Hadouken! are a indie/electro band formed in 2006 at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom by vocalist James Smith (born 1985) and guitarist Daniel “Pilau” Rice (born 1986). After forming their own record label, Surface Noise Records, in February 2006 Smith began writing and demoing the first Hadouken! tracks. The band was formed in October 2006 with Daniel Rice’s brother, drummer Nick Rice (born 1988) and James Smith’s girlfriend Alice Spooner who plays synths. In December 2006 they added bassist Chris Purcell (born 1986) to their lineup. Nick Rice’s brother Steve Rice was originally the band’s drummer, though pulled out after two weeks.
In February 2007 the band released their first record, a two song vinyl with the song “That Boy That Girl”, which gained mainstream popularity after the video, directed by friend Bob Harlow, made it onto MTV2. Shortly after the video, the band added bassist Chris Purcell. After releasing their 12-track mixtape “Not Here To Please You” on November 12, 2007 featuring originals and remixes, the band returned to the studio to complete their debut album Music for an Accelerated Culture. This featured nine new songs as well as the single “Liquid Lives” and was released on May 5th 2008. It achieved reasonable success reaching 12th in the UK album charts.
In mid-2009, the band recorded their second studio album, For The Masses, in Holland with drum and bass producers Noisia. The band described the new album as being different, both lyrically and musically. The album was released on February 25th 2010 and did not have the same success as their debut album, reaching 19th in the UK album charts.
Hadouken made a swift return with their brand new single, Mecha Love, released on their own Surface Noise label, available on iTunes. Produced by the latest leading lights from the Ram Records stable, fast-rising drum and bass duo Xample And Lomax, Mecha Love is a sleek melodic powerhouse that represents another huge leap forward for Hadouken! as well as a mouth-watering taster for their third album. That album's currently under construction with Xample And Lomax at the controls and is due in 2012.
The band's second album, 'For The Masses', reached the top 20 in 2010 and Hadouken rightfully earned a reputation as a live act not to be missed after an intense run of major festival appearances over the summer, including Radio 1's Big Weekend, Carling Reading and Leeds, Underage and Relentless NASS. Following their own sell out headline tour, Hadouken joined forces with drum & bass giants Pendulum, as the main support on their UK arena tour.
Now in the final stages of recording Hadouken are ready to destroy the UK once more with a devastating new live show set for headline tours and festival appearances in 2012.
