John Walker (born on 4 February 1982) known by his stage name, Kutski is a British radio DJ, from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, England. He presented various shows for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, playing a variety of hard dance music, including

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

, electro,

hard trance Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in the early 1990s as the Breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influen ...

, hardcore and

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance music, electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and Hardcore (electronic dance music genre), har ...

. Kutski now produces and hosts a weekly podcast, "Keeping the Rave Alive", which plays music similar to that heard on his

shows.

Career

Kutski started DJing when he was 15 years old. The first big event he played was Elevate in Bangor, which resulted in earning a residency. Since then he has appeared at underground and mainstream hard dance clubs across the UK. He incorporates DMC-style scratching and mixing into every set. His residencies have included Tasty in London, Ripsnorter in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, and Elevate in Bangor. In 2004, Kutski released his debut track "Making Me Itch" under the name SPX. He signed to the Knuckleheadz label and was featured on the compilations Insomnia 4 and Extreme Euphoria 3. In 2005 Kutski joined

to host, by rotation, a slot of ''The Residency'', a

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...

led initiative to champion different forms of dance music. Of the six DJs hosting, Kutski was selected in order to champion underground hard dance/hardcore. His tune "Closer To God", released on X-Cite, was reviewed positively and supported by Anne Savage, Lisa Lashes and The Tidy Boys. A collaboration with Ollie from Warp Brothers was signed for release on the Tidy Tools EP, and featured on the Tidy Addict compilation. Kustki was one of the three DJs, alongside Steve Hill and Zatox, to mix the 2012 Hard Dance Awards Album. Kutski works for ''DJ Magazine'' as a hard dance and hardcore column writer, and also has a YouTube channel about his production techniques. He also works with manufacturers Vestax, Serato, Native Instruments, Stanton & Akai and Pioneer to test out software or kits. In Summer 2010, Kutski played at a number of large festivals, including Creamfields, Dance Valley, Global Gathering, Electrocity, Planet Love, and

Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...

. His tours included USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany, trips to Ayia Napa, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Kavos. 2010 also saw Kutski collaborate with Kiddfectious King Alex Kidd for the launch of The Kidd & Kutski Experience, in which the duo mixed the first hard dance covermount CD on

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

in almost a decade. In 2012 Kutski launched the "Keeping the Rave Alive" brand, sometimes known as ''KTRA'', which includes a popular

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

covering various genres of the hard dance scene and also educational tutorials. ''KTRA'' is also a record label, merchandise brand, and event promoter. Kutski has won a number of awards including being voted as the UK's no 1 Hard Dance DJ in a 2010

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

poll. In 2018, along with Kit Hype, Kutski released the single "Fly To The Stars" on the ''Foolish'' label. Critic Andy Whitby, of ''

'', gave the track an 8* review calling it "angry hardstyle power and utter cheddar".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kutski British radio DJs Living people 1982 births BBC Radio 1 presenters Hardstyle musicians British hardcore techno musicians