“So to have these successful remixes kicking alongside our own music was enormous for us.” “We weren’t incredibly young, both in our mid-30s at this point,” James says. The pair continued to release their own music through Brighton’s Skint/Loaded Records and earned a sprinkling of Top 40 hits, including Watchin', Rain Down Love and Uninvited, but the demand for remixes had taken over. I think it was one of the first times since Sure Is Pure remixed Chic that a remix has surpassed a production from an American label.” “That was a massive sea change in what we were doing. “I think they played the two versions in tandem for two weeks before just playing the remix.” The song debuted at Number 1, boosted significantly by their version. “We were told Radio 1 felt more comfortable playing our version of Déjà vu because it tested better with their audience,” James recalls. The mid-noughties saw a explosion of R&B music in the US from the likes of The Game, Snoop Dogg and Bow Wow, but the sound wasn’t connecting in the UK and Europe, where pure pop and funky house dominated radio and the charts. What we weren’t prepared for was Radio 1 just playing our version.” Her manager contacted us and said, ‘look, if we’re going to hire an English guy to do this, I hear you’re the guys to do it’.

“It all happened so quickly, and it was very straightforward,” James recalls. Shortly after, they remixed Faith Evans’ Mesmerized to huge acclaim, leading to a call from Beyonce’s management, who were looking for a looking for a Euro-friendly mix of her latest single Déjà vu. Love On My Mind, a re-work/mash-up of Jackie Moore’s This Time Baby and Tina Turner’s When The Heartache Is Over, debuted at Number 11 in 2005. The pair hit the ground running almost immediately, landing their first hit six months into their partnership.

The Freemasons aka James Wiltshire and Russell Small

Snappy snaps brighton