Craig David hailed as the definitive UK garage artist by Artful Dodger
Artful Dodger has praised Craig David as the definitive UK garage artist.
Craig David is the definitive UK garage artist, according to Artful Dodger.
The music sensation, 45, shot to global stardom in 1999 after featuring on Artful Dodger's iconic hit Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta) alongside Mark Hill and Pete Devereux.
MC Alistair, who now forms part of Artful Dodger alongside DJ Dave Low, praised Craig's natural fit within the genre, telling Contact Music on behalf of Kinder Bueno: "He just fits the garage movement in general. He’s perfect for that kind of music," adding that the star is "great on anything".
Dave said garage music has "changed slightly" over the years, but still keeps its distinctive feel-good sound of the late '90s and early 2000s.
He praised the new generation of garage artists and producers, noting many of their tracks feature in Artful Dodger's sets.
Dave also shared what he wants more of in the garage scene going forward, saying: "I think vocals always work amazingly. I'm a vocal man. I've always loved vocals, melodies, vocals. So, yeah, I think more full vocal stuff would be good. Just like the early days."
Alistair agreed: "We'll have a bit of a soul to some good vocals in there, good melodic riffs and stuff. It's a sort of vibe."
Dave said garage's "very summery" sound, with its vocals, two-step drums, and melodic bass lines, made it the perfect fit for their take on the iconic ice cream van in partnership with Kinder Bueno.
He added: "It's still got a slightly harder edge, but still keeping that nice melodic sound."
Artful Dodger's MC Alistair and DJ Dave Low have created their take on an ice cream van jingle in partnership with Kinder Bueno
Creating the jingle proved relatively easy for the duo.
Dave said: "It came together pretty quickly, really. Once we had the idea locked in, we were just in the studio bouncing ideas off each other.
"And I also sampled the actual jingle that you hear on ice cream vans. And I actually sampled that to play our new melody that we put in. So when you hear it, it does sound like an iconic ice cream jingle, but it's actually because I've sampled the sound and played a melody from it.
"We were just jamming in the studio, and what we came out with, we're very proud of."
Alistair added: "Because of the memories, it was quite easy. It was found with relative ease, quite honestly. It was just something we wanted to do. So the energy and the love was there. So when you got a bit of love in the game, it's easy, you know."
The project ranks highly amongst the pair's career highlights.
Alistair said: "What an experience, and what a product as well. For them to come to us is honestly an honour."
UK garage icons Artful Dodger have teamed up with Kinder Bueno Ice Cream to put a fresh spin on one of Britain's most nostalgic sounds, the ice cream van jingle.
The Ice Cream Track was created after research found almost half of UK adults believe the jingle of an ice cream van is the most nostalgic summer sound, with the track now available on all leading platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
