Hadouken!

Hadouken! are a London-based group active from 2005 to 2014, with a line-up of James Smith, Daniel Rice, Nick Rice, Alice Spooner and Christopher Purcell. The band forms in the mid-2000s around vocalist James Smith and guitarist Daniel “Pilau” Rice, who begin developing the project while at the University of Leeds. Their sound is associated with dance, electronic, grime and new rave, and also draws on indie, dance-punk and hardcore.

Formation and line-up

Smith and Rice start writing and demoing early material after setting up their own label, Surface Noise Records, in February 2006. The band takes shape in October 2006 when Nick Rice joins on drums and samples and Alice Spooner contributes synths and keyboard. Christopher Purcell joins on bass in December 2006. Nick Rice is initially replaced after two weeks by his brother Steve Rice, but the later line-up settles with Nick Rice in the band.

Releases and activity

Hadouken! release their first record in February 2007 as a two-song vinyl featuring “That Boy That Girl”, which gains wider attention after its video appears on MTV2. They follow this with the 12-track mixtape Not Here To Please You, a set of originals and remixes. Their debut album, Music for an Accelerated Culture, follows with nine new songs and the single “Liquid Lives”, and reaches 12th place in the UK album chart.

Their second studio album, For the Masses, is recorded in Holland in mid-2009 with drum and bass producers NOISIA. It is released in 2010, is described by the band as musically and lyrically different from the debut, and reaches 19th in the UK album chart.

In 2012 the band releases “Parasite” after signing with Ministry of Sound. James Smith also provides vocals on KillSonik’s “Slaughterhouse”, and the group appears on Feed Me’s “Trapdoor” in the same period. In 2013 they release Every Weekend through their own Surface Noise Recordings label, and the video for “People Are Awesome 2013”, using the track “Levitate”, becomes widely watched online. The group announces a hiatus in November 2014.

Name and references

The name Hadouken! refers to the “Hadouken” special move from the Street Fighter video game series. Video game references also appear in the music, including sound effects from Nintendo Game Boy titles.