Punks Jump Up came together in London a few years back. Joe, a born & bred Londoner & David, a Swede just off the boat, had bumped into each other on several occasions, mainly occasions that had to do with music, style & anything visual that looked cool. They both come from a background of punk & dance music, street art, fashion & style all wrapped up in DIY ethos.

Both eager to get their share of the creative chaos that is east London they were putting on their own parties for the freaks, proto hipsters, fashion victims & loonies in general who were loitering the area. This led to beautiful friendships with a lot of music & art eccentrics in the vicinity so they set up their own Cassette Records label as a vent for all the creativity that needed an outlet.

The first Punks Jump Up EP – Be You (Beep Beep) on the Cassette label created a minor storm on the DIY dance scene in London and beyond and was played by the now lords of dance James Murphy & Erol Alkan. It got represented on BBC1 as Annie Mac & Chris Coco played the track to death. All this with no promotion – no pr.

The Cassette Label released a handful of EPs by artists & remixers like Simian Mobile Disco & Zongamin.

Another aspect of DIY is the fashion side and PJU soon started their own t shirt label called Stiff Couture, they took on Kate Moross (the now well established self made illustrator & designer) who was the first one to make a t shirt for the label.

The second Punks Jump Up track to be released was Dance To Our Disco on the Kitsune label in Paris, this turned into an instant underground hit, played by countless DJ’s worldwide. The track features the mysterious guest vocalist Chalk Jaxon from Sweden (who according to some people is Howling Pelle from The Hives, this is a rumor yet to be confirmed).

Earlier this year they released their acclaimed track Blockhead, a heavily percussive dance music number. It was also released on Kitsune and featured remixes by Zombie Nation & Hey Today! among others. It received enormous acclaim from the disco/electro/dance fraternity and was played by DJs like Mylo, Andy George (BBC1), Tiga and eh… David Guetta !!!

Blockhead was also played all through the summer -10 by 2ManyDJ’s as a part of their Under The Covers tour, with the distinctive animations that accompanied each track.

Punks Jump Up have always been into making music with a rough edge but with a good hook. PJU love the underground, cutting edge DIY scene but has never shied away from a good melody. They have proven this by remixing acts like Gossip, Crystal Castles, Lykke Li, Chromeo, Kele, Miike Snow, Robyn, Tiga, Yelle, Peter Bjorn & John & Ladytron and all turning their songs into very distinctive dance floor gems.

In between the constant touring to pretty much every country in Europe, Australia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico & Singapore they have been relentlessly working on new music.

2011 continues to be a very busy year for PJU. There are now two new Punks Jump Up singles lined up for release.

First one up is a track called Chimes pt 1, a driving but melodic disco track with anthemic ambitions. It will be released on the prolific Klein Records new off shoot Klein Tanz on July 22nd. It will feature remixes from Remute, the legendary dance maestro from Hamburg, Paris’ golden boy of dance Golden Bug and last but not least, Say Yes To another Excess. This enigmatic but high scoring duo from London released their anthem Say Yes To another Success on the australian Bang Gang imprint in May.

The next release is a song called Mr Overtime, a more pop-y gem which features the golden voice of none other than Dave1 from Chromeo. a super classy and brilliant remix of this track by Brussels wonder kid Mickey was featured as an exclusive on the Magician’s June mix tape. It gathered a lot of praise from the blog community and has already leaked on various fan videos on Youtube. Release for this one is set for September but you are bound to hear it on all the beaches & clubs throughout the summer.

Punks Jump Up’s constant traveling and gigging has made them a lot of friends and this shows well on the production of the forthcoming PJU album, it will feature guest appearances by artists like DVNO (of Justice DVNO fame), Black Kids, We Have Band & Men (ex Le Tigre).