Kristian "Kris" Weston (a.k.a. Thrash) (born 1972) is a British

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

ian,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and remixer best known for his work as a member of

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

. Around the beginning of his career, he worked with

Andrew Weatherall Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of trac ...

on remixes of

Meat Beat Manifesto Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...

, remixed for Saint Etienne, U2 and others. He was still a teen when working on the first few albums by The Orb. Thrash was with The Orb for less than five years, from around 1990 to the end of 1995. He appeared on the Orb albums and the many remixes they did during this period, including the album '' FFWD'', a collaboration with

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

that is credited to Fripp,

Thomas Fehlmann Thomas Fehlmann (born 1957) is a Swiss composer/producer who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has been active in electronic music since the 1980s. He is currently active on the Kompakt record label based in Germany. Fehlmann is an on-and-off member ...

, Weston, and Alex Paterson. He also worked with

Fortran 5 Fortran 5 was an electronic music band active during the 1990s. Background The band were made up of members David Baker and Simon Leonard, who had previously worked together on the music project known as I Start Counting."Konnecting - I Start ...

on their first album ''Blues''.

Late 1980s-early 1990s

In 1990 and 1991, Weston performed remixes for many pop groups including Depeche Mode,

Miranda Sex Garden Miranda Sex Garden are an English music group from London. They were originally active from 1990 to 2000, reforming in 2022. Biography Formed in 1990, Katharine Blake, Kelly McCusker and Jocelyn West were originally a trio of madrigal singe ...

, and

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

under the name ''Thrash''.

The Orb

In 1991 while working as a studio engineer, Kris Weston was invited by Alex Paterson to accompany him in live performances of

. His technical abilities allowed The Orb to craft panoramic sounds portraying aspects of space travel, especially the launch of ''

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

'' in their album ''

The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld ''The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld'' is the debut studio album by English electronic music group The Orb, released as a double album on 2 April 1991 by Big Life. It is a continuous, progressive composition evoking a two-hour psychedel ...

''. Paterson and Weston wrote their next single, " Blue Room". Assisting with the recording was bassist

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

, keyboardist

Miquette Giraudy Miquette Giraudy is a French keyboard player and vocalist, best known for her work in Gong, and with her partner Steve Hillage. She and Hillage form the core of the ambient band System 7. She has also worked as an actress, film editor and write ...

, and guitarist Steve Hillage. This led to Weston and Paterson appearing on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' where they played a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

in space suits with "Blue Room" playing in the background. He brought his technical and creative expertise to the Eno-influenced ambience on ''

U.F.Orb ''U.F.Orb'' is the second studio album by English electronic music group The Orb. It was released on 6 July 1992 through the record label Big Life. Upon its release, the album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The music database AllMusic des ...

''. Weston and Paterson, along with

and

worked on the '' FFWD''. Soon after the release of ''FFWD'' in August 1994, Weston suddenly quit The Orb to pursue his own projects. Paterson stated that Weston's departure was due to Weston's desire to have more control over The Orb's projects. However, in an interview with '' i-D'', Weston reportedly attributed the split to Paterson, saying that Paterson "never did 50% of the work."

Post-Orb

In the early 2000s, Weston produced and remixed for Japanese music artist and singer Coppé. In 2003, Thrash formed Justablip Records, an Open Source/ Creative Commons license style music label.

Discography

Orb albums with Kris Weston

* ''

The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld ''The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld'' is the debut studio album by English electronic music group The Orb, released as a double album on 2 April 1991 by Big Life. It is a continuous, progressive composition evoking a two-hour psychedel ...

'' (1991), UK #29 * '' Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions'' (1991) * ''

'' (1992), UK #1 * ''

Live 93 ''Live 93'' is a live album released in 1993 by The Orb on Island Records. ''Live 93'' is a collection of highlights from The Orb's 1993 performances in Europe and Asia. It features The Orb's live performance crew of Alex Paterson, Kris West ...

'' (1993), UK #23 * ''

Pomme Fritz ''Pomme Fritz'' (subtitled ''The Orb's Little Album'') is a mini-album by English electronic music group The Orb, released on 13 June 1994 by Island Records. Produced to sustain the group during a period of mismanagement, it was their first album ...

'' (1994), UK #6 * '' FFWD'' (1994) The Orb and

* ''

Orbus Terrarum ''Orbus Terrarum'' (stylized as ''Orbvs Terrarvm'') is a studio album by English electronic music group The Orb that was released on 20 March 1995 by Island Records. Member Kris Weston had begun work on the album before leaving the group. Af ...

'' (1995), UK #20 * ''

Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond The Call Of Duty ''Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty'' is a remix compilation by The Orb originally released in the UK in 1996 as a mono, limited edition 2-CD/4-LP/2-cassette set. The running order varied slightly between the different formats and ...

'' (1996) * '' Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond The Call Of Duty Pt 2'' (2002)

Justablip Records discography

* BLIP001/BLIP 23CD : Various Artists ''WTF? Madonna Remix Project'' (2003) * BLIP002 : ''Weapons of Mass Destruction'' (2004) * BLIP003 : Petrol Observer ''Good Luck, Cunt''/''Iscream'' (2004) * BLIP004 : The War Against Terror ''Go back to bed America'' (2004)

References

External links

*
krisweston.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Kris 1972 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English electronic musicians English record producers Remixers The Orb members Creative Commons-licensed authors