Four blinding albums, an array of demon singles, remixes all over the shop and a live act that whips you into a frenzy...welcome to Fluke.

They have every right to be the cocky geezers they most definitely are not. With the new year blossoming Fluke can sit back and survey what has been a very good 1995. Admittedly they have not achieved the media attention of their fellow dance contemporaries such as Leftfield and the Prodigy, yet they have still succeeded in furthering their position as pioneers and leaders of the British dance scene. Their new album 'Oto' was one of the genuine groundbreaking albums of the year, spawning the chart breaking hits 'Bullet' and 'Tosh'. Then , just to add icing to the cake, they do a banging 24 date tour in collaboration with Levis, displaying all the finer points of live techno/dance.

Ten years of experience in the music industry have moulded Fluke into the phenomenon they are today, acquiring the respect they so rightly deserve. They too have been the press darlings following the release of their debut album 'The Techno Rose of Blighty' back in 1991, but have refused to let themselves be comprised for the sake of media favour. Vocalist and frontman Jon Fugler understandably expresses his concern about being touted as the 'next big things' or being too closely identified with specific scenes. After their debut it would have been very easy for Fluke to do 'Techno Rose 2', cashing in but creatively being stagnant. As Fugler explains, "The last thing we wanted to be was essence of Fluke". It is this independence and foresight that is so characteristic of Fluke, constantly being one step ahead of the crowd. As the smiley acid house culture died, along with all those who exploited it and contributed to its downfall, Fluke continued and went from strength to strength. Their sound mutated as they followed the path that was natural to them, refusing the path that would automatically secure success. Fluke have remained independent, running parallel to, as opposed to with what can be a very fickle dance scene. The early nineties saw singles such as 'Slid', 'Electric Guitar', 'Groovy Feeling' and 'Bubble' receive both popular and critical acclaim. Fluke have continued to tread this fine line between credibility and commercial success for so very long, and Fugler readily admits that he wants to keep a balance between the two, "they both appeal to different parts of your psyche".

Fluke's reputation as remixers is almost as great as their reputation in their own right. They have acted as a production house for, amongst others, Pop Will Eat Itself, TalkTalk, JC 001 and Tears For Fears. Fluke see it as their duty in remixing to make the product more marketable so allow themselves to be influenced by the current music scene. Humbly they are very dismissive of the contribution they make, seeing themselves as invading someone else's territory. "We get two things out of remixing. Obviously cash is an incentive, but a remix is also a way of maintaining creativity when we're not working on our own projects". To date their most famous remixes are the 'Violently Happy' and 'Big Time Sensuality' remixes for Bjork. These have resulted in numerous live collaborations including, most recently, the MTV awards and previously the Mecca for all teenage girls, the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party. "I've never known anything like it" Fugler enthuses, "the audience was screaming louder than the PA system and the only thing louder than that was Lulu telling me to 'get that fucking cigarette out my face'". Despite taking so much pride in their work Fluke are most definitely not the stuck-up electro-musos they could so easily be.

In contrast to the glitzy showbiz Fluke there is also the serious side, the genuine musicianship that the new album 'Oto' displays. Where there has been a tendency for BPMs to go sky high and for records only to be as good as their basslines, Fluke offer something more; a mixture of slow stoned chuggers, trippy beats, crystal clear twinkles, bad 909s and a synth bass that puts a banger in your pocket, all encased by dynamic vocals. It has genuine depth and perhaps when you compare 'Oto' to your run-of-the-mill club compilation you understand why Fluke don't view themselves as the "dance production thing everyone sees us as." Fluke make a conscious distinction between the singles and the albums, especially following the 'Six Wheels On My Wagon' album. Fugler explains, "It felt like a load of dance singles stuck together and we didn't think it worked particularly well as an album - we don't want to produce an M-People type product." Fluke accept that their albums are not the must-haves that Leftism or Dubnobasswithmyheadman are, but are surprised that they are viewed as a singles band. Yes the tracks are usually harder but Atlas, Empirion, the original Dust Brothers and Fila Brazilla are fairly uncommercial choices to remix you into the charts.

One cannot appreciate Fluke fully without witnessing them live. The same ten years of working knowledge that creates the classier product in the studio equally kicks into full effect on stage, usually resulting in the second half of the set being totally improvised as the harder beat influenced sound escalates in accordance to chiming melodies and spinning vocals. While Fluke are the first to concede that Orbital and Underworld both have caning live acts, equally the live aspect of Fluke has been present since their conception. Always willing to experiment with different audiences, Fluke have moved from the restricted PAs in clubs to festivals last summer. Partly due to their success at the festivals Levis picked up on them and sponsored them for the tour that hit Warwick in early December. Although being uneasy entering this new corporate realm with companies such as Evian bending over backwards to get into the act, Fluke have been genuinely surprised at the response where it matters, "Everywhere the crowds have been well up for it and they're not so uptight as in some of the clubs we've played in."

Every finely crafted aspect of Fluke oozes quality. Constantly churning out records of this high calibre ensure that it is only a matter of time before Fluke take their rightful position next to Orbital, Underworld et al - spearheading not only the finer aspects of British dance music, but demonstrating its future.

Spank and Shaft, January 1996.