Formed in 1991, 2 Bad Mice are widely regarded as one of the acts that contributed to the explosion of raves around the world, credited as amongst the first UK hardcore acts to begin incorporating breakbeats into their style and they were instrumental in the musics steady mutation into Jungle / Drum and Bass. Simon Colebrooke and Sean O’Keeffe met before making music together through the BMX scene and both took a different direction in their music tastes. Simon’s love was US and UK Hip Hop, while Sean was enjoying early House and Techno but a meet up at local nightclub got them chatting about very early hardcore tracks that were entering the raves. More Hip Hop sounds and influences had started to influence productions and Simon suggested they approach local producer Rob Playford to make a tune, after a bit of convincing, an invite to the then Moving Shadow bedroom studio was extended to them.
The self titled 2 Bad Mice 12” came out in 1991 and was an instant success with its playful and repetitive “2 Bad Mice” vocal and Beltram inspired bass line. It was quickly followed up with the “5 in One Night EP” under the alias of Kaotic Chemistry – a project that was created to enable Simon and Sean to experiment with their love of breakbeats. However, it was their third outing in the studio that cemented their place fully into the old skool hall of fame. The Hold it Down EP is now the stuff of legend and is considered to be one of the best 4 track EP’s of the time. The EP had support worldwide from a range of DJ’s due to the varying styles of tracks on it, but it was Bombscare that made it break into the UK national top 50 and propel 2 Bad Mice to one of the most in demand acts of the time.
The combination of amazing drum work with nods to funk, house, techno and European sounds bought the lads to the attention of other labels and various guest remix projects followed for the likes of Blame, Smart E’s, Tronik House (Kevin Sanderson), Ray Keith, Altern 8 and more. Several more projects followed but their roles at Moving Shadow now included A+R and design. Simon signed some of the most recognised names from that period such as Foul Play and Sean went on to design most of the labels sleeves as well as producing one of the best jungle tracks in history – The Helicopter Tune. He also designed the sleeve for Goldies
Timeless album and to this day they still maintain a close relationship with him and he cites them as “one of the reasons he got into rave music”.
The duo left Moving Shadow in 1997 and went on to form the much loved Partisan Records and became part of the One Little Indian group of labels. They championed early DnB pioneers like Paradox, Total Science and Klute on the label as well as continuing to work with some of the Moving Shadow artists that followed them on their journey. A hiatus from DJ and production work saw the guys reunite in 2014 at the request of house producer Breach to remix a collaboration he produced with Kelis and more time was dedicated to new productions with an EP on Sneaker Social Club and remixes for SCAR (Metalheadz), Zero B and Dense + Pika ft Leftfield. Sean and Simon formed Over/Shadow in 2020 – a record label project boasting a roster of most of their old label mates from Moving Shadow with new friends they have made on their travels and it was nominated as Best Breakthrough Label at the DJ Mag Best of British awards in 2022.
Sean and Simon DJ out regularly at festivals and clubs and can play a vast array of music that is or has been influenced by the 90’s rave scene. From early bleeps and bass to modern 160 jungle riddims to Drum n Bass, the duo have a love for breaks and a great fan base who appreciate their fun and daring sets.
