The UK breakbeat scene has witnessed a seismic shift in recent times. Gone are the days of the simple one-DJ/ two-turntable setup which has been the standard club arrangement as long as anyone can remember. Any breakbeat outfit worth their salt are reaching for their guitars and drumkits, strutting their stuff within the live arena. Scene heavyweights such as Rennie Pilgrem, Slyde, Dub Pistols and DJ Deekline have all successfully transposed their sound, now touring regularly with full live bands. Atomic Hooligan are one such production unit who’ve made the switch, but their experiences of the trials and tribulations of life on the road stretch back over twelve years.

I Don’t Care

“We were a live act way before we made a record,” explains Matt Hooligan. “We played the real rock circuit round London, venues like the Water Rats in Kings Cross and Camden’s Barfly. We were doing a kind of Chemical Brothers, phat beats thing and having to play to bikers and Hells Angels because we were playing alongside rock ‘n’ roll acts. We even did one gig at a really small venue where we played after Snow Patrol before they went big…and their mates Travis were up front dancing to us!”

This wealth of experience within the live arena has undoubtedly informed the Atomic Hooligan sound, inevitably leading to a mash-up of styles and tempos that only loosely fit within the breaks template. “I think because we toured the first album (2005’s You Are Here) fully live for a few years, the new album has taken on a real live, raw kinda feel,” notes Matt. “Which just seemed to happen naturally, and we don’t feel we really belong in any one scene. The breaks scene has been good to us, but if you were to look at our back catalogue, you wouldn’t find that many tracks that you could actually say, ‘Yeah, that’s breaks.’”

With their storming sophomore album, the amusingly titled Sex, Drugs & Blah Blah Blah due to hit the streets anyday now, Atomic Hooligan are currently turning up the heat in the breakbeat kitchen. It’s a dizzying mix of electro, hip-hop and breaks topped off with lashings of raucous guitar and stomping drums. Add guest slots as diverse as hip-hop legend Afu Ra and London pop punkster Justine Berry (Hey Gravity) to the mix and it’s clear that the Hooligans have raised the bar once again. Now it’s up to the rest to follow…