Leeroy Thornhill (born 8 October 1968) is a British

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and formerly a

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

dancer and occasionally

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

for the British electronic group

the Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

. Thornhill's live performances throughout the 1990s included his unique style of

shuffling Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome. __TOC__ Techniques Overha ...

. He has also recorded under the names Longman and Flightcrank.

Life and work

Thornhill was born in Barking but raised in Rayne near Braintree in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and grew up as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

fan. He joined the Prodigy along with

Keith Flint Keith Charles Flint (17 September 1969 – 4 March 2019) was an English singer and member as well as one of the vocalists of the electronic dance act The Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the vocalist of the group and performed on th ...

and

Maxim Reality Keith Andrew Palmer (born 21 March 1967), better known by his stage name Maxim (previously Maxim Reality), is an English musician, known for being a vocalist of electronic music band the Prodigy. Pre-Prodigy history Palmer was born in Peterboro ...

after they met

Liam Howlett Liam Paul Paris Howlett (born 21 August 1971) is an English record producer, musician, songwriter, co-founder and leader of the British electronic band The Prodigy, and an occasional DJ. Early years Howlett was born in Braintree, Essex, En ...

at a local rave

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

The Barn. Both were dancers for the band's

live show "Live Show" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 84th episode overall. It was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and co-written by series creator Tina Fey and co-showrunner a ...

. Thornhill's height is 6 feet 7 inches, compared to Flint who was 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). In 2000, Thornhill left the band and went on to record various solo EPs under the names "Longman" and "Flightcrank"; however, these projects never saw any substantial success. He now

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

at large venues and is still in touch with the Prodigy. During the Prodigy's "Their Law"

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

Thornhill was the DJ support act at several venues. He also works as a regular DJ. He also

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 ...

ed tracks for other artists, such as the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Subsonica's "Nuvole Rapide". Thornhill had worked with Hyper, appearing on their live shows. He appeared at the V Festival in 2007 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Essex. His latest project is the creation of

nu skool breaks Nu skool breaks (or nu breaks as it is sometimes referred) is a subgenre of breakbeat originating during the period between 1998 and 2002. The style is usually characterized by more abstract, more technical sounds, sometimes incorporated from other ...

record label Electric Tastebuds.Electric Tastebuds
He has recently signed breakbeat group The Wrongstar Society to the label. In October 2008, a music video was created for "Everything U Need", a track by Thornhill's Smash Hi-Fi project. The video was directed by Philip Carrer and Bleeding Apple.

Videography

Thornhill appeared in numerous music videos during his time as a member of the Prodigy. ;Music videos * "

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

" (1991) * "

Everybody in the Place "Everybody in the Place" is the second official single released by the British electronic dance band the Prodigy from their debut album, ''Experience'' (1992). It was released on 23 December 1991 through XL Recordings in the UK. The single ...

" (1991) * "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

" (1992) * "

Out of Space "Out of Space" is the fourth EP/single released by English electronic music group the Prodigy in 1992. The song is also featured on their debut album, Experience (1992), and is the fourth single from it. The song samples the 1976 song "Chase ...

" (1992) * " Wind It Up" (1993) * "

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

" (1993) ( CGI likeness and photographs, no physical appearance) * "

No Good (Start the Dance) "No Good (Start the Dance)" is a song by English electronic music group the Prodigy. Written and produced by group member Liam Howlett, it was released on 16 May 1994 as the second single from their second studio album, ''Music for the Jilted Ge ...

" (1994) * " Voodoo People" (1994) * "

Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

" (1995) * " Firestarter" (1996) * " Breathe" (1996) ;Video albums *''

Electronic Punks ''Electronic Punks'' is a video by the British electronic band The Prodigy, released on VHS in 1995. It includes videos, live performances and rehearsals. ''Electronic Punks'' was broadcast on MTV. The live sections of the video were recorde ...

'' (1995)

Discography

Singles & EPs * ''Lowrise'' EP 12" (1993) * ''The Longman'' EP 12" (1996) * ''Flightcrank'' EP CD Ltd & 2×7" Ltd (2000) * ''Inside Out'' (Original Version) / Outside In 10", Ltd (2000) * ''Amazing'' CD & 12" (2001) * ''What U Need'' CD & 12" (2001) * ''Wait for Me / Breaking Out'' Digital Download (2018) * ''The Calling / Vibrations'' Digital Download (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornhill, Leeroy 1968 births Living people English keyboardists English electronic musicians English techno musicians Hardcore techno musicians Big beat musicians Black British musicians Remixers Club DJs The Prodigy members People from Barking, London Musicians from London Musicians from Essex People from Braintree District English people of Jamaican descent English people of Mauritian descent