Raj Pannu (Cold Cut/Ninja Tune)

DJ, Audio Viusal DJ, MC
Style: Afro, Breaks, Dubstep, Electro, Hip Hop,

As a DJ, Raj is defined by his extreme versatility. His recent 3 years extensively touring with the Godfathers of DJ/VJ culture, Coldcut, are only the tip of the iceberg. He is everything a Dj should be - an all rounder, a confident exponent of high calibre sounds, old and new, a dazzling turntablist, and one who doesn't rely on classics - but creates them.

Raj is also available with MC Juice Aleem (Big Dada/Ninja Tune), a great party starter and Hypeman.

With Coldcut, Raj applied his ex DMC and turntable knowledge, and technological savvy to his already developing Audio Visual concepts for live performance.

After 12 months and 120 gigs worldwide (everywhere from Japan, where the tour began, to 22,000 people, to the whole of the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Thailand, Australia, Israel, Miami, UK, Italy, Germany, India, Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Belgium, many festivals, including Coachella in San Francisco, Glastonbury, Bestival, Big Chill, Lowlands, Eurockennes and Electraglide in Japan) a Radio 1 Essential Mix, and appearances on European television, Raj, then, together with Matt Black of Coldcut, developed a completely unique audio visual set-up, allowing them to scratch video clips and music, creating the first proper turntablist video dj mixtape. Together, they toured this and called it 'Journeys by VJ', in reference to the seminal 'Journeys by DJ' mix from a few years before.

Raj's own DJ journey began long before this though. Many residencies, solo shows, battles, DMC competitions, and the running of a successful weekly club-night are but a few of his achievements. Raj always had to be one step ahead - experimenting with new scratch techniques, effects, loop pedals and audio visuals, before most people had thought of it. As anyone who has seen him play will tell you, Raj knows his stuff! One of those to witness him play was Ninjatune's DJ Food... (it was DJ Food’s high recommendation which then led to Raj’s vital role in the Coldcut set-up)

"I was immediately struck, not only by his skill on the turntables, but by the depth of knowledge and breadth of musical taste for someone of his age. Most young Djs and 'turntablists' concentrate on one or two styles of music and rarely play anything except accepted classics from those genres next to the all important latest releases. Raj went much deeper and, besides his enviable technical ability on the decks, he was innovating new tricks I'd never seen or heard before too. He's a perfectionist too which is why he's been biding his time and honing his skills all this time. He takes risks in front of crowds with his routines that can be appreciated by the initiated or the ignorant and his appearance at our Solid Steel night made it into one of the best of the year."- Dj Food, Strictly Kev [Ninjatune].

Musically, Raj is consistently inconsistent. Constantly surprising, always entertaining.

As Matt Black of Coldcut said, "Raj is the consummate music specialist, a real expert. He constantly surprises me with fantastic stuff from every area and genre."

" Raj Pannu has a uniquely eclectic take on turntablism - it seems he doesn't believe in genres! Taking in hiptronics, punk, post-punk, soul, rock, EBM, IDM, library records, electro(nics), dubstep, general beat heaviness and going across a huge bpm range, his sets are intricately woven together, with the skill of a seasoned veteran. And boy is he a good scratcher!" Earjug Magazine

Myspace Coldcut

Myspace Raj Pannu