Hacktivist (band)

Hacktivist
Ben Marvin and J Hurley at With Full Force 2013
Background information
Origin	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Rap metal djent nu metal grime
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Wake to Reality, PIAS Recordings, UNFD, Rise Records
Associated acts	Heart of a Coward, Sacred Mother Tongue, Districts
Website	www.hacktivist.uk.com
Members	Tim "Timfy James" Beazley Jermaine "J" Hurley Josh Gurner Richard Hawking
Past members	Ben Marvin

Hacktivist are a British rap metal band from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, formed in 2011 by guitarist/vocalist/producer Timfy James and rapper Jermaine Hurley after Timfy's departure from his previous band Heart of a Coward. They have released a self-titled EP in 2012 and their debut studio album Outside the Box in 2016.

Hacktivist began in 2011 after Timfy James' departure from metalcore band Heart of a Coward. James claims that the formation of Hacktivist was a "fluke", with no intention of developing such a style, but the group was born when his friend J Hurley, a local rapper with little history in the metal scene, began recording vocals over some of James' demos. After the demos became very popular online, James decided to recruit a full lineup, hiring Richard Hawking on drums, Josh Gurner (ex-Sacred Mother Tongue) on bass and Ben Marvin (James's former bandmate in Heart Of A Coward) as a second vocalist. The band began work on an EP in 2012 and debut single "Unlike Us" reached No. 2 in the Amazon UK metal chart within 48 hours. Despite being released independently on 12 November 2012, the band's self-titled EP proved popular in the metal media with Metal Hammer in particular giving the band significant coverage and considerable airplay on BBC Radio 1.

Tim and Ben both provided vocals on the Districts track "Callous Vessels" in 2012, which Tim also produced.

After the release of the Hacktivist EP, the band set out touring to promote it. This included supporting slots for acts such as Enter Shikari and Korn and performances in European festivals such as Sonisphere Festival, Download Festival and Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in summer 2013. In April 2013 the group released a new song "Elevate", with an accompanying video, for free download and this was followed up in August with a cover of "Niggas In Paris" (originally by Jay-Z and Kanye West). A video for "Niggas In Paris" was filmed during their set at Download Festival 2013. They also performed a live session for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios.