Tru Thoughts is an independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

. It was formed in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1999 by Robert Luis of Deeds Plus Thoughts and Paul Jonas.
It became, in one decade, one of the most famous and well respected labels in independent music world.

History

In September 1999, after the success of their night club the "Phonic: hoop and Shake Yer Wig", Paul jonas & Robert Luis, two music-obsessed friends, decided to launch their own label.

From the improvised 'office', under Robert Luis' stairs, the new Tru Thoughts records started its history with their first 12" EP "Alarming Frequency".
There followed many releases which step by step built on the success of the label, including Bonobo's Animal Magic

Animal Magic (Bonobo album)

Animal Magic was the debut album by British electronic music artist Bonobo, originally released in 2000 on Tru Thoughts and re-released in 2001 by Ninja Tune.-Track listing:# "Intro"# "Sleepy Seven"# "Dinosaurs"# "Kota"# "Terrapin"# "The Plug"...

 (July 2000), Quantic's

Will Holland

William Holland is a musician, DJ and record producer from Bewdley, Worcestershire. He is based in Colombia.He records under various guises, notably, Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, and The Limp Twins. His music draws upon elements of salsa, bossa nova, soul, funk and jazz. Holland plays...

 The 5th Exotic (June 2001) and Jon Kennedy’s

Jon Kennedy

Jon Kennedy is a drummer and electronic musician who was born in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England.He was discovered in 2000 when he passed a demo CD to Ninja Tune artist Mr Scruff. Scruff played tracks from the CD soon after on his "Unfold" radio show on Brighton's Juice 107.2...

 debut album We’re Just Waiting For You Now (July 2001).

In 2009 Tru Thoughts celebrated its 10th birthday, with more than 200 releases, spotlighting an independent, eclectic and original music, acknowledged for its quality by music specialists.

Tru Thoughts has discovered various notable artists who have subsequently signed to other record labels; Bonobo and Treva Whateva signed to Ninja Tune

Ninja Tune

Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...

, Chris Clark

Chris Clark (electronic musician)

Chris Clark is an English electronic musician currently signed to Warp Records. With the 2006 release of Throttle Furniture, he shortened his artist name to Clark. Throttle Furniture and Body Riddle were both three years in the making, during which time Clark refined his sound considerably...

 signed to Warp Records

Warp Records

Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....

, Jon Kennedy

Jon Kennedy

Jon Kennedy is a drummer and electronic musician who was born in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England.He was discovered in 2000 when he passed a demo CD to Ninja Tune artist Mr Scruff. Scruff played tracks from the CD soon after on his "Unfold" radio show on Brighton's Juice 107.2...

 to Grand Central Records

Grand Central Records

Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store...

, Chroma to LTJ Bukem

LTJ Bukem

LTJ Bukem is the stage name used by the drum and bass musician, producer and DJ Danny Williamson . He and his record labels Good Looking and Looking Good Records are most associated with the jazzy, atmospheric side of drum and bass music....

's Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records is a Jungle/drum & bass record label, formed in the early nineties by pioneering DJ/producer LTJ Bukem.Artists who have released on this label include LTJ Bukem, Tayla, Furney, Redeyes, Q Project, Peshay, Big Bud, Nookie, Makoto, Intense, Artemis, New Balance, MC D.R.S., PFM,...

 and The Capoeira Twins signed to Timo Maas

Timo Maas

Timo Maas is an electronic music DJ/producer and remixer.-Career:Maas bought his first set of turntables at the age of 17, and played his very first DJ set in 1982 at a party in his friend's home...

' Hope Recordings

Hope Recordings

Hope Recordings, established in 1998 by Leon Alexander and Steve Satterthwaite, is a Bristol, UK based record label.The label is run by Leon Alexander, with English house music DJ and record producer Nick Warren in control of its A&R. It is home to progressive house and breaks artists such as...

.

Extensions

From the initial Tru Thoughts Records were born three sublabels :

• « Tru Thoughts 7 seven », specialize in funk
  Funk
  Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
  
   and soul
  Soul music
  Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
  
  
• « Unfold records », specialize in compilation releases
• « Zebra Traffic », specialize in UK hip hop
  British hip hop
  British hip hop is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music...
  
  

Tru Thoughts organize many parties in nightclubs between Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and is active on several radio broadcasts.

Artists

• Azaxx
• The Amalgamation Of Soundz
• The Bamboos
  The Bamboos (funk band)
  The Bamboos are a Soul band from Australia.-Biography:The Bamboos were formed in 2000 in Melbourne Australia by NZ-born guitarist Lance Ferguson. The initial line-up consisted of Ferguson, Ben Grayson on Hammond Organ, Stuart Speed on Bass and Scott Lambie on Drums...
  
  
• Barakas
• Belleruche
  Belleruche
  Belleruche is a three-piece electronic/soul band from the United Kingdom. They are currently signed on the Brighton based Tru Thoughts label.The band was formed in North London in 2005....
  
  
• benji Boko
• Beta Hector
• Bonobo
• The Broken Keys
• Capoeira Twins
• Deeds Plus Thoughts
• Diesler
• Domu
• Flevans
  Flevans
  Flevans the stage name of Nigel Evans also known as Mooch. a British electronic musician and DJ. He was born on January 28, 1978 in Brighton, West Sussex, United Kingdom. He early started making music, in his beginnings by using a four track cassette recorder...
  
  
• Freddie Cruger & Anthony Mills Are Wildcookie
• Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire
• Galaxian
  Galaxian
  is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
  
  

• Hidden Orchestra
  Hidden Orchestra
  Hidden Orchestra is an Electronic Jazz collective based in Edinburgh. Their debut album Night Walks was released in 2010. The group was previously known as the Joe Acheson quartet....
  
  
• Hint
• Hot 8 Brass Band
  Hot 8 Brass Band
  The Hot 8 Brass Band is a New Orleans based brass band that blends hip-hop, jazz and funk styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds. It was formed by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones, and Harry Cook in 1995, the merging of two earlier bands, the Looney Tunes Brass Band and the High Steppers Brass...
  
  
• Humble Munk
• Jon Kennedy
  Jon Kennedy
  Jon Kennedy is a drummer and electronic musician who was born in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England.He was discovered in 2000 when he passed a demo CD to Ninja Tune artist Mr Scruff. Scruff played tracks from the CD soon after on his "Unfold" radio show on Brighton's Juice 107.2...
  
  
• Jumbonics
• Jung Collective
• Kinny / Kinny & Horne
• Kylie Auldist
• Lanu
• The Limp Twins
• Lizzy Parks
• Maddslinky
• Maga Bo
• Mangataot
• Mawglee
• Me&You
• Milez Benjiman

• Natural Self
• Nirobi & Barakas
• Nostalgia 77 / Nostalgia 77 Octet / Nostalgia 77 Sessions feat. Keith and Julie Tippett
• Quantic
  Will Holland
  William Holland is a musician, DJ and record producer from Bewdley, Worcestershire. He is based in Colombia.He records under various guises, notably, Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, and The Limp Twins. His music draws upon elements of salsa, bossa nova, soul, funk and jazz. Holland plays...
  
   / Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro
  Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro
  Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro is a project of musician and DJ, Will Holland. Holland has recorded under several names, most notably Quantic.-Current members:* Alfredito Linares * Angel Hernandez...
  
   / Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno / The Quantic Soul Orchestra
  The Quantic Soul Orchestra
  The Quantic Soul Orchestra is a live band project of musician and DJ, Will Holland. Holland has recorded under several names, most notably Quantic....
  
  
• Alice Russell
  Alice Russell (singer)
  Alice Russell is a British soul singer. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on Cello, and sang in choirs, before studying art and music in...
  
  
• Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul is a half British, half Brazilian eight piece band, based in London, and formed in July 2005 by Otto Nascarella. The group formed when Otto decided to move to London with the musical idea of mixing Afro-Brazilian rhythms with funk and soul musicThey signed a record deal with Tru...
  
  
• Spanky Wilson
  Spanky Wilson
  Spanky Wilson is an American soul, funk and jazz vocalist, born in Philadelphia. She lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA until 1967 and then moved to Los Angeles, California, USA...
  
  
• Steady
• Stonephace
• TM Juke / TM Juke And The Jack Baker Trio
• Treva Whateva
• Unforscene
• Unitone
• Zed Bias
  Zed Bias
  Zed Bias is an English electronic musician who operates within the UK garage and broken beat genres, both as a producer and a DJ. Jones has also released material under the pseudonym Maddslinky, and is half of the Phuturistix duo, as well as other side projects.Zed Bias is best known for his...
  
  
• Zero dB
  Zero db
  Zero-db are a duo Chris Vogado and Neil Combstock who produce trip hop, jazz and fusion music. They are signed to a record contract with Ninja Tune associated with artists like Mr Scruff and the Herbaliser. They began producing together in 2000, releasing their first EP Come Party...
  
  

Compilation albums

• When Shapes Join Together (25 October 1999, Cat. no: TRU002)
• When Shapes Join Together 2' (28 January 2002, Cat. no: TRU026)
• Heavyweight Rib Ticklers (Compiled by Mr. Scruff
  Mr. Scruff
  Mr. Scruff is the recording name of Andy Carthy , a British DJ and artist. He lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University...
  
  ) (11 February 2002, Cat no: UNFOLDCD001)
• Phonic Hoop (Compiled by Robert Luis) (18 July 2002, Cat. no: UNFOLDCD002)
• When Shapes Join Together 3 (21 October 2002, Cat. no: TRUCD035)
• Vocalise (Compiled by Robert Luis) (11 November 2002, Cat. no: UNFOLDCD003)
• Mono - When Shapes Join Together Mix (Compiled by Quantic) (5 April 2003, Cat. no: TRUCD044)
• Shapes One Horizontal & Vertical CD (1 September 2003, Cat. no: TRUCD045)
• Shapes Yellow (2 November 2004, Cat. no: TRU/ZEB 002)
• Shapes Red (6 June 2005, Cat. no: TRUCD 091)

Tru Thoughts 10 Year Anniversary

*Tracklisting CD1 - DOWNTEMPO :

• 01. Bonobo
  Bonobo
  The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
  
   - Terrapin
• 02. Nostalgia 77 - Quiet Dawn feat. Beth Rowley
• 03. Alice Russell
  Alice Russell (singer)
  Alice Russell is a British soul singer. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on Cello, and sang in choirs, before studying art and music in...
  
   - Hurry On Now feat. TM Juke
• 04. Natural Self - The Rising feat. Andreya Triana
• 05. Milez Benjiman - Chop That Wood
• 06. Hint - One Woman Army feat. Laura Vane
• 07. Quantic & Nickodemus feat. Tempo
  Tempo
  In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
  
   & The Candela Allstars - Mi Swing Es Tropical
• 08. Bonobo
  Bonobo
  The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
  
   - Kota
• 09. Lizzy Parks - Raise The Roof
• 10. The Limp Twins - Sunday Driver
• 11. Hot 8 Brass Band
  Hot 8 Brass Band
  The Hot 8 Brass Band is a New Orleans based brass band that blends hip-hop, jazz and funk styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds. It was formed by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones, and Harry Cook in 1995, the merging of two earlier bands, the Looney Tunes Brass Band and the High Steppers Brass...
  
   - What's My Name? (Rock With The Hot 8)
• 12. Flevans
  Flevans
  Flevans the stage name of Nigel Evans also known as Mooch. a British electronic musician and DJ. He was born on January 28, 1978 in Brighton, West Sussex, United Kingdom. He early started making music, in his beginnings by using a four track cassette recorder...
  
   - The Notion feat. Sweet Laredo
• 13. The Nostalgia 77 Octet - Musical Silt
• 14. Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno - Cuidad Del Swing
• 15. Kinny - Desire feat. Nostalgia 77
• 16. Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire - Pushing On feat. Linn
  Linn
  Linn is a first name for girls. This name is common in countries such as Sweden and Norway. Otherwise it can also be spelled "Lynn".Linn may refer to:-Linn :* George Ward Linn , philatelic publisher of Ohio...
  
  

*Tracklisting CD2 - CLUB :

• 01. Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul is a half British, half Brazilian eight piece band, based in London, and formed in July 2005 by Otto Nascarella. The group formed when Otto decided to move to London with the musical idea of mixing Afro-Brazilian rhythms with funk and soul musicThey signed a record deal with Tru...
  
   - Nao Possa Te Levar A Serio
• 02. The Quantic Soul Orchestra
  The Quantic Soul Orchestra
  The Quantic Soul Orchestra is a live band project of musician and DJ, Will Holland. Holland has recorded under several names, most notably Quantic....
  
   - Super 8
• 03. The Bamboos
  The Bamboos (funk band)
  The Bamboos are a Soul band from Australia.-Biography:The Bamboos were formed in 2000 in Melbourne Australia by NZ-born guitarist Lance Ferguson. The initial line-up consisted of Ferguson, Ben Grayson on Hammond Organ, Stuart Speed on Bass and Scott Lambie on Drums...
  
   - Step It Up feat. Alice Russell
• 04. Quantic - Transatlantic
• 05. TM Juke - Come Away feat. Sophie Faricy
• 06. Lanu - Dis-Information
• 07. Natural Self - Shake Down
• 08. Belleruche
  Belleruche
  Belleruche is a three-piece electronic/soul band from the United Kingdom. They are currently signed on the Brighton based Tru Thoughts label.The band was formed in North London in 2005....
  
   - Northern Girls
• 09. Alice Russell
  Alice Russell (singer)
  Alice Russell is a British soul singer. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on Cello, and sang in choirs, before studying art and music in...
  
   - All Over Now
• 10. Quantic - Mishaps Happening (Prins Thomas edit)
• 11. Nirobi & Barakas - Bungee Jump Against Racism
• 12. TM Juke & The Jack Baker Trio - Party Favours feat. Gecko Turner
• 13. Kylie Auldist - Community Service Announcement
• 14. Quantic - Don't Joke With A Hungry Man feat. Spanky Wilson
• 15. Me&You - The Hoop Loop
• 16. The Broken Keys - The Witch

*Tracklisting CD3 - EXCLUSIVES :

• 01. Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno - Time Is The Enemy
• 02. Domu - We Can
• 03. Flevans
  Flevans
  Flevans the stage name of Nigel Evans also known as Mooch. a British electronic musician and DJ. He was born on January 28, 1978 in Brighton, West Sussex, United Kingdom. He early started making music, in his beginnings by using a four track cassette recorder...
  
   - The Second Bite
• 04. Azaxx - Disco Bimbo
• 05. Hint - Tape Packs
• 06. Quantic - Only a Little While Here
• 07. Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul
  Saravah Soul is a half British, half Brazilian eight piece band, based in London, and formed in July 2005 by Otto Nascarella. The group formed when Otto decided to move to London with the musical idea of mixing Afro-Brazilian rhythms with funk and soul musicThey signed a record deal with Tru...
  
   - Alforria
• 08. The Bamboos
  The Bamboos (funk band)
  The Bamboos are a Soul band from Australia.-Biography:The Bamboos were formed in 2000 in Melbourne Australia by NZ-born guitarist Lance Ferguson. The initial line-up consisted of Ferguson, Ben Grayson on Hammond Organ, Stuart Speed on Bass and Scott Lambie on Drums...
  
   - Turn It Up feat. Lyrics Born
• 09. Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire - Boogie Down Hagsätra
• 10. Barakas - Spitfire
• 11. Stonephace - Singularity
• 12. Kylie Auldist - No Use (Acoustic Version)

External links

• Official site
• Zebra Traffic official site
• Tru Thoughts Obsession