Astroid Boys

2012-2015

Started in 2012 by co-frontman Traxx, the intention was to create something that merged his past as a punk kid with his transition into grime in his late teens. Calling upon an old friend in DJ Comfort, Traxx was able to get the project off the ground with small hip-hop shows around Cardiff. DJ Dellux was already making a name for himself in Cardiff, having his own youth centre radio show at the age of 14, producing beats, and agreed to join Astroid Boys after hearing about the band’s direction and goals. Their hardcore hustling lead to them playing raves around Cardiff, where they frequently performed alongside ‘rival’ MC Benji. It became apparent that Traxx and Benji worked well together, creating their trademark co-frontman set-up. Long-time friend – and metal fan - Harry was recruited to provide live drums, and since then the gang has had an ever-extending crew, both live and in the studio. In its early days the band was supported by the Cardiff youth project Grassroots, which also helped to launch the careers of Cerys Matthews, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals and the Manic Street Preachers, amongst others.

In August 2012, NME announced that Astroid Boys would be playing at London's Freeze Festival in October that year on a bill which would include Mark Ronson, Grandmaster Flash and Zane Lowe.

In April 2015, Astroid Boys were featured on Kerrang!'s shortlist of "ten killer new bands" competing for a stage slot at that year's Slam Dunk Festival. In November that same year, the band was amongst 35 successful Welsh musical applicants to receive financial support from BBC Cymru Wales and Arts Council of Wales via the Launchpad fund created as part of the organisations' joint Horizons scheme. A month later, they were winners in the online Cardiff Music Awards, taking the prizes in four categories: Best band, Best live act, Best music video (for "Posted") and Best single/EP (for "CF10").

2016

In January 2016, Wales Online's David Owens included Astroid Boys in his article "Sound of Wales 2016: 12 acts who deserve your attention over the coming year".

Astroid Boys have built a reputation for impressive festival performances, at Reading and Leeds Festivals, Download Festival and T in the Park, as well as festivals in mainland Europe, including Block Party Festival (Germany) and With Full Force Festival (Germany). In 2016 they joined Music for Nations, the first band to be signed by the label in over ten years, and chosen to be the flagship band for the label's re-launch which includes a re-release of ‘Bacon Dream’ and ‘CF10’ on clear vinyl, with their debut full-length album following in Spring 2017. The band will also be releasing live footage from their performance on the Radio 1Xtra Stage at Reading Festival 2016, which NME blogger Jordan Bassett called an "exciting, uncompromising show".

In December 2016, their track "Dusted" was chosen as the official theme song for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, which took place early the following year.

2017

In January 2017, Astroid Boys were the subject of BBC Radio 4's documentary Generation Grime which followed them on their most recent UK tour.

EPs

2013 Shak Out / Sludge Records
2015 CF10 (Dellux Remixes) / Sludge Records-Astroid Boys
2015 Bacon Dream / Astroid Boys
2016 Fallback /Astroid Boys
2016 CF10 / MFN
2016 Bacon Dream / MFN