Squarepusher is the recording name of Tom Jenkinson, an electronic musician from Chelmsford, Essex, England, born in 1975. His work centres on experimental drum and bass and related electronic styles, with a strong jazz fusion influence. He is known as a bassist and multi-instrumentalist, and his playing is a major part of his output.

Background and style

Jenkinson grows up listening to jazz figures including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Art Blakey, alongside dub producers King Tubby and Augustus Pablo. He also absorbs experimental electro-techno and local rave music, drawing on artists such as LFO and Carl Craig. These influences shape a style that combines post-bop, avant-garde and progressive jazz ideas with breakbeat techno and heavy use of the Amen break.

His bass work includes melodic fretless lines, fast slap technique and complex chordal playing. His formal arrangements often reflect jazz structures as much as his instrumental technique.

Releases and development

Squarepusher begins with the EP Conumber E:P in 1995 on Spymania. Another early EP, Alroy Road Tracks, appears under the name Duke Of Haringey in the same year. Material from these early releases is later compiled on Burningn'n tree.

His first album, Feed Me Weird Things, comes out in 1996 on Rephlex, the label run by Richard D. James. He then moves to Warp, where he releases the Port Rhombus EP, the album Hard Normal Daddy in 1997, and all subsequent releases apart from Buzz Caner, an album of old acid techno tracks issued in 1998 under the name Chaos A.D. on Rephlex.

For Music Is Rotted One Note in 1998, he stops using sampled drum breaks and instead multi-tracks himself on drums, bass and keyboards. In 1999 he releases the EPs Budakhan Mindphone and Maximum Priest, as well as the album Selection Sixteen.

Go Plastic appears in 2001 and marks a shift to entirely sampled and synthesised sounds. It includes “My Red Hot Car”, which is the closest thing to a hit single in his catalogue. Later releases such as Do You Know Squarepusher in 2003 and Ultravisitor in 2004 continue his mix of composition, programming and musicianship.

In 2008 he releases Just A Souvenir, which has a more rock-influenced sound, followed by Solo Electric Bass in 2009, a set of live recordings of him playing bass. His discography continues on Warp through Dostrotime.

Related projects

Squarepusher is also associated with Chaos A.D. and Duke Of Haringey. The project Shobaleader One is linked to Jenkinson as a group membership.