Karl Thomas, better known as ShockOne, is an Australian electronic music producer and DJ born in 1982. Originally from Esperance, Western Australia, he now resides in Perth. He has been releasing music as ShockOne since 2005, producing a wide variety of dance genres including

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

, drumstep and

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including ...

History

Beginnings

Karl Thomas was a drummer and in high school when he met and formed a metal band (called Xygen) with

Rob Swire Robert Swire-Thompson (born 5 November 1982) is an Australian record producer, singer, songwriter, and DJ. He is the founder and lead vocalist of the drum and bass/electronic rock band Pendulum (drum and bass band), Pendulum, as well as Disc j ...

and Gareth McGrillen (the two who would later become

Pendulum A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...

and eventually

Knife Party Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum. The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign ...

) and Jay Burns. When

started in the early 2000s, Xygen finished, and so Thomas started making electronic music of his own, under the alias of ShockOne.

Early career (2005–2008)

From 2005 to 2009, ShockOne released many singles and remixes, making a name for himself within the worldwide

scene.

''ShockOne'' EP (2009–2010)

In 2009, he released a debut self-titled EP, containing drum and bass hit "Polygon" and dubstep track "Adachigahara's Theme" among others. ''The Re-Fix'' EP was released in 2010 containing VIPs and remixes of songs off the ''ShockOne'' EP.

''Universus'' (2011–2014)

In 2010, Thomas announced plans to work on his full-length debut album, '' Universus''. the first single from the album, "Crucify Me," was released in June 2011. this two-part drum and bass/dubstep track featured his own vocals and a collaboration with fellow producer and friend, Phetsta. the second single, "Relapse, " a dubstep track with vocals by Sam Nafie, came out in December 2011. The third single, "Chaos Theory, " a drumstep/dubstep piece, got much attention in Australia, the Uk, and around the world in October 2012. The fourth single, "Lazerbeam, " a drum and bass track with additional production by Metrik and vocals by kyza, was another highlight of Universus. A highly anticipated album, ''Universus'' was released on 26 April 2013 in Australia and on 29 April in the rest of the world. The album became overall number one album in Australia on its first day of release. It contains 14 songs in dance genres such as

, and

. Collaborations include Phetsta, Reija Lee (ShockOne's sister),

Metrik Tom Mundell, better known as Metrik, is an English electronic music producer from London. He has been releasing records since 2007, primarily through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent dance music label. He has found success in the UK D ...

, Kyza, and Sam Nafie. Thomas said of the title: "The loose theme of ''Universus'' is the lifespan of our universe. The term itself, 'universus', actually means everything right now. It's dealing with, as humans, our perception of reality and how we deal with the universe that we're in."

''In This Light'' and ''A Dark Machine'' (2014–present)

After moving to London for a number of years, Thomas moved back to Perth in 2014 to build a new studio at home before he started work on his EP, ''In This Light'', which was released on 6 May 2016. To build hype for the EP and to re-introduce himself to the market, Thomas premiered the single "City Lock" off the EP on triple j Goodnights on 2 February 2016, and announced a national tour. All the while, Thomas continues to produce remixes for many artists including Netsky,

Chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...

, Ayah Marar, The Aston Shuffle, and Brookes Brothers. ShockOne released his second full-length album ''A Dark Machine'' on 1 August 2019. He embarked on a nationwide tour promoting the album the same month.

Discography

Sources for discography are correct as of

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

and

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (known colloquially as the

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, "Follow Me" , Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single , ,

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. ! , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, ShockOne , Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year , , , -

Notes

References

External links

ShockOne – Universus Review
{{Authority control 1982 births Living people Australian electronic musicians People from Esperance, Western Australia Drum and bass musicians Australian electronic dance music DJs Monstercat artists