Disrupt is Jan Gleichmar, a digital dub reggae producer who in 2004 teamed up with techno DJ Christoph Rootah to set up Jahtari, the netlabel that promotes the 8-bit ragga sound that kick-started a whole movement in digi-dub. Disrupt's first attempts on tracks in this vein were released in May 2004 on netlabel Phonocake as the A Fistful Of Dub EP. Gleichmar's formative years were spent involved with punk and gabba as a fan of Alec Empire's Digital Hardcore Recordings, Atari Teenage Riot and breakcore. In the mid-90s he discovered clicks'n'cuts and drum'n'bass and started making music with an old sampler while working odd jobs including camera assistant and construction site labourer. On a job in 1998, he met Jahtari partner Christoph Rootah, DJ and record collector.
The meeting sparked the idea for the digital laptop reggae concept. After the A Fistful Of Dub EP turned out to be a modest hit, the pair had enough motivation to start the Jahtari label in Nov 2004. Operated out of Gleichmar 's flat, the Jahtari site began offering free music from Disrupt, Rootah and others on the roster. They also invested in theory on the Jahtari Magazine where Gleichmar expounded on reggae history, the Commodore 64 and other vintage equipment. By 2006, Jahtari had started to offer releases on CD in addition to the free downloads and later produced vinyl releases too. As of 2008, it had signed more than 20 artists, among them London-based Mikey Murka (a veteran of 1980s UK digital reggae). As Disrupt, Gleichmar has received airplay from Radio 1's Mary Anne Hobbs, and drawn interest from influential imprint Werk who've since released a 12" and Disrupt's debut full-length Foundation Bit (Werk Disc, 2008), an album loaded with samples from classic sci-fi movies such as Alien, Tron, Dark Star, and THX-1138. Gleichmar is also a contributor to Playtherecords magazine.
Here we present a studio session from Disrupt alongside a live set performed at the Mungos hifi legendary club night in Glasgow. Check out the Mungo Soundsystem on the live recording each side of Disrupts set.
Disrupt and Mungos Hifi Soundsystem plays at Club Transmediale 2009 on Friday 23rd January at Club Maria.
www.jahtari.org
www.clubtransmediale.de
