In 1997, the "band" was simply Austin Reynolds. After the first single "Sweat Pea" was successful, there were pressures to play live. To do this, he enlisted the help of friends from his hometown of Brentwood, Essex: Dave Jay (who had worked with him in the early 1990s) and James Sumner.Maverick heard an early demo of Music Like Dirt and signed the band for distribution in USA (Soul Hooligan was originally distributed through Freskanova Records in the UK). Various tracks from Music Like Dirt have been used in TV and movies, with a few new songs appearing, but no word on the "forthcoming new album" yet.
Originally a solo project, Soul Hooligan began in 1997 by Austin Reynolds. His first single "Sweet Pea" was released in 1998. Joining with James Sumner (keyboards, harmonica, vocals) and Dave Jay )keyboards, melodics, vocals) the group released their first full-length album during the spring of 2002. Their track "Evil Woman (Featuring Diana King)" can be found on the Austin Powers Goldmember soundtrack.