Klute has been a fixture on the Drum and Bass scene for over a decade, lending his creativity to the likes of Metalheadz, 31 Records and his early stable Certificate 18, responsible for releasing his first two albums, Casual Bodies and Fear of People. In 2001 his own Commercial Suicide imprint was borne out of a necessity on Klute’s part to control his own releases as well as provide a support network for the ever increasing new generation of like minded producers.

So far the label has seen releases by Klute himself, Calibre, Amit, AI, Tactile, Total Science, Digital, and Austrian prodigy D.Kay. Previous to this much lauded and rebellious electronic career, Klute fronted legendary Skate-Punk outfit, ‘The Stupids’, an apt schooling for a producer with this unique level of eclecticism.

But how did we arrive at this point? In his own words Tom recalls: “after releasing my last album Fear of People on certificate 18 in 2000 I decided to spend the next eighteen months getting back to my roots as a drum and bass artist.” The result of this retrospection was a series of well received singles, “with the dance floor in mind”.

The aim (which was comfortably achieved) was “to spread my wings, connect with more people and bring my music to a wider audience.” With this reintroduction a hunger was reborn leading to Klute coupling his early album work with his new found club orientation; “…rather like bringing a book to the people instead of another issue of a magazine.” The twelve track result, Lie, Cheat & Steal effortlessly bridges the oft-ignored gap in Drum and Bass between artistic longevity and dance floor appeal.

Tom’s humble contentment with his latest labour of love and its’ non-Drum and Bass offshoot, You Should Be Ashamed is indicative of their probable success. “As an artist and as a listener I have always been very diverse and those familiar with my output on Certificate 18 will know that there if far more to me than Drum and Bass”. As a melting pot of every electronic and roots based genre, Drum and Bass is often blessed with moments of inspired creation. Klute’s latest Drum and Bass offering is the latest example.

Couple this with You Should… and the resulting double album offers both guidance and education to the KLUTE sound and it’s background: “The reason why I went all the way with the electronic album is because my heart lies in Detroit. I’ve always appreciated all kinds of electronic music but for me this revolution began in Detroit and You Should Be Ashamed is my own take on this hugely important part of my life.”

As an ongoing studio experiment, tracks from both albums have crept onto sound systems and into the hands of DJs all over the world in recent months and henceforth proved their dance floor worth and immediacy. This fresh take on dance floor elements has been welcomed across the board by the likes of Goldie, Bailey, Marcus Intalex, Fabio, Trace, Andy C and Ed Rush. Any preconceived ideas of a lack of non D&B maturity in Klute’s other works have been dispelled thanks to DJ support from Andrew Weatherall, the Plump DJ’s, Laurent Garnier and Mr C amongst others.

With the dance floor firmly taken care of the home experience doesn’t fail to satisfy, in fact it captivates, returning the club support favour with a special link rare in modern dance music LPs. (above words by Catalyst)

Klute has been back in the spotlight in recent years once again. After the release of 2003’s double-shot Lie, Cheat, and Steal / You Should Be Ashamed , Tom returned in late 2004 with his fourth artist album : No One’s Listening Anymore . featuring a full-length vinyl LP and a CDLP with bonus CD featuring all of Klute’s finest non-drum’n’bass tunes.

With radio and DJ support across the board, this album featured many deep and uplifting tunes, as well as heavy dancefloor tracks. To coincide with these releases, Klute’s DJ-ed across the globe, in the USA and Canada, all over Europe, the UK and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

2005 meant more international gigs for Klute, as well as more releases from himself and other artists on Commercial Suicide. Klute’s „Rosemary / Don’t Wanna Be Alone’ dropped on Metalheadz Platinum at the beginning of the year. On his own imprint we saw „Learning Curve/Hell Hath No Fury“ as well as singles from Amit and Break.

2006 brought more offerings on Commercial Suicide, including full length LPs from both Amit and SKC, and more singles from the man Klute himself, and Break. A first single was released on Soul:r , which features „We’re All Dying / Come Back to Me“  as well as a debut on Friction’s Shogun Audio, with „Revolution“/“Most People Are Dicks.“

2007 will see the release of Klute’s 5th artist album (his 3rd on his own label Commercial Suicide. The LP (title TBA) will drop in April with promos out in March. With his high-quality output of late, this should be his best LP to date. Expect a wordwide tour to promote the album.

Check out Klute - Saturday 07 June 2008 @ Rise. Click here for more info.