Richman, poorman, beggarman…
In ’96 jungle jemmied the lock and stole Thief’s heart. From there his musical reconnoitres led him down the darkened alleys of drum and bass, hip hop, and dub. Deep soul-shaking bass was the commonality. In 2006 dubstep slipped the catch and padded across the floorboards of his mind, ransacking emotions and taking everything with it.
Thief linked up with like-minded musical trailbastons P Vans, Steppa D and Kaps, joining the Strictly 138 Crew in 2007, while playing dubstep at parties with the Acetate crew.
As part of the 138 collective, Thief has played support for and been involved in promoting the likes of Scuba, Loefah, N-type, Chef, Plastician, The Bug and Warrior Queen, Zed Bias and RSD.
With a sound typified by forward thinking future dub music, and a philosophy of playing anything as long as it’s good, vibe over production, Thief prides himself on finding his own way, eschewing dancefloor trends and staying true to his musical voice. Dubwise flavours, sustained subbage, swing, junglist breaks, melody, unusual sonics and analogue grit comprise the robber-dub sound. Upfront tunes sit alongside deeper productions and local produce alongside fresh international beats in his DJ sets.
2009 sees Thief focusing on getting his production up to scratch – expect to hear some originals stealing their way into sets in the near future.
You can hear Thief playing tunes every second Thursday on Radio Active 89fm 11pm-1am on Homebass with Strictly138 or catch him in support of mighty Hyperdub head honcho Kode9 on 2 July at the Garden Club in Wellington.
Nuff respect to Thief for his Top Ten tunes for May 2009.
1. RSD – Green Hill (forthcoming Punch Drunk)
2. Untold – Anaconda (Hessle Audio)
3. Kapsy – Stop (dub)
4. Kromestar – Konflict (Fantastic 3)
5. Pangaea – Bear Witness (Hessle Audio)
6. Jamie Vex’d – In System Travel (Planet Mu)
7. RSD – On Deck (R8)
8. Kapsy – Feelings (dub)
9. Brackles and Shortstuff – Broken Harp (Pollen)
10. Bar9 – Murder sound (Cluekid rmx) (Z Audio)
