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Production
duo Michael Gray and Jon Pearn, collectively known as Full Intention,
are no spring chickens when it comes to remixing, counting leading
DJs like Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Roger Sanchez, David Morales
and Erick Morillo amongst their fans.
Recent artists
to have received the Full Intention wonder treatment include the
likes of Jennifer Lopez, Sugababes, Lemar, Junior Jack and Christina
Milian - in fact, their recent re-working of George Michael's "Amazing"
was nominated for a Grammy award this year. Currently celebrating
10 years in the business, they are regarded as one of the most consistent
and successful partnerships in the dance music industry.
Their purpose-built,
soundproofed studio is within Michael's house, situated in a beautiful
quiet country village just off the M25. He bought the house In 1993
- by which time he had already been working with Jon for four years,
having crafted a number of disco cut-ups long before it was trendy
- and converted the snooker room into a studio to save the daily
trek to London. The huge window overlooking the countryside also
serves as inspiration. Full Intention has to work smart in order
to meet demand for their remixes.
Full Intention's
first remix was Duke's So In Love with You, which achieved a Top
20 chart placing. Since then they have maintained a prolific work
rate, but do they turn many remixes down? Michael's reply is something
of an eye-opener: "We turn down probably nine out of ten remixes,"
he claims. "We will only accept a mix if it has a strong vocal
hook to work around, some of the tracks we are offered don't need
remixing or they're too close to our style to warrant the treatment."
As far as the competition is concerned, favorite respected remixers
include Jazz 'n' Groove, Knee Deep and David Morales.
Their own material
currently includes the coloured series of EPs, which has seen the
Red, Blue, Green, Orange and Purple EPs. The duo has also re-launched
their label, Dtention, with the first release (Full Intention It
Seems To Hang On / Deep Down A Definite Strangeness 2004) already
achieving critical acclaim. Additionally, 2006 will see the official
release of possibly the strongest Full Intention original piece
to date. "I Believe In You" is an anthemic, classic house
cut at home both on packed dancefloors and car stereos.
On a solo tip
Michael has had a top 10 hit this year. "The Weekend",
the first branded Eye Industries release, went straight in at Number
7 in the UK singles chart, and went top 10 across mainland Europe.
His punk-pop project Portobella has been signed to Island, with
an album due late in the year. Jon has also been busy in the studio
- his collaboration with newcomer Nick Bridges, under the Bodyrox
moniker, has yielded two dancefloor gems; "Ruff Beats",
on Big Love, and "Yeah Yeah", set to be released by Eye
Industries early in 2006. All this, and they still find time for
the occasional DJ gig. Music lovers wouldn't expect anything less
from Full Intention.
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Feature