10 x 4 – Kuhn

Kuhn is the alter ego of 23 year old producer Bennett Kuhn who crafts energetic, mutant strains of beats and bass. One part juke to one part chi-town funk with fierce drums and synth lines to pop your speaker, he is currently redefining fierce with his latest EP Slime Beach being a case in point. Riding roughshod over clanging 808’s and visions of futures past, we have hardly had it off the speakers. Lets 10 x 4.

Favourite part of the day to create?
5 a.m. I can’t push sleep back any further, so I usually make a production buzzer shot. Next morning (afternoon) turns out it was either great or horrible. Never in between.

Method or madness?
Chaos my M.O. Too much formula makes a formulaic track.

First musical love?
Space Jam soundtrack. I’m modeling my first LP on its flow because honestly it’s a perfect album.

Last musical love?
The Range – The Big Dip LP forthcoming on Astro Nautico. Brilliant emotional heavy-duty mutant footwork from Providence, RI. Infectious soulful vocal hooks, ice cold synths and percussion banging like a drum line from 3012.

One thing you would live without if you could?
Lazy music journalism gets my goat. So does lazy journalism of any kind. And all laziness. So laziness, my own especially.

Favourite instrument?
The Drum. Animal skins on dead tree parts, or ghost fragments in tomorrow’s samplers, there’s nothing more ancient and more future.

Love of your life?
My cat Kingsley. Big as a baby puma, muscular like Kevin Sorbo, hard as a rock, with enigmatic Egyptian features. Not scared of subwoofers. Serious, but with a heart of gold: the Wesley Snipes of felines. I try to act like him in life, but I’m not nearly as menacing.

Secret tip?
Burn your track to a CD and then scratch it or bury it in soil or douse it in acid. Clean the disc (or don’t—it’s your CD player). Resample, repeat.

Favourite Tumblr?
Paul Jones from Astro Nautico is something of a cybercelebrity due to his inimitable FatDudes. Themes include but are not limited to fully revealed ‘80s babes, low-budget horror film gore, and neon primitive computer graphics. VHS forever.

Last thing that inspired you?
Phillip D. Kick. To host Cole’s last ever remix under this moniker is a unique honor. I have a feeling I’ll be revisiting his public letter about the PDK project throughout my music career when I need fresh perspective and raw inspiration.

Published December 02, 2011.