Urban Notion

KRUST

The co-founder of Bristol ’s Full Cycle crew (with Roni Size, DJ Die and DJ Suv), DJ Krust is much noted in the jungle underground for his push-the-envelope productions both alone and in collaboration with Roni Size. Born in Bristol in 1968, Krust was raised on hip-hop and began DJing in the mid-’80s at schools and small clubs around the area. His interests grew to include acid house and rave by the late ’80s, and a stint in the group Fresh 4 landed Krust in the middle of the charts, when “Wishing on a Star” made number nine in late 1989. Fresh 4 signed to Virgin, but never released another record, so Krust returned to DJing and occasional production work (notably for Smith & Mighty with his brother Flynn, later of Flynn & Flora).

After meeting at the 1990 Glastonbury Festival, DJ Krust and Roni Size soon began to produce tracks together, often in collaboration with DJ Die and DJ Suv. The outfit recorded solo and in tandem for Bryan G and Jumpin’ Jack Frost’s V Records during the early ’90s, but then in 1992 formed the Full Cycle label with manager Chris Warton. Along with its sister label Dope Dragon, Full Cycle released several crucial singles and the 1995 label retrospective , through an agreement with Talkin’ Loud Records. DJ Krust continued to record for V and Full Cycle, and helped out on remixes for Goldie and fellow Bristol crew More Rockers. Roni Size’s debut album New Forms — with considerable production help from Krust — hit the music world like a bomb in 1997, leading to Krust’s own major-label contract the following year (as Krust). His Polygram debut, True Stories, was followed in 1999 by Coded Language.

DIE

The founder of one of drum’n'bass’ leading promoters, that of Full Cycle Records, is dance guru DJ Die. Having been slicing and dicing since the early ’90s, DJ Die hooked up with Roni Size and Krust in 1993 and individually signed the musicians to Full Cycle in 1993. The ever-changing face in dance music was on its way to becoming full and respondent to the current fads and circuit around the U.K. dance scene, specifically in and around their native Bristol.

Throughout the ’90s, DJ Die maintained Full Cycle while producing and remixing for electronica newcomers like DJ Suv, Bill Riley, and J-Raq. He also became a familiar face while working with Roni Size in the projects of Roni Size & Reprazent and Breakbeat Era. Countless singles were also released throughout the decade, but the new millennium saw the surface of the pinch-hitting label collection Full Cycle: Through the Eyes.

CONCORD DAWN

Concord Dawn comprises of Evan Short and Matthew Harvey. They have released their distinctive drum and bass on legendary UK labels including Timeless, Renegade Hardware, Moving Shadow, DSCI4 and Commercial Suicide, as well as up and coming new labels such as Freak, Heavy Rotation, Redlight, Cyanide and BSE Recordings. A collaboration with Hungary ’s Chris Su was on Drum and Bass arenas last EP, and “Don’t tell me” and “Ninja” were on the Drum and Bass arena mix CD, mixed by Andy C.

Concord Dawn have built a fearsome live reputation in the last few years also, with appearances at all the major festivals in New Zealand, including the Gathering, Alpine Unity, Destination, Rippon, Splore, university orientations, X air, the X games, as well as multiple trips to Australia and Japan, 4 tours of Europe and 4 of America and Canada. Their last national tour promoting the latest album packed every venue to capacity. Concord Dawn have now performed in over 23 countries and there are many more awaiting their turn, including South Africa, Russia and many countries in Asia.

They have released 3 full length albums on CD, the first 2 on the now defunct Kog Transmissions, and the latest “Uprising” on their own Uprising imprint. At present “Uprising” has achieved gold sales in New Zealand . 2 of the tunes from “Uprising”, “Morning Light” and “Don’t Tell Me” have had heavy radio and TV play on Channel Z, C4, Juice TV and long time supporters the “B net” of student radio.

In addition to playing in over 20 countries around the globe over the last 18 months, Concord Dawn have had press as far a field as Poland, Germany, Hungary and beyond, most notably 2 tunes on John B’s cover CD for Mixmag, and another on Fabio and Grooveriders cover CD for the March 2004 Mixmag and featuring at number 7 in the magazines all genres “hot tunes chart”.

The uprising CD recently won “best album” and “best electronic release” at the 2004 B-Net student radio awards, and was nominated for “best electronic” at the Vodafone New Zealand music awards.