When you think of brass bands and the music they play, you would be forgiven for thinking of the village band playing in the park, 'Brassed Off!' or the Whit Friday marches to name a few. 

It would take someone pretty ‘off the wall’ to associate brass bands with dance music, but that’s exactly what Jeremy Deller did around 15 years ago. 

Jeremy Deller

Jeremy came up with a realisation that brass bands and rave music (to be more specific Acid House music) could be linked through the idea that they were both genres of working class music and therefore set about illustrating this through a mind map or spider graph if you will. 

After this process the next logical step was to see if any brass band would be willing to play this……In stepped the Fairey Band as was then.

Fairey

Everybody knows the now Fairey Band is one of the most successful bands in history, with a lineage of great players and conductors as long as the channel tunnel, but the Fairey Band has one thing that separates it from any other band…….They are Acid Brass!!!

Acid brass

1998 saw the collaboration of the Fairey Band, Jeremy Deller and Rodney Newton and what a collaboration it turned out to be. 

Taking Jeremy’s favourite Acid House tracks and using the skilful pen of Rodney Newton Acid Brass was born. 

Since its conception the band has performed Acid Brass at the Louvre (Paris), Lovebox, Beatherder, Latitude and Bestival to name but a few.

Acid Brass 2

This new cd though, featuring 10 new tracks of Acid house classics, packs more of a punch than Mike Tyson in his prime. 

Mike Eccles (MD for Acid Brass) has really captured the harder side of the music and turned the band away from the ‘traditional’ band sound to create something quite special.

Richard Rock

The tracks on the new cd however have been carefully selected by Mike Eccles and have been arranged by Richard Rock. 

Richard or Dr Richard Rock as he is now known works as assistant concert manager at the University of Salford where he also lectures in Arts administration. 

Irishman born and bred, he grew up in Drogheda and attended the Royal Irish Academy of Music before moving to England to study his BA (Hons), MA and PhD in composition. 

Richard is quickly making a name for himself as a composer of high calibre with commissions by many of the world’s top bands.

Contents

1. I Sit on Acid, Lords of Acid
2. Jack to the Sound, Fast Eddie
3. In Yer Face, 808 State
4. Theme from S’Express, S’Express
5. Gonna Make You Sweat, C+C Music Factory
6. Acid Thunder, Fast Eddie, Peter Black
7. This is Acid, Maurice Joshua
8. Oochy Coochy, Baby Ford
9. Lack of Love, Charles B and Adonis
10. Infinity, Gura Josh