On Sunday October 15th 2017 WhoSampled hosted the third edition of ‘Samplethon’ – the world’s first ever Hackathon for music!
This first-of-a-kind event format gives up-and-coming producers access to rare and sought after sample material from a leading music library to produce exciting new music under the guidance of world class producers. During this one day event hosted at Point Blank Music School in East London with support from Ableton, 20 producers were given exclusive access to pre-cleared original sample material from EMI Production Music's famous KPM catalogue. The challenge: to produce a new track using the provided sample material against the clock, with the supervision and assistance of our team of esteemed mentors. This event created a rare opportunity to sample from these highly regarded recordings performed by world class musicians, free from the legal shackles often associated with sampling.
The day concluded with a judging session where industry experts chose the winning tracks which now go forward for inclusion on a forthcoming release alongside tracks created by established producers, all to go on to form part of the prestigious KPM Music library. Listen to the winning tracks below:
1st Place: Shatter Hands (Denmark)
2nd Place: Daniel El Campeon (UK)
The Judges / Mentors
Shawn Lee
Shawn Lee is an American musician, producer, award-winning video game music composer and multi-instrumentalist. Shawn has recorded for a plethora of labels including Ubiquity, Wall of Sound, BBE and Talkin' Loud. His music has featured in popular movies and TV shows including Ocean's Thirteen, CSI: Miami, Lost, Eastbound & Down and Ugly Betty. Shawn has also worked with musicians including Money Mark, Amy Winehouse, Saint Etienne and Kelis, and is currently working on a documentary film about Library Music.
JD. Reid
JD. Reid's productions join the dots between Hip Hop, Beats, Grime and Electronica reflecting the diverse sounds of London. Recent collaborations with the likes of D Double E, Hodgy (Odd Future), Novelist, Katy B and Sinead Harnett have garnered support from Benji B, Oneman, Julie Adenuga and others. Reid has also enjoyed great success as a DJ, having appeared on the bill alongside Skepta and Run The Jewels at Warehouse project, also holding down sets alongside Stormzy, Travis Scott, ASAP Ferg, Sam Gellaitry, Jarreau Vandal and Novelist to name a few.
Ollie Teeba
Alongside Jake Wherry, Ollie Teeba forms one half of the production duo 'The Herbaliser', responsible for 5 studio albums for the Ninja Tune label and one further for K7. The group's collaborations include the likes of Bahamadia, Dilated Peoples and Jean Grae and they have remixed Coldcut, Lamb among many others. Ollie also makes up one half of 'The Process', the production duo behind Ubiquity Records signing Soundsci.
Jonny Cuba
Together with Ollie Teeba, Jonny Cuba makes up the other half of 'The Process'. Also having worked extensively outside the group, Jonny released two albums for the Ninja Tune label as one half of Dynamic Syncopation, a group which collaborated with the likes of Mass Influence and 80s hip hop legend Chill Rob G.
Chris Read
As Head of Content at WhoSampled, Chris Read is responsible for overseeing or producing much of the site's written, audio and video content. Outside that role, Chris is an accomplished producer signed to BBE Records. Chris has produced for and remixed artists including Grammy winning vocalist Bilal, Mercury Award nominees Ty and Mark Rae, The Pharcyde, Oddissee and the BBC New Music Award winning jazz / electronica outfit Maylight.
Ski Oakenfull
An early signing to Giles Peterson's Talkin Loud label, Ski Oankenfull has been producing music for over 25 years. Playing keys Ski has performed with artists ranging from Steely Dan and Guru to Kylie Minogue. As a producer he has worked on collaborative projects with the likes of DJ Cam, Kruder & Dorfmeister, DJ Die and King Britt and has produced or written for artists as diverse as Incognito and the Sugababes. Ski has released music on a variety of labels including BBE and Sony.
Mr. Thing
Mr Thing's DJ credentials as a DJ speak for themselves, stealing the UK DMC Champion title in 2000, one year after winning the DMC World Team Championships alongside his Scratch Perverts crew, since which time he has remained a popular club DJ across the globe. Arguably the UK's best known crate digger, Mr Thing has a record collection which is the envy of many, a resource he dips into regularly for his series of rare breaks compilations for BBE Records, 'Strange Breaks & Mr Thing'. Also a talented producer, Thing's productions include a number of UK hip hop classics for long time partner in rhyme Yungun (now Essa) and releases for First Word Records.
Alex Black
Alex Black is Global Director of EMI Production Music, overseeing the label's various catalogues including the KPM Library. Alex has direct experience of how sample based music can produce hits having seen the label's output sampled in recent years by the likes of Drake and Kanye West. Alex has also been supportive of the catalogue's use in the context of sample based music more generally, having recently launched KPM's forward thinking 'sample amnesty' project.
About KPM Music
An acronym for its founding fathers 'Keith-Prowse-Maurice', KPM is a label with a storied history which dates all the way back to the 1870 when instrument maker Robert Keith opened a small music shop in London. Expanding, merging and re-inventing itself over the following 80+ years, the 1950s saw KPM start to produce music for film, radio and the emerging commercial TV market. Shortly after, the now highly collectible green sleeve 'KPM 1000 series' records went into production. 1960s to 1980s proved to be KPM's glory years and the 1000 series records defined the sound of the era, spawning dozens of popular TV themes of the day. These fantastic records might have become forgotten footnotes in music history however were it not for their discovery and appropriation by a new generation of diggers and music makers in search of rare grooves and unique sample material.
For more information check out a KPM infographic we put together earlier this year highlighting the incredible influence and impact of the iconic label series.