As drum ‘n’ bass duo Chase & Status play Manchester on March 19, Will ‘Status’ Kennard tell how they found their live act.

Picture the scene: a cavernous room, full of sweaty, expectant youths.

The walls are lined with speakers which rumble into action the second the anonymous DJs appear behind their banks of decks, laptops and flashing LEDs.

The crowd erupts, swaying and throbbing in time to the bass-heavy music. There are whistles, screams and arms in the air.

It could have easily been Manchester’s legendary Hacienda club in its 1988 rave heyday, but in fact it was the Kentish Town Forum in north London last October.

”We were quite apprehensive about playing live before a few years back,” begins Will Kennard, the ‘Status’ half of drum ‘n’ bass duo Chase & Status (Chase is otherwise known as Saul Milton).

”We’d seen some DJs trying to recreate electronic music live before, and it’d fallen short in our minds, but then [metal/drum ‘n’ bass crossover merchants] Pendulum showed us that you can recreate those sonics, and take dance and club music to massive stages.

”We thought about how we could make it work, and the first thing was to get a drummer involved - Andy Gangadeen, who has drummed for James Brown, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, everyone really, and that brought us loads of confidence.

”It was all about getting the same energy that we have in our recorded music over to the live performances.”

It would be fair to say, on the evidence of their festival shows over the summer, that their mission has been accomplished.

With the help of their numerous singer friends, their March tour is not to be missed.

Crucial to their act are Chase & Status’s guest vocalists.

Their first album More Than A Lot, released in 2008, featured the likes of British rappers Kano and Plan B, before his recent soulful ‘Strickland Banks’ reinvention, and was a minor hit.

For second album No More Idols, with both credibility and a major label behind them (they’re signed to Universal subsidiary Mercury), attracting more varied artists was an easier task.

”We really enjoyed working with Plan B and Kano on the first record, and were keen to expand on that formula,” explains Kennard.

”We made a list about two years ago and were lucky enough to get almost everyone we’d put on there: Tinie Tempah, who we became friends with over the summer at festivals, and Dizzee Rascal, who we saw a lot too.

”It’s just us asking, which is much better than getting different managements involved, we ask the artists directly when we bump into them.”

Cee-Lo Green, of solo and Gnarls Barkley fame, was a fan and contacted the duo himself to see about collaborating.

He sent over a song wondering if Will and Saul could work their production magic and, taking a rather pedestrian, upbeat soul song, they managed to turn out Brixton Briefcase, an altogether darker proposition, with Cee-Lo sounding completely different from how you might expect.

”It’s got a really punky feel to it, and as he’d just released a retro soul album, we weren’t sure what he’d think, but he loved the distortion on his voice, and even asked us to make it more distorted.

"It’s amazing to work with such a big name, and to think he’s a fan. He’s really up on British bands and really loves UK culture.”

It’s not all about big names, however, and you might struggle to recognise some of the names on No More Idols.

Clare Maguire and Liam Bailey, for example, have both been hotly tipped in the music press, and you will definitely be hearing more from them as solo artists throughout 2011.

”The key is finding singers with unique voices,” says Kennard.

“We actually got a lot of offers from really well-known singers at one point, but we knocked them all back because they weren’t right for the songs.

"We don’t want to feature someone for the sake of it.

”A cynical mind might say we prefer lesser-known singers because they’re cheaper,” he jokes.

“For us it’s so exciting having the stars of the future on the record before they’ve released their own music.

”It’s amazing to see someone like Clare Maguire blossom and somehow being a small part of it.

”It’s great to have Plan B back as well,” he says of his old friend, who appears on two of the album’s 15 tracks, Fool Yourself and End Credits.

“It’s harder to get him to the live shows now he’s a global superstar, but he comes down when he can and I think he loves the change of scene.”

Returning to the rave culture that inspired Chase & Status, the video for current single Blind Faith recently had journalists of a certain age moist around the eyes with its spot-on depiction of an early Nineties warehouse party.

Despite not being quite old enough to remember it themselves - Saul and Will are 30 - the director of the video, Daniel Wolfe, became obsessed with the idea, filming and editing the footage on equipment available in 1991 and scouring Manchester clubs for revellers who danced like they were from the era.

”The authenticity in that video is incredible,” says Kennard.

“I thought the director was insane, but he was right and it looks incredible. I’m really glad it got the reaction it did, it’s a loving tribute to that time.

”We weren’t old enough to go out then, but as soon as Saul and I could get fake IDs, we were out at clubs, barns, warehouses, wherever.

"We came of age just as The Prodigy became massive, and they were a huge influence on us.

”We want to bring that spirit back, and we’re playing some amazing venues on our tour.

”If the crowd are standing still and just enjoying the music, something’s not right.

"Unless they’re all bouncing off the walls, punching each other in the face, we’ll consider it a failure.”

* Chase & Status play Manchester Academy on Wednesday, March 19.