Culprit 1

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Culprit 1
Birth name	James Hannam
Also known as	Culprit 1, Culprit One, Culp
Origin	Newport, Wales
Genre(s)	Electronica
Occupation(s)	DJ
Instrument(s)	Keyboards
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Exceptional Records
Associated acts	The Automatic The Martini Henry Rifles Paul Hartnoll Melanie C Kaiser Chiefs
Website	Official Site MySpace page

Culprit 1 aka Culprit One (born James Hannam) is a London-based DJ, remixer and electronica producer. He is considered 'The DJ Shadow of Wales' by BBC Radio 1 and 'The Bastard Son of Orbital and RJD2' by XFM.

An emerging talent in the UK electronic music scene, he has built up a dedicated fanbase through a string of EPs and the critically-acclaimed debut album 'Running in Order'. Culprit 1 is also in demand as a remixer, having produced alternative versions of UK chart hits for Kaiser Chiefs, Orbital's Paul Hartnoll and The Automatic. His music has been supported on BBC Radio 1 by Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe, Bethan Elfyn, Annie Mac, Annie Nightingale, Colin Murray and Huw Stephens (who contributed sleeve notes to 'Running in Order').

Most popular in Japan and Germany, he has often bemoaned the demise of dance music in his home country through comments made in several magazine interviews (see external links for details).

Unusually for a producer in a traditionally serious and publicity-shy genre, Culprit 1 maintains an amusing, tongue-in-cheek journal and Facebook group in which he regularly describes his European touring experiences, studio experiments and day trips back to Wales.

Following popular events with a string quartet early in 2007 (two members of which also performed with Kanye West on his 2006 UK tour), he found favour in the classical music world, earning the support of influential UK radio station Classic FM.

Culprit 1's artwork, live visuals and videos are created by the award-winning motion design company Roughcollie.

1 Education
2 Musical Style
3 History
4 Discography
5 Remix discography
6 Journalism
7 Trivia
8 Links
9 References

[edit] Education

Hannam holds a degree in music from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In late 2006, he was featured on the front page of the college's alumni magazine 'Viva' and stated that the compositional techniques he learned there are still incorporated in much of his music. Prior to his studies at the Cardiff-based conservatoire, he studied music at Crosskeys College in the Welsh valleys.

Culprit 1 is a major supporter of musical education and has given lectures at several state schools, the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and his former conservatoire, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He also works with the UK charity Youth Music. In the sleeve notes of his debut album 'Running in Order', Hannam thanks all of his past music teachers individually.

[edit] Musical Style

According to his MySpace page, Culprit 1's main influences are DJ Shadow, The Prodigy, Orbital, Boards of Canada and The Chemical Brothers. He spoke of The Prodigy's musical influence in a 2007 interview with American magazine Beatportal (connected to dance download site Beatport). Hannam has consistently refused to discuss the equipment he uses to make music. Nothing is listed on his MySpace page or website.

His musical style can be described as epic, symphonic, experimental electronica. There are also several slow moving psychedelic ambient passages sandwiched between tracks on debut album 'Running in Order'. Hannam often uses modal chordal patterns utilising string instruments and also incorporates fast-moving basslines underpinned by slow, powerful drums. This is a compositional technique sometimes favoured by R'n'B producer Timbaland, whom Hannam has acknowledged as a major influence in both interviews and on his website.

Other commonly-used musical devices include choppy staccato patterns using tuned percussion and percussive instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, santur, vibraphone and xylophone. Hannam also favours unusual chord progressions and odd time changes, both staples of the 1970s progressive rock scene (he lists the band Yes as an influence on his MySpace page).

As a result, Culprit 1's tracks have a tendency to jolt from one genre to another in a matter of seconds. He was quizzed about this compositional style by the American magazine Beatportal (see above) and responded thus: “I can’t look at a website or listen to someone talking for more than ten seconds and it’s the same with music. I can’t stay in the studio for more than 25 minutes at a time, I just get bored and have to do something else for a while which usually involves lying on the floor and drinking green tea. I’m too hyper to stick to normal musical arrangements, so I chop things up, play things backwards and mash up the drum beats in order to maintain both my interest and that of the listener. This style of composition doesn’t work for everyone, but I don’t think I could work any other way.”

[edit] History

Hannam began his musical career by playing keyboards with the bands Headtest and Tommy and the Chauffeur, both of whom were signed to the Boobytrap Records label. He spoke about his first gig in a 2006 interview with London dance magazine One Week to Live: "My first ever gig was in a pool hall in Newport with my school band Headtest. It was in...1997 and we were about 15 or something. Some guy from the Valleys told us we were good, then I celebrated our performance by drinking Skol with friends and puked up in my father's Nissan Micra."

'What I Use', the first recording made under the Culprit 1 moniker, was released in July 2003 on the aforementioned Boobytrap (a label that subsequently earned the title “greatest singles club in the world” from the legendary American music magazine Rolling Stone). The record picked up praise across the nation, with plays from Steve Lamacq, Colin Murray, Eddy Temple-Morris and many others.

In March 2004, he played America’s legendary South by Southwest event, getting the nod from Zane Lowe as one of the few electronic acts at the festival. A week later saw the release of the 'Aqoon Guud EP' (on My Kung Fu), which gained further radio support from the aforementioned Zane and the influential British dance DJ Pete Tong. Following the 'No need to ask EP', he left My Kung Fu to sign to Exceptional Records, where he has released 'Sway EP', 'Hollow EP' and 'Tricks'.^[1] The 'Tricks' release featured a Remix by Paul Hartnoll of Orbital Fame, whilst the 'Hollow EP' release featured vocals from London's MC Incyte, and a remix by Hip hop producer Conflict of Mint.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]-- He has since performed alongside fellow electronica artists Bonobo, Blue States, Grand National, Caribou, High Contrast , Fabio and Mylo.

After producing remixes for The Automatic, Kaiser Chiefs and Paul Hartnoll, Culprit 1 unveiled his debut album release for Exceptional Records in June 2007. A musical tour de force from the frontiers of electronic music, 'Running in Order' was met with widespread critical acclaim:

[edit] Discography

Title	Format	Label	Year
What I Use	CD single	Boobytrap Records	2003
Aqoon Guud	CD EP	My Kung Fu	2004
Jarred/What I Use	12 “ vinyl single	My Kung Fu	2004
No Need to Ask	CD single	My Kung Fu	2005
Sway	12” vinyl single	Exceptional Records	2006
Hollow	Download single	Exceptional Records	2006
Tricks	12” vinyl single	Exceptional Records	2007
Running in Order	CD album	Exceptional Records	2007
No Need To Ask (reissue & remixes)	12" vinyl single	Exceptional Records	2007

[edit] Remix discography

Artist	Release	Label	Year
The Messiah Complex	Fever	We Are Your Friends	2004
The Martini Henry Rifles	Slash the Seats	My Kung Fu	2005
Melanie C	Next Best Superstar	Red Girl Records	2005
Jo and Danny	Dying Kiss	Double Snazzy	2006
The Automatic	Monster	B-Unique / Polydor	2006
The Automatic	Recover	B-Unique / Polydor	2006
The Automatic	Raoul	B-Unique / Polydor	2007
Paul Hartnoll feat. Robert Smith	Please	Kids	2007
Kaiser Chiefs	The Angry Mob	B-Unique / Polydor (promo only)	2007

[edit] Journalism

Hannam writes a bi-monthly editorial column for The Fly (magazine) about the Welsh music scene. He is a staunch supporter of many Welsh acts, but in particular the drum 'n' bass producer High Contrast and rock band Lostprophets.

He also writes two monthly series entitled 'Pioneers of Electronic Music' and 'Track Analysis' for the American dance magazine Beatportal.

[edit] Trivia

A couple that met at the debut Culprit 1 performance in October 2003 are due to marry in 2008.

The name Culprit 1 was influenced by a graffiti scrawling at Newport bus station.

At Bettws High School in Newport, he won the 1992 Eisteddfod keyboard solo competition with a rendition of 2 Unlimited's European hit 'No Limits'.

Hannam's first job after graduating from university was a club reviewer for the UK dance magazine Muzik. The editor at the time was Conor McNicholas, now editor of leading indie magazine NME.