Audio Bullys

Audio Bullys, the duo of Tom Dinsdale and Simon Franks, capitalized on the boom in rough, tough, and streetwise British house sparked by Basement Jaxx but brought to a new level of distinction by acts like the Streets and Dizzee Rascal. By their Audio Bullys debut, both Dinsdale and Franks had several years of production and DJ experience behind them; Dinsdale, the act’s main producer, began DJing at the age of 16 and had his 12″s gracing the mix sets of the world’s top DJs by 1998. Franks, more of a musician (and also the vocalist), played piano and drums before discovering the sampler. Once they got together, they began recording and found success with one of their first releases, “We Don’t Care.” The full production album Ego War appeared in England and America by May 2003. Late that year, they submitted a volume in the mix album series Back to Mine, and the duo’s second record, Generation, appeared in England late in 2005 (following in America early the next year). Despite the presence of a hit single — “Shot You Down,” which reached number three in the U.K. — the album was a relative disappointment. A long pause in their discography was finally interrupted in 2010 when Higher Than the Eiffel appeared on Cooking Vinyl. ~ John Bush