It was a long since forgotten night in 2003 when Trickster and Savigar created Beats for Bars – music drawn from every genre and mashed up in ways previously unimaginable into your ideal soundtrack. Volume II was made in 2005 – same concept, different material.You can still hear both Volumes of Beats for Bars in the cool bars of West London – there are still arguments about which one is better.

And so Caned & Able was born…

There were no plans to do anything with Caned & Able, but before we knew it we were recording original material and it was simply a case of whoever was in the room at the time was in the band. Paolo Ogliari was brought in to assist on production, and by 2008 the debut album “Smoke…” was released on Malicious Damage Records (The Orb, Killing Joke, Shriekback).

Again using a hybrid of vocal, acoustic and electro styles, the album was revered as the stoner’s perfect soundtrack. The very first recording of Caned & Able was a track called “Deuteronomy”, and though there is an alternative version on “Smoke…” the original version was released after the album as an EP. The rest of 2008 was a bit of an experimental period that saw Caned & Able getting into remixing, working with artists such as The Verve, Maple Bee & The Sun Paulo.

2009 was when we dipped our toes into the live DJ scene – well sort of…We played for Lily Allen at her “It’s Not Me, It’s You” album launch party, playing with The Orb at Malicious Damage events, along with countless DJ sets in Selfridges on Oxford Street. The mashups were still happening too, with “Superchunk” mashup mixes being broadcast on Xfm and championed by the wonderful Eddy Temple-Morris.

The end of 2009 saw Trickster losing his Dad to lung cancer, which is the reason why Caned & Able recorded a tribute to him, entitled “All I Wish…” – an album of poignant cover versions of some of The Cure’s lesser-known songs. All proceeds from this record go to Cancer Research UK.In reality, “All I Wish…” was an album of remixes of cover versions. The full versions are to be found on the 2010 album entitled “The Cure” released on PSB Music. This record saw the return of Chris Bell on drums for Caned & Able – he played on “Smoke…” along with Jon Klein, who also plays on both albums.

Nearly there – 2010 was the year that Caned & Able settled down into what they now consider to be “their style”. With two albums in progress at the same time and with the arrival of new co-producer Raj, all sorts of unexpected tangents were occurring.

Chris recorded his drums in one night – nuff said. A couple of weeks later, an old friend of Raj’s turns up at the studio. Enter Big G...

The rest is history.

The line-up:
Big G - vocals, beatbox
Patrick Bird - guitars, vocals, programming
Raj Vivekananthan - guitars, vocals, programming
Mel Draisey - keyboards, vocals, strings
Gary Means - bass
Chris Bell - drums, percussion

Dark Matter, released May 2011:
The new-look Caned & Able boasts a wide range of talent, with sounds spanning rock and reggae beats. Bass, guitars, strings, synths and beaty percussion combine for Big G to show off his upfront and personal lyrical style. Highlights include Big G’s impassioned plea for tolerance on future single ‘Love And Hate’; ‘Raver’ harking back to early 70s slide guitar-iced rock soul; and the epic end to the album, ‘The Last Chapter’, which starts delicately before dropping to a pulsating ambience, and building back into a complex mini-symphony.