Klute is the primary recording alias of Tom Withers, the respected drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

 Producer and DJ from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

He is also the drummer, vocalist and songwriter in the English Hardcore band The Stupids

The Stupids (band)

The Stupids are a skate punk thrash band created by Tom Withers.-Career:Formed in Ipswich, England in the 1980s, The Stupids recorded three sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in the 1980s, and toured the United States and Australia as well as Europe the United Kingdom and most recently Japan...

 and first turned to electronic production in the early 1990s, experimenting with techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 before turning to Drum and Bass. He released two 12" under the Override

Override

Override may refer to:* Override * OverRide * Overriders, an insurance term* Overriding * Manual override, a function where an automated system is placed under manual control...

 alias in 1995-96, as well as appearing on Ninja Tune

Ninja Tune

Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...

 compilations. In 1998 the debut Klute LP Casual Bodies was released on the seminal Certificate 18 imprint; Fear of People followed in 2000.

In 2001 he established the label Commercial Suicide. This released his own material, including the albums Lie, Cheat & Steal

Lie, Cheat & Steal

Lie, Cheat & Steal is a double album by drum and bass artist Klute. The second disc is actually titled "You Should Be Ashamed" and contains non-drum and bass tracks.The U.S...

(2003), No One's Listening Anymore (2005) The Emperor's New Clothes (2007) and most recently Music for prophet (2010) . All of these albums are double CDs with one drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

 CD and another of downtempo techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 and breakbeat

Breakbeat

In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...

, and received widespread acclaim in the electronic music community. The track "Time 4 Change" from No One's Listening Anymore was the last tune played on-air by John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

.

The label has also released tracks from artists like Amit, Break, Digital, Spirit, Calibre

Calibre (artist)

Calibre, birth name Dominick Martin, is a Drum and Bass, and Liquid Funk, music producer and DJ hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He originally started producing at a young age and has spent many years refining his sound. He is a classically trained musician playing a variety of musical...

, Hive

Hive (record producer)

Hive is the stage name of Michael Petrie , a San Francisco-based DJ, producer, and record label owner who has contributed to dozens of recordings in the drum and bass musical genre...

, SKC and Chris Su, establishing itself as one of the bigger players in drum and bass.

Klute's style of drum and bass is strongly influenced by techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

. It is deep and progressive, with flavours of house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

, dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

 and trance

Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

, and frequent use of vocals. Although Klute is one of the most melodic and musical producers in drum and bass, his tracks are still typically intended for the DJ and dancefloor.

As well as releasing music on his own label, Klute has releases on Hospital Records

Hospital Records

Hospital Records is an independent record label based in South London. Primarily releasing Drum and bass, the label was started in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss, and has grown in recent years to become one of the most well known labels within UK dance music...

, 31 Records, Soul:R, Metalheadz

Metalheadz

Metalheadz is a pioneering drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie, it has been home to some of the drum and bass scene's brightest talent and is notable for the high quality of its back catalogue....

and Breakbeat Science Recordings.

Discography

Albums:

• Casual Bodies - Certificate 18 (1998)
• Fear of People - Certificate 18 (2000)
• Lie, Cheat & Steal - Commercial Suicide (2003)
• No One's Listening Anymore - Commercial Suicide (2005)
• The Emperor's New Clothes - Commercial Suicide (2007)
• Music For Prophet - Commercial Suicide (2010)

External links

• Commercial Suicide official site
• Commercial Suicide - MySpace Page
• Klute - MySpace Page
• Klute - RA DJ Page
• [ Allmusic.com biography]