Russell Small is one of the very few DJs to have had multiple top ten hits and several chart-dominating remixes across two decades, and he can uniquely claim to have done it as different artists. Russell’s first extremely successful career was as Phats & Small, and his second was with the Freemasons.
He started DJing in Brighton in the early 1990s, until one track transformed his life forever. ‘Turn Around’ became a huge hit, climbing to number two in the UK charts and spreading like wildfire all over the world. The track launched Russell on the global stage as a recording artist and one of the world’s most exciting DJs.
Two albums followed, as did more hits including ‘Tonite’, ‘This Time Around’, and ‘Feel Good’. Russell then teamed up with James Wiltshire to embark on a recording partnership under the name Freemasons. The duo’s ‘Love On My Mind’ was a slow burner, taking over a year to climb the charts, but once it did, it became an evergreen clubbing anthem.
Over the next few years Freemasons was the hottest dance act in the world. Their own tracks ‘Rain Down Love’ and ‘Uninvited’ dominated the clubs, and remixes of songs by Beyonce, Whitney Houston and Kelly Rowland were picked as the lead radio edits across Europe.
This success led to gigs all over the world, with the duo headlining Mardi Gras twice, and playing everywhere from Rio to Seoul. In 2010 the boys embarked on a ‘Summer of Pride’ tour, headlining every major Pride festival in the UK and the USA.
By 2014, Freemasons decided to take some time out. Now in 2016 Russell has teamed up with Dino Psaras (DNO P) to release ‘Listen’. Their next track ‘She’ is due out soon.
This latest artistic venture is sure to be Russell’s third success in a row, scoring him the ultimate musical hat trick.