Renegade Hardware Label Overview

Renegade Hardware was a much-loved record label that specialised in the drum and bass genre. Though it’s no longer releasing music, its influence continues to be felt. Over the course of two decades, it became a key player in the world of drum and bass, with many of the genre’s top tracks getting released on the label. This overview gives a detailed overview of the label, looking at its history and listing some of its top albums and artists. Have a read to learn more about the influential label and find top drum and bass albums and EPs worth listening to.

Renegade Hardware label is closed down

History

The Renegade Hardware label was formally set up in 1995 in southwest London. Its founders were Clayton Hines and Mark Hill, both of whom wanted a label that would stand by the underdog, stay true to its sound and develop artists that no one else wanted. The genre of music it specialised in was drum and bass, though it favoured a harder, edgier sound. As well as signing and developing artists, the label also dabbled in club nights.

The label’s first club event was back in 1997 at Bloomsbury nightclub The End. This was a popular venue that was opened in 1995 and played hosts to events celebrating all sorts of genres of music, from techno and dubstep, to house and, of course, drum and bass. It had a capacity of 1,200 and ended up hosting many Renegade Hardware events up until its closure in 2009. By the time it shut, Renegade Hardware had enjoyed a longer run with the club than any other drum and bass label.

The End wasn’t the only venue Renegade Hardware held events at. Throughout its history, it threw parties and club nights at many big-name venues around the capital, including Area, Ministry of Sound, Cable, Coronet and Electric. As the years went on and the label’s reputation grew, its events became bigger and wilder.

When Renegade Hardware was established, it was part of TOV Music Group Ltd. When its parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2007, Renegade Hardware became an independent company. It kept operating this way until 2015, when, after twenty years in the business, it announced that it was going to close its doors and shut down its operations.

However, the label wasn’t going to out on a whimper – it decided to go out with a bang instead. Along with its closure, the label announced it was going to put on a series of events that would culminate with the big finale in February 2016. This final event would go on to feature a line-up of some of the most prominent and successful artists the label has nurtured over the years.

Named ‘The Final Chapter’, the label’s farewell event took place on Saturday 6 February at the Coronet nightclub in Elephant and Castle. Lasting ten hours, it was set over five rooms and featured music from eighty DJs and twenty MCs.

Selection of Most Popular Albums

As a smaller, artist-focused label, Renegade Hardware was never necessarily about mainstream chart success. While the many of the albums released on the label over the years went down well with fans, few made a dent in the UK charts. Still, that’s not a big issue at all for a more underground label like Renegade Hardware. In fact, what many fans of genres like drum and bass appreciate is that the artists aren’t commercial.

More than two hundred albums, EPs and singles were released through Renegade Hardware. Quite a few of them are works from artists signed to the label; many are compilation albums featuring tracks from a range of artists. Here are some of the biggest releases:

  • Armageddon. Released in 1999, Armageddon is a compilation album featuring fourteen tracks from various artists, including Konflict, Usual Suspects, Future Cut and Loxy. It’s running time is over and hour and a half. A sequel, Armageddon 2, was released in 2000.
  • Renegade Hardware Presents: The Final Chapter. Released to commemorate the label’s Final Chapter event, this four-disc compilation album features over a hundred tracks from many different artists that have released music through the label over the years.
  • Hardware XV: History of Hardware. This was another compilation album that showcased music from many of the label’s artists. It was released in 2011 and was put together to celebrate the label’s fifteenth year in business. It includes a total of thirty tracks from artists such as Future Cut, Konflict, Chase & Status, Noisia, Usual Suspects and Infinite. The tracks spanned the label’s history and were chosen to reflect its preference for a harder, darker approach to drum and bass.
  • Ten Tonne EP. This was the very first release from Chase & Status. The production duo put out this EP on the label in 2005 before switching to Bingo Beats for their second release, The Druids. It wasn’t until 2008 that the duo released their first full-length album, More Than Alot, which reached the Top 50 of the UK Albums Chart and spawned several singles. Ten Tonne features four tracks in total.
  • The Four Elements. This is actually a series of four EPs released in 2002. Each one corresponds to one of the four traditional elements (earth, air, fire and water) and as four tracks on it. The following year, The Four Elements (Future Drum & Bass) came out. This was a compilation album featuring the tracks from all four EPs together in one release, plus four extra tracks.
  • New World Order / Roadblock. This two-track EP is from Konflict, one of the label’s leading artists. It came out in 2006 and was the seventh and final Konflict project to be released on the label. Other releases include Maelstrom EP, Cyanide / Outpost and a number of projects with other artists.
  • Flash Gordon / Jeep Beats. This is another two-track EP. It was put together by Future Forces, which, like Konflict, was one of the label’s most prominent artists. However, Future Forces was only active in the label’s early years, releasing material between the years of 1996 and 1998. Flash Gordon / Jeep Beats was the act’s first release with Renegade Hardware. In fact, it was the label’s very first release.
  • Three Point Zero. This full-length album from Maztek came out in December 2014 and was one of the label’s last major releases before it announced its closure. It features fifteen tracks in total, several of which are collaborations with other artists. Several other projects from Maztek on the Renegade Label include M Theory and Galactica / Odyssey.
  • Selection of Top Artists
  • Loads of artists have released individual tracks or full collections through Renegade Hardware. While the label has helped them get their music out there, they also helped the label develop its reputation as the best one for drum and bass music. Many artists have had musical projects released through the label at some point in their careers. Some of the major ones are listed below:
  • Chase & Status. The duo made their start on Renegade Hardware and went on to become a big name in drum and bass, releasing music on many different labels throughout their career. They’ve released five studio albums, of which three have charted within the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, along with three EPs, a mixtape and dozens of singles. Blind Faith, Lost & Not Found and Count on Me are among some of the act’s most commercially successful singles. They’ve been nominated for and won a number of awards and have embarked on over half a dozen major tours.
  • Usual Suspects. Formed in 1998, this trio put out a number of tracks around time of the millennium, including the EPs Syndrome and Lunacy. Their biggest track is Killa Beez. After a few years together, the trio parted ways, though one of its members, Keaton, continued to release music with Renegade Hardware, releasing several works from 2003 to 2006.
  • Unknown Error. Picked up by Renegade Hardware in 2004, the British duo featured on the label’s The Chronicles vol.4 EP the very next year with their debut release, Shadows. Outside of the DnB genre, they have cited stars such as Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Miles Davies as musical inspirations. Fans of Hendrix can listen to his greatest hits whilst playing the Jimi Hendrix slot game, too.
  • Maztek. Born in Rome, Maztek is a producer and musician specialising in hip hop production, computer music, neurofunk and drum and bass. He began putting his music out there in 2004 and released tracks on other smaller labels before joining Renegade Hardware and releasing Galactica / Odyssey in 2012. He stayed with the label for a few more years and had several more singles and EPs come out, as well as a full-length album, Three Point Zero.
  • DJ Ink. Also known as Ink, DJ Ink has released seven different projects through Renegade Hardware. The first of these was the Kaos Theory EP in 2001, while the most recent was the album Last Scroll, which came out in 2011. DJ Ink continues to put out new music to this day and has even set up his own drum and bass record label, Architecture.
  • Future Forces. After Future Forces’ first release, Flash Gordon / Jeep Beats, the act changed its name to Future Forces Inc. and put out several more pieces of music on the label, including Intensify / Who’s Da’ Man and Cold Fusion / Symetrix. The act stayed with Renegade Hardware for little over two years.
  • Dylan. Hailing from Hoddesdon, Dylan is a drum and bass producer and DJ. He’s released several projects with Renegade Hardware, including several collaborations with other artists such as Loxy and Manifest. He was with the label from 1998 to 2006. Back in 2002, he set up two labels of his own: Muzica Recordings and Freak Recordings. He continues to produce and perform to this day.
  • Raiden. This musical artist from Portsmouth joined the label in 2002 and released two EPs, a two-track EP and a full-length album, Paranoia. In 2005, he started the Offkey label and, many years later, went on to set up another label, Voodoo Music, which focuses on music that’s less drum and bass and more tribal. These days, he records music as Kamikaze Space Programme.
  • Pendulum. The Australian drum and bass band was founded in 2002 and spent some of their early pre-breakthrough time on the Renegade Hardware label. The band released a two-track EP, Hardware Limited 03, in 2006 before going on to join other labels and eventually achieve mainstream commercial success. One of the songs on the EP, Mind’s Eye, is a collaboration with the act Bulletproof. Pendulum has experienced significant success both in the UK and Australia, as well as in other countries.

Music Band

Awards

Renegade Hardware earned quite an impressive reputation, so much so that the label ended up receiving a number of awards. In 2003, it won the Knowledge D&B Award for Best Label. It’s also been awarded for its nightclub events – the Renegade Hardware vs Valve at the Coronet won the Knowledge D&B Award for Best Event, for example. As for individual tracks, there doesn’t appear to be much information online about tracks released on the label that have gone on to win awards. Given the label’s prominence, there’s no doubt that some of its tracks would have been at least nominated for awards.

Summary

If you’re into drum and bass and are looking for some new tracks, be sure to check out some of the many ones released on Renegade Hardware. The tracks, EPs and albums mentioned in this overview are just some of the many that the label put out over its twenty years. There are many more worth checking out, so spend some time looking through its full back catalogue. Listen to classic drum and bass tunes from the mid-90s to the mid-10s and discover some of the genre’s most exciting and dynamic artists. These tracks have helped shape the drum and bass genre and make it what it is today. Without Renegade Hardware, the genre would be completely different!