Hailing from Hell’s Kitchen, Ming & FS know how to cook a track. The New York-based team gave the world a peek into their process on the now-famous Nissan “Shift” TV commercial, which featured the duo recording/sampling the sounds of the car (slamming doors, etc) and then constructing a funky soundtrack from the noises.

But more than a sample-savvy novelty act, this twosome brings a rich musical foundation to their famous electronic productions. From hip-hop to house, jazz to jungle, funk to metal and more, Ming & FS merge musical languages into a hybrid sound that has put them in high demand — and their “Madhattan” Studio has been bustling with activity non-stop.

To date, Ming & FS have released four of their own albums, including their most recent, Back To One, on Spun Records. They’ve remixed a cavalcade of star artists (such as Brandy, Black Sabbath, Missy Elliot, Ludacris, and Michael Jackson), have co-written songs with artists such as Toby Lightman, and are top-scale producers.

“One of the most recent artists we’ve produced is Tina Sugandh, an Indian pop singer who could become the next Shakira,” says Ming (a.k.a. Aaron Albano). FS is partner Fred Sargolini. “We produced three tracks for Tina, and on one of them we used the [HPD-15] Handsonic for the sitar and santour sounds — also for the tabla. We tuned it so we could have a percussionist follow along [on the HandSonic] with the melody line we’d written.” And that’s not the only Roland electronic percussion instrument to find its way into Ming & FS’s sessions. They’ve also used the V-Drums in the studio, and have been making plans to take a V-Drum kit on tour.

Like most electronic-loving musicians, Ming & FS have relied on many Roland instruments over the years. “Roland has such a long, illustrious history with gear like the 303, 808, 909,” says Ming. “Those types of classic electronic instruments have always been essential to everything we’ve done. We tend to be very sampled-based, so we like to take instruments, sample them, and then manipulate the sounds all in one box. So on this particular record we have a lot of classic 303, 808, 909 elements involved in the production — especially for thickening up kick drums and stuff like that. We also used the JP-8000, which has been a bass-line staple for us. It’s been an instrumental part of our sound.

“Roland has always been an essential part of any electronic and live musician’s repertoire,” Ming concludes, “from analog bass and synth sounds to guitar amps, bass amps, BOSS pedals…. There has always been a respected quality with Roland, knowing that you can fully depend on the equipment.”

Keep tabs on Ming & FS at www.mingandfs.com.