Culture Shock

James Pountney — stage name Culture Shock — fell in love with drum’n’bass while listening to pirate radio in London when he was just a kid. This affinity inspired him to learn about electronic music and he began recording at home. In 2004, he released his first output, the Vega EP (Moving Shadow), and continued writing. 2007 saw the release of The Third Stage, his second EP and first for Ram Records. Thereafter, he had one big release per year, often just a single with a B-side: “Kronix” b/w “Imax” (2008), “Bad Red” b/w “Surprise” (2010), “Protection” b/w “Ohrwurm” (2011), “I Remember” b/w “Troglodyte” (2012), and “Raindrops” b/w “Troglodyte VIP” (2014). In those off years during the singles blitz, he released two tracks with friend Sub Focus: “Move Higher” (2009) and “You Make It Better” (2013). In 2015, he released a track called “City Lights” that featured singer Bryn Christopher on vocals. Somewhat legendary in the EDM scene, the track had been teased in different iterations for almost half-a-decade, and the official release caused a bit of a stir with drum’n’bass and jungle fans. Riding the wave of “City Lights,” he released his third EP, Transit, in late 2015. ~ Neil Z. Yeung