Hadouken, a special move belonging to Capcom’s influential game Street Fighter, can now also be associated to a band just as influential.

Hadouken! has been making waves with their grime, techno, new rave music in the UK and around the world. But putting this band in a genre is just criminal. Hadouken! will hit you in the face and finish you off with an uppercut with their high energy beats that will move the body of even the stiffest of men – even dead ones.

If you have not yet heard of Hadouken!, you soon will. EA (Electronic Arts) /Artwerk has picked up this band to enrich our EA gaming experiences with sounds that can only be called one thing – awesome. 

If I haven’t interested you yet into checking this band out, you are just crazy.  I highly recommended giving this band a spin. For the Masses, Hadouken!’s album, can be found on iTunes, and can be downloaded here. YOU GO NOW!

Now that you’ve downloaded the album and loved it, it’s time to get up close and personal. I had the opportunity to chat with guitarist Dan Rice about the band, videogames, and all things music.

Tell me a little bit about how the band got started?

I met James & Alice met whilst studying at Leeds University, James started writing tracks in the summer of 2006 and we decided to put the band together. We recruited my brother Nick on drums who in turn asked his friend Chris to join on bass. We started gigging around Leeds and London, built up a bit of a following online and went from there.
   
Musical inspiration?

We’re influenced by big dance acts like the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Leftfield. James who writes everything has a background in UK garage and grime so you can hear the influence of that and the more recent incarnations of UK dance music - dubstep, bassline, future garage etc. Our live show has heavier influences, me and Chris in particular have a background in heavier stuff like metal & post-hardcore etc. We drew a lot of influence from Nine Inch Nails, in particular.

That is a clash of influences I can definably hear in your music.  What influenced your band’s name?

Capcom

Why of course! Are you good at Street Fighter? Planning to join any EVO tournaments anytime soon?

Not really, when we played in Australia they set up a competition for us to play against our fans, some guy beat James using only one hand.

Street Fighter fans are no joke! I’m sure some of them can beat me by playing with their toes.  Now that we are on this topic, which Street Fighter characters best fit the members of Hadouken!? Worry not, I will use this information for good.

Nick - Ryu
Dan - Ken
Chris - Zangief
James - M Bison
Alice - Chun Li
   
You guys should cosplay at shows, JUST SAYIN’! Favorite game genre?

First person shooters.

Ah, the pleasure of shooting things in the head.  Which game have you had to most fun shooting up baddies this year?

Battlefield Bad Company II

Great game! Online multi-player was amazing.  Which console do you prefer to game on? Don’t worry, I won’t judge.

We have a PS3 on the tour bus and Xbox & Wii at home; they’re all good for different games.

I obviously need to become your BFF. How would you describe your band’s sound in three words.

Basic, bass, sick.

As a bass & drum, and dubstep enthusiast, I approve these words. What has been the most random thing to happen to you while on tour?

Chris got smashed after a show in Newcastle and woke up in the middle of the night for a piss, unfortunately he mistook my bunk for the toilet, and I was woken from my peaceful slumber by the sound of a torrent of piss hitting my duvet.

Didn’t this happen in a reality show? Though, I’m sure this sort of thing happens all the time. Which city have you had most fun playing in and why?

We love playing in Tokyo because it’s such a different culture and there are so many awesome places to see. We’ve been about five times and yet every time we still see stuff that blows our minds.

I would love to live in Tokyo for at least a year. EA tells you, “Dude, you should totally design your own game. We will pay you a bajillion dollars—GO!” Tell me about your
awesome game.

Post apocalyptic Slough + hoverboards + lasers +  zombies + portal guns + hurley from lost + evil flying monkey army + original soundtrack composed by earth wind & fire = ?????

You hear that EA? I would be SO all over that. There has been some bizarre trend of musicians and love for cooking. Are you going to be a contributor? huh, huh?

James is quite a keen cook and has started bringing his own mini stove on tour to cook up his own meals, probably wise as everyone else ends up eating grimy takeaways every night.

I bet he even owns a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron.  How about you? You can admit to knitting sweaters on the tour bus—‘scool.

The Internets.

I heart the Internets. Thank you so much for chatting with us and filling our day with awesome!

Hadouken! is currently on tour, and the dates can be found on their website.