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Biography
Though Birchard is a highly reputable artist in his own rights he is perhaps best known as being one half of the electronic/instrumental hip-hop duo TNGNT and even more so an affiliate of Kanye West.
Birchard was born 11 February 1986 and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. By the age of 15 he was producing beats under the moniker DJ Itchy and became the youngest contestant to enter as a finalist in the UK DMC. Some of Birchard’s first performances were hosted at Glasgow University’s Subcity Radio and it was on this campus where he came across an engraving on a statue that would bear his future alias, Hudson Mohawke.
Birchard’s first official release under the name Hudson Mohawke was the track “Free Mo” and it appeared on the Ubiquity Records 2007 compilation album “Choices, Vol. 1”. Birchard went on to work as a remixer on the label’s second compilation “Choices, Vol. 2”, which also saw release in 2007. Around this time Birchard collaborated with Mike Slott as Heralds of Change. The duo put out a string of 12” EPs through All City Records, which included “Show You”, “Sittin’ On the Side”, and “Secrets”.
In 2008 Birchard put out a 12” of his own on the label LuckyMe/Wireblock entitled “Ooops!”. The recording spread like wildfire in the underground electronica scene and generated even more hype once information about his residency on Warp Records was leaked. Birchard put out his first EP on Warp Records in 2009 entitled “Polyfolk Dance” and two years later followed it up with his debut album “Butter”. In 2011 Birchard released the 5 track EP “Satin Panthers” and subsequently issued his 2014 EP “Chimes”. This EP gathered quite a bit of attention primarily for it’s self-titled single, which featured Pusha T, Future, Travi$ Scott, and French Montana and was additionally included in an Apple advertisement for the MacBook Air.
Apart from acting as a solo recording artist Birchard is also highly recognized for his production skills. He was signed as a producer by Kanye West to the label GOOD Music and contributed to the highly anticipated “Cruel Summer” release. Birchard has also worked on Kanye’s highly publicized and acclaimed album “Yeezus”, working on the tracks “Blood on the Leaves” and “I Am A God”. Other artists Birchard has lent his production skills include Pusha T, Drake, John Legend, and Azealia Banks.
Live reviews
Hudson Mohawke – aka Scotland’s finest, Ross Birchard – is one of the most hyped alternative producers of recent times. And for good reason. He has been at the forefront of the whole contemporary trap movement; His own LuckyMe and Warp releases, work with Kanye West’s GOOD Music and, most importantly, TNGHT project with Lunice helped make trap electronic music a worldwide phenomenon. I have always loved instrumental hip hop, but the best has always come from America, mainly from LA. So when I stumbled across HudMo, as he’s affectionately known, supporting Bloc Party’s Kele at a solo London show years ago, I was gobsmacked. Here was a young Scottish lad smashing a set of warped hip hop and bass music. It turned out to be my introduction to contemporary trap music and I have since seen Hudson Mohawke a dozen times, with each show getting bigger as the genre blew up, culminating in TNGHT’s massive show at Field Day in London last year. Whereas TNGHT is in your face trappy, HudMo’s solo sets tend to have a more rounded hip hop feel, with experimental beats and industrial noises scrapping with oldschool flavours. Just check out his infamous Boiler Room ‘hip hop’ set, which he has delivered to London very rarely. A hip hop DJ at the top of his; no wonder Kanye West snapped up his production skills to his GOOD Music label!
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