Krafty Kuts

Krafty Kuts (real name Martin Reeves) is an English electronic music, dance music and breakbeat producer and DJ.

His first album, Freakshow, was released in 2006 on his Against The Grain label and contains guest artists Tim Deluxe and Ashley Slater from the UK band Freak Power. He had previously released Tricka Technology with his fellow producer and DJ, A Skillz.

Krafty Kuts has won "best DJ" three years in a row as well as being honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Breakbeat award at the Breakspoll Awards.

History

Inspired by the hip-hop and electro sounds that surrounded him, Reeves first appeared as a DJ when he entered a competition as a complete novice, making it all the way to the finals. This early success prompted him to perfect his art and set about teaching himself turntable techniques such as cutting and scratching that were to become the core of his DJ sets.

Immersing himself in the music he loved, Reeves went on to run a record store in Brighton throughout the 1990s, where he built an encyclopaedic knowledge of dance music in all its forms. In 1996, he took the next logical step, transferring his dance-floor knowledge to the studio, creating his own tracks for use in his DJ sets.

His first big break came when a dubplate of Krafty Kuts’ "Gimme The Funk" was heard by Norman Cook who immediately bought it for his Southern Fried label. FSUK Records, a Ministry of Sound offshoot, signed Krafty to release a string of singles; "Funky Elements", "Wild In the Aisles" (a tribute to Reeve’s appearance on the TV show Supermarket Sweep) and "Return of the Elements".

With his own tracks raising his profile, Reeves mixed his first compilation album, Slam On The Breaks. At about the same time, Krafty teamed up with his fellow Brighton DJ Skool of Thought to establish the SuperCharged club night which is still running. By 1999, with his all-encompassing club style, Reeves entered the studio with Freddy Fresh, long standing studio partner Ed Solo and Dr Luke from New York, to produce a series of beats and skits that eventually made it onto Finger Lickin’ Record's Finger Lickin Funk release.

In the following two years Reeve's skills were used to create music for a Coca-Cola advert, PlayStation 2 and Guy Richie’s Mean Machine as well as mixing a cover mount CD for Mixmag. With DJing and music now taking up all of his time, Reeves left the record shop to concentrate fully on his creative side. He launched both the Against The Grain and SuperCharged labels with his club partner Skool of Thought, on which he released the Lost Plates EP, "Lock The Hype" and "Sound Check".

Following up on a contact made during his record shop days, he began a studio collaboration with the up-and-coming DJ A-Skillz, that resulted in the hip-hop and party breaks album Trickatechnology, and collaboration with Kurtis Blow, Dr Luke and Freakpower’s Ashley Slater on a series of compositions.

With the demand for his records and club sets showing no sign of slowing down, Reeves took a back seat with the labels and club promotion to focus solely on touring and recording. Working solidly throughout 2006, Krafty completed his first solo album, Freak show. Once again, the tracks included a strong cast of collaborators from the Scratch Perverts, Tim Deluxe and Dynamite MC, to his long term associates A-Skillz, Ashley Slater and Dr Luke. Mirroring Krafty Kuts’ universal approach to music and club culture, the album moved through a myriad of tempos and genres. Freakshow was named Album of the Month and its lead single, "Bass Phenomenon", single of the year in 2006 by DJ magazine. The album was followed soon after by the Fabriclive compilation mixed by Krafty Kuts.

Reeves has since released an installment of the Back To Mine compilation series. In October 2009, he released the double mix CD Against The Grain which has 19 of his previously unreleased re-edits. The release won Best Compilation at the 2010 Breakspoll Awards, with Reeves also winning another Best DJ award at the ceremony.^[1]

In December 2009, Reeves released his own iPhone application, purpose built for DJs to fire pre-loaded audio samples during their live sets, and is currently working on his second solo album.

In 2013, Krafty is to release anothert single, "Feel Like Jumpin", from his anew album Lets Ride, which is a journey into the eclectic and energetic world of Krafty Kuts. Spanning genres and generations, Lets Ride has everything from funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, electro, dubstep to drum and bass.

Krafty new label, Instant Vibes, gives him full creative control over the music. He continues his love affair with breaks by bringing through new talent including Marten Hoerger, Calvertron, Jay Robinson. He has also reunited with his longtime collaboration partner A Skillz for 10 years of Trickatechnology. They are working on a new remix and new video, and their "50 years of James Bond" mega-mix was supported by Annie Mac and Radio 1.

Krafty Kuts is now one of the big players on the world’s club scene. His career has included accolades ranging from eight times Breakspoll Winner, Best International DJ and Best Single of the Year by DJ magazine, and DJing alongside The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and even the Rolling Stones.

Discography

References

External links

• www.kraftykuts.com
• Kraft Kuts on Myspace
• Kraft Kuts on www.discogs.com
• RBMA Radio On Demand - Train Wreck Mix - Krafty Kuts (Finger Lickin', UK)
• Kraft Kuts on www.breakspoll.com