HAIRY DIAMOND’S “GIVIN’ UP” is a heady brew of luscious vocals and starring strings pinned down by a hip hop backbeat. The creation of this sprawling, northern soul inspired ballad took place behind a shabby East End door marked HQ, the creative hub of PPQ, an art collective that began life in the early ‘90s and swelled to encompass a gallery, music studio, record label and clothing range. Dropping soul-jazz at the Happiness Stan’s sessions at Smithfields and Fabric, DJ Dave Rabjohns found himself nurturing the possibilities of making music. Hence Hairy Diamond came into being. “Givin’ Up” was first released on the semi-bootleg home-grown label PPQ before being picked up by Gusto Records. Other tracks include “Torture” and remixes for other artists like Aldo Vanucci – When I See You Smile on Catskills records and Mo Solid Gold – Safe From Harm on Chrysalis Records. Hairy Diamond owes some engineering and creative collaboration credit to his fellow band mates from the group Mains Ignition. The band started off as a three-piece outfit in the late 90s formed by Justin Anderson (singing, Synths, sound effects, melodica, kazoo, etc), Paul Harrison (synths and sound effects) and Dave Rabjohns (synths and sound effects). The three later took on two more members: Adam Ficek (drums, synths and percussion) & Lester Jones (bass) to become a five-piece.