Wagon Christ on Bleep

Wagon Christ

Label Biography

So, for those of you who don't know the full and unexpurgated Luke Vibert story, it goes a little somethin' like this:

Luke Vibert was born and brought up in Cornwall. His dad was a crazy Jimi Hendrix fan and then got into punk. His mum preferred Yves Montand and the Beatles. He went to school. His favourite subject is unknown.

Young master Vibert started playing in various bands and basically making a bad noise - he puts the oddness of the 'Cornwall Skool' (contemporaries Aphex Twin and Tom Middleton/Global Communications) down to the fact that they were so far from any metropolitan style police that no one really cared what they made or how it sounded or what you called it.

Spurred on by the success of Aphex, Luke began to think about putting out some of his music. A new label called Rising High contacted Luke - they were looking for ambient acts so Luke said he was making ambient music (he wasn't). Wagon Christ was born.

Having convinced the label and many of the people buying his records that he was a new ambient guru, Wagon Christ continued to make sizzling, funky chunks of exotic business culminating in the masterful "Phat Lab Nightmare" and "Throbbing Pouch".

He had also discovered the joys of name-changing. Rephlex actually released his first ever release, the Vibert-Simmonds project (weird and slightly droney collaborations with a man named Simmonds). Blue Planet released his drum 'n' bass numbers under the moniker Plug. Mo' Wax signed him up for an album under the most radical title yet: Luke Vibert. Wagon Christ saw some major label action courtesy of Virgin, while Luke began a collaboration with renowned steel guitar player BJ Cole. And in between he pumped out a host of remixes for, amongst others, Nine Inch Nails, Squarepusher, Tortoise, Lamb, Stereolab and Mike Flowers Pops… (oops).

Finally, Wagon Christ came to Ninja, a match made in some sort of wibbly heaven, and already home, incidentally, to some of his finest remixes and tunes. His album, “Musipal” was so well received that it seemed to spur him on to produce a whole range of records elsewhere, a quest which has occupied him until the present day. In some kind of Roy Castle-inspired quest to hold the world record for punningly-titled album releases on leftfield dance imprints worldwide, Vibert has made records for Warp (“YosepH”), Rephlex (again, this time under the moniker Kerrier District): Lo Recordings (“Moog Acid,” his collaboration with electronic music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perry); Planet Mu (“Lover’s Acid,” “Chicago, Detroit, Redruth” and “We Hear You,” all as Luke Vibert); Rephlex (again again, this time as Amen Andrews vs Spac Hand Luke); First Cask (“Benefist” by Ace of Clubs); Rephlex (again again again, back with his original Vibert/Simmonds combo for “Rodulate”); Sound of Speed (“Rhythm” as ルーク・ヴァイバート); and of course on Ninja Tune for “Sorry I Make You Lush” and now “Toomorrow”.

Photo Credit: Steve Lazarides

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