When you enter a DJ'ing competition,
having never DJ'd before, and get to the finals, you know
you must have chosen the right career path Krafty Kuts
was born, aged 12. Having been responsible for the massively
successful Finger Lickin' Funk EP, remixes of Flint and 2inDaBush
as well as DJ'ing regularly under the Finger Lickin' banner
Martin is now firmly part of the Finger Lickin' family.
Brighton based Krafty Kuts alias Martin Reeves has developed
his passion for DJ'ing since the late 1980's when he was fully
immersed in the old skool movement, playing locally in legendary
clubs such as Sterns, The Zap, and The Concorde and supporting
bands across the South Coast. Soon after buying his first
set of decks, Martin opened his own record shop, through which
he identified a sound for his DJ style, a hip hop funk infusion
of up-tempo beats. Martin's big break came in 1993, when Richie
Rich featured one of his hip-hop remixes on his Kiss FM show.
With his music knowledge, a successful DJ'ing reputation
and the record shop as a catalyst, Krafty Kuts started to
make his own music. He aimed to mix up break beat, funk and
hip-hop to produce a groundbreaking new sound. The first release
Latin Bounce was a massive success in 1997, whilst Gimme the
Funk, released on Norman Cook's Southern Fried label, received
radio support from the likes of Annie Nightingale and Touche
(Wiseguys). Having hooked up with the Ministry of Sound's
offshoot label FSUK, Martin was now a serious contender in
the new breaks arena. 1998 singles Funky Elements and Return
of the Elements were acclaimed by the music press, as was
the Krafty Kuts compilation Slam the Breaks On.
By the late 1990's, the sound of Krafty Kuts had been defined,
and his unique style received industry notoriety. Martin has
had residencies in Brighton, and London clubs from Home, Scala
and Heavenly Social to Fabric, 333 and Electrowerks. Martin's
DJ'ing gigs have seen him play alongside Norman Cook, The
Freestylers, Jungle Brothers, Plump DJs, Scratch Perverts,
Roni Size, DJ Rap, and Adam Freeland. It's not surprising
then that DJ Magazine readers have voted Martin one of the
top 100 DJ's in the world, and more specifically in the top
10 break beat maestros for the last 3 years. Mr Kuts still
runs the now legendary Wednesday club night Supercharged at
the Funky Buddha Lounge in his hometown of Brighton. 2002
alone has seen Krafty DJ in over 7 countries including gigs
all over the UK every weekend and upcoming dates in USA, Canada,
Australia and Europe.
Studio collaborations with funk master Freddie Fresh and
New York's Dr. Luke produced a brilliant new blend of party
beats. Finger Lickin' snapped up the tracks, and the resulting
Finger Lickin¹ Funk ep was such a huge success a Finger
Lickin' Funk album is now under way.
Krafty and Freddie then jointly created new label Against
The Grain; the sound is electric, a house of bass-heavy beats.
The first single release, Krafty's Lock the Hype/Smash Your
Breaks was released at the end of 2001 and the Lost Plates
EP soon followed, which reached Cool Cuts and Buzz charts
as well as #1 in the DJ Beats chart. Krafty compiled the December
cover CD for Mixmag and one of his tracks is currently being
used on a Coca Cola TV advertising campaign.
On the remix front Krafty has just reworked Africa Bambaata's
Funky Hereos for one of breakbeats top labels Acetate Ltd.
Remixes in the pipeline include Deadly Avenger, Freestylers,
Mob Records, Sounds of Vancouver and Disco Assassins. He has
also just written some music for a new Playstation 2 game,
Rollin.
His plans for the rest of the year include releases on Against
the Grain and also a co-production with promoter partner Lloyd
from Supercharged.
However, most of his production skills are focused on the
Finger Lickin' Funk party hip hop album he is writing with
talented youngster A Skills, which just oozes summertime funk.
He is working with a whole host of well known artists, who
shall remain a secret for now. There are plans for a 4 deck
live set featuring the mixing and scratching talents of Krafty
and A Skills, plus various singers, rappers and musicians.
The massive single Peaches/ Tricka Technology is set for huge
success on release in September this year, followed by the
album in the spring.
