Hudson Mohawke
Hudson Mohawke | |
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Mohawke performing in Glasgow in 2009. | |
Background information | |
Also known as |
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Born | 11 February 1986 |
Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments | |
Labels | GOOD, Warp, LuckyMe |
Associated acts | Kanye West, TNGHT, Lunice, Rustie, ANOHNI |
Website |
www |
Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986),[1] better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a producer, DJ, and composer from Glasgow, Scotland. A founding member of the LuckyMe label collective,[2] he has since signed to Warp Records and Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music production team. He has released two full-length albums on Warp, Butter (2009) and Lantern (2015), and has produced for a range of artists, including West, Pusha T, Drake, and Anohni. Birchard also makes up one half of the trap music duo TNGHT with Canadian producer Lunice.
Life and career
Early years and LuckyMe
At the age of 15, Birchard (under the name DJ Itchy) was the youngest ever UK DMC finalist.[3][4] His earliest gigs as a club DJ were with Glasgow University's Subcity Radio[5][6][7] where he first appeared as part of the culture city kids show and later as part of other shows including Turntable Science with Pro Vinylist Karim and Cloudo's Happy Hardcore show, under the alias DJ Mayhem.[8] During this period, Birchard formed the Lucky Me collective with childhood friends. He adopted the stage name "Hudson Mohawke" after seeing the name engraved on a statue in the hallway of his accommodation.[9][10] In 2007, Birchard applied to the Red Bull Music Academy and was invited to attend the event in Toronto,[11][12] where he first met Steve Beckett of Warp Records, who was giving a lecture there,[13] and was to sign Hudson Mohawke two years later.[14]
In addition to his solo work, Hudson Mohawke collaborated with Mike Slott as Heralds of Change, releasing a series of 12" EPs including Show You (2006), Sittin' on the Side (2007), Puzzles (2007) and Secrets (2007) on All City Records. Hudson Mo was also DJ/Producer for the now defunct hip hop group Surface Emp alongside MC's Dom Sum and sometimes 2 Can Dan.[15] Surface Empire released the LuckyMe EP in 2005 on Far Cut Records.
2008–11: TNGHT and Warp Records
In 2008, Birchard met Canadian producer Lunice during the first LuckyMe Records tour of North America, with Hudson Mohawke performing at the Pop Montreal festival and Lunice playing support.[16] Following a successful performance headlining Warp Records' 2012 SXSW showcase, the duo's collaborative project TNGHT debuted their TNGHT EP, released via Warp X LuckyMe on July 23, 2012.[17][18][19] TNGHT has since performed at multiple venues internationally, including The Opera House,[20] the Coachella music festival[21] and Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, which featured an appearance by rapper/producer Kanye West during a remix of West's "Cold".[22]
In 2009, Hudson Mohawke signed to Warp Records, despite a very limited track record of official releases; in fact, the bulk of his releases were unofficial tracks and DJ mixes circulated on the Internet.[23] His first official release to get major notice was entitled "Spotted" on the Rush Hour beat compilation Beat Dimensions Vol 1. In 2008 his 12" EP Ooops! on LuckyMe/Wireblock became an underground sensation, particularly once word spread of his recording contract with Warp. In 2009, Hudson Mohawke released his first studio album, Butter.[24] In that year, he contributed a cover of a Jimi Tenor song, titled "Paint the Stars", to the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation.[25] He would follow with several EPs, including 2011's Satin Panthers. He produced the debut EP for Manchester band Egyptian Hip Hop at Club Ralph Studios in London, which was released in August 2010. One of his tracks titled "100hm" has been featured as a track on Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V. His track 'Fuse' was featured in Sleeping Dogs and Dirt 3
2012–present: G.O.O.D. Music, Lantern, ANOHNI
In 2012, the Scottish producer began a series of collaborations with Kanye West, resulting in production credits on the highly anticipated GOOD Music label album Cruel Summer. On January 17, 2013, it was announced that Mohawke had officially signed with GOOD Music as a producer, whilst remaining with Warp and LuckyMe as a recording artist.[26] TNGHT announced their hiatus on December 27, 2013.[27] Mohawke went on to co-produce two tracks on West's 2013 album Yeezus ("I Am a God" and "Blood on the Leaves")[23] and contribute to much of West's 2016 follow-up The Life of Pablo, in addition to working with various other hip hop and pop artists, including Drake, Pusha T, and Future.[28] In 2015, he released his second studio album, Lantern. In 2016, He collaborated with British singer Anohni on her 2016 album Hopelessness.[29][30] Mohawke announced on October 26, 2016 via Twitter that he was creating the original soundtrack for the 2016 video game Watch Dogs 2, titled "Ded Sec" and that Warp Records would release it on November 11, 2016.[31]
Musical style
Following early acclaim for his turntable work, Hudson Mohawke has gone on to receive praise for his "genre-smashing" production approach, in which styles of music are "incorporated, manipulated and bounced against each other."[32][33] In 2009, The Guardian characterized his work as "manic cut-up pop, which sometimes sees him madly chopping and dicing established tunes and other times creating his own songs out of beats and pieces that have [...] jerky, rhythmic thrust and epileptic melodicism."[3] Following the formation of TNGHT, Birchard and partner Lunice attempted to strip down their production styles and avoid "all over the place" tracks.[34] In 2015, Exclaim! wrote that "in the six years since Glaswegian producer Hudson Mohawke released his debut full-length, Butter, Mohawke's music has gone from a glitch-y, turntablist jitter to a euphoric, multicolored trap-hop pound and everywhere in between."[35]
Discography
Albums
- Butter (2009, Warp)
- Lantern (2015, Warp)
- Ded Sec — Watch Dogs 2 (Original Game Soundtrack) (2016, Warp)
EPs
- LuckyMe (2005)
- Choices Vol. 1 (2007)
- Puzzles (2007)
- Secrets (2007)
- Polyfolk Dance (2009)
- Satin Panthers (2011)
- TNGHT (2012) (with Lunice as TNGHT)
- Hud Mo 100 (2013)
- Chimes (2014)
Singles
- "Oops!" (2008)
- "Star Crackout / Root Hands / Everybody Else Is Wrong" (2008)
- "Chimes" (2014)
- "Chimes (Rmx)" ft. Pusha T, French Montana, Travis Scott, Future
Production work
- Declaime - "Show Me" (2008)[36]
- Nadsroic - Room Mist (2009)
- Egyptian Hip Hop - Some Reptiles Grew Wings (2010)
- Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz - "Mercy" (2012)
- John Legend and Teyana Taylor - "Bliss" (2012)
- Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Marsha Ambrosius, and Cocaine 80s - "The One" (2012)
- Kanye West and R. Kelly - "To the World" (2012)
- Azealia Banks - "Jumanji" (2012)
- Dominic Lord - "Pierce" (2012)
- Buddy Leezle - "The Luv (Mo Mix)" from The Legend of Buddy Leezle (2013)
- Trek Life & DJ Rhettmatic - "What Is It" from Hometown Heroes Mixtape (2013)
- Kanye West - "I Am a God" and "Blood on the Leaves" from Yeezus (2013)
- Drake - "Connect" from Nothing Was the Same (2013)
- Pusha T - "Hold On" and "No Regrets" from My Name Is My Name (2013)
- Lil Wayne - "Lay It Down" from I Am Not a Human Being II (2013)
- Distantstarr - "Feste" and "Buttafly" from The Vibe (2014)
- Chynna - "MadeInChynna" (2014)
- Selah Sue - "The Light" from Reason (2015)
- Pusha T - "M.F.T.R." from King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude (2015)
- A$AP Rocky - "Everyday" from At. Long. Last. ASAP (2015)
- Kanye West - "Famous", "Freestyle 4", "Waves", and "FML" from The Life of Pablo (2016)
- Bodega Bamz - "GHOST" (2016)
- ANOHNI - Hopelessness (2016)
Remixes
- Lukid - "The Now (Remix by Hudson Mohawke)" from The Now EP (2007)
- Super Smoky Soul - "Geek Beat (Hud Mo Retwirk)" from Cycling EP (2007)
- O Liffey Family - "Rock the Spot: Heralds of Change Redub" from Cold Liffey (2007)
- Ghislain Poirier - "No More Blood (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2008)
- Fool - "Seventh (Hudson Mohawke RMX)" from Real Thing (2008)
- Crookers - "Put Your Hands on Me (Hudson Mohawke Mix)" (2009)
- Free Moral Agents - "Ageless (Hudson Mohawke Mix)" (2009)
- Dan Deacon - "Woof Woof (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2009)
- Uffie - "ADD SUV (Hudson Mohawke's Spam Fajita Remix)" (2010)
- American Men - "AM System (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" from Cool World" (2010)
- De De Mouse - "My Favorite Swing (Hudson Mohawke's Cobra Slice Rework)" from A Journey to Freedom Remixes (2010)
- Krystal Klear - "Tried for Your Love (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2010)
- Games - "Strawberry Skies (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2010)
- Wiley - "Electric Boogaloo (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2010)
- Jamie Woon - "Lady Luck (Hudson Mohawke's Schmink Wolf Re-Fix)" (2011)
- B.o.B - "Satellite (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2011)
- Gucci Mane - "Party Animal (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2011)
- Björk - "Virus (Hudson Mohawke Peaches and Guacamol Remix)" from Bastards (2012)
- Battles - "Rolls Bayce (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" from Dross Glop (2012)
- Jackson & His Computer Band - "Vista (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" from G.I. Jane (Fill Me Up) (2013)
- Disclosure - "White Noise (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2013)
- Paolo Nutini - "Iron Sky (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2014)
- Duck Sauce - "NRG (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2014)
- Four Tet - "Parallel Jalebi (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2014)
- Above & Beyond - "All Over the World (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2015)
- Boards of Canada - "Amo Bishop Roden (Hudson Mohawke Remix)" (2016)
- DJ Shadow - "Midnight In A Perfect World (Hudson Mohawke Mix)" (2016)
References
- ↑ "Ross Birchard". MusicBrainz. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
- ↑ Churchill, Tom. "Nine for 2009 - Hudson Mohawke". Clash. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- 1 2 Lester, Paul (2 February 2009). "New Band of the Day - No 476: Hudson Mohawke". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ Palermo, Tomas (16 April 2007). "Dilla Disciple with a Mohawke". XLR8R. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ "Subcity at the Renfrew Ferry, March 2002 | Flickr – Condivisione di foto!". Flickr.com. 2002-03-14. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ↑ "Warp Week: Hudson Mohawke Melts Genres Like Butter!". The Skinny. 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ↑ Devine, Rachel (22 November 2009). "Hudson Mohawke Dont call me just yet Kylie". The Times. London. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Bob Gnarly // episode 2 // hudson mohawke". Subcity Radio. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ↑ "Interview: Hudson Mohawke". The Guardian. London. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ Murphy, Ben. "Hudson Mohawke Interview". DJ Magazine. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ Lin, Yu-Cheng. "Red Bull Music Academy Alumni: Where Are They Now?".
- ↑ "Montreal to Host Red Bull Music Academy 2016".
- ↑ Beckett explains this in his lecture: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/steve-beckett-the-warp-factor
- ↑ Also Birchard explains this in his lecture: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/hudson-mohawke-lecture
- ↑ "Subcity Radio // Podcasts // DJ Itchy & Surface Empire // 22.10.04". Subcity.org. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ↑ Wazna-Blank, Stevanie. New Artist: TNGHT VIP magazine, February 24, 2013
- ↑ Artists Scion AV
- ↑ Caramanica, Jon. New Releases The New York Times, July 29, 2012
- ↑ TNGHT Synth Glasgow, July 2012
- ↑ TNGHT at Opera House Songkick, November 29, 2012
- ↑ Coachella 2013: TNGHT, artist spotlight Time Out New York, November 29, 2012
- ↑ Minsker, Evan. Kanye West makes surprise appearance at TNGHT show in Brooklyn Pitchfork, December 1, 2012
- 1 2 Birchmeier, Jason. "Hudson Mohawke Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ↑ Ramirez, AJ (27 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". PopMatters. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ↑ Breihan, Tom (1 July 2009). "Warp20 Box Set Tracklist Revealed". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ↑ Makarechi, Kia (18 January 2013). "Hudson Mohawke & G.O.O.D. Music: Kanye West Snaps Up Buzzy Producer". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ↑ "Waning Moon".
- ↑ "The Life of Pablo – Credits". www.kanyewest.com. 2016-02-17. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ↑ "Antony and the Johnsons news". Antonyandthejohnsons.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
- ↑ "Hopelessness album announcement I". Facebook. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ↑ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
- ↑ Cooper, Duncan (4 August 2011). "Interview: Hudson Mohawke". The Fader. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ↑ MacIness, Paul (22 October 2009). "Butter review". Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ↑ Dombal, Ryan (June 15, 2012). "Rising: TNGHT". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ↑ Carlick, Stephen (June 12, 2015). "Hudson Mohawke: Lantern". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Show Me (feat. Hudson Mohawke): Declaime: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-07-04.