Submerged (alias of Kurt Gluck) is a Brooklyn-based
DJ,
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...
, founder of the avant-garde
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 ...
and experimental music label
Ohm Resistance and co-founder of
Obliterati, and a prolific multi-genre electronic music producer, first notable for his work with bassist and producer
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
in creating drum and bass-
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
fusion projects including their band Method of Defiance, and The Blood of Heroes.
In drum and bass, Submerged has pushed the boundaries of the genre beyond dance music through jagged free-form breakbeat structures, historic fusion collaborations with non-drum and bass musicians including
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
,
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of " sheets of sound", S ...
,
Buckethead
Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...
, and others, as well as publishing confrontational visual artwork.
Submerged performs onstage as a
DJ and as a
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...
and is a member of avant-garde bands incorporating drum and bass beats and live sound manipulation, such groups including
Painkiller and Bill Laswell's project, Method of Defiance. Submerged has also performed live with groups including other artists such as
Milford Graves
Milford Graves (August 20, 1941 – February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his ...
,
John Zorn
John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz ...
and
Toshinori Kondo, and artists
Mike Patton
Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techn ...
and Dr. Israel. He currently collaborates with multi-instrumentalist
nem0
Nem ( Vietnamese: món nem) refers to various dishes in Vietnamese, depending on the locality.
Nem may refer to:
* Nem rán, known in foreign countries as spring rolls, fried rolls or Vietnamese Imperial rolls, are made of either minced pork o ...
in the band You Will Choose Fire, as well as the
dark-hop trio, HAVE DEMONS, with
Luke Lund.
Submerged has played venues across North America, Europe and Asia, including Russia, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the UK.
He toured with Scorn in 2011 across Europe.
Background
Gluck was born in
Rosedale, Queens
Rosedale is a neighborhood in New York City in the southeastern portion of the borough of Queens. The neighborhood, located along the southern part of Queens, borders Nassau County.
Rosedale is located in Queens Community District 13 and its Z ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. His father was a Brooklyn police officer and his mother an architect.
Gluck played clarinet and bass clarinet in his school jazz band and symphonic band. “I always took band classes because I loved playing music. I had my own metal band in high school. I wrestled (folkstyle) for four years varsity, but I was really into music. I listened mostly to metal. I didn’t start to get into electronic music heavily till my summer after high school. My favourite bands were
Slayer,
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
.
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...
was huge to me, also.”
In 1999 he founded Ohm Resistance, a collective of musicians and DJs on two continents, which was also a label that released progressive
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
artists including Sinthetix, Impulse, Kiko, MC Mecha, and Skynet. For one year, Ohm Resistance threw a Wednesday weekly called Tangent at the U-Turn club.
Submerged moved Ohm's headquarters to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
in late 2002 to facilitate global distribution of its releases. In 2003 he co-created a second label, Obliterati, to pursue the darker and more experimental roots of Ohm Resistance.
In 2003, Laswell met with Submerged to discuss working together and said he owed John Zorn a record. Submerged came up with eight compositions to which Laswell added more music and live bass. This first historic drum and bass-jazz fusion collaboration by Bill Laswell and Submerged, “Brutal Calling,” was released on Zorn's Avant label in the first half of 2004.
In 2005, Laswell and Submerged as Method of Defiance released a 9-track album, “The Only Way to Go Is Down,” on Sublight Records.
In 2007, Method of Defiance released an album called ''Inamorata'', a fusion of drum and bass and jazz music, with the collaboration of many artists from the drum and bass and jazz scenes.
Alex Henderson of
All Music Guide
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...
described Submerged's ''Violence as First Nature'' (2008) double-CD release as "forceful, abrasive, confrontational stuff" and compared his work to "industrial rockers like
Ministry,
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...
, and the
Revolting Cocks
Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry.
History 1984: Orig ...
(as well as hip-hop agitators
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
)."
In April 2010, Submerged project The Blood of Heroes released its self-titled debut on Ohm Resistance - a collaboration project featuring
Justin Broadrick
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and ...
(
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...
,
Jesu
Jesu may refer to:
*Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30/33), Jewish religious leader and central figure of Christianity
**Jesu (name), vocative and poetic form of Jesus' name
Music
* Jesu (band), a British experimental band formed by Justin Broadrick
** ...
,
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
) and
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
, with beats from Submerged and End.user and vocals from Doctor Israel, described in an album review as follows: "Post apocalyptic soundscapes and de-imaged electronic beats backed up with heavy guitar and bass. Features live drumming from
KJ Sawka
Kevin Joseph "KJ" Sawka is an American musician, record producer, and DJ. He plays drums in the bands Pendulum and Destroid.
Career
KJ Sawka started his musical career at the age of twelve. At age eighteen, he developed an interest in elec ...
and Balazs Pandi, and sound design from film sound architect M. Gregor Filip. Powerful anthemic tracks collide with vicious drum n bass beatdowns and intersperse with breathtaking synth beauty and Aphex Twin style mezzed beats. The soundtrack to post-solarflare humanity!"
In 2016, Submerged moved to the Pacific Northwest and started a
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
-influenced live drum and bass band called You Will Choose Fire with multi-instrumentalist
nem0
Nem ( Vietnamese: món nem) refers to various dishes in Vietnamese, depending on the locality.
Nem may refer to:
* Nem rán, known in foreign countries as spring rolls, fried rolls or Vietnamese Imperial rolls, are made of either minced pork o ...
. They have toured in the US and Ukraine.
Discography
Albums
*Submerged – ''Stars Lights The End'' (Sublight Records, 2007)
*Submerged with
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
as
Method of Defiance
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
– ''The Only Way To Go Is Down'' (Sublight Records, 2006)
*Submerged with
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
as part of Laswell's
Method of Defiance
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
– ''Inamorata'' (Columbia Music Entertainment, 2008, first release 2006)
*Bill Laswell vs. Submerged – ''Brutal Calling'' (Avant, 2004)
*Graham Haynes vs Submerged – ''Echolocation'' (Burning Ambulance Music, 2021)
EPs
*You Will Choose Fire – ''self-titled'' (Ohm Resistance, 2017)
Mixed Albums
*Submerged – ''Violence As First Nature'' (Ohm Resistance, 2008) (drum 'n' bass, breakcore, experimental)
Ohm Resistance releases
*1M OHM; Various – ''Forwards In Backwards Time'' (2xCD) (2004)
*2M OHM; Sinthetix ''Gateway'' (2xCD, Ltd; 2006)
*3M OHM; Black Sun Empire – ''Cruel & Unusual'' (2xCD; 2005)
*5M OHM; Method Of Defiance ''Inamorata'' (CD, album, digital; 2007) (see track list above)
*5M OHM; Method Of Defiance ''Inamorata'' LP sampler (12", W/Lbl, promo; 2008)
*6M OHM;
Scorn (band)
Scorn is an English electronic music project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a project of former Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nic Bullen. Bullen left the group in 1995 and the project continued on until the end of 2011, as ...
''Stealth'' (CD, album) (2007)
*7M OHM; End.user* ''Left'' (CD, album; 2008)
*8M OHM; Fanu + Bill Laswell ''Lodge'' (CD, album, digital; 2008)
*9M OHM; Technical Itch ''You Need Therapy'' (CD, compilation, mixed; 2008)
*10MOHM; Submerged ''Violence As First Nature'' (CD, album + CD, mixed; 2008) (see track list above)
*11MOHM; Silent Killer ''Everyone Bleeds'' (CD, album; 2009)
*12MOHM; The Project_Pale – ''Our Inventions and How They Fail Us''
*13MOHM; S.S.T – ''Stepping Through Shadows'' (CD, album; 2010)
*14MOHM; The Blood Of Heroes – ''The Blood of Heroes'' (CD, album; 2010)
*15M OHM; Imaginary Forces (2) – ''Filth Columnist'' (CD, album; 2010)
*16M OHM; Scorn ''Refuse; Start Fires'' (album; 2 versions; 2010)
*17M OHM; Necessary* ''Voldsløkka'' (album; 2 versions; 2010)
*18M OHM; Silent Killer & Breaker ''Amongst Villains'' (2x12"; 2010)
*18M OHM; Silent Killer & Breaker ''Amongst Villains'' (CD, album; 2010)
*18M OHM; Silent Killer & Breaker ''Amongst Villains'' (12"; 2010)
*19M OHM; The Blood Of Heroes ''Remain'' (CD, album; 2010)
*20K OHM; Submerged / end.user ''Servant (Technical Itch Remix) / The Return (Ohm Resistance VIP)''
*21K OHM; Counterstrike / Identity / Corrupt Souls / Lethal & Khanage ''Disciples of the Unreal''
*22M OHM; Submerged ''Before Fire I Was Against Other People'' (CD, digital; 3/29/2011)
*23K OHM; Lethal & Khanage / Identity & 4Pro ''Project X / Snap''
*24K OHM; Lethal & Khanage / Temulent ''Fuck You! / Nothing (Ohmwreckers Part 4)''
*25K OHM; Infiltrata / Breaker / Identity ''Make Life Illa / I’ve Given Up The Hammer for the Hatchet (Ohmwreckers Part 5)''
*26K OHM; Submerged ft. Corrupt Souls / C.A.B.L.E. ''Gutter / One More Time (Ohmwreckers Part 6)''
*27K OHM; Silent Killer + Breaker ''Endure / Brigade (Ohmwreckers Part 7)''
*28K OHM; SST & Glitch / The Chosen ''Let It Bleed / Faith Of The Fallen''
References
Notes
Sources
Hardcore Heaven: Scorn, Submerged and Sobaki Tabaka, by Vladimir Kozlov, The Moscow News, March 10, 2011*
ttp://www.indierockmag.com/article11954.html "Kurt Gluck, sans compromission," IndieRockMag.com Interview with Kurt Gluck, January 24, 2011Review of "The Blood of Heroes," The Blood of Heroes, Toneshift, June 18, 2010"Method of Defiance (Jazzista-Drum-and-Bass)," I Want To Rock You Baby! (Hungary?) review of Method of Defiance albums Inamorata, The Only Way To Go Is Down, Nihon, February 1, 2010*
ttp://movealong.tumblr.com/page/2 Submerged profile, I'm Not the Droid You're Looking For blog, Burlington, Vermont, USA, February 1, 2009Submerged Interview, TechnoDnB Estonia, January 18, 2007*
ttp://uneasy-listening.blogspot.com/2007/08/method-of-defiance-only-way-to-go-is.html Uneasy Listening blog review of Method of Defiance's "The Only Way to Go Is Down," August 12, 2007Submerged feature, Dogsonacid.com, April 24, 2007*
ttp://www.stormingthebase.com/details.asp?ProdID=6125 Reference to Kurt Gluck/Submerged in review of Franziska Baumann's "Eternal Ice Melts (Voice Sphere Remixes)," StormingTheBase.com, November 2006Bill Laswell's Method of Defiance, by Patrick Ambrose, The Morning News, December 20, 2005
External links
Ohm Resistance Web Site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Submerged
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American drum and bass musicians
American DJs
American experimental musicians
Remixers
Musicians from New York City
American drum and bass musical groups
Electronic dance music DJs