Anxst

Anxst is an electronic artist who grows out of the meeting point between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and later studies in Leeds. His early listening includes old-school drum and bass, 1980s electro, early Ninja Tune releases, and his father’s jazz and classical records, and that range feeds into a style built around experimentation and aggressive sound design. He begins making music in his room and later works across different styles while playing at a variety of nights and bars in Leeds.

Leeds and Room 237

After moving to Leeds for university, Anxst becomes active in the city’s club and underground music scene. He co-founds Room 237 with a friend and establishes himself as the resident DJ at the night. Through that role he brings a number of significant electronic and experimental acts to Leeds, helping to connect local audiences with more forward-thinking music.

Style and influences

His music draws on a wide span of electronic and related forms, including experimental dubstep, industrial techno, glitch, and experimental drum and bass. The influences named around his work include Ed Rush & Optical, Goldie, 80s electro, early Ninja Tune artists, Vex’d, Surgeon, Flying Lotus and Amon Tobin. His approach is described through layered texture, noise and re-sampled sampling, and he continues to develop his sound through different effects, techniques and software.

Live work and collaborations

Anxst supports artists including Squarepusher, LFO, Modeselektor, The Locust, Venetian Snares, Battles, Plaid and Four Tet, among others. These appearances place him alongside a broad field of left-field electronic, experimental and genre-crossing acts.

Related scene

His work is also associated with the wider overlap between dubstep, techno and the industrial avant-garde, in the context of artists and broadcasters championing those crossovers. Tom Hammond of Rock-A-Rolla and Ex Southern Records is named in connection with this description of his music.