Culprit 1 a.k.a. Culprit One (born James Hannam) is a British DJ, remixer and electronica producer.

Culprit 1
Birth nameJames Hannam
Also known asCulprit 1, Culprit One, Culp
OriginNewport, Wales
GenresElectronica
Occupation(s)DJ
Instrument(s)Keyboards
Years active2003–present
LabelsExceptional Records
WebsiteOfficial Site
MySpace page

Early life and education edit

Hannam holds a degree in music from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and attended Crosskeys College in the Welsh valleys, where the Manic Street Preachers also studied.

Career edit

Hannam's music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 1 by Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe, Bethan Elfyn, Annie Mac, Annie Nightingale, Colin Murray and Huw Stephens (who contributed sleeve notes to first album 'Running in Order'). Eddy Temple-Morris, Adam Walton and Radio 101 (Croatia) have also supported Culprit 1 releases.

"What I Use", the first recording made under the Culprit 1 moniker, was released in July 2003 on Boobytrap. Hannam went on to perform at the American South by Southwest event and subsequently signed to Exceptional Records.

Following popular events with a string quartet early in 2007 (two members of which also performed with Kanye West on his 2006 UK tour), he found favour in the classical music world, earning the support of influential UK radio station Classic FM.

In November 2010, Exceptional released Hannam's second album Theme 2, featuring vocal contributions from Smiler, Polarbear and Iko.

Discography edit

Title Format Label Year
"What I Use" CD single Boobytrap Records 2003
Aqoon Guud CD EP My Kung Fu 2004
"Jarred" / "What I Use" 12 “ vinyl single My Kung Fu 2004
"No Need to Ask" CD single My Kung Fu 2005
"Sway" 12” vinyl single Exceptional Records 2006
"Hollow" Download single Exceptional Records 2006
"Tricks" 12” vinyl single Exceptional Records 2007
Running in Order CD album Exceptional Records 2007
"No Need To Ask" (reissue & remixes) 12" vinyl single Exceptional Records 2007
"Screamer" Download single Exceptional Records 2010
"Distraction" (feat. Smiler) Download single Exceptional Records 2010
Theme 2 Download album Exceptional Records 2010

Remix discography edit

Artist Release Label Year
The Messiah Complex Fever We Are Your Friends 2004
The Martini Henry Rifles Slash the Seats My Kung Fu 2005
Melanie C Next Best Superstar Red Girl Records 2005
Jo and Danny Dying Kiss Double Snazzy 2006
The Automatic Monster B-Unique / Polydor 2006
The Automatic Recover B-Unique / Polydor 2006
The Automatic Raoul B-Unique / Polydor 2007
Paul Hartnoll feat. Robert Smith Please Kids 2007
Kaiser Chiefs The Angry Mob B-Unique / Polydor (promo only) 2007
John Hardy & BBC National Orchestra of Wales Letters Ffin Records 2010

Other information edit

  • Unusually for a producer in a traditionally serious and publicity-shy genre, Hannam maintains an amusing, tongue-in-cheek journal and Facebook group, in which he regularly describes his studio experiments, vegetarian recipes and journeys back to Wales.
  • A couple that met at the debut Culprit 1 performance in October 2003, married in 2008.
  • The name Culprit 1 was influenced by a graffiti scrawling at Newport bus station.
  • At Bettws High School in Newport, Hannam won the 1992 Eisteddfod keyboard solo competition with a rendition of 2 Unlimited's European hit "No Limits".
  • Hannam's first job after graduating from university was a club reviewer for the UK dance magazine Muzik. The editor at the time was Conor McNicholas, who later became editor of the music magazine NME.

References edit

External links edit