This week Red Bull Studios pay host to NY visual artist and all round bad man on the buttons Kuhn. The 23 year old is resurfacing the aural landscape with a sound that combines all the weighty goodness of dubstep with 808 snaps and footwork. Kuhn’s first releases (Spacemusik and Quiet Nights) were put out on his co-owned digital label and club night Astro Nautico in 2010. In late 2011 Kuhn was picked up by independent future sounds electronica label Civil Music where he released Slime Beach EP.
Based in London, Civil Music is headed up by Sheffield natives Matt and Mark who pooled resources a few years back to set up a platform for great underground electronic music and talent. Civil part manage and put out vinyl and digital tunes for Starkey, Reso, Om Unit, Débruit, Drums of Death, Darling Farah, Kotchy, Starlings, Jonny Faith, Reason Or Romanza and more. Recently the label was in the spotlight as part of Radio 1’s Huw Stephens Label of Love feature. This year the Civil family welcome Kuhn to London for his first UK tour in March and are set to release his debut album later this year.
So what’s popping right now, I hear you’re studying?
Kuhn: I work part-time at a wine store and in my free time study sonic culture, West African percussion, Arabic and Spanish languages.
Wow, you’re busy. How did you end up working with Civil Music?
Kuhn: Young Montana? [Jon Pritchard] and I became Internet friends in 2009. We traded dubs, swapped remixes and Jon passed my music to Jimmy Asquith (Streets of Beige) who was then interning at Civil. Jimmy vacationed to the Spanish seaside and while admiring the ocean he discovered my tune We're Gonna Make It on his iPod. He shed a single tear. When he got back to London he hyped my sound to Civil and they reached out.
Your quite into visual arts, particularly the VHS format, how is your music influenced by moving image and artwork?
Kuhn: The house in which I grew up is filled with my Dad's paintings and sculptures. As the son of an artist, I've always been interested in visual expression which has affected everything I do in music and sound in weird and unpredictable ways. Eventually, I want to utilise original VHS screen cap animations like the ones on my Billa Bronx tumblr for live sets.
What environments do you find best for beat creation?
Kuhn: Buses and trains are really great. Planes are hard, but fun. If I'm feeling adventurous I pack up my CZ-101, a battery-powered multi-effects box, a walkman and then bike to a field or a beach or a forest. I like making music when it feels like I'm at the end of the world and no one's around.
Can you tell us a little more about the Astro Nautico collective?
Kuhn: Astro Nautico is my digital label/blog/party based in Brooklyn. It is co-run by my long time friends and musical brethren Obey City and Paul Jones. It began as a radio show, grew into a blog, and then in 2009 we shared some original music. In 2011, we grew into a full-fledged digital label and released material from East Coast electronic artists howse, RAJA, and The Range. All our releases are free on Bandcamp.
This mix touches a lot of different genres with Usher and Aaliyah bootlegs and cuts featuring UK grime artists - do you follow the grime scene, if so who are some of your favourite MCs and producers?
Kuhn: In high school I got into breakthrough artists like Dizzee and Wiley, and that led me to Roll Deep, various artists featured on Wiley compilations, JME, Plan B, Kano. But I’m an outsider to grime. A lot of grime is hidden to Americans who aren't really hounding it online.
Still, there are Americans like my label mate Starkey who are intimately connected with the grime scene. Through his radio show and label he imports the kind of stuff Pitchfork doesn't serve up and he regularly collaborates with grime artists. That’s inspiring.
Today I listen to grime-twinged productions from SRC, Silencer, Mensah, Darq E-Freaker, and everyone connected with the Purple scene in Bristol. I would love to collaborate with grime MCs and producers in the future. It was really exciting last month when Foreign Beggars mashed one of their acapellas over Slime Beach.
Tracklist:
RAJA - Vapor Trails (Jeans Wilder Redux), (Astro Nautico)
Kingdom - Let You Know, (Night Slugs)
Guido - Korg Back, (Tectonic)
Ne-Yo - Say it, (Def Jam)
Obey City - Wabudee Wop, (White Label)
Usher - That Girl (Feat. Ludacris) (White Label)
Mala - Don't Let Me Go, (Soul Jazz)
Sharku x Agen - Nebulizer (300AD)
Hudson Mohawke x Aaliyah - Somebody (The Pleasure Principle)
O.L. - Keep Calm, (White Label)
Drop/Dead - Liinked, (White Label)
Pixelord - Iron And Cream (Leisure System)
Kuhn - Suzanne (Forthcoming on Civil Music)
▽nkown ShΔpes - Used To Give A FK (Self-Released)
Kuhn x Foreign Beggars - Slime Sword, (White Label)
Three 6 Mafia - Lick My Nuts (Smoked Out Music)
96 أفريقيا - Live K*nt (Forthcoming Astro Nautico)
Space Ghost - Don't Need U (White Label)
Kuhn - Pop Music (White Label)
Moist Ghost - Sports Fractal (Self-Released)
Cakedog - HD (Self-Released)
DJ Lil Red - Lovin You Mix (Unreleased)
Mark Pritchard - Wind It Up Feat. Om'mas Keith (Hyperdub)
DJ Ganja Brain - Better Beats (H+H)
Kuhn - Cool Medium (White Label)
The Range - Blindspot (Astro Nautico)
Kuhn plays Fabric, Farringdon on Friday 2nd March as part of the Civil Music take over.
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