Biography
Kode9 sustains a leading role within underground dance music by balancing his creation of the pioneering Hyperdub imprint, consistently inventive DJ performances, and ongoing original productions with remixes. As an early architect of the U.K. dubstep scene, he launched Hyperdub in 2004, issuing multiple singles alongside ragga vocalist Spaceape as well as the full-lengths Memories of the Future (2006) and Black Sun (2011) plus the mix CD Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006). Widening his range further, he championed the juke/footwork scene early while weaving in broken beat, garage, and grime across projects such as the solo album Nothing (2015) and the mix-CD Fabriclive 100 (2018, with Burial). Escapology, tied to the larger Astro-Darien endeavor, surfaced in 2022. His half of the 2023 split single with Burial, titled "Infirmary," merged jungle and footwork.
Born Steve Goodman in Glasgow, Scotland, he started DJ'ing in 1990 at age 16 and identifies his first exposure to drum'n'bass as a decisive influence on his later trajectory. He relocated to London in 1997 and kept performing, blending breaks- and bass-driven styles. Production work under the Kode9 moniker began in 2002 on the Tempa label, leading him to establish Hyperdub soon after. The label's inaugural release, Sine of the Dub (2004), reworks Prince's "Sign o' the Times" as dubstep and appears under Kode9 with vocalist Daddi Gee, aka the Spaceape, a partnership that extended through following years. South London Boroughs, an influential 2005 EP on Hyperdub, marked Burial's recording debut; the full-lengths Burial (2006) and Untrue (2007) earned strong critical regard and broadened dubstep's reach worldwide.
Alongside operation of his growing label, Kode9 maintained his own Hyperdub output, notably the debut full-length collaboration Memories of the Future (2006) with the Spaceape. He delivered his first official mix album, Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006), on Tempa and four years later contributed to the !K7 label's long-running DJ-Kicks series. As an author, he produced Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear (published in 2009). The tension-filled Black Sun (2011) formed his second album with the Spaceape. Kode9 handled the mix for Rinse, Vol. 22 on Rinse Recordings in 2013 and issued the solo 12" "Xingfu Lu" on Hyperdub; both reflected growing Chicago footwork influence, the same year Hyperdub released DJ Rashad's acclaimed Double Cup album. The deaths of DJ Rashad and the Spaceape, who succumbed to cancer in October 2014 shortly before the final Kode9 collaboration EP Killing Season appeared, marked 2014. Kode9's first solo full-length, Nothing (2015), addressed both losses.
Focus shifted toward DJ'ing and Hyperdub management for several years with limited production, yet in 2018 Kode9 and Burial compiled Fabriclive 100, the concluding volume in that mix-CD series. The digital single "The Jackpot" emerged in 2021. Full-length Escapology, framed as the soundtrack to the sonic fiction Astro-Darien, arrived in 2022. Kode9 also released Astro-Darien, a 26-minute sonic fiction narrated by synthetic Scottish voices that examines the break-up of Britain. The split single Infirmary/Unknown Summer with Burial appeared on Fabric in 2023; Kode9's contribution fused footwork, jazz, and jungle in jittery fashion.
Born Steve Goodman in Glasgow, Scotland, he started DJ'ing in 1990 at age 16 and identifies his first exposure to drum'n'bass as a decisive influence on his later trajectory. He relocated to London in 1997 and kept performing, blending breaks- and bass-driven styles. Production work under the Kode9 moniker began in 2002 on the Tempa label, leading him to establish Hyperdub soon after. The label's inaugural release, Sine of the Dub (2004), reworks Prince's "Sign o' the Times" as dubstep and appears under Kode9 with vocalist Daddi Gee, aka the Spaceape, a partnership that extended through following years. South London Boroughs, an influential 2005 EP on Hyperdub, marked Burial's recording debut; the full-lengths Burial (2006) and Untrue (2007) earned strong critical regard and broadened dubstep's reach worldwide.
Alongside operation of his growing label, Kode9 maintained his own Hyperdub output, notably the debut full-length collaboration Memories of the Future (2006) with the Spaceape. He delivered his first official mix album, Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006), on Tempa and four years later contributed to the !K7 label's long-running DJ-Kicks series. As an author, he produced Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear (published in 2009). The tension-filled Black Sun (2011) formed his second album with the Spaceape. Kode9 handled the mix for Rinse, Vol. 22 on Rinse Recordings in 2013 and issued the solo 12" "Xingfu Lu" on Hyperdub; both reflected growing Chicago footwork influence, the same year Hyperdub released DJ Rashad's acclaimed Double Cup album. The deaths of DJ Rashad and the Spaceape, who succumbed to cancer in October 2014 shortly before the final Kode9 collaboration EP Killing Season appeared, marked 2014. Kode9's first solo full-length, Nothing (2015), addressed both losses.
Focus shifted toward DJ'ing and Hyperdub management for several years with limited production, yet in 2018 Kode9 and Burial compiled Fabriclive 100, the concluding volume in that mix-CD series. The digital single "The Jackpot" emerged in 2021. Full-length Escapology, framed as the soundtrack to the sonic fiction Astro-Darien, arrived in 2022. Kode9 also released Astro-Darien, a 26-minute sonic fiction narrated by synthetic Scottish voices that examines the break-up of Britain. The split single Infirmary/Unknown Summer with Burial appeared on Fabric in 2023; Kode9's contribution fused footwork, jazz, and jungle in jittery fashion.
Albums
Singles
