The Qemists are a drum and bass band from Brighton, United Kingdom signed to Ninja Tune indie record label based in London. The band consists of bassist Dan Arnold, drummer Leon Harris and guitarist Liam Black.
The Qemists were originally the drummer, bassist and guitarist in a rock band where they spent a lot of time touring UK and Europe as well as spending a lot of time in the studio. During this time in the rock band in the late 1990s, they acquired an interest in drum and bass and some of the group's early efforts started to get airplay. For many years they were performing in the rock band as their day job whilst producing and DJing drum and bass at night, and this conflict of interests lead to the fusion of the two styles to form The Qemists sound that is known today. They had previously worked as live sound engineers for Basement Jaxx, Kano and Lady Sovereign.
Their debut release on Ninja Tune was a remix of Coldcut's "Everything Is Under Control" which was supported by Zane Lowe, Coldcut and Pendulum.
Their first single, "Stompbox" appeared on the soundtrack for the film Jumper. "Dem Na Like Me" & "Your Revolution" are used in Clay Porter's mountain bike movie "3 Minute Gaps" (2011). Some singles of the band appeared in many video games. "Stompbox" appeared in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Pure, Need for Speed: Undercover, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Blur, and SSX. "Lost Weekend" appeared in Colin McRae: Dirt 2, Forza Motorsport 3, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge and Need for Speed: Shift. "On the Run" appeared in Blur and F1 2010, S.W.A.G and "Let There Be Light" appeared in Blur. "S.W.A.G" and "On the Run" also appeared in Forza Motorsport 3, alongside "Lost Weekend". Several of their songs appeared in the game SSX, as they also composed parts of the game's original score.
In 2009, they supported Enter Shikari on their World Tour, and underwent their own headlining UK Tour.