Rusko

Artist bio

1) Christopher Mercer, aka Rusko was born in Leeds in 1985 to a musical family. From day one Rusko was surrounded by music. Whether it be his family's pianos, guitars, banjos and saxophones… or the heavy reggae and dub sound systems of later years in Leeds, music has always been an integral part of Rusko’s life.

After graduating from Leeds College of Music with a degree in Music Production, Rusko discovered the world of Dubstep through the Leeds club night Subdub and a debut appearance from the Digital Mystikz. Having spent the past 10 years making future dub alongside Leeds very own Iration Steppas, Rusko connected with the sound and moved down to London to further advance his musical opportunities with Sub Soldiers label mate Caspa.

Veering away from the dark, serious side of the sound Rusko brought a highly driven energy and fun approach to the dubstep massive and quickly coined his own take on the genre and turned the scene upside down. His sound appealed to many people outside of the dubstep world as his productions became more adventurous in formula, sound and energy. His huge hit Cockney Thug has been played by everyone from Pete Tong, Switch, Diplo and Santogold, and has been remixed by Buraka Som Sistema, Diplo, Caspa, Drop the Lime and the Scratch Perverts.

Now at 25, Rusko is only in first gear, with collaborations on the table with the likes of Switch, Diplo , Yo Majesty and Wiley, the future sure is looking bright. Already setting the radio airwaves alight with his own productions and remixes of artists like Adele and A-Trak featuring Kid Sister, Rusko is headed in the right directions. Onwards, upwards and far beyond what most producers can dream of. Rusko's debut album, O.M.G.! will be released May 4, 2010 on Mad Decent.

2) Rusko was punk band from Czechoslovakia (1992). Frontman Filip Venclík was murdered by neonazi-skinhead in 1993. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.