Dreadzone

Dreadzone
Dreadzone live in Athens, June 2007
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Dub reggae electronica trip hop house
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Virgin Dubwiser Records
Website	dreadzone.com
Members	Greg Roberts Tim Bran MC Spee Earl 16 Leo Williams Chris Compton James Bainbridge
Past members	Steve Roberts Dan Donovan Chris Oldfield

Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, electronic dance, folk and rock. They have so far released seven studio albums , two live albums and one compilation.

Dreadzone was formed in London, England in 1993 when ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts, teamed up with Tim Bran, who had previously worked as a musician and sound engineer for Julian Cope. The name Dreadzone was suggested to Roberts and Bran by Don Letts.

Bran and Roberts signed to Creation Records in 1993 and released their first album 360°. They were soon joined by bassist Leo Williams and keyboardist Dan Donovan, also formerly of Big Audio Dynamite. Throughout 1994 they developed a reputation as a live act and released a limited edition live album Performance and in June that year opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival. During these early years their backing vocalists included Melanie Blatt and Alison Goldfrapp. The following year the band signed to Virgin Records and released their second studio album Second Light. In 1995 Earl 16 joined as a vocalist, singing on the single 'Zion Youth' . Dan Donovan left the group

In January 1996, the group had their first and so far only Top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart with "Little Britain", which reached No. 20. The song sampled a line from the 1968 cult British film If.... – "Britain today is a powerhouse of ideas, experiments, imagination".