What do Kylie Minogue, Sugababes and Alter Ego festival have in common ??

Ruff & Jam is a duo of Producers, Composers & Remixers (Luke Mourinet & Jean Marie Moens), they met in Brussels in the mid 90’s (Belgium), Luke started in the early 90s as a DJ Producer, Remixer, constantly moving between Paris, Brussels and PWL Studios (London). On an event in Brussels he met Jean-Marie who was writing songs and singing in bands. They decided to join their forces to start a production team; the learning curve of their work/passion went through various areas of the music production (Soundtracks, House Records & Pop Acts).

Around 2001, after some average success here and there, bored of moving to other people’s studios they felt somehow ready to move on and decided to create their own production unit, Ruff & Jam Recordings (Their Company) was born.

Some UK & American labels heard of the potential of those “unknown” Belgian Producers and in the case of Kylie Minogue, Everything went beyond all expectations, Their Remix of “Love At First Sight” became Kylie’s Official Radio & Video mix for the USA, Kylie got her first nomination ever for the Grammy Award in the Best Dance Recording Category, Remix scored #1 in Billboard Dance Charts, Kylie’s Fan base was raving about R & J’s Lounge Mix as well and it ended as an exclusive remix on her worldwide DVD Video release. Ruff & Jam made then a big step onto the international scene.

Other Artists looking for credible remixers for their forthcoming releases were pleased by the Ruff & Jam Sound, Guy Sigsworth(Madonna & Bjork Writer & Producer) & Imogen Heap aka FROU FROU gave 2 tracks to be remixed by the duo, so did Polyphonic Spree, Scissors Sisters, Sophie Ellis Bextor; …to name but a few.

The latest to date is Sugababes (Ruff & Jam’s Remix is actually Tipped in the Hottest Traxx Category in the German Charts.

Working with such an array of various & talented artists was perfect for the Duo because Art is not an exact science; they prefer challenges over Formulaic Approaches to make music.

Their influences are Yello, Moby, Quincy Jones, Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, Brian Transeau (BT), William Orbit, U2, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Frou Frou, Massive Attack & Radiohead.

Their Music is a mix of Electronic, Pop, Urban & Dance Music. A Ruff & Jam track is often made accessible to translate a vibe to a wider audience, but behind an apparent simplicity some techniques involved to achieve those results are sometimes complex, mixing old school and new school techniques.

The duo takes nothing for granted, their new challenge is now their debut album, after some talks with their Homeland Major Companies, they decided to sign with the successful Sony/Recovered Label, it was important for the duo to be supported in their music and given a great range of freedom in their creativity.

The first opus from Ruff & Jam is an album with the self-explanatory title ‘Out of Control’, with a first single ‘Another day (Can’t Let Go)”’ to be released on Sony/Recovered Records.

The track is written by the duo and was sung by the very talented British singer Nina Babet. The single features the album version and a special ruff & Jam remix ( Frozen Mix), which features on the vinyl as well.

Another day(Can’t let go) is out on Recovered and is distributed by Sony Music. Ruff & Jam will reveal 5 tracks from their album, with a full live band including musicians & guest singers. Ruff & jam will end their performance with a 30 minute deejay set.

(Cf.Plastiks Magazine N° 68, Page 60)