Russ Gabriel

Russ Gabriel's musical endeavours began in 1990 in Liss (a small village in the south of England), where he was born. Ignited by the experimental electronic music shows of Colins Faver and Dale on London's Kiss FM, Russ's initial works were hard to pigeon hole, drawing influence from a mix of the Funk of the Seventies, the Electro of the early Eighties and the new sounds he was hearing from Eindhoven and Detroit.

His earlier works acclaimed much praise amoung the critics for their intricately constructed harmonies and intelligent drum programming . In the Rough Guide to Techno, Tim Barr describes Russ's debut album on U.K. label, GPR as "an under-rated masterpiece, full of supernaturally beautiful electronic melodies and machine code percussives".Laurent Garnier chose the words "stunning" and "beautiful", but the general consensus was that Russ's music showed great passion and a deep-rooted understanding for the works of his idols - Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock.

In 1993 Russ founded the Ferox label which continued to push experimental music, introducing a range of artists from Christian Vogel to Ian O'Brien. His own music edged more towards the dance-floor with his Too Funk and Fusion projects on Ferox and a wealth of releases on labels such as Djax-Up-Beats, Carl Craig's Planet-E and U.K. Peacefrog Records.

By 1996, Russ's direction was firmly fixed on his fusion of organic funk and electronics. The birth of Soul on Wax Communications merged House Music with Disco in a way not previously attempted. The "Back in Charge" and "Orange Méchanique" releases are widely regarded as classics and have remained in the boxes of DJs across the world since their inception. Russ's continued quest for a new sound and his refusal to release anything less than quality has set him aside from most.

Today, Russ continues to push for change in his music, from the samba rhythms of "Jelba", released this year on Sony’s Rhythmix label, to his much acclaimed "We Will Be Turning" on U.K. Out of The Loop Recordings. With increased usage of percussion, strings and live instrumentation, you will frequently hear Russ’s music played and praised by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Rainer Truby. His DJing has already taken him to all corners of the globe and this year incorporates further tours in both Japan and South America. as well as his usual European appearances and residencies in Cardiff’s "Radius" and Frankfurt’s "Robert Johnson".