Prins Thomas

Hailing from Norway, electronic dance music producer and DJ Prins Thomas weaves together disco, house, minimal techno, electro, Krautrock, jazz fusion, space rock, and further strands into his distinctive approach. Emerging in the mid-2000s both solo and alongside Lindstrøm, he numbered among the creators who shaped a contemporary strain of space disco stripped of much of the nostalgic excess associated with its 1970s and 1980s counterparts. The ceaselessly active artist’s extensive catalog—spanning multiple numerically titled albums and numerous 12-inch singles—frequently features extended floor-oriented tracks built from fluid, sequencer-led sequences alongside live elements such as guitars and hand percussion. At the same time he has pursued more atmospheric directions, notably the expansive 2016 release Principe del Norte, along with exploratory, slower-tempo partnerships with Bjørn Torske on Square One (2017) and with Bugge Wesseltoft on their self-titled set (2018). His wide-ranging turntable instincts surface in compilations such as Paradise Goulash (2015) and Smalltown Supersound 25: The Movement of Free Spirit (2018). During 2020 he revisited early trance inspirations on the solo album Træns before rejoining Lindstrøm for the duo’s third full-length; the pair’s melodic, atmospheric disco statements 8 and 9 both surfaced in the opening months of 2022.

Born Thomas Moen Hermansen and residing in Oslo, he first gained recognition under the Prins Thomas alias during the mid-2000s through work with Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (widely known simply as Lindstrøm). Their initial joint effort, the Further into the Future EP (2004), appeared on Lindstrøm’s Feedelity imprint, followed by the influential Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas album (2005) issued by Eskimo Recordings. That same year Thomas also put out a self-titled full-length under the Major Swellings name via Noid Recordings and established his own Full Pupp label. Beyond issuing similarly inclined space-disco producers on Full Pupp—most prominently Todd Terje—he released his own EPs including Goettsching (2005) and Fehrara (2006).

Concurrently, Thomas quickly became sought after for remixes, as heard on the Justus Köhncke vs. Prins Thomas EP for Kompakt (Elan, 2007), and for DJ appearances, documented on the double-disc Cosmo Galactic Prism mix set (2007) released by Eskimo Recordings. With his visibility rising in tandem with the broader space-disco scene’s reach beyond dance-music circles, he entered the international DJ circuit and resumed his noted collaboration with Lindstrøm on the remix collection Reinterpretations (2007) and the subsequent album Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas II (2009). He sustained a steady flow of EPs while overseeing the double-disc label overview Full Pupp Presents the Greatest Tits, Vol. 1 (2008).

Following numerous joint projects, EP releases, remixes, and ancillary endeavors, Thomas concentrated on his own albums, issuing a self-titled record in 2010, Prins Thomas II in 2012, and III in 2014, each on Full Pupp. He marked the label’s first decade with the double-CD compilation 10 Years of Full Pupp (2004-2014), and the mixed set Rainbow Disco Club, Vol. 1 appeared on Endless Flight before 2014 concluded. In 2015 he delivered the expansive three-CD mix Paradise Goulash, whose track selection spanned far beyond his customary disco focus to include artists ranging from Gabor Szabo to Wally Badarou to Kurt Vile. Early in 2016 he released Toransu, a double EP of neo-disco material, then Principe del Norte (Smalltown Supersound), a double album of extended, frequently beatless compositions that examined his ambient, minimalist, and kosmische leanings. Principe del Norte Remixed followed, incorporating reworkings by the Orb, Ricardo Villalobos, Hieroglyphic Being, and additional contributors.

The next year brought Square One, a full-length collaboration with Bjørn Torske, and Häxan (Versions by Prins Thomas), a set of reinterpretations of Swedish psych band Dungen’s Häxan. Toward the close of 2017 he issued 5 on his Prins Thomas Musikk imprint. Late in 2018 he surveyed Smalltown Supersound’s varied history via the triple-CD mix Smalltown Supersound 25 and partnered with jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft on a self-titled album. His sixth solo outing, Ambitions, arrived in 2019. Træns, an homage to the early-’90s origins of trance, came out on Running Back in 2020. Later that year Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas reunited for their hazy, relaxed third album. Thomas’s 8 and 9 followed in quick succession during the first part of 2022, featuring contributions from Wesseltoft and John Carroll Kirby.