Portrait of an Artist: Understanding Klute Through His Influences

When we got wind of Klute's seventh studio album The Draft, one of the key ideas was how deep his influences run. The genre of jungle and drum & bass

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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When we got wind of Klute's seventh studio album The Draft, one of the key ideas was how deep his influences run. The genre of jungle and drum & bass was built on wearing what influences you on your sleeve, which was pretty apparent in the earlier eras. The core of drum & bass is drawing from everything, be it hip-hop or film soundtracks, and incorporating that into the productions of today, which is madness when you consider that drum & bass operates at 160-170 BPM (or more). When you get that fast, things tend to slow down, and room opens up to inject the sounds that you're listening to when dnb isn't around. This was an art that's been lost in drum & bass (and many forms of dance music), with most producers only drawing from other producers within the genre. After a while, everything's a copy, and the originality needs to come from somewhere.

In speaking on The Draft, Klute says he spent time listening to the music that's influenced him: punk rock, film scores, early electronic music, and so much more. While we won't speculate exactly where each of these influences fits into The Draft (which is out on October 14), we like to think that this particular body of songs played a big part in where Klute's headspace was at when creating his latest album. Klute took the time out to speak on a number of songs and albums, and in his words we find a portrait of the producer, sewing a quilt featuring fabrics that helped shape the musician he is today, based on the sounds that brought up up back then. In his own words, here's Klute discussing his influences.

UK Subs - "Too Tired"

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I'm a drummer first and foremost and that was born out of my first love of punk rock. I was lucky enough to get a drum set when I was 13 and my idol immediately became Steve Roberts, the second drummer for the UK Subs. Totally underrated, but one of the best ever. This is just a glimpse of what sheer energy he had. he lives in York now and is a complete and utter looney.

23 Skidoo - "Just Like Everybody"

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I was lucky to grow up with two ultra hip sisters both in college around the late '70s/early '80s. My sister Polly used to squat with members of 23 Skidoo on Sandall Rd in Camden. One of those in the crew was another ex-Ipswich alumni Tim Soar who for a while made all the tape loops for Skidoo, including this one. He showed me how to multi-track with cassettes and set me on the path of home recording which is an extension of what i do to this day. He had incredibly smelly feet from those weird black communist plimsols those industrial hipsters used to wear.

The Stranglers - "Walk On By"

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Pretty much the first band I got into after The Beatles and for me its all about the bass. JJ Burnell still has the greatest bass sound ever. No ones even come close. Combined with the strange melancholic melodies from the keys and guitars its a dynamic I still refer to all the time when I write. Unfortunately they pretty much sucked shit after about 1985.

Photek - "Rings Around Saturn"

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Until I met Rupert, jungle was a total chaotic art form to me, but once I heard what he was doing it completely flipped the script for me. As a drummer I'd never heard programming with such superlative technique. It's not human - I guess thats the point - but it's insanely deft and funky and no one has come anywhere near his personal flair. Theres been many contenders and copyists but ultimately they lay flat against Rupert's extraordinary style. At first I wanted to copy it but ultimately it made me realize that I had my own style and to go with it. In rock drumming you have John Bonham and you have Keith Moon, worlds apart in style but equal in validity. Variety is life.

Kraftwerk - "Showroom Dummies"

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This is one from my other sister Emma. This managed to smash through my fixation with punk rock and what ultimately spurred me on to make electronic music. There's always been something amazing about the stiff androgenous aesthetic of kraut music, and of course it's been the blueprint for techno and beyond.  The whole Trans Europe Express album is a beautiful example of how repetitive and symmetrical music can induce a seductive trance. Love it.

John Barry - "Walkabout" OST

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From day one a huge part of the Klute sound has been searing melancholic heart-wrenching strings, and even though he's a bit of an obvious name, John Barry is the absolute king and my appreciation for him came from this absolutely amazing film Walkabout by Nicholas Roeg. Unfortunately the original recording has never been officially released so we have to make do with these slightly inferior re-recordings. Total romance and this is where it began for me.

The Suburban Knights - "The Art Of Stalking"

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As the label says, "made in Detroit." Detroit seemed to have a huge impact with me, the whole aesthetic of "man & machine" and getting things slightly wrong with cheap equipment but opening up a whole universe of new possibilities. It's a very different and specific mindset. So many amazing producers from this broken down city, but for me the best and the one with the most guts was always James Pennington, the Suburban Knight, and this is his call to arms.

Noise Factory - "Set Me Free"

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I never knew too much about who Noise Factory were, but coming out of hardcore and going into jungle they were my favs as they just seemed to represent this total meshing of all influences, as if they just raided their parents record collection and used whatever they found and squeezed it into high intensity anthems. Every 15 seconds something new is introduced, like distorted alien transmissions coming through pirate radio, to ally unpretencious music made for the moment. Those churning drums play a massive part of my sound, along side Potential Bad Boy/CMC, another huge jungle hero for me.

Tangerine Dream - "Phaedra"

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Ambience and atmospheres are always a big part of my sound and ultimately what gets me into my favorite place: "the zone." There are so many awesome ambient artists from all eras of music, but Edgar Froese & Tangerine Dream are what drew me into listening to ambient and for a time they were the absolute masters, until they went down the path of horrible preset digital synthesis.

Gil Melle - "The Andromeda Strain" OST

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I'm a huge huge soundtrack fan, I collect all kinds of them but horror and sci-fi in particular. I'm constantly picturing some kind of scene in my head when I'm making my own music. This score is an absolute electronic monster, and coming from a quite traditional jazz musician it's really quite revolutionary. Very creepy score to go with such a creepy film.

Cocteau Twins - "Carolyn's Fingers"

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Seriously one of the greatest songs ever made by one of the greatest bands and sung by certainly one of the greatest female singers of all time. If you know anything about my music it'll be obvious that the Cocteau Twins are a huge, huge inspiration to me and thankfully one that I've sampled very little of. This one is the highest concentration of melancholia I've ever encountered. Romantic crack.

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