Sometime between 2001 and 2003, everyone in Britain released a progressive house album. Well, maybe not everyone, but close. Way Out West (Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren) were among that group, but set themselves apart by their exclusion of common Bristol-bred jungle and trip-hop influences.
The first big track, 'Ajare' was released in 94 through deConstruction, its pop hooks, bizarre samples and epic Hindu swirls taking the record to number 62 in the UK singles chart. The harder 'Domination' followed, before 'The Gift' crashed in at number 15 and established Way Out West as one of the foremost house acts in the UK. Their self-titled first album received huge critical acclaim in 97 and saw them tour across Europe with live shows at Glastonbury, MTV parties and the MIDEM festival in France. Switching to Distinctive records in 2000, second album 'Intensify' followed, bringing with it singles 'Intensify', 'Stealth' and 'Mindcircus', another top 40 hit and dance chart number 1.
With our music we take the approach that you should do your best, no matter how long it takes. Do your best or don?t bother at all. There's been so many new things already done in terms of dance music, it's difficult to move in new directions especially with the state of dance music in recent years. The enthusiasm gets knocked out of you by all the doom-mongers saying the scene's dead. It's not dead by any stretch of the imagination it's just a transitional period.
And as dance music has evolved, so too have Way Out West. What originally began life as a producer based outfit has grown over the years. With 'Intensify', vocalists included Kirsty Hawkshaw, Ally Keenan and Tricia Kelshall. It was this development that made Jody and Nick decide they wanted to become more of a band. We wanted a bit more of a culture going on, now we've got our secret weapon there's a lot more unity. It's nice. Really nice, reflects Jody. Talking of our secret weapon, I'll let her speak for herself. Here she is.
Wipeout Pure features music from some of today's most cutting- edge producers. The likes of Aphex Twin, LFO, Paul Hartnoll (Orbital), Stanton Warriors, Freq Nasty and Photek have all contributed exclusive new tracks for the game and the official game soundtrack.