Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

History

Both Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip worked as solo artists before forming this duo, Dan le Sac as a laptop musician, DJ and promoter, Scroobius Pip as a spoken word artist.

David Meads began writing poetry in about 2005; he adopted the pseudonym "Scroobius Pip" from Edward Lear's poem, The Scroobious Pip. In a 2010 interview with Beatdom, Meads explained why he chose the name: "I loved the story. It's about a creature that doesn't know what it is ...By the end [of the poem] he realises that he is simply The Scroobious Pip. He doesn't fit into any one category and can just be his own creature."

The duo formed in 2006 after Dan le Sac booked Scroobius Pip to play at a gig he was promoting at the Fez Club (now Sakura) in Reading. Around this time Dan le Sac started remixing Scroobius Pip’s solo album No Commercial Breaks - a selection of the remixes form the core of their debut album Angles but the band didn’t garner any commercial success until they wrote the original song "Thou Shalt Always Kill" at the end of 2006. Although it is commonly thought that Rob Da Bank of BBC Radio 1 gave the band their first radio play, it was actually John Kennedy of XFM London - the band sent a demo CD to John Kennedy in December 2006 and he played it on his Xposure show within 2 hours of receiving it.

"Thou Shalt Always Kill" was re-released in 2009 with additional vocals by Pos Plug Won (Posdnous) of De La Soul. In 2007 the duo released 2 singles on Lex Records, "Thou Shalt Always Kill" and "The Beat that my Heart Skipped" but it wasn’t until early 2008 that they signed for Rob da Bank’s Sunday Best record label and released their debut album Angles; the album was later released on Sage Francis’s Strange Famous Records in the USA and Traffic in Japan.

On Christmas Eve 2007, whilst still unsigned, the duo released a free download of "Letter From God To Man" which includes a sample of Radiohead's "Planet Telex". To promote this, the duo created and posted a spoof video on YouTube showing the pair auditioning for The X Factor in front of Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. A montage of clips of judges' comments are added to their profanity-laden performance of what Scroobius Pip says is "'It Ain't No Fun' by Snoop Dogg, featuring Warren G, Nate Dogg and Kurupt." The clip, titled "Le Sac Vs Pip Letter from X-factor", was featured in "The 10 Best Clips of the Month" in the October 2008 edition of Q magazine. The video also included a voice over from Zane Lowe.

They have also appeared on the BBC's Sound and NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, with Scroobius Pip appearing by himself on the BBC's Newsnight Review and Setanta Sport Channel, as well as being interviewed and performing live on Stephen Merchant's show on BBC 6 Music.

They spent 2009 recording their second studio album, The Logic of Chance which was released in March 2010, preceded by the single "Get Better".

In September 2011 Scroobius Pip released his second solo album Distraction Pieces through the label Strange Famous Records (USA) and Scroobius Pip's own Speech Development Records (UK). It debuted at #35 in the UK album charts.

In 2011, a portrait of Scroobius Pip was painted by British artist Joe Simpson, the painting was exhibited around the UK including a solo exhibition at The Royal Albert Hall.

In July 2012 Dan le Sac released his debut solo album Space Between the Words on Sunday Best Records. The album features collaborations with B. Dolan, Sarah Williams White, Emmy the Great, Fraser Rowan, Joshua Idehen, HowAboutBeth, Merz and Pete Hefferan from British indie band Pete and the Pirates

In February 2014, Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip performed another UK tour, stopping off in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Valentine's Day.

In September 2014, Scroobius Pip announced that he and Dan le Sac had played their last show together, marking the end of their 8-year musical partnership

Music and influences

The duo’s music includes Hip-Hop, Electronica, and Pop. On the duo's Facebook page they cite many influences including Sage Francis, Gil Scott-Heron, Chilly Gonzales, KRS-One, Rakim, Atmosphere, Purple Ronnie (although Scroobius Pip has stated that this is an intentional untruth), Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Clark, El-P, Gorecki, Devendra Banhart, Beta Band, and Mogwai.

Live gigs and tours

Since March 2007, they have undertaken multiple UK, US and European tours. The band have also appeared at the Glastonbury Festival '07, '09, '10, '11 and '14, Reading and Leeds Festival '07 and '08, Lounge on the Farm '09, Bestival '07, '08, '09, '10 and '13 Camp Bestival '08, '09 and '10 Beat-Herder festival in '10, Lowlands '08 and '10, Pukkelpop, Fuji Rock Festival, Coachella, Monolith Festival, Dour Festival, Pohoda festival '10, Electric Picnic '10, Beach Break Live '10, Greenbelt Festival '09, Play Fest '12, and Y Not '13. They played their first headline festival slot at 2000 Trees '11. On 4 May 2014 they headlined at YO1 Festival in York alongside De La Soul, Sub Focus and Pulled Apart by Horses.

Remixes

Dan le Sac also works as a remix producer, he has to date been commissioned to remix Biffy Clyro, Bat for Lashes (feat Scroobius Pip), Eddy Temple Morris's Losers (feat Riz Ahmed (AKA Riz Mc) and Envy), The Maccabees, King Blues (feat Scroobius Pip), Dub Pistols, This is Radio Freedom, Micachu, Tired Irie, Playdoe, Producers with Computers, and Yila and has undertaken unsolicited remixes of Elastica, Radiohead, Florence And The Machine, Joy Division, Tricky and Bob Dylan.

Singles

Dan le Sac solo albums

Scroobius Pip solo albums

See Scroobius Pip for complete listing.