Freaks changed the way for traditional dance music acts. Luke Solomon and Justin Harris came together through a mutual love of all things musical over 15 years ago. They organically evolved into a six-piece outfit incorporating the infamous Jonny Rock on guitar, Sascha Darroch Davies on drums, vocalist Stella Attar and Rub on bass.

Over the years they have become a quirky and loveable ensemble that has found critical favour, flirted with chart success – The Creeps went into the top 10 in 2007, 4 years after its original release – disappeared due to it and now are about to return armed with a fresh outlook.

We spoke to them on the eve of their ‘Best Of Times’ release, a compilation of old favourites alongside new exclusive material that was concocted while underground, now dug up from the vaults and set to become future classics. Available from itunes the material was made embracing new technologies, even Luke’s beloved iphone helped the journey.

Their website is now hosting a remix competition for fans to interpret the original material and Freaks are preparing for a big European tour this summer. There is also single releases out on Crosstown Rebels (their first official release in 2 years featuring Radio Slave mixes), Rebirth featuring Robert Owens on vocals and StattMusik.

Freaks are back. Fantastic. How does it feel?

“It’s great to be getting heard again. Although we’ve not had any sort of break from writing as such. We just took a little step back to work out the next direction for ourselves after “Man Who Lived Underground” and “Creeps” had done their thing. The recent releases really are the tip of the iceberg though.

Your band format was a real first for a dance music act. How did that come about?

“I guess we were at a place where we felt we needed to move on. It seemed like a natural format for us to take on. Dance music was in a dull and stale please and this was an exciting take on pushing the boundaries a little.”

What format will the forthcoming tour take this year?

“For the moment we’re just doing Freaks DJ sets which is, and always has been the lifeblood of our creativity and an essential part of what we do… However, definitely don’t rule out more live band stuff.. ;o) can’t really say more than that just yet.”

What Are your highlights together as freaks?

“There have been a few. Global gathering as a band, Sancho Panza tent at Glade, Sancho Panza boat on the Thames . John Peel playing 2 of our records on one show. We have been in some really fortunate places.”

What about the low times?

“Well of course there have been low times. When you’re in a band a close to people for this length of time you’d be lucky to avoid them, both professionally and personally… I think the most difficult times for us as a band have been overcoming the myriad of issues that the Music Industry in general throws at you. It’s pretty difficult to keep making original and forward thinking music when there’s so much change going on with the way people actually buy and acquire music. However, adversity seems to be a great fuel supply for creativity so it’s hard to knock the lows when so many positive things were created as a result.”

It seems the success of the creeps surprised you. How did all that come about?

“We had licensed the single to Azuli. Dave commissioned a mix from Vandalism without us knowing. He stuck the mix up on DJ download not expecting much. It turned out to be the biggest download in their history. Ministry picked it up, and so on.”

How did you approach the new material? Was there a formula?

“We’ve always had the same formula when it comes to writing and producing music. Not actually sure we know what it is though, probably best not to look into it too much. Having fun and enjoying what you do is high on the list. You could sum it up as  ’ If it works, keep it….if it doesn’t, delete it and try something else’ . And don’t allow yourself to be pigeon-holed….it’s a bad place!”

There is new material on crosstown rebels and rebirth. Do you still feel freaks appeal to a diverse audience or are you sitting comfortably in a particular style?

“We actually have a lot more material that is more diverse than any thing any one has heard. I think these singles are stepping stones for us. The Last Days of Disco, a mid tempo disco number, is coming out soon, which is different again. I think we are heading towards letting people hear different things, we are just taking baby steps.”

Music for freaks is issuing the best of times album. Is there plans for further output on the label?

“Yes. We have stacks of material and back catalogue which got a bit missed in all the confusion.. we’re just sorting through it all now……. (of course all info on that can be got on our website – www.musicforfreaks.com”

You’ve seen great change in the musical community over the years and are forthcoming in embracing new technologies such as using iPhone in music production to blogging and remix competitions. Do you think its important to stay on top of these things as an artist?

“We always did this kind of thing, way way back. Justin always had the web knowledge, and we used this to make our fans feel involved. This has been a big deal for us, the interaction. Now we are in the perfect position, it’s almost like this is the world that needed to evolve to allow us to flourish.”

How do you feel about the current stance of dance music? Vinyl sales are sliding. Does this keep you awake at night and do you think there is a solution?

Over twenty years in this business have shown that technologically there will always be a next big thing. A new format, and improved way to listen. The slide of vinyl is sad because the replacement formats simply aren’t as good yet. Hopefully this will be ironed out in time or vinyl will get a resurrection again, in the meantime it’s a case of getting on with it and moving with the times.  Formats aside, we think dance music is actually very very healthy at the moment. Some of the music out now is easily as fresh and exciting as it was ten years ago.”

Tell us about the best of times album. Did it bring back memories or are you pointing more to the future?

“It began out of neccesity. It then became something else. We started to realize that our music felt relevant to the new generation. It also meant we could show case new material. Although what you are hearing now bar the Crosstown single, was actually made 4 or 5 years ago. Yes it did bring memories, but we have never been big purveyors of retro. It’s all about moving dance music forward, else being different.”

What else is in store for freaks in 2010?

“More of the same or none of the above. Without wanting to sound too cliche, for us it’s just like a very interesting open book which never seems to quite reveal the plot (sorry, it doesn’t get more cliche than that eh?). The more we learn, the more we realise that  we have yet to learn. There are still three years of new songs, tracks, dubs and re-do’s  to get out to people and we never stop writing.”