Born July 1980 and son of Martin Christie (a musician who was part of the band “The Investigators” a UK based rare groove collective), at the age of seven he began composing, writing and learning piano, so clearly his musical ability was in the genes. His influences include Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, A Tribe Called Quest, Bob Marley amongst many others… At the age of 17/18 he was studying sound engineering at Westminster College whilst also developing his production skills (using a Korg Trinity and an MPC 2000). At this time also he was winning talents shows for his rapping performances with such accolades as “Audience Favourite” and “Most Original”. Soon he was taken under the wing of Dennis Charles (producer for Eternal and MN8) and began producing/mixing music for various artists. All this gave him a solid foundation and at the age of 21 he was signed to a development deal with Arista (now Sony) BMG where he worked on projects with UK artists P-nut, Iceberg slimm, Doc Brown, Poisoness Poets, Fallacy, EC (SoundBwoy) & Lifford (Artful Dodger) and U.S artists Musiq Soul Child, and Mario to name a few. Over the years Duane continued to work on his own material whilst working with many other artists until in 2006 with all his knowledge of the music industry he created a night called “UK Unsigned Hype” which was to give up and coming artists freedom of expression and a platform to perform. This night was sponsored by Sony BMG. It was at this event that he met with the other members of VU and very quicky after just a few meetings was invited to join and become a permanent member. As far as VU was concerned he was very much the missing link they had been waiting for and the chemistry was there… Since then he has recorded the album “Fired Up” and now is creating new material alongside DJ FeelFree for the next album and future releases… "If you don't have peace of mind your mind will be in pieces" Duane Flames