DJ Die | |
---|---|
Birth name | Daniel Robert Kausman |
Born | Barnstaple, Devon, England | 13 October 1972
Occupation(s) |
|
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels |
|
Daniel Robert Kausman [1] (born 13 October 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Die, is an English DJ and music producer. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings [2] and a member of Roni Size & Reprazent (1997 Mercury Prize winners) and Breakbeat Era.
Kausman spent his formative years in Barnstaple before moving to Bristol in 1985 as a teenager. An early interest in house and hardcore led to a musical partnership with friend Jody Wisternoff (who later formed Way Out West with Nick Warren). Die DJ'd for a brief period with Circus Warp – a free party sound system. [3] Recording together under the aliases of Tru Funk and Sub Love on Three Stripe Records, they created hardcore staples like "4am" and made numerous DJing appearances at early Universe raves. The partnership, however, was a brief one.
After a chance meeting with Roni Size at Bristol's Replay Records store in 1992, this led to their first collaboration in the form of Agility for V Recordings and Die's ongoing contributions to the Full Cycle Recordings catalogue.
Together with Size, he originated the seminal "Music Box" which was to become the title track of the debut Full Cycle compilation in 1996. Emerging firstly as a core member of Reprazent and later in 1998 as one third of Breakbeat Era (a project spawned by the "Music Box" track of the same name), he soon found himself remixing for DJs including DJ Shadow, Towa Tei and DJ Cam. His remix of the Reprazent single "Watching Windows" was released in its own right by Talkin' Loud. He has his own label called Clear Skyz. [4]
DJ Die has also recorded under the aliases Break & Die (DJ Die and DJ Break), Die & Clipz (DJ Die and DJ Clipz), Swabe, 4 Tree, Breakbeat Era (with Leonie Laws and Roni Size), DNA (with Bill Riley), Scorpio (with Roni), Wings (with Roni and Krust), Kamanchi (with Krust) and DieMantle (with Dismantle).
Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.
Breakbeat hardcore is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and roots reggae and dancehall sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.
Dynamite MC is an English rapper and MC. He originally gained prominence in jungle/drum and bass, working with Roni Size & Reprazent, but has also released hip hop material.
Kirk Thompson, better known by his stage name Krust, is an English drum and bass 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
Bouncy techno is a hardcore dance music rave style that developed in the early 1990s from Scotland and Northern England. Described as an accessible gabber-like form, it was popularised by Scottish DJ and music producer Scott Brown under numerous aliases.
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 Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.
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 released to critical and commercial success, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize, certifying platinum in the UK, and often being cited as their magnum opus.
Ryan Owen Granville Williams, better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and music producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. That year they won the Mercury Prize for their debut studio album New Forms.
Luna-C is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Sesame's Treet" which samples the Sesame Street theme song. He founded Kniteforce Records in 1992, for which he produced tracks and remixes under various aliases. The label was sold in 1997 but resurrected as Kniteforce Again (KFA) in 2001.
Tom Casswell, better known as TC and also as Tommy Boy, is an English drum and bass producer, singer and DJ. He left school and started making music inspired by the sounds of the Bristol scene and the music and atmosphere of St. Paul's, the area of Bristol where he grew up.
Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.
Natalia Sheppard, better known by her stage names MC Tali and Tali, is a New Zealand drum and bass singer and rapper, first found acclaim for her 2004 hit "Lyric on My Lip", which reached #39 in the UK Singles Chart. Tali has also worked with prominent artists, such as former Mercury Music Prize nominee Roni Size. Tali prefers to use the name "Tali" when singing and songwriting acoustically or live, preferring to use 'MC" whenever she collaborates with electronic music artists, sometimes using the former. In November 2019 Tali won the Vodafone New Zealand Music Award for Best Electronica Artist for her 2018 album "Love & Migration".
Hugh Pescod, better known as Redlight And CLIPZ, is a British DJ and music producer from Bristol.
Matt Quinn, known by his stage name Optical, is a British musician, producer and DJ. He is co-founder and owner of Virus Recordings, a widely regarded drum and bass record label. He is best known as one half of drum and bass duo Ed Rush and Optical, whose debut album Wormhole has been described as one of the most significant LPs of the drum and bass genre. He is also the brother of Jamie Quinn also known as Matrix.
Nigel Thompson, better known as Jumpin Jack Frost, is a British jungle and drum and bass DJ and record producer.
V Recordings is a drum and bass record label, based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1993 by Bryan Gee and Jumpin Jack Frost.