CamelPhat are an English DJ and production duo, consisting of Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala, formed in Liverpool in 2006.
Initially they released music under various names but found success with their 2017 single "Cola", which peaked at No. 3 on the UK Dance Chart, and at No. 18 on the UK Singles Chart.
They have released two studio albums and many singles and EPs.
Biography
Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala met each other in a Liverpool record shop 3 Beat Records[1] and both were disc jockeys in the city. Di Scala had previously released music as a member of Rezonance Q[2] (with Lee Butler and Les Calvert), Ultrabeat[3] (with Ian Redman and Chris Henry) and as a solo artist using the name Re-Con. Dave Whelan hosted his own Jubilee club night since 2004[4] and the two were resident DJs at Society nightclub.
As a duo, Whelan and Di Scala released several remixes and bootlegs as under various names such as The Bassline Hustlers, Men from Mars and Da Mode. Using the name Pawn Shop, they released the single "Shot Away" (All Around the World, 2006), based on a sample of "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones,[6] which peaked at No. 100 on the UK Singles Chart. Following this, they released several more singles as Whelan & Di Scala on various labels, including their own Bachelor Pad Recordings, and also using other aliases such as Wheels & Disco, Mancini and Shake n' Jack.[7] From 2008 to 2014, Dave Whelan was a radio presenter on Juice FM.[8][7]
In 2010, they released their first recordings as CamelPhat on their own Vice Records label.[9] As CamelPhat, the duo initially wore wrestling masks to conceal their identity because they "just wanted the people to judge the music and not us".[10] In 2011, Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala became owners of a Liverpool nightclub Mansion.[11] The duo released numerous singles and EPs on various record labels and some CamelPhat songs appeared on the Ultratop charts in Belgium, such as "The Act" (Spinnin' Deep, 2014), "Paradigm" featuring A*M*E (Axtone, 2015), "Constellations" (Spinnin' Deep, 2015), "Make 'Em Dance" from Light Night EP (Suara, 2016) and "Hangin' Out with Charlie" from Hangin' with Charlie EP (Suara, 2017).[12]
Their collaboration with Elderbrook on "Cola" (Defected, 2017) was an international hit single which peaked at No. 17 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 1 on the US BillboardDance Club Songs chart[13][14] and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.[15][16] Further UK top forty hit singles followed with "Panic Room" (Loudmouth Music, 2018), a collaboration with Au/Ra and "Breathe" (Pryda Presents, 2018), a collaboration with Cristoph featuring Jem Cooke. In December 2018, CamelPhat signed to RCA Records[17] and released several singles on the label such as "Be Someone" (2019) with Jake Bugg, “Rabbit Hole” (2019) featuring Jem Cooke, “For a Feeling” (2020) with Artbat featuring Rhodes and “Hypercolour” (2020) with Yannis Philippakis of Foals. In October 2020 they released their debut studio album Dark Matter which reached No. 23 in the UK Albums Chart.
^"Make 'Em Dance" from Light Night EP did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 12 on the Ultratop Dance Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Hangin' Out with Charlie" from Hangin' with Charlie EP did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 6 on the Ultratop Dance Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"The Act" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 13 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart and No. 32 on the Ultratop Dance Chart.[12]
^"Paradigm" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 14 on the Ultratop Dance Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Constellations" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 3 on the Ultratop Dance Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Cola" also peaked at No. 32 on the Ultratop 50 Singles chart in Wallonia.[12]
^"Cola" also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and No. 7 on the Dance Mix/Show Airplay chart.[29]
^"Panic Room" also peaked at No. 20 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart in Wallonia.[12]
^"Panic Room" also peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and No. 3 on the Dance Mix/Show Airplay chart.[29]
^"Dopamine Machine" did not enter Ultratop 50, but did register on Ultratip Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Breathe" also peaked at No. 7 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart in Wallonia.[12]
^"Breathe" also peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and No. 3 on the Dance Mix/Show Airplay chart.[29]
^"Be Someone" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 10 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart and No. 4 on the Ultratop Dance chart.[12]
^"Be Someone" also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.[29]
^"Rabbit Hole" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 8 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Rabbit Hole" also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.[29]
^"For a Feeling" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 23 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart.[12]
^"Hypercolour" did not enter Ultratop 50, but peaked at No. 15 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under chart.[12]
