Freemasons spin their tracks at Heretic [photos]

By Project Q Atlanta | Apr 27, 2011 | 1:45 PM

VIEW MORE PHOTOS | Freemasons’ Russell Small @ Heretic

Wearing just a t-shirt and jeans, Russell Small’s understated presence last Friday made it easy to miss that half of the U.K. remix duo Freemasons was inside the Heretic. Until he started his set, that is.

When Small (top photo) stepped into the tight quarters of the bar’s DJ booth to take over for house DJ Lydia Prim, fans sensed the change and moved to pack an already crowded dance floor. It was a little past midnight and Small was just warming up for an hours-long gig.

Small and James Wiltshire make up the production powerhouse, though the Freemasons’ whirlwind North American tour includes only Small. Whiltshire, in an interview with Project Q Atlanta ahead of Small’s stop here, calls himself the “studio whore” of the duo and Small the more natural DJ, so fans were making out pretty well anyway.

Since 2005 when Freemasons—named after their favorite pub in hometown Brighton—transformed Jackie Moore’s 1979 “This Time Baby” and Tina Turner’s 2000 hit “When the Heartache Is Over” into the international club hit “Love On My Mind,” they’ve been among the upper echelon of in-demand producers. Beyonce even hand-picked them for her “Birthday” album.

Their popularity was easy to see on Friday at the Heretic during an event that also benefited Joining Hearts. The crowd even included popular local DJs Mike Pope and Sean Mac.

The Freemasons have been in what Wiltshire calls “our most creative phase since we started” of late, so keep an eye out for a remix of Hurts’ “Better Than Love” among others. Over the next year, their newest project, “Pegasus,” will take shape.

“The fusion of Dance, Pop and Urban has spun in some unexpected twists into modern music—some of it questionable, some of it brilliant—and we’ve been working away constantly to push what we are capable of,” Wiltshire tells us.

Freemasons spin their tracks at Heretic [photos]

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