Crookers are dance music’s best kept secret. OK, so they were dance music’s best kept secret. The peppy Italians are on the up, and on the up quickly – it’s hardly surprising then that they’ve suddenly blipped onto clubland’s radar.

And that blip is about to get even bigger. Crookers boys Bot and Phra release debut album Tons Of Friends next month and the omens are superb. In truth, it precedes a number of well received remixes and singles that have done much, over the past few months, to remove the cultish veil of mystery surrounding the Crookers name. Last year, Crookers remixed US rapper Kid Cudi (the single Day ‘n’ Nite) and earned a lofty spot at number two in the UK singles chart. That, of course, was off the back of major re-rubs for Britney Spears, U2 and Snoop Dogg, and a string of nifty EPs.

“Our sound is open-minded” Bot explains. “It’s 360-degrees. We both grew up listening to the Beastie Boys and Tribe Called Quest before discovering quality house artists like Moodyman and Theo Parrish. The stuff we’ve put out so far has been under-pinned by house beats but massively influenced by hip-hop and electronica. As long as we feel it then we’re sure others will feel it too.”

It’s a fiercely independent approach that informs much of the content on Tons Of Friends. “I think people might expect the album to sound like what has gone before,” Bot says, “but some of it’s actually quite slow. If a sound meant something to us then we included it. You know if something’s going to work….”

The album is undisputedly eclectic, each of its tracks – as the title suggests - featuring a different guest and, in turn, flavour. Crookers have undoubtedly made some top connections. Mainstream pioneers such as Kelis, Roisin Murphy, the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am and Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess are impressively present. But then so are super-hyped newcomers like French electro band Yelle and Swedish indie heads Miike Snow. Tons Of Friends is still built on that fiesty Crookers club mentality but there’s just so much else thrown in.

“The album took over three years to make” Phra confides. “It wasn’t because we had writer’s block; we were simply being asked to DJ all over the world and remix other artists’ tracks. We were hanging out with a lot of cool people, sharing ideas and making friends. Every month we’d invite someone new onto the album; each guest was a beautiful inspiration.”

Bot and Phra met in 2003 when both were living in Milan. Bot managed the cobwebby ‘alternative’ corner of a local record shop with just two or three customers. Phra was one; he and the ‘sales assistant’ were quickly sharing their love of all things house, hip-hop and b-line. Friendship progressed to the co-production End 2 End in 2006 and, two years later, breakthrough cuts on Southern Fried Records Knobbers and Mad Kidz.

Today, things are out-and-out crazy. Stacks of international DJ bookings and teasers from the forthcoming album have, simply put, driven critics and clubbers wild. Crookers have also been busy remixing Dennis Ferrer’s huge tech-vocal bomb Hey Hey for Defected: “We’re so booked up” Bot laughs, “it’s ridiculous!” Phra adds: “I think the plan will be to promote the album, tour a little and then step back for three months to produce new music. The Hey Hey thing is very exciting but nerve-wracking; part of us didn’t want to tamper with that amazing original!”



Intriguingly, the duo lives apart these days, Bot having recently moved to London. How on earth does that work? Can a long-distance relationship really help one of dance music’s hot new partnerships realise its full potential?

“Technology is a wonderful thing” Bot suggests. “We’re developed an effective creative process through iChat, email and all sorts of file-sharing services. Phra and I just have this easy partnership. We’re on the same vibe; it’s easy for us to work anywhere.”

Final question – what’s behind the Crookers name? “Our original name, Dinosaur, was horrible” Bot sighs. “Switch [Brit house producer Dave Taylor] suggested we change it; Crookers reflected our vibe – human, a little twisted… not quite perfect.”

Perfect, though, to Crookers’ rapidly expanding army of followers. The boys are coming...

Crookers' remix of Hey Hey is out 5th May on Defected Records.

Crookers’ debut album Tons Of Friends is out now on Southern Fried Records.