OUR DJS

Tom Freethos

After a few years playing Tenor Trombone in orchestras at school I was swept up by the booming 90s dance culture of the time. I quickly swapped brass for beats and bass, soaking up the sounds of hardcore, jungle and house music. My journey as a DJ then started in 1996 where I channelled these early influences into my DJ sets. I performed under the guise of TSL and later as Duke of Hazard, initially playing at underground free parties. The explosion of UK garage a couple of years later landed me my first club residency at the age of 17 where I warmed up for bass line pioneers including DJ EZ, Deekline, Matt Jam Lamont and DJ Luck & MC Neat. I soon became a dedicated collector and selecta of a new breed of bass-driven music that eventually developed into the nu skool breaks sound we all know and love.

After landing a coveted role buying and selling vinyl for HMV in London’s Oxford Circus as a breaks specialist I then went on to become Label Manager at Intergroove. My role here was  organising releases for labels such as Finger Lickin Records, Fat! and Marine Parade.

Around 2001 I began hosting a weekly radio show on London Live and Direct – a pioneering platform in the fledgling world of online radio. Here I met my friend and partner in beats Wax Equestrian and together we went on to host regular shows on the pirate station PointBlank FM and NSB Radio. Throughout the 2000s I established myself on the London and Orbital circuit playing a selection of breaks, bass and electro. I played regularly at clubs such as Vice Versa, Thump, Imaginarium and the now legendary Planet Angel parties.

As well as my adventures on the wheels of steel, my production career began when I studied Sound Engineering and Music Technology and discovered the powerful new world of Ableton Live. A handful of releases and remixes followed under my Freethos alias. This led to production work for the Dust Junkys, MC Tunes of 808 State, Earth Connection and the formidable punk-ravers The Dirty Rich. My debut release was the ‘Get Radikal’ EP which came out on Allowance Records in 2015. The title track being signed to the groundbreaking Sequential Music series. Two EPs followed in 2016: The ‘FM EP’ featuring Sabrina Findlay on ‘Just Ride’ and the three track ‘Greed EP’. My work has since included releases, production and engineering for a diverse family of independent labels. Recent collaborations with vocalist Sabrina Findlay has seen experimentation with songs such as ‘The Medicine’ which is due for a release in 2020. Beyond the dancefloor I am a creator for the sample library Noiiz.com, and have most recently produced music for a major new fitness app as well as writing production music for documentaries on Channel 4 and Sky.

Today in 2020, my passion for discovering new music is as strong as it was in 1996. The party has since moved out into the fields and for the past 5 years I have been involved with the sound system collective Tunnel Crew, working on the production team for the Off The Rails stage at Illusive Festival and performing alongside acts including Dutty Moonshine, Rico Tubbs and Meat Katie. 

I joined the Cutters Choice Radio family in May 2020 and host the ‘Beats, Bass and Riddim’ show on alternate Monday nights from 8-10pm. The shows bring together a heavy selection of bass music and skankin vibes from my 20 years on the decks and in the studio. You can expect dancehall and dub, to bassline and breaks with lots of fresh new music. In addition there’ll be special features including a regular artist focus with interviews, ‘Monday Club Cuts’ and the ‘Back Track’.