Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) 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 and
producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in
Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genres, including
techno,
drum and bass, and
trip hop. He has recorded on labels such as
Rephlex,
Ninja Tune,
Planet Mu, and
Warp
Warp, warped or warping may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books and comics
* WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher
* ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!''
* Warp (comics), a ...
.
Early years: 1990s
Vibert's first musical output was in a variety of bands, including a
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
act called Five Minute Fashion and later a
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming). ...
-esque group called the Hate Brothers, but he quickly moved into the low-cost environment of solo electronic composition.
Vibert grew up in Cornwall and attended the Wesleyan Methodist
Truro School along with a number of key members of
Aphex Twin
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...
's
Rephlex Records
Rephlex Records was a record label launched in 1991 in Cornwall by electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge. The label coined the term ''braindance'' to describe the output of Aphex Twin and fellow artist ...
crew. Luke and another school friend, Jeremy Simmonds, released an album on Rephlex under the name of ''Vibert/Simmonds'' which attracted attention from the
Rising High music label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...
. As a result of the popularity of the style in the early 1990s, Rising High commissioned an
ambient music
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...
album from Vibert, who delivered ''Phat Lab Nightmare'' under the alias Wagon Christ in 1993.
Vibert pioneered the "
drill 'n' bass
Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of breakbeat, jungle, and drum and bass music. Artists utilized powerful audio software programs and deployed frenzie ...
" subgenre, which experimented with
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
and
drum 'n' 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-b ...
breakbeats, on his 1995 EPs under the name Plug. He would go on further over the next few years to produce more music under the Wagon Christ name for Rising High and
Ninja Tune.
2000 and onwards
In late 1999 and 2000, Vibert began touring with
BJ Cole
Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock to ...
to promote their fusion album ''
Stop the Panic''. In 2002, he would begin a series of live collaborations with
Aphex Twin
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...
. Although Aphex Twin and Luke Vibert never released an album together, Aphex Twin used the song name "Analord", from Vibert's album ''
Lover's Acid'', for a
series of EPs. Vibert's later releases varied in style as he released albums under various names, including Plug, Amen Andrews, Kerrier District and Spac Hand Luke. "Amen Andrews" is a
word play on the name of
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
game show host
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...
, referring to the fact that each Amen Andrews track uses the
Amen break
The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track "Amen, Brother" by the soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single " Color Him Father". The drum break lasts about ...
. In 2004, Vibert explored acid disco when he remixed a
Black Devil song, which was released on ''
Disco Club (Remix)'' and released his first album under the alias Kerrier District.
In 2006, Vibert's song "Shadows" was featured on the DJ mix album ''
A Bugged Out Mix'' by
Miss Kittin
Caroline Hervé (born 1973), known professionally as Miss Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked ...
,
which charted at number one-hundred seventy on the
French Albums Chart.
In 2007 he founded a club night with
Posthuman
Posthuman or post-human is a concept originating in the fields of science fiction, futurology, contemporary art, and philosophy that means a person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human. The concept aims at addressing a variety of ...
called "I Love Acid" after his track. In 2019 it won Best British Club Event in the
DJ Mag awards. A vinyl-only record label of the same name was founded in 2014, with Luke contributing two EPs and an album "Valvable" written entirely on three pieces of
Roland equipment: TB303, TR808, and JX3P.
In 2015, he participated in the musical transmedia ''
Soundhunters
''Soundhunters'' is a transmedia musical project created by Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies (aka the Blies brothers), Marion Guth and François Le Gall, broadcast on the Franco-German channel Arte in 2015 and deployed internationally w ...
'' broadcast on the Franco-German channel
Arte
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, pl ...
. For this project, Vibert appeared in the film ''Speak the way you breathe''
directed by the American film director
Antonino D'Ambrosio
Antonino Pasquale D'Ambrosio (born June 23, 1971), is an Italian-American author, filmmaker, producer, and visual artist.
Writing
D'Ambrosio is the author of ''Let Fury Have the Hour: Joe Strummer, Punk and the Movement that Shook the World'' ( ...
and composed an original music of the same name.
Discography
Albums
EPs
Compilation albums
Singles
Compilation appearances
Remixes
References
External links
*
Wagon Christ Biographyat
AllMusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vibert, Luke
Astralwerks artists
English electronic musicians
English record producers
People from Redruth
People educated at Truro School
1973 births
Living people
Ninja Tune artists
Nothing Records artists
Planet Mu artists
Rephlex Records artists