Virus Syndicate have been producing their distinct style of UK electronic music for a little more than a decade, and their blend of drum & bass, dubstep and hip-hop wordsmanship has earned them plenty of exposure. They’ve scored nearly 5 million YouTube views and a string of top 10 singles on music streaming service Beatport.

Their high-octane music has been featured in HBO series The Leftovers, the latest Need for Speed video game and on dozens of high-profile collaborations, but the best place to hear Virus Syndicate is still on one of their LPs. Their latest, Symptomatic, was released around the world on February 29, so we caught up with the Manchester natives about their past, present and future. Here are 10 things you should know about Virus Syndicate.

They Started In a Youth Center

The core members of Virus Syndicate—DJ Mark One and MCs Goldfinger, JSD and Nika D—all met at a youth center on the south side of their hometown Manchester. There, at the Fielden Campus specializing in classes for adults, dropouts and university students taking extra courses, the four used the facilities to write and produce music and lyrics. It wasn’t long before they met and began working collaboratively rather than separately. “That was where the original lineup met and the Virus journey began,” says Nika D, real name Nik Nagarkar.

They Developed Their Own Style In the Midst of the Larger Grime Scene

When Virus Syndicate was founded in 2005, it didn’t take long before they became lumped into the explosion of the UK grime scene the following year, when dubstep and grime had yet to be distinguished from one another.

Virus Syndicate’s penchant for sonic experimentation led them towards the forward-looking dubstep side of the genre. Both dub and grime have roots in hip-hop, but VS further distinguished themselves by embracing the rap influences in their confrontational yet infectious electronic style. “I guess you could say the Virus sound is a hybrid of grime, dubstep and hip-hop,” says Nagarkar.

They’ve Landed Dozens of Amazing Collaborations

Virus Syndicate has had no shortage of artists to work with in their 10 years as a group, both from within and beyond the overlapping worlds of grime and hip-hop. A few of their biggest collaborations include Borgore, Savant, SKiSM and DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill fame, but their favorite experience to date was with rap group Dope DOD, with whom they created last year’s Battle Royal EP.

“Working with them was fun because they would send over a beat and a verse that we would hear it and say ‘yo, this is sick,’” says Nagarkar. “Then we would send back our verses and hooks and they would get hyped. The whole process was really different, but fun and enjoyable.”

They Have Dream Collaborators

Despite the impressive roster of collaborations and featured artist credits they’ve accrued, the members of VS can think of a few artists they would love to work on material with, including hip-hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks and the late rapper Sean Price. “We both really feel Kendrick and J. Cole,” Nagarkar says. “But I think a collab that would really work with our fans would be Virus & Danny Brown.”

They Founded a Record Label and a Full Service Creative Talent Agency

Virus Syndicate’s achievements as a band extend beyond their now five LPs into the business world, as they’ve used their success to establish EY3 Media and Midication Records. The latter is the band’s record label, housing several other big names in electronic music, while EY3 Media uses marketing and publicity professionals to promote emerging visual artists, as well as giving them a home for their work at the EY3 creative center in Manchester.
 

Their Previous Single was Banned in France

A single and music video from Symptomatic was subject to quite a bit of controversy upon its release in late 2015, mostly due to unfortunate timing. The video for their song “Psychopath” featured images that evoked terrorist transmissions that hit a little too close to home in France, the band’s largest market, in light of the Paris bombings.

They’re Still Proud of the Song

In spite of the lousy timing and national sensitivity following such a tragedy, the members of Virus Syndicate stand by their song, saying they would have made the same video and song even had they known it would be banned in such an important market.

“It is what it is I suppose,” says Nagarkar. “We understand why the decision was made and, of course, we send out our condolences to all the family and friends of the victims of the September 13 attacks. The message of the song and video is actually very positive although it is delivered in quite a harsh way.”
 

They Directed Their Latest Music Video

Bouncing back from the unforeseen setbacks that plagued “Psychopath,” the band has already followed up the single with another, the entertainingly boastful “Gimme the Mic.” The oft-hilarious video released in February was produced by EY3 Media and directed by the band members themselves, who are learning to diversify their talents in more ways than one.
 

‘Symptomatic’ is the First of Their releases the Band Members Produced Themselves

After a decade as a group, the folks behind Virus Syndicate are still finding ways to try new things with every LP. The decision to produce Symptomatic themselves led to a new level of mastery over their distinct sound and a recording process very different from their previous albums.

“It opened up so many more options of how we use the music to really paint pictures in people’s minds, which was something that we really wanted to achieve with this album,” says Nagarkar. But that isn’t the only reason they have to be proud of their latest release, or the only thing that makes it unique in their discography.

This Album Has More Thematic and Narrative Undertones Than Previous Releases

“Both lyrically and production-wise, Symptomatic is probably our tightest project to date,” boasts Nagarkar, who also hints that the album has an underlying narrative and a few themes explored across multiple tracks. “‘Paint pictures of reality’ is definitely one of the key themes that run right through it,” he says.