Fragma

Career

Founded in 1998 by brothers Dirk and Marco Duderstadt, they produced their first single "Toca Me" with record producer Ramon Zenker. When it was released the following year, it topped several dance charts around the world, and reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2000, a mash-up, "Toca's Miracle" was produced, taking the music of Fragma’s "Toca Me" and placing the vocals from Coco Star's 1996 song "I Need a Miracle" (written for Coco Star by Rob Davis and Victor Imbres) over the instrumental. Originally released on Orbit Records in Germany, "Toca Me" was also released in the UK on Positiva Records. A release was made using vocals from illegal filesharing online, which went straight to number one in the UK chart, and was popular in Australia and Ireland. "Toca's Miracle" was described as a “song that was never really meant to be” by Billboard's Michael Paoletta. An album was released in 2001; Toca, as well as two other singles; "Everytime You Need Me" (UK No. 3), which featured vocals by Maria Rubia, and "You Are Alive" (UK No. 4) with vocals by Damae.

2002 saw the Duderstadts set up their own studio, called Evergreen-Terrace. The same year saw Fragma still operating with vocalist Damae, release a second album; Embrace, with hit singles such as "Say That You're Here", "Embrace Me", "Man In The Moon" and "Time And Time Again". During this period, Fragma parted with their UK record label Positiva and released "Say That You're Here" in December 2001 on Illustrious Records. The song charted at No. 25 but a hiatus on the UK chart began which lasted for several years.

Dirk and Marco are also currently working as a duo under their surname Duderstadt. Two singles have been released under this name; "Sunrise" and "Taking Over" on Gang Go Records. A third single, "Mahananda", was released in 2005 on Afterglow Records. This was followed by the fourth single "Muhanjala" in 2006, and another featuring Anita Kelsey called "Smile" in 2007. The two are also known to produce under the name Inpetto (originally written as In Petto around 1999-2000).

In 2006, Fragma released the new single "Radio Waves" together with Kirsty Hawkshaw. The track was co-written by Judie Tzuke.

2008 saw the release of "Toca's Miracle 2008" with the vocals of Coco Star and the InPetto remix of the original song. "Toca's Miracle 2008" reached #2 on the Australian ARIA Club Charts and #16 on the UK Singles Chart.

Fragma commenced touring again with Damae throughout Europe, where they featured on the Dance Nation tour in the UK. "Memory" was released through Hard2Beat and Ultra Records, followed by "Forever and a Day", which was released in November 2009.

In October 2012 Fragma announced through their official Facebook page that they have separated from singer Damae on 1 September 2012. This was on the same year as the release of their track "Thousand Times" and their collaboration with Akil Wingate "Where Do We Go", both of which featuring her vocals. She no longer represents Fragma in their live shows, yet they will continue working on new productions with a new singer. They have also announced planning a new live show in hopes to obtain an innovative, modern concept.

Also during late-2012 CoCo Star revealed on her official Facebook page that the record companies had confused the vocal recordings and sampled the original 1996 version of I Need a Miracle (released on Greenlight Records), instead of the 1997 re-recording (released on EMI/Positiva). She also wrote that the agreements that were entered “are now known to be ‘Unauthorised’”. On CoCo Star’s SoundCloud page she wrote that the 2008 Inpetto remix of Toca’s Miracle, made by the talented Duderstadt brothers, as well as other remixes, were never authorised either. Shortly after, Kirsty Hawkshaw revealed that Fragma had never paid her royalties for her contribution to the 2006 single Radio Waves. Legally binding contracts were never issued, and the release was illegal. She further wrote that she loves the Bastian remix of the track, released in October 2012, and that she was sure Bastian had nothing to do with “the rogue label Tiger Records”. Kirsty Hawkshaw and Coco Star have both stated that they support each other.

Singles