was released as a free download on 11 April 2012, and the song was later released alongside remixes on 19 May. They also produced the majority of tracks on ''

'', including the album's fifth single "

Levitate Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

" which was co-produced by

. On 8 May, they released a free two-track single titled "Second Skin / Terror Drone". On 8 July, they released their first extended play titled "Passenger / Bomber", alongside a remix of "Passenger" by Culprate. In September, they released a remix of Excision's "Sleepless", as part of his

remix album ''X Rated: The Remixes''. In November, they released a remix of

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and w ...

's single Not Giving In featuring John Newman and

Alex Clare Alexander George Clare (c. 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. His debut album, '' The Lateness of the Hour'', was released in the UK on 11 July 2011 on Island Records and was produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer. His biggest hit, " ...

. They released a remix of The Good Natured's song "5-HT" as a free download in December. Their most popular release to date, "Black and White" featuring Benny Banks, was released on 9 December 2012. The official video has accumulated over one million

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

views. It was later announced that this was to be the first single from their debut album. It was announced in February that the duo would be releasing their debut album, titled ''

Future Perfect The future perfect is a verb form or construction used to describe an event that is expected or planned to happen before a time of reference in the future, such as ''will have finished'' in the English sentence "I will have finished by tomorrow." ...

'', on 5 May 2013. However, this was later delayed to 26 May. On 8 February, they released the track "Drowning" from the album as a free download. On 21 April 2013, "Refuse to Love / Flight" featuring uncredited vocals from

Takura Takura Tendayi is a Zimbabwean singer and songwriter. He is well known for his frequent collaborations with Chase & Status and Sub Focus, as well as many other dubstep and drum and bass artists. His guest appearances have accumulated over 17 ...

was released as the album's second single. On 9 May 2013, they announced the fifteen-track standard edition album track list. It includes guest appearances from

Scrufizzer Amary Lorenzo, better known as Scrufizzer, is an English musician, MC, singer-songwriter, and record producer from West London. He first gained recognition as a grime producer before building a reputation for his bashment-influenced flow and ...

, Jakes, Benny Banks, Jenn D, Hadouken! and Lloyd Yates. The deluxe edition of the album features seven extra tracks. On 7 June 2014, "Give It To Me" appeared in the pilot episode of American crime drama ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

''.

2013–2016: RAMLife - Loadstar

In 2013, the duo produced

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

and UK rap songs for

Dot Rotten Joseph Ellis-Stephenson (born 19 October 1988), better known by his stage name Dot Rotten or Zeph Ellis, is a British grime MC, rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Lambeth, South London. Having released a series of mixtapes inde ...

, Benny Banks and Scrufizzer. They also produced

P Money Paris Moore-Williams (born 8 April 1989), better known by his stage name P Money, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from New Cross, South East London, who is also active in the drum and bass scene. He is best known for his live pe ...

's 2013 single "Round the Clock", the title track from his EP on Rinse. "Bomber" was featured in Gran Turismo 6 in 2013. The first single after ''Future Perfect'', entitled "Stepped Outside" / "Under Pressure", was released on 6 April 2014. On 17 April, "Stepped Outside" was added to BBC Radio 1Xtra's C-list and it rose to their B-list on 24 April, staying in rotation for the following week. The song features uncredited vocals from Caan. On 13 July 2014, Dot Rotten released his second studio album ''Interview'' for free download, which included the Loadstar production "Determination". On 18 August 2014, RAM Records launched RAMLife, a series of albums containing the very best of recent RAM Records releases and other songs from other labels and artists with an hour long continuous mix from the featured artist. The first instalment was presented by Loadstar including some of their most popular tracks. The duo's next single, "Native" / "Once Again", was released on 28 August 2015, over a year later from their RAMLife album and features uncredited vocals on "Native" from Danny Shah. On 1 December Loadstar was a song titled "Keeping Me High" featuring the Scottish indie band Prides. The following single, "Lifeline" / "Switch", was released on 5 February 2016. "Lifeline" features uncredited vocals from Cleo Tighe of The Six. The second single of 2016 titled "Red Rock" / "On The Wheels", this was released on 24 June. their final song of 2016 was titled "Change the Channel" / "Encarta",and was released on 14 October. All these singles were non-album singles.

2017–2020: ''I Need the Night''

On 20 January 2017, the duo released "I Need the Night" as the lead single from their forthcoming second studio album of the same name. The album's second single, "Diamonds", features vocals from Takura, and was released 23 March 2017. Its third single, "Give Yourself", was released on 21 July 2017. On 2 July, Loadstar also released a single entitled "Ring Ring" in collaboration with UK rap artist and former

Section Boyz Smoke Boys (formerly Section Boyz and before that Squeeze Section) was a British hip hop collective started by British rapper Ghost in 2010. On 25 September 2015 the group's second mixtape '' Don't Panic'' entered at number 36, making their fir ...

member Reeko Squeeze.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2013) * ''I Need the Night'' (2017)

Singles

Other appearances

Remixes

Production credits

References

{{Authority control English electronic music duos Musical groups established in 2010 English record producers Record production duos Electronic dance music duos British drum and bass music groups Living people Year of birth missing (living people) RAM Records artists Drum and bass duos British record production teams Musical groups from Bristol 2010 establishments in England