Unlike many of his contemporaries, the musical career of Tom Withers began way before the sounds of drum and bass or even hardcore had first emerged. As Tommy Stupid he fronted skate punk outfit The Stupids and took the band on tours of Europe, the USA and Australia during the late 1980s before venturing into electronic music and starting his own solo career. From acid house and techno he made a natural progression into rave and then hardcore before playing his first gigs as a drum and bass DJ around 1996. Throughout his career, he’s always been happy to let his rebel roots show and has never been afraid to buck the trend. His ability to combine a multitude of influences in his music, from techno to thrash to dub, with punk attitude is Klute’s trademark.
Klute’s early forays into jungle brought several outings on the seminal Certificate 18 label and a relationship grew that resulted in the release of his first artist album, ‘Casual Bodies’ in 1998. He went on to release a further album ‘Fear of People’ on Certificate 18 in 2000 before seeking a new home following the demise of the label. Initially fearing that no-one else would want to release his music, at time when the scene seemed to dominated by soundalikes and trend followers, Klute went his own way and set up his own imprint.
Klute kicked off Commercial Suicide with the genre-defying classic ‘Tranceformat’ in 2001 and set the tone for the label that has since come to be held in the highest regard. Releases from the likes of Calibre, Digital, Spirit, Hive and Juju raised the label’s profile and helped build a reputation for varied output across the spectrum of drum and bass, testing both musical boundaries and the dancefloor. Klute released his third album ‘Lie Cheat & Steal’ in 2003 including guest remixes from Calibre and Keaton, with ‘No One’s Listening Anymore’ following in 2004. In 2006 Klute showed his faith in two of the scene’s most promising artists, Amit and SKC, by putting out their debut artist albums and has continued to support developing artists with a steady stream of releases from the likes of Insight, Break and Hydro. Klute neatly summed up the ethos behind the label, in an interview for DogsOnAcid in February 2008: “My whole purpose is to organically release music I like for the sake of people who like music; not hype and lies.”
His most recent LP, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ is arguably Klute’s best to date and gives the fullest representation of his sound across a double CD release. From the sinister and brooding bass heavy opener, ‘174 BPM,’ to the sublime and soothing sounds of ‘Our Leader,’ Klute has crafted an album where every track sounds unique yet all sound unmistakably his own. Combining heart-stopping melodies with deep and deadly beats, the mood moves from melancholic to uplifting in a truly widescreen presentation to appeal a broad base of fans.
Since the album, Klute has released singles for DJ Presha’s Samurai Music (‘Divinity’ b/w ‘Hang with Me’) and together with Dom & Roland (‘Maximus’). In 2009, his latest single ‘Ashram’ b/w ‘Trust Me’ sees a return to Commercial Suicide in one of his biggest releases yet, with wideranging support coming from DJ Pathaan, BBC Radio 1’s Bobby Friction & Nihal plus a Single of the Week tip from DJ Magazine.
Klute’s next artist LP is anticipated in early 2010 and, with his forward-thinking approach and reputation for challenging boundaries, we can surely look forward to an album of fresh and unique music: "To me drum & bass is a form of music which has always been out on a limb and the tracks that have shocked me are those that have expanded on what went before them, whether that's people using the technology in ways that you're not supposed to or just turning around sounds in different ways. As far as I am concerned people taking chances is the future and I would like to think that my material falls into that category."
As part of the crew behind the A Bunch of Cuts mp3 store, Klute is also one of the residents behind the new bi-monthly residency at The Arches in London. With tours of New Zealand and the USA already under his belt this year plus numerous gigs at clubs and festivals across Europe, Klute has been keeping busy and continues to perform and tour with his band, The Stupids. Recent releases from the likes of Amit & Outrage and Break plus the launch of a full digital back catalogue have kept Commercial Suicide on track before the release of his forthcoming LP, due early next year.
