Krust

Bristol-born producer, DJ, and label co-founder Krust (Kirk George Thompson) has been a crucial part of the drum’n’bass scene since the genre’s very beginning. While he’s produced numerous direct, hard-hitting club tracks, such as the 1997 classic “Warhead,” he’s pushed the genre much further with intricate, complex works such as the same year’s Genetic Manipulation EP, as well as progressive rock-influenced full-lengths like 1999′s Coded Language, which incorporated classical arrangements, downtempo tracks, and poetic vocals. He co-founded the groundbreaking Full Cycle label with Roni Size, and helped bring drum’n’bass to the mainstream as part of Size’s Reprazent crew, whose 1997 debut New Forms won the Mercury Prize. Though less active in the music industry following 2006′s Hidden Knowledge, he returned with another acclaimed, boundary-pushing full-length, The Edge of Everything, in 2020.
Thompson grew up in Bristol’s Knowle West council estate, also home to Tricky. Inspired by the 1982 hip-hop film Wild Style, he and his friends embraced B-boy culture, and he formed the Fresh 4 crew along with his brother Flynn (later of Flynn & Flora) and friend Paul Southey (aka Suv). Working with dub producer Rob Smith (of Smith & Mighty and More Rockers), Fresh 4 recorded a proto-trip-hop cover of Billie Calvin’s “Wishing on a Star,” which made the Top Ten of the U.K. singles chart. The group released two more singles and spent two years recording in London for an album to be released by Virgin, but they ended up splitting due to artistic differences, and the full-length was never released, though tracks from the sessions were later issued as The Lost Tapes in 2015. Back in Bristol, Thompson continued producing music and attending raves. He produced a breakbeat hardcore single as part of the trio Hocus Pocus (with Flynn and Suv), which was issued by their Twisted Records imprint, financed by Smith & Mighty. He also formed a duo with Roni Size called the Deceivers, and released the darkside EP Fatal Dose Vol. 1 in 1993.
Thompson’s first track as DJ Krust, “The Resister,” was released in 1993 by Full Circle Records, a label he set up with Size, whose “Music Box” (with DJ Die) appeared on the flipside. The record quickly became a classic of the burgeoning drum’n’bass scene, and Krust continued issuing singles for high-profile imprints like Moving Shadow, V Recordings, and his own label, which was renamed Full Cycle. His output include mellower fare such as 1994′s “Jazz Note,” as well as heavier jungle productions under the names Gang Related and Glamour Gold. Krust scored some of his biggest club hits with the 1997 tracks “Warhead” and “Soul in Motion,” while his Genetic Manipulation EP, containing four tracks averaging 10 minutes each, demonstrated his sonic ambitions.
Along with fellow Full Cycle associates Die and Suv, Krust became a touring and recording member of the Roni Size-fronted Reprazent crew, which formed in 1996. Combining minimalist breakbeats with jazzy live instrumentation and vocals by soul singer Onallee and rapper Dynamite MC, the group’s highly accessible brand of drum’n’bass was widely acclaimed and hugely popular. Their landmark debut, 1997′s New Forms, went quintuple platinum in the U.K. and won the prestigious Mercury Prize. While active with the group, Krust remained highly productive as a solo artist, releasing the cinematic True Stories single on Talkin' Loud in 1998, followed by the 1999 full-length Coded Language. In addition to classical interludes and R&B-influenced vocals, the album also included a memorable appearance by poet and rapper Saul Williams on the title track, which was released as a single and received MTV airplay. Krust remained with Reprazent for their second album, In the Mode, and released the mix CD/compilation Through the Eyes in 2000. He also contributed a cover of David Bowie and Giorgio Moroder’s “Cat People” to the soundtrack to the 2002 British horror film Long Time Dead.
Krust and Die started a funk-influenced project called Kamanchi, first surfacing on the 1999 Planet V compilation with the track “Stay.” Several additional singles preceded the Full Cycle-issued 2003 full-length I Kamanchi, which featured guest vocalists and musicians including singer Tali, rapper Rodney P, and Reprazent bassist Si John. Krust continued releasing singles, including co-productions with Zinc, Clipz, and Die, and his second solo full-length, Hidden Knowledge, appeared in 2006. After moving to London, Krust released the double mix CD Journey Thru the Cycle in 2008, and Full Cycle shut down so its founders could focus on family life and non-musical projects. Krust started a creative consultancy called Disruptive Patterns in 2009, and later co-launched a CBD oil company, Amma Life.
He slowly returned to the music world, initiating the Rebel Instinct label and releasing a few experimental tracks under the alias George Kurts. Krust resurfaced in 2014 with a remix of Claude VonStroke’s “Oakland Rope,” and he collaborated with Om Unit on 2016′s “Underground Cinema.” Full Cycle was re-launched the same year, and Krust began DJ’ing with Size for the first time in several years. “Ivory Puzzle”/“Flip It,” two previously unreleased dubplates from the ’90s, were issued by Dom & Roland Productions in 2017, and comeback single “The Portal” arrived on Doc Scott’s 31 Records the following year. Several 2020 singles preceded the full-length The Edge of Everything, one of Krust’s most progressive efforts yet, which surprisingly arrived on tech-house label Crosstown Rebels. New York house legends Masters at Work remixed the single “Antigravity Love” (featuring a spoken word performance by Larry Powell), and Four Tet’s first ever drum’n’bass mix appeared on the first of the album’s subsequent remix EPs. ~ Paul Simpson