Welcome to the world of Punx Soundcheck where raw, electronic funk collides with technoid bleepery; where the gritty sounds of the dancefloor rub shoulders with a futuristic sonic vision; and where machines come to life and think and feel with their own robotic hearts. All this and plenty of attitude too… we are Punx!

Punx Soundcheck is the partnership of John Taylor and Arif Salih, formerly of Natural Born Chillers, who cut their teeth in the early noughties with a series of remixes and the infamous ‘Icon Series’ on seven-inch vinyl. They quickly developed a unique sound that fused futuristic and retro electro with a punk rock attitude.

Punx Soundcheck were formed back in 1998 when John was working in the studio next door to Arif and the pair soon became friends discovering they had much common ground. Arif was working on a Natural Born Chillers album but it wasn’t long before he and John were collaborating in the studio on a variety of new projects combining John’s knowledge of house and techno with Arif’s feel for hip hop and the underground beats and breaks scene. With such a strong musical connection, it wasn’t long before they joined forces on a full-time basis both as a DJ and production outfit. This hybrid of styles and influences became Phat Company.

They started DJing as a team with John manning the turntables and mixer, and Arif on effects, samples and live keyboards. Several bookings in Hamburg soon followed throughout 1999 where they were exposed to the emerging electroclash sound coming out of Berlin and realised this was what they had been waiting for; in 2002 Phat Company became Punx Soundcheck and they began their mission to take London’s nascent electroclash scene by storm combining an 80s electro-pop sensibility with the energy of dance culture.

After making a name for themselves on the London circuit, the duo put together the ‘Icon Series’ on John’s own Taylor Made Records label. The limited edition collection on coloured seven-inch vinyl featured original Punx Soundcheck tracks including collaborations with Marc Almond and Siobhan Fahey, as well as remixes from other leading lights on the London scene like Atomizer and The Droyds.

The word was out and Punx Soundcheck were soon in demand as remixers with S’Express, King Roc, Ping Pong Bitches, Digitaria, Ascii.Disko, Atomizer, Dead or Alive and Duran Duran among those getting the treatment on labels like International Deejay Gigolos, Back Yard Recordings and Umami Records. Several critically acclaimed singles soon followed for Beautycase Records, Delta B Recordings and Destination Records before they came to the attention of Berlin-based label Pale Music and released their debut album, ‘When Machines Ruled the World’, in 2006 to much praise. The double CD package included collaborations with Marc Almond, Steve Strange, Boy George and Princess Julia along with Kid Robot, the mysterious third member of Punx Soundcheck. Punx Soundcheck now had an impressive body of work behind them.

Punx Soundcheck continue to keep up the pressure on the production front and have just completed their second album, ‘Black & Gold’, which is scheduled for release on Pale Music in early 2008. Their new album is very different from their first with a new look, a new logo and a new sound aimed straight for the dancefloor. Forthcoming as 10 tracks on double vinyl and digital download, it includes vocal collaborations with Marc Almond, Digitaria, Linda Lamb, Naommon and one-to-watch MC MissOddKidd.

The tracks range from the minimal grooves of ‘Metropolis’ to the new rave-influenced French sound of ‘Makethatnoise’ to the London attitude of ‘Dress & Shoes’. In fact, there’s music across the wide spectrum of electro for DJs and clubbers alike. The first single from the album will be a double header of ‘Dress & Shoes’ and ‘Makethatnoise’ with remixes from Ascii.Disko, Tronic Youth, Run Hide Survive and Dolby Anol, while there’ll be a special four-track EP, ‘The Legends’, available soon with tracks from ‘When Machines Ruled the World’ and ‘Black & Gold’ featuring Boy George, Steve Strange, Marc Almond and Linda Lamb.

Look out for a rather special release on Hottwerk Records too. The ‘Inferno’ EP includes a Tobias Doppelganger remix and is a collaboration with Punx Soundcheck alter ego Chanty Poe, a shadowy figure who’s part cartoon character, part avatar and part cyber geek. He joins them for a walk on the dark side full of bass-heavy rhythms and twisted, jackin’ beats, and a Chanty Poe album is already waiting in the wings.

There has also been an impressive array of Punx Soundcheck remixes recently including tracks by 32Crash, Mihai Popovictui, Futon and fellow artists on Pale Music, while the duo have reworked Dragons, Make Model and U R Penetrators for forthcoming release. There have been plenty of high profile commissions too following the success of their remixes of the Bloc Party single, ‘Flux’, and the rave classic ‘Stakker Humanoid’ by Stakker as part of a special 2007 remix package; look out for Punx Soundcheck in action on the new S’Express, ‘Stupid Little Girl’, for the Parisian kings of cool Kitsuné Music and two versions of ‘Frustration’ for the eagerly anticipated Soft Cell remix album.

Always striving to keep one step ahead and never resting on their laurels, the Punx Soundcheck sound is constantly evolving as they mix and match the latest electronic production techniques with passion and soul. Whether it’s a John Taylor DJ set or the full Punx Soundcheck combined DJ and live effects show complete with their own VJ, they’ll be supporting the release of ‘Black & Gold’ with dates across Europe and beyond over the coming months and rockin’ dancefloors wherever they play. Welcome to their world… we are Punx!

John Taylor is one of the most respected and influential ambassadors on the London electro scene. Over the last few years he has been at the forefront of pushing new music forward and as one half of Punx Soundcheck his productions have consistently been at the cutting edge. Not surprisingly his DJ skills are increasingly in demand on the international circuit too.

John’s list of credits reads like a who’s who of the London scene with regular appearances at nights like Drama, Electrogogo, The Cock, Nag Nag Nag, Trailer Trash, Computer Blue and Nuke Them All! His DJ career developed at a similar pace as the success of Punx Soundcheck in the studio and as well as playing at all the cool underground clubs in London, John has also rocked the bigger venues like Turnmills and The Cross. Trips to Spain, Italy, Russia, Israel, Japan, Brazil and New York soon followed as well as regular visits to Berlin, while John was also the first electro DJ to play at the Space opening party in Ibiza. Most recently, his travels have taken him to the Sonar festival in Barcelona, the SEEME conference in Bulgaria and the Space opening party once again. Alongside his superb DJ skills, John is also an accomplished musician and has played live as part of The Droyds and with Siobhan Fahey.

John continues to smash it up wherever he plays and has recently taken his sound tougher and dirtier drawing inspiration from techno and the new rave scene in equal measure.

Arif Salih began his career in the music industry back in 1990 with the launch of Global Dance Records releasing early rave classics like ‘Right Here, Right Now’. Developing his production skills throughout the 90s, Arif experimented with a fusion of variety of musical styles including hip hop, breakbeat, drum & bass and trance, working with various artists and releasing tracks on several labels.

In 1998 Arif broke into the mainstream in partnership with Lee Parker as Natural Born Chillers with the highly acclaimed ‘Rock the Funky Beat’ gaining full recognition for his production skills in the process. Following its success, Natural Born Chillers were commissioned to produce a string of classic remixes for the Jungle Brothers, Busta Rhymes, Silvah Bullet, Mono and Gravediggaz among others. It was while working on an album for the Chillers that Arif met John Taylor and they started working together as Punx Soundcheck.

Booking's and RMX's

Matthew Duffield
Sedition DJs Ltd | Music Journalist [iDJ / Kmag]
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