Culprit 1
Culprit 1 a.k.a. 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.
Culprit 1 | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Hannam |
| Also known as | Culprit 1, Culprit One, Culp |
| Born | 1980 |
| Origin | Newport, Wales |
| Genres | Electronica |
| Occupation(s) | DJ |
| Instruments | Keyboards |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Exceptional Records |
| Associated acts | The Automatic The Martini Henry Rifles Paul Hartnoll Melanie C Kaiser Chiefs |
| Website | Official Site MySpace page |
Hannam holds a degree in music from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and attended Crosskeys College in the Welsh valleys, where the Manic Street Preachers also studied. His music has been broadcast 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 first album 'Running in Order'). Eddy Temple-Morris, Adam Walton and Radio 101 (Croatia) have also supported Culprit 1 releases.
'What I Use', the first recording made under the Culprit 1 moniker, was released in July 2003 on Boobytrap. Hannam went on to perform at America’s legendary South by Southwest event and subsequently signed to Exceptional Records.
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.
In November 2010, Exceptional released Hannam's second album 'Theme 2', featuring vocal contributions from Smiler, Polarbear and Iko.
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 |
| Screamer | Download single | Exceptional Records | 2010 |
| Distraction (feat. Smiler) | Download single | Exceptional Records | 2010 |
| Theme 2 | Download album | Exceptional Records | 2010 |
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 |
| John Hardy & BBC National Orchestra of Wales | Letters | Ffin Records | 2010 |
Trivia
- Unusually for a producer in a traditionally serious and publicity-shy genre, Hannam maintains an amusing, tongue-in-cheek journal and Facebook group in which he regularly describes his studio experiments, vegetarian recipes and journeys back to Wales.
- A couple that met at the debut Culprit 1 performance in October 2003 married in 2008.
- The name Culprit 1 was influenced by a graffiti scrawling at Newport bus station.
- At Bettws High School in Newport, Hannam 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, who later became editor of leading indie magazine NME.