Truss

Truss entered the techno landscape in 2007 when his first EP, Forge, came out on Miniscule, the net label run by Greg Schappert, who performs as Donor. Better known by his real name Tom Russell, he had spent his childhood in the Welsh hills far removed from London’s club circuit yet absorbed the energy of rave through tape packs and mixes by figures such as Stu Allen and Carl Cox. The connection with Schappert began after the latter requested remixes for one of his own tracks; shared enthusiasm for early-’90s techno and rave quickly led the pair to issue several joint records on imprints including Dumb Unit and the influential New York-based Synewave.

In 2010 the duo placed an Indifference EP with Perc Trax, a label whose emerging aesthetic Truss would help shape. Although further releases with Donor followed, Truss also pursued independent work, issuing his second solo EP, Osbasten, only months after the Perc Trax material. Concentrating on sound-design work and a developing DJ schedule, he returned in 2012 with numerous projects under the Truss name, as MPIA3 and TR//ER, and alongside his brother Tessela. That year brought the Ganymede EP on Perc Trax and the Clytha EP on Sigha’s Our Circula Sound.

The next year he joined forces with Perc Trax founder Ali Wells, recording under the alias Perc, for a hardware-only collaboration. Their combined, hard-edged approach quickly attracted attention inside the scene and led to international performances billed as Perc & Truss. By 2015 Truss had completed two further joint EPs with Wells for the label, plus the solo outing Kymin Lea; renewed activity with his brother, now operating as Overmono, prompted him to concentrate on DJ appearances and collaborative projects. In 2016 another Perc & Truss EP, Leather and Lace, appeared alongside Overmono’s debut Arla on XL Recordings. Truss also supplied a 50-track locked-grooves LP to his brother’s Polykicks imprint, arranging one side in 4/4 and the other in 3/4 so the two halves generate polyrhythmic loops when played together.