Daniel Robert Kausman, (born 13 October 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Die, is an English DJ and music producer. He was a founder of

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of

Roni Size & Reprazent Roni Size & Reprazent (stylised as Roni Size / Reprazent) are a British drum and bass group fronted by Roni Size. Their debut album ''New Forms'' won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album ''In the Møde'' featured artists inclu ...

(1997

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

winners) and Breakbeat Era. Kausman spent his formative years in Barnstaple before moving to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1985 as a teenager. An early interest in

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

led to a musical partnership with friend

Jody Wisternoff Joseph Wisternoff (born 25 November 1973) is an English electronic music producer and DJ. He is best known as one half of the electronic music duo Way Out West, and also as a solo producer of dance music spanning early 1990s hardcore to deep ...

(who later formed Way Out West with

Nick Warren Nicholas John Warren (born 24 October 1968) is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known as a member of the electronic music duo Way Out West, his record label and global live events brand, The Soundgarden, and for his albums release ...

). Die DJ'd for a brief period with Circus Warp - a

free party A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers d ...

sound system. Recording together under the aliases of Tru Funk and Sub Love on Three Stripe Records, they created hardcore staples like "4am" and made numerous DJing appearances at early Universe raves. The partnership, however, was a brief one. After a chance meeting with

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

at Bristol's Replay Records store in 1992, this led to their first collaboration in the form of Agility for

V Recordings V, or v, is the twenty-second and fifth-to-last letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''vee'' (pronounced ), plural ...

and Die's ongoing contributions to the Full Cycle Recordings catalogue. Together with Size, he originated the seminal "Music Box" which was to become the title track of the debut ''Full Cycle'' compilation in 1996. Emerging firstly as a core member of

Reprazent Roni Size & Reprazent (stylised as Roni Size / Reprazent) are a British drum and bass group fronted by Roni Size. Their debut album '' New Forms'' won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album ''In the Møde'' featured artists incl ...

and later in 1998 as one third of Breakbeat Era (a project spawned by the "Music Box" track of the same name), he soon found himself remixing for DJs including

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sha ...

Towa Tei is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his s ...

and

DJ Cam Laurent Daumail (born 1973), better known by his stage name DJ Cam, is a French record producer. Daumail's music is largely rooted in hip hop, combined with elements of jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American co ...

. His remix of the Reprazent single "Watching Windows" was released in its own right by

Talkin' Loud Talkin' Loud was a record label, originally founded by Gilles Peterson in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's Dingwalls club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown and ...

. He has his own label called Clear Skyz. DJ Die has also recorded under the aliases Break & Die (DJ Die and DJ Break), Die & Clipz (DJ Die and DJ Clipz), Swabe, 4 Tree, Breakbeat Era (with

Leonie Laws Breakbeat Era was a British music group from Bristol. It consisted of producers Roni Size and DJ Die and singer Leonie Laws. The group released a studio album, ''Ultra-Obscene'', in 1999. It peaked at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart. Discogra ...

and

), DNA (with Bill Riley), Scorpio (with Roni), Wings (with Roni and

Krust Kirk Thompson (born 26 July 1968), better known by his stage name Krust, is an English drum and bass producer, DJ and co-owner of the Full Cycle record label. Beyond his roles in the music industry, Thompson is also responsible for two business ...

), Kamanchi (with Krust) and DieMantle (with Dismantle).

References

External links

* *
DJ Die
at Myspace 1972 births Living people English DJs English drum and bass musicians English record producers Musicians from Barnstaple Electronic dance music DJs {{UK-electronic-musician-stub