We chat to Glasgow's prodigal son ahead of his Sunburst EP launch party at CAMP on the 1st of October.
It's not easy to define Rustie's sound; in fact his PRs resorted to making up a word, 'aquacrunk', to describe his first live show in 2007. “The stuff I was making then,” Rustie explains, “was very much Drexciya-inspired hip hop so it was a perfect description for my live set.” Whatever you call it, Rustie has been attacking sensibilities with his glitchy hip hop-influenced music since he began producing less than five years ago. He's now had his talent recognised in the most satisfying of ways: by being signed to the seminal record label Warp, and he now finds himself amongst such luminaries as Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Flying Lotus. “It's very surreal,” he admits, “from being a massive Warp fan before I had even started producing, being on their books is just amazing.”
Now a Londoner, Russell Whyte was born in Glasgow where he grew up playing the guitar and listening to staple rock artists such as G'n'R, Hendrix and Nirvana. His older brother bought him most of his early record collection and he discovered the joys of electronic music through artists such as Drexciya, Juan Atkins and Jeff Mills, all of whom heavily influence his current productions. Since signing with Warp and becoming a full time producer and DJ, Rustie's feet haven't really had time to hit the ground. As he explains, “an average week at the moment is working in the studio all day Monday to Friday and doing gigs at the weekends”. So not the easy life some presume artists have!
Glasgow has always been a hotbed of talent and Rustie is part of the infamous collective Lucky Me. Alongside other stars of the crunky hip hop sound such as Hudson Mohawk this group provided a platform from which Rustie launched his career. Rustie clearly still has soft spot for the city which nurtured his talents and he maintains that “Glasgow has the best crowds in the world; they party like nowhere else.”
On the 4th of October his début EP on Warp, the 'Sunburst EP' is released. Described by the man himself as “aggressive and melodic instrumental RnB/synth rock/club music” it's his usual mind scrunching output, and with an as yet unnamed album in the pipeline, this isn't the last you've heard from Russell Whyte.
Catch Rustie playing beside Harmonic 313, Untold and Jam City on the 1st for the 'Sunburst EP' launch party at The CAMP.
#035 – Rustie @ Numbers Barcelona. Sunday 20th June 2010 by Numbers
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