Duran Duran Duran

Philadelphia's Duran Duran Duran (Ed Flis) emerged during the early 2000s as one of the most notorious figures in the American breakcore scene, creating some of the genre's most chaotic, destructive work, before moving to Berlin and shifting to an aggressive electro-techno sound. Flis participated in various punk and hip-hop groups during his teens, and he started making noisy electronic music as Duran Duran Duran in 1999 while he was a student at Drexel University. Initially, DDD was a collaboration between Flis and Michael Chaiken (of Dance Chromatic) and Tony Gabor, but Flis became the group's most visible member, performing shows himself and distributing homemade CD-Rs to interested listeners. DDD's early music was a highly volatile blend of gabber and jungle, with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Digital+Hardcore%22">Digital Hardcore</a> artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:2mx5jUXuSFUX5KNN8ikgLk">Shizuo</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4ZrzdbajcxLidPJDPZomzz">Christoph De Babalon</a>, and ragga-core producers like DJ Scud being prominent influences. Flis was also heavily influenced by the early-'90s hardcore rave scene, equally due to the inventive sample-based productions of acts like Hyper On Experience as well as the drug-fueled hedonism of the raves themselves. DDD tracks typically piled samples of everything from speed metal guitar riffs to <a href="spotify:artist:5ksRONqssB7BR161NTtJAm">Ace of Base</a> hits on top of high-velocity breakbeats, with frequent references to drugs and pornography.

Flis performed numerous gigs (often in bars or basements) with fellow breakcore producers such as <a href="spotify:artist:4jrCn6qNmrb5ee7EeURQaZ">Jason Forrest</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7indGc1Jxbza3ehwm9ffVc">Dev/Null</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7taNl9I4k6el00Pc2QDhGs">Xanopticon</a>, receiving a fair amount of attention stateside, but far more in Europe, where hard electronic music is significantly more popular. Several DDD tracks appeared on compilations and split EPs, as Flis worked on the project's debut full-length. The release was initially set to appear on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Irritant+Records%22">Irritant Records</a>, and an early draft (titled Drunk on Cock) ended up receiving airplay from John Peel shortly before his death. Eventually named Very Pleasure, the album finally arrived in early 2005 on <a href="spotify:artist:4jrCn6qNmrb5ee7EeURQaZ">Forrest</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cock+Rock+Disco%22">Cock Rock Disco</a> label.

Following a few limited CD-R EPs and a 2006 EP on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mutant+Sniper%22">Mutant Sniper</a> titled Blow Job Breaks, DDD appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+Mu%22">Planet Mu</a> in 2007 with "Face Blast," a single heavily influenced by Miami booty bass. While Flis continued producing breakcore, his tracks became less reliant on breakbeats and more heavily informed by harder strains of techno, electro, and bass music. Following a one-sided 7" single on Hirntrust Grind Media and split 12"s with Society Suckers and <a href="spotify:artist:6s6YcrLkNhBXo4G6LzJcmE">General Malice</a>, as well as remixes for <a href="spotify:artist:5LNKJqTTwBurtQ79xMK8Ai">Otto Von Schirach</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7kDf1ziRxPFtWbbZB1XmrM">Kid606</a>, second DDD album Over Hard appeared in 2010, again on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cock+Rock+Disco%22">Cock Rock Disco</a>. By this point residing in Berlin, Flis continued performing and producing original tracks and remixes, and began working for software developer Ableton in 2013. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tigerbeat6%22">Tigerbeat6</a> released his digital EP Rejectro the following year. In 2017, his track "Drap Jam" appeared on Vectors 3, a compilation released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Power+Vacuum%22">Power Vacuum</a>. Later that year, the U.K.-based label issued Duran Duran Duran's third album, simply titled Duran. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi