When punk hit electronica, drum n bass was changed forever, writes nightlife correspondent Dan Stephenson

Though Klute has been making distinctive, soul-stirring drum n bass music for more than a decade, his musical career started in a skate-punk band called The Stupids, releasing five albums before migrating to electronica. Klute attributes this formative musical experience to his desire to make drum n bass more than a genre ghetto and his highly-anticipated show at Vic’s on Thursday, August 9, has Beijing’s DnB tongues wagging.

“He’s an extremely versatile producer,” raves DJ Elemental, a fixture on Beijing’s DnB scene. “He makes a wide range of tunes—jazzy, mellow stuff as well as more aggressive tear-out tunes but all with ‘deeper’ vibes.”

Klute explains in a recent BBC interview, “After punk I went through this musical journey … I ended up moving to the US and got back into English music like The Cure, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, which led me to Happy Mondays and 808 State, which got me into the rave generation. [Drum n bass] appealed to me as the bastard son of dance music, the punk rock side of dance music.”

Klute’s production work, with releases on labels such as Hospital, Metalheadz and his own—Commercial Suicide—is highly regarded for its precision, range and innovation. His tunes have found homes in the record boxes of drum n bass godfather Goldie and France’s sensational Laurent Garnier.

Versatility and genre-hopping come naturally to Klute. “I’ve always ventured beyond drum n bass because of my background,” Klute reveals in an interview with drumnbass.ch, “It’s a bit of community service, showing people there’s something beyond drum n bass.” None of this is surprising given his formative punk ethic and the heavy influence of Detroit techno. “Detroit techno is not about sounding like Detroit,” Klute cautions. “It’s about blending musicality and machines to create electronic emotions.”

Holding down microphone duties on August 9 will be yet another versatile drum n bass marvel: MC Stamina. Stamina is well known for his soulful singing on drum n bass tracks like “LK” and “Barcelona.” Whether rhyming, singing or just rapping to the crowd, Stamina is one of the most sought after MCs in the biz. Beijing’s DJ Mael says to believe the hype: “I saw him once in France, the sound cut out for some reason, but Stamina kept going, rhyming and singing acapella for 15 minutes with the crowd captivated just by the power of his voice.”

Now that’s stamina.

THE DETAILS

DJ Klute and MC Stamina

Thursday, August 9, 10 p.m.

Vic's

Ticket price: TBD