“The Young Punx are credible dance music provocateurs in the manner of the KLF” – Billboard
The Young Punx is the pop-culture mashup dance music side project of multiplatinum grammy nominated record producer Hal Ritson.
Hal is a London-based multi-instrumentalist with writing, production and performance credits on over a thousand tracks by artists as diverse as Duke Dumont, Katy Perry, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Eric Prydz, and hundreds more.
The Young Punx is Hal’s long running personal dance music project, a freeform exploration of mashup sensibility on the dance floor, combining radically wide musical influences with house, breaks and DnB.
80s pop, opera, surf, ragga, shred metal, oldskool rap, cuban music, TV adverts, movie trailers and the weather forecast can all make a showing within a few minutes of listening! Tracks can range from from simple dancefloor reworks of pop-culture trends to crazed mashups of radically different music genres; stripped back club grooves, or guest performances by the most virtuoso jazz and rock performers in the world. There are no rules, yet Ritson’s auteur sensibility maintains a core artistic intent that both celebrates and undermines dancefloor clichés while embracing a joyous love of the diversity of music and culture.
The Young Punx first made their name in the early 2000s as bedroom producers putting out bootleg remixes on vinyl and mp3, which earned them “Bootleg Remixer Of Year” award from BBC Radio one with support from legendary DJs such as Fatboy Slim, Judge Jules and Annie Nightingale. Within one year their first signing to EMI, somehow remixing an annoying TV advert into a dancefloor smash, was 25-1 for the UK Christmas number 1. Subsequent releases were signed to labels such as Ultra, Avex, Toolroom and Kitsune, and included collaborations with artists such as Amanda Palmer and Peaches, Norman Cook, Don Diablo, Lenno, virtuoso guitarist Guthrie Govan and legendary rappers Count Bass D, Dizzee Rascal and Snoop Dogg.
The Young Punx have performed as a DJ duo with DJ partner Nathan Taylor (Medcab) and as a full live band, at such esteemed venues as Pasha, Privilege and Eden in Ibiza, Womb and Ageha Tokyo, Avalon LA, Melkweg Amsterdam, Ministry Of Sound and Fabric in London and festivals such as Glastonbury, SummerSonic, BlueBalls, NanoMugenFes worldwide.
The Young Punx now own and run The Old Hit Factory recording studios in London Bridge, (former home to Stock Aitken and Waterman / PWL). They also run MofoHifi Records, a label which is home to The Young Punx' own work but also curates new electronic talent, including signing tracks from dance legend Avicii and recent Grammy winner Alizzz 'before they were famous' as well as launching the careers of electronic wunderkinds Phonat and Bobby Tank.
“Breaks, pop, disco, drum & bass, opera and surf are all thrown in to create a giddying bombardment that doesn’t let up once throughout… a good-time party soundtrack ” – IDJ
“The Young Punx are redefining musical cool” – EQ Magazine
“Electronic authority The Young Punx is as conceptual as it is joyous and radio-friendly.” – Culture Or Trash
“Sheer Balearic heaven, managing to perfectly capture that 6am feeling on the White Island … with their irreverence shining through with each percussive snap and sundown note.” – Clash
“Their boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm shines throughout with an underlying organic live feel that’s perfect for that party atmosphere.” – Mixmag
