Luke Vibert - Early Years: 1990s

Early Years: 1990s

Vibert's first musical output was in a variety of bands, including a punk act called Five Minute Fashion and later a Beastie Boys-esque group called the Hate Brothers, but he quickly moved into the low-cost environment of solo electronic composition. Although Vibert originally had no intention of ever releasing any of the recordings, his reputation as a creative young voice in his field created a demand for his work.

Vibert originally became involved in electronic music through his interest in hip-hop as well as the environment of bedroom experimentalism associated with the swelling late 1980s UK dance scene. Luke and a friend, Jeremy Simmonds, released an album through the Rephlex label under the name of Vibert/Simmonds which caught the ear of Caspar Pound's Rising High music label. As a result of the popularity of the style in the early 1990s, Rising High commissioned an ambient music album from Vibert, who delivered the well-received Phat Lab Nightmare under the alias Wagon Christ in 1993.

He would go on further over the next few years to produce more music under the Wagon Christ name, as well as introducing more aliases such as Plug (drum and bass/jungle), with the 1996 album 'Drum and Bass for Papa' which gained critical acclaim.