With respective live music backgrounds in Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock and Classical composition, Ruckus and Yinface’s joint production and DJing project Kanuka draws on a wealth of cross-genre musical experience .
Kanuka were originally introduced by a mutual friend in Wellington back in 2006, while Yinface was on leave from study at an audio engineering course in Auckland. An impromptu studio session went down; and creative sparks flew.
Individually graduating from live music performance to electronic beat production and DJing during their teenage years. For both parties, the shift from live instrumentation to production/DJing coincided with a change in preference towards jungle, drum and bass, hip-hop and downbeat. And it was these key movements, which alongside a shared sense of humour and love of buckwild party-vibes, served as their initial meeting-ground.
Staying in contact via the internet, the boys returned to the studio when Yinface relocated to Wellington in 2007. The result was a series of downbeat and dubstep referencing productions which instantly solidified their creative partnership. Quickly moving into the live DJ realm as well as the studio, in the spirit of the times, Kanuka began incorporating elements of Baltimore Club, Funk Carioca and Electro into their DJ sets. Concurrently, this influence was bleeding into their production.
Early 2009, after releasing their debut EP, Kanuka hit the radar of Philadelphian electro artist We Don’t Sleep, and Toronto record label GCP/Keep It Moven Entertainment, both of whom individually tapped the duo for production work. The initial results of which saw light late July, through the international release of ‘When the Beat Drop’ featuring JB and Tommy Spitz of GCP.
Now based between, and regularly playing in, both Wellington and Palmerston North, Kanuka are on the cusp of something big. See you at the bar homies – let’s get it.