Formed: 2004
In: New York, NY

The producer behind Hercules & Love Affair, Andrew Butler, began DJ'ing at a leather bar as a teen in his native Denver, Colorado. After a move to New York, he became further immersed in club culture as a party promoter and began to make his own music. Butler's first 12" for the DFA label, 2007's "Classique"/"Roar" -- a co-production with Tim Goldsworthy -- featured vocals from close associate Kim Ann Foxman and friend Antony Hegarty, bearing his deep affinity for electro-disco and early Chicago house. "Blind," an early-2008 follow-up, preceded a self-titled full-length released on DFA that March. A year later, Butler assembled Sidetracked, a DJ mix heavy on late-'80s and early-'90s house favorites, for the Renaissance label. His group's second album, the relatively low-key Blue Songs, was issued on Moshi Moshi in early 2011. An expanded version featuring a bonus disc of remixes followed that August. Butler then provided a mix for !K7's long-running DJ-Kicks series, released in November 2012. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi