Chicken Lips "Sweetcow (Lindstrom Remix)"

Stafford based Dean Meredith and Andy Meecham have their history firmly planted in pioneering music. As Bizarre Inc the boys defined early acid house and rave culture (and cemented it’s crossover potential with 3 UK top ten hits) and as Chicken Lips they have been the catalyst for the now well established punk-funk, nu-disco and electro-house scenes.

Signing to Kingsize Records in 1999, the home of Andy Meecham’s Sir Drew alias since the demise of Acid Jazz offshoot Athletico in the mid ‘90’s (where Meredith had also been recordings his Psychedelia Smith material) the lads were reunited and Chicken Lips was born.

EPs entitled “Big Legs”, “Git Back” and “Shoe Beast” not only displayed the guys irreverent sense of humour but also their love for the combination of live and electronic sounds. These releases found favour with everyone from Pete Tong to James Lavelle and set the Chicken Lips stall out perfectly before the release of their debut LP, “Echoman”, in 2000.

The second studio album, “Extended Play”, followed in 2002 and yet again marked out the boys as innovators with it’s rich combination of disco and dub vibes sounding like nothing else around at the time. In between these two albums, the singles kept coming and one, “He Not In”, managed to blow out of control and slowly become an anthem courtesy of support by a massive range of DJs. It’s NY Electro-Disco stylings, huge riff and swaggering beats are widely credited as the catalyst for the ‘80’s electro revival. The track also broke out of the underground and onto our screens as it became the soundtrack to a very successful Smirnoff Vodka advertising campaign.

Always moving forward and never looking back or resting on their laurels, Dean and Andy have always ignored their successes and ploughed on with the most important thing, their music. Aside from their own productions, this “heads down” work ethic has manifested itself in remix work for other artists. Remixes for Tiga, The Kills, Maurice Fulton, Supergrass, Morcheeba, Hard Fi, Justin Robertson and Playgroup to name just a few have spanned the Chicken Lips career – making the duo one of the most sought after and original remixers on the planet.

If studio work wasn’t enough, Chicken Lips collaborator and close friend, Stevie “Fella” Kotey, has been enlisted as Chicken Lips DJ. Week in, week out Kotey takes the dancefloor sound of Chicken Lips to a worldwide audience while also keeping his studio cohorts constantly aware of new sounds to absorb, mutate and (in most cases) better!

Dean and Andy continue to work on solo projects; Andy with Emperor Machine and Dean with White Light Circus and, as you’d expect, both are steeped in the sort of quality and innovation you’d expect from such consummate producers and musicians.

Following the departure of their long-term A&R, Julian Shay, from Kingsize Records, Chicken Lips have relocated to Adrift Records for their third studio album which will feature Spanish based vocalist Jonny Spencer.With their music drawing a multitude of influences such as Dub, electro, disco, house, funk and soul of all types yet still managing to sound fresh and avoid become staid, it’s impossible to guess where Chicken Lips will head next, although you can guarantee it’s quality.