Diplo, Diplodocus, Wes Gully, and Wes Diplo are all pseudonyms of Wesley Pentz, a Philadelphia-based producer and DJ since 2003. Together with DJ Low Budget he runs Hollertronix, a party and music collective. In addition to his solo career, he has worked with Sri-Lankan/Tamil singer and artist M.I.A.. The two were also romantically involved. Pentz's alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.
There are at least two artists with the name Bonobo: 1) Simon Green was born and grew up in rural Hampshire, escaping to Brighton aged eighteen. There he fell into the jazz/hip hop/funk/soul scene centred around Rob Luis and nights like phonic:hoop. An accomplished musician as a teenager, he began producing his own tracks, pushing at the template established in the sweaty little venues studding the Lanes.
The Death Set (also spelled TheDeathSet or The DeathSet) is a music group formed in 2005 in Sydney, Australia by Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco. Six months after its inception the band moved to the East Coast of the United States, spending most of its time in Brooklyn, Baltimore and Philadelphia where the band found an audience for its style of spastic, cross genre punk rock. All members currently live in Brooklyn, where the band is based.
From the days of Breakbeat's origins, FreQ Nasty established himself as one of the scene's pioneers, producing many of the genre's defining moments. As Breakbeat came into its own, FreQ Nasty's tunes remained ahead of the pack. His music is on the cutting edge of the FutureStep Movement, a chaotic loose assemblage of sonic renegades, steeped in the traditions of Breaks, Dubstep, Rock, Ragga, Grime and Funk, chopping in and out of slow-motion, Halfstep beats.
Sometime back in the mid-90s a fresh faced Brazilian ex-pat living in the UK decided he was going to put down his harmonica, pick up a sampler, and name himself after a Stephen King novel. The resulting album, Cujo's Adventures in Foam (released on Ninebar records, later reissued on Ninja Tune) signalled Amon Tobin's entry into the world of music. Immediately upon hearing this record, the powers that be at Ninja Tune signed him up to record as Amon Tobin, and he quickly went to work on his debut Bricolage.
This musical romantic weaves together a true "love-sound" that falls between honeyed melody and all out rave. He taking the acoustics further with the husband & wife pairing, The Long Lost. Once working from a studio in Santa Monica, California. A young Daedelus began noodling Bass Clarinet notes, and soon after attempting Double-Bass. After an ill-fated affair pondering classical and jazz, rave paved the way, and a burgeoning record collection fueled Daedelus’ artistic creativity, preparing the path to his first full length release, Invention.
Roots Manuva, born Rodney Smith is a British hip-hop artist, who mixes hip hop with reggae and dub as well as electronica, and even some gospel. He grew up around Stockwell in South London. His parents were from a small village in Jamaica called Banana Hole where his father was a preacher and tailor. Spending much of his early years in poverty, this and his strict Pentecostal upbringing clearly had an influence on his music as can be seen in many of his tracks such as "Sinny Sin Sins" and "Colossal Insight".
DJ Vadim (aka Vadim Peare, real name Andrey Gurov) is a prolific DJ from Russia, based in London. His music combines hip hop and electronica and his recording technique involves very precise sampling as opposed to looping. He signed to Ninja Tune in 1992, and founded his own independent record label, Jazz Fudge in 1995. Aside from DJ-ing, he has worked in numerous roles including A&R, promoter, and radio presenter on the BBC's "Around The World In Eight Relays".