Kirk Thompson (born 26 July 1968), better known by his stage name Krust, is an English
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 ...
producer, DJ and co-owner of the Full Cycle record label. Beyond his roles in the music industry, Thompson is also responsible for two businesses: creative consultancy Disruptive Patterns and Amma Life, a CBD oil company he co-owns with Sophia Ali
He is regarded as one of drum & bass and jungle's founders and pioneers
and noted for his unique musical style. Krust has released over 100 tracks and three albums on labels such as Full Cycle,
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 ...
and
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 ...
. He was a member of Mercury Music Award-winning collective
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 ...
and his most prominent releases such as "Warhead" and "Soul in Motion" are cited by peers and press as some of the most highly influential within the genre
Thompson has been active as a recording artist since his debut single with UK top 10 charting Bristol collective Fresh 4 in 1989. His release rate did, however, slow down between 2008–2017 as he studied and established himself in other fields such as Neuro Linguistic Programming and life coaching. While never quitting music entirely, he has been increasingly more active in drum & bass since the re-launch of Full Cycle in 2016. and made a return as a recording artist in 2017 with an Om Unit collaboration called "Underground Cinema"
His first new album in 14 years entitled ''Edge of Everything'' was released in November 2020 with lead single "Constructive Ambiguity" picking up single of the month in
DJ Magazine
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
.
Early life
Born 26 July 1968 in Bristol England, Krust grew up in Bristol's Knowle West council estate where he embraced the city's burgeoning b-boy culture and learnt to breakdance
Inspired by hip hop film
Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...
, he set up his first crew Fresh 4 in school who would perform, host competitions and discos at local youth clubs across Bristol. Key members of the collective alongside Krust were his brother J Flynn and friend Paul Southey (Suv)
After leaving school, Fresh 4 established themselves in a squat in Bedminster where they would regularly hold parties.
Career
Early career
Inspired by Bristol's
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, or the Oklahombres, were a gang of American outlaws based in the Indian Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were active in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Terr ...
collective (which comprised members of
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
) Krust's brother Flynn approached Bristol dub producer
Rob Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to:
Business
* Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes
* Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...
with an idea for song which later became "Wishing on a Star"; a cover of the song by Billie Calvin, that sampled Faze O's "Riding High" and
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
's "Funky Drummer" break. The song featured Lizz E on vocals and charted at number 10 in the UK official charts on 7 October 1989
It was the highest charting release to come from the musical movement often referred to as the Bristol scene until Portishead charted at number eight with "All Mine" in 1997
Fresh 4 released a follow up single "Release Yourself" in July 1990. It charted at 81.
The band signed an album deal with
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
and worked regularly in London for two years to work on an album but left the label due to artistic differences.
The album was eventually released in 2015 as ''The Lost Tapes'' on Bristol Archive Records
In 1992 Fresh 4 disbanded as a group and returned to Bristol. Krust continued to work on music while attending raves in the UK south west region. He released two studio productions during this time with Flynn and Suv under the name Hocus Pocus. These early hardcore tracks were released on Twisted Records, a label financed by Smith & Mighty During this time Krust also ran a citywide bicycle courier company called Catch 22 and, alongside Suv and DJ Die, would also host events in the Bedminster area of Bristol in the same squat that the video for Fresh 4's "Wishing on a Star" was filmed in. These squat raves would often hire the Diditek soundsystem run by Carl Williams whose brother,
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. ...
, was the engineer
1993–1997: Full Cycle, V Recordings, Dope Dragon, Philly Blunt
Thompson released his first drum & bass productions under his Krust alias in 1993. "The Resister" was released on Full Circle Records, a label set up by Krust and Size that changed its name to Full Cycle after its first release. This marked the most prolific chapter of Thompson's career as a recording artist during which he released a large body of work under a variety of aliases such as Krust, Deceivers, Glamour Gold and Gang Related. He also released numerous collaborations with fellow Full Cycle artists
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. ...
, Die and Suv under aliases such as Wings, 3 Way and, later, Kamanchi.
As well as establishing Full Cycle, Krust and Size also launched Dope Dragon, a label established as an experimental outlet for the Bristol collective to have fun and release under different aliases Between these two labels Krust displayed a wide sonic repertoire that ranged from deeper, jazzy tracks such as "Touch" and "Future Talk" to heavier, jungle-oriented club tracks such as "Oh My Gosh" and "Rukus".
Amid these releases were also many appearances on V Recordings, the label run by
Jumping Jack Frost
Nigel Thompson (born 29 May 1967), better known as Jumpin Jack Frost, is a British jungle and drum and bass DJ and record producer.
Biography
Frost was born in Brixton, London, and after a troubled youth, started to discover music through lo ...
and
Bryan Gee
Bryan may refer to:
Places United States
* Bryan, Arkansas
* Bryan, Kentucky
* Bryan, Ohio
* Bryan, Texas
* Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming
* Bryan Township (disambiguation)
Facilities and structu ...
; the DJ credited for signing Krust and his peers and championing what is often referred to in drum & bass as "the Bristol Sound"
V Recordings launched with the ''Fatal Dose'' EP by Krust under the alias The Deceivers and consequently released frequent Krust productions. He also appeared many times on its subsidiary, more jungle-defined label Philly Blunt and wrote a considerable amount of remixes as the decade developed ranging from
Shy FX
Andre Williams, better known as Shy FX, is a British DJ and producer from London. He specialises in drum and bass and jungle music.
Biography
Shy FX's debut record was "Jungle Love", released in 1992 on the Permission to Dance label. Soon after ...
("Funkindemup", 1996)
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
("So Broken", 1998) to
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 ...
("Falling Away from Me", 1999)
Krust's output was described by author Peter Shapiro in his book Drum 'n' Bass The Rough Guide as "becoming more progressively apocalyptic as the 1990s developed" Often, but not always, characterised by orchestral elements, cinematic soundscapes and long drawn out bass textures, some of the most documented, influential and popularly played Krust productions were released during this time. These include "Warhead",
"Angles", "True Stories" and "Soul in Motion" which has made such an impression on the genre, Need For Mirrors and Bailey named their fortnightly London event after it
During this period Krust releases were notoriously circulated as dubplates upwards of years before their release and many were twice the length of typical five to seven minute drum & bass tracks. Tracks such as "Brief Encounter" and "Ideal World" on his 1996 EP ''Genetic Manipulation'' were 13 minutes and 10 minutes respectively, as was "True Stories" which was released in 1998 on
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 ...
.
1997–2001: Talkin Loud, Def Jam Records
Thompson's solo productions began to slow down during the late 90s as he became a recording and touring member of Roni Size's
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 ...
collective. Signed to
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brown ...
's Talkin' Loud imprint, the band's debut album ''
New Forms
''New Forms'' is the debut studio album by British drum and bass group Roni Size & Reprazent. It was originally released on 23 June 1997 through Talkin' Loud, and later re-released by Mercury Records and Universal Music Group. The album was re ...
'' won the UK Mercury Music Prize in 1997 and charted in the UK Official Charts Top 40 six times between 1997 – 2001 with singles such as "Share the Fall", "Heroes", "Brown Paper Bag" and "Dirty Beats". The band were signed to Mercury in the UK and Def Jam in the US and released a second album ''In the Mode'' in 2000.
Talkin' Loud was also responsible for many Krust productions during this time including "True Stories", "Future Unknown" and his debut solo album ''Coded Language'' in 1999. Rapper and slam poet
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' ...
featured on the title track and the album also included beatless string pieces such as "One Moment" and the vocals of singer Morgan on the track "Re Arrange". It was met with favourable reviews. ''Coded Language'' was followed by a remix album ''Decoded'' in 2000 which featured remixes by Krust himself, DJ Die and previously unreleased track "Witchcraft". Krust also appeared on Talkin' Loud's soundtrack to UK horror movie
Long Time Dead
''Long Time Dead'' is a 2002 British horror film, co-written and directed by Marcus Adams in his directorial debut.
Set in the United Kingdom, the film follows a group of college students in which they experiment with an Ouija board and inadv ...
with a cover of David Bowie and
Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...
's "Cat People"
2000–08: Full Cycle, Kamanchi, Hidden Knowledge
Thompson continued to release music on Full Cycle and V during his time on Talkin' Loud and
Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
(who released Talkin' Loud in North America). Prominent releases during the early 2000s were new versions of "Warhead"; the Steppa Pt 2 remix and "Warhead 2000" (released on Planet V – ''The Remixes''), a remix of Roni Size's "Snapshot" and the angular, paranoid "Kloakin' Device" which led to a follow up "Kloakin King" and its b-side "Don't Front" in 2002.
In contrast to the "Kloakin" series, Thompson and DJ Die continued to work together on their funkier, more soulful Kamanchi project. Following the release of "Stay" in 1999 on V Recordings' ''Planet V'' and numerous dubplates such as "Warrior Ship" and "Right Now Doing Our Thing", Kamanchi released their only album ''I Kamanchi'' in 2003. The album featured live instrumentation and had a heavy vocal presence from singers Tali, Leanne and Keirin Kirby (under the name Violet) and rappers
Rodney P
Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop group ...
, Darrison and Retna. It was described by Dutch dance website Party Scene as one "that underlines that the future of drum 'n' bass lies in the vocals and warmth and not so much in sinister baldness" while US site
XLR8R
''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine.
History and profile
''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...
wrote how the album "valiantly finds a balance between the crossover cut and the dancefloor filler."
Following Kamanchi, Krust and Die collaborated under their solo names with ''Collision Course'' in 2004. Other collaborations during this time included one with DJ Zinc on Bingo Beats ("Again" / "New Territory", 2005) and Clipz ("Brainwash" and "Robots Rebellion", 2005) while solo singles such as "Follow Da Vision / Paper Monster" and "Malice / Manipulation" led towards his second solo album ''Hidden Knowledge.''
Released in 2006, the album was described by UK music site The Skinny as capturing "every element that Krust has explored throughout his illustrious production career." Krust has stated in interviews how the album was written during a time of studying philosophy and religion and how tracks such as "Belief System", "Choose Consciousness" and "Human Awareness" were titled to encourage researching their topics
It included a bonus CD with a selection of some of Krust's previous successful tracks such as "Guess", "Soul in Motion", "Jazz Note" and "Last Day". Singles that came off the album included the ''Hidden Knowledge'' EP, which featured a DJ Zinc remix of past hit "Follow Da Vision" and an instrumental version of "New Humans" and a 12 inch of "Belief System" / "Mystery School". These were Krust's last official single releases of the 2000s His last release during this era was a retrospective Full Cycle double mix CD ''Journey thru the Cycle'' in 2007. Full Cycle ceased business in 2008. Both Krust and Roni have stated in interviews how the label had run its course for that period and how they needed to take time away from music to focus on their families and future
2008–present: Disruptive Patterns, Amma Life and return to music
Thompson moved to London in 2006 and took time out of the music industry in 2008 for a number of years as he "needed to develop in different ways".
He studied neurolinguistic programming and his first non-music business venture was Disruptive Patterns, a lifestyle coaching consultancy launched in 2009 and aimed at translating the ideologies of jungle into other industry sectors
Disruptive Patterns workshops and seminars involve advice on time management, overcoming personal challenges, creative thinking, wellness and the development of the working mindset
and have been held across music colleges and universities across the UK and venues such as The Barbican and Soho House. They also spawned a run of seminars aimed specifically at new producers called Future Minds
Coaching and advice has remained a main drive for Thompson and is evident in various online activities with Disruptive Patterns podcasts, his blog, and his active interactions on crowd sourced question and answer site Quora. He regularly discusses the idea of breaking the rules, unlearning what you know and experimenting with new ideas
In 2014 Thompson also launched Amma Life, a CBD oil company
with business partner Sophia Ali who met Kirk through her work as a therapist at Bristol's Relaxation Centre
Their company creates a wide range of CBD products. The Amma Life website describes their business ethic as wanting to "support people to live creative, happy, healthy lives and to tap into their unrealised potential to live life to the fullest."
In 2010 Thompson began to gradually make his return to electronic music and bass culture with his band The Rules with fellow Bristol artist Nick Toots. They released "Sign Up" in 2010 with a remix by drum & bass artist Zen It was released on Krust's new imprint Rebel Instinct, a label established as "a breeding ground for revolution" and was followed by a selection of digital releases including a various artists EP entitled ''Transparency'' featuring Need For Mirrors and new material from Thompson under both his Krust and Gang Related aliases and an EP by Benjamin One. Rebel Instinct also introduced George Kurts, a new experimental, non-drum & bass alias from Thompson that has so far released and uploaded a small selection of tracks: "Monitor Your Thoughts" (2012), "Big Foot" (2015) and "Mad Paradise" (2015).
In 2014 Krust remixed
Claude VonStroke
Barclay Macbride Crenshaw (born July 7, 1971), who is known by the stage name Claude VonStroke, is an American house producer based in Los Angeles. He owns Dirtybird Records based in San Francisco. In July 2006 he released his debut album, ''Bew ...
's "Oakland Rope". It was released on the remix edition of ''Urban Animal''. VonStroke had previously stated on his social media that the track was a homage to Krust and the Bristol sound
In 2016 Krust's return to drum & bass developed with the re-launch of Full Cycle with Roni Size. The announcement followed Krust and Roni Size's first DJ gig together in many years at the BBC's 6 Music Festival 2016 in Bristol's Colston Hall Full Cycle launched in March 2016 with "Formulate", a 1996 collaboration with Size that was previously only released on an American label Breakbeat Science and a remix of Krust's "Kloaking Device" by UK artist Fracture. Krust has stated that Full Cycle still celebrates originality and excitement
and how the label is working with artists who "share the same vision as us and can expand the next chapter of Full Cycle." Artists to appear on the label since its relaunch include Total Recall, Need For Mirrors and D Product.
2016 also saw Thompson collaborate with London artist
Om Unit
Jim Coles (born c. 1980), professionally known as Om Unit, is an English, Bristol-based electronic producer and DJ, known for his work in electronic music and drum and bass.
Career
Originally producing jungle as a teenager in the 1990s, he then ...
as he featured on "Underground Cinema", an 8-minute track
FACT Magazine
A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...
described as a "future classic" It was followed in 2017 by the release of two previously unreleased dubplates from the mid 90s on
Dom & Roland
Dom & Roland is the alias of British drum and bass producer Dominic Angas. The addition of "Roland" in the artist name refers to his Roland sampler. In 1996 he was signed to Moving Shadow recordings, releasing three albums and numerous singles o ...
's ''Dubs from the Dungeons'' series: "Ivory Puzzle" and "Flip It".
Thompson then released his first full single release in over 10 years, since the closure of Full Cycle, in January 2018. "The Portal" and "Concealing Treachery" were released on
Doc Scott
Scott McIlroy (born 1971, Coventry, England), better known as Doc Scott or Nasty Habits, is a British drum and bass DJ and producer.
Biography
He originally started to DJ at clubs and raves such as Amnesia House and The Eclipse in 1989/1990, ...
's 31 Records. Scott stated on Twitter about the release: "There have been many moments as a label owner that I can look back on that make me very proud. But this might be my proudest moment of all." Resident Advisor's reviewer Mark Smith also commented that if Krust "can maintain this standard, it'll be one of the strongest comebacks in drum & bass history."
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''Coded Language'' (1999)
* ''Hidden Knowledge'' (2006)
* ''The Edge of Everything'' (2020)
;Compilation albums
* ''Through the Eyes'' (2000)
* ''Journey Thru the Cycle'' (2008)
;EPs
* ''Genetic Manipulation'' (1997)
* ''Decoded'' (2000)
* ''Hidden Knowledge'' (2006)
;Singles
* "The Resister" (1993)
* "Jazz Note" b/w "Burning" (1994)
* "Touch" (1995)
* "Quiz Show" b/w "Future Talk" (1995)
* "Poison" b/w "Set Speed" (1995)
* "Guess" b/w "Maintain" (1995)
* "Priorities" b/w "Memories" (1996)
* "Angles" b/w "Not Necessarily a Man" (1996)
* "Jazz Note II" b/w "B-Boy Culture" (1997)
* "Warhead (Steppa Mix)" b/w "Check Dis Out" (1997)
* "Future Unknown" (1997)
* "Soul in Motion" (1997)
* "True Stories" (1998)
* "Coded Language" (featuring
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' ...
) (1999)
* "One Moment" b/w "Overture" (1999)
* "Tribute" (1999)
* "Kloakin Devices" (2000)
* "Re-Arrange" (2000)
* "Kloakin' King" b/w "Don't Front" (2002)
* "Follow da Vision" b/w "Paper Monster" (2004)
* "Malice" b/w "Manipulation" (2005)
* "Belief System" b/w "Mystery School" (2006)
* "Constructive Ambiguity" b/w "Tree of Life" (2020)
References
Further reading
Krust RBMA video lecture session
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1968 births
Black British DJs
English drum and bass musicians
English record producers
Living people
Musicians from Bristol
Electronic dance music DJs
Talkin' Loud artists