X PRESS 2

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Seth Troxler “X-Press 2 have given us some of the biggest house jams of the last 20 years and have been a significant influence in putting UK house music firmly on the map.”

Subb-an “I have early memories of watching Rocky from X-Press 2 smash the DC10 terrace to pieces. House music has always been my first love and X-Press 2 never cease to amaze.”

Eats Everything “I was delighted to be asked to remix Muzik Express it was one of the first house tunes I got into. I bought the ministry album that Tony Humphries did on vinyl in 1993 and London Xpress was on there. Then I checked out all the other xpress 2 stuff after that. Been hooked ever since” 

It’s hard to believe that X-Press 2 have been at the vanguard of British electronic music for two decades now. Whether it’s as musicians, DJs or remixers, the London duo share the same sense of musical discovery that first united them on the dance floors of Shoom and Spectrum and the Balearic playground of Ibiza. A pioneering spirit that fuelled early Nineties underground anthems such as the percussive, US-influenced Muzik Express and London X Press. Chutzpah that helped them create languid deep house classics like Lazy and Give It with vocalists as unlikely - yet inspired - as David Byrne of Talking Heads and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.

The departure of Ashley Beedle in 2009 changed the dynamic, but also enabled Rocky and Diesel to develop the X-press 2 sound further, with some explosive productions such as the two EPs with Tim Deluxe, a kindred spirit whom they got to know well when they shared DJ bills at the Ministry of Sound. Small-hours monsters such as Tonehead Chemistry and Siren Track combined the heads-down grooves with which they made their name (Classic X-Press 2, says Rocky) with spacious, action-packed breakdowns They were the most visceral, dance floor-geared productions Rocky and Diesel have been involved with for years.

Rocky and Diesel began working on their first album as a duo, and drew on their earliest influences of pre-house warehouse parties. Rare groove, soul, jazz, go-go music, all different sorts of stuff being played, says Diesel. In Ibiza in the late Eighties, we’d be dancing to Acid Trax, then a Rolling Stones record, or the Woodentops. And 20 years later, says Rocky, there’s a bit of that going on again.

When things get sectioned off you just lose all sense of progression or creativity, says Diesel. So when it came to working on the ‘House Of Xpress 2’ album, the club dates were scaled back and they retreated to the studio armed with a spectrum of music old and new. With us, it’s always records, because we're DJs and record collectors, says Rocky.

 ‘The House Of X-Press 2’ album was released in 2012 to critical acclaim.

Since then there have been a number of remixes and collaborations released, culminating with the imminent release of a second album in 2015 for Skint records.

The Club dates and radio shows continue, with a one off for NTS recently and regular spots for BBC Music’s 6 Mix.

The key is that the pair are as excited about music as they were when they first met. In their DJ sets, they steer away from the Lazy era and chart a new course through 21st century house of every hue, from the lush and stately to the sparse and jacking.

Long may the adventure continue…