Nosmo & Kris B
Nosmov Nikitin and Krisstobel Bogdanov comprise the 6 time Grammy award nominated duo of Nosmo v Kris B. Hailing from the Russian port city of Kalinigrad on the Baltic Sea, they are now one of the most established names in alternative Gospel music. They had their first taste of live performance as back up dancers on Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” tour in eastern Europe. Longing to see the United States, they hid in Ms. Jackson’s luggage, and upon her return to the US, NvK had arrived. They quickly settled in Nashville, working simultaneously in music studios, a trout farm and a mortuary, saving every penny to purchase their own studio. While taking a break from their recording session with Conway Twitty, they recorded what would become their first hit single “Please Stop Putting Your Finger in There”, Mr. Twitty heard the song, and the rest is history.
After the massive success of “PSPYFIT”, the duo was signed to Def Jam recordings and was quickly touring the world, supporting such acts as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Grand Funk Railroad. Their fresh fusion of traditional Klezmer melodies, southern Gospel choir and Christin Death Metal was a breath of fresh air in the scene. Soon they were headlining Barmitzva’s, bike messenger bars and gay party boats across the globe.
After the media hype surrounding their second album “What Made You Think That Would Fit In There?”, Sally Jessie Rafael named NvK as the new house band for her popular talk show. This was destined to be short lived, as repeated drunken brawls with producers, security and Ms. Rafael soured their relationship, and their public image. Things only got worse when Nosmov’s Scotchguard addiction and Krisstobel’s amputee & midget fetish were also made public in an interview in Newsweek’s expose about the “New Polka” explosion. Ever resilient in the face of adversity, NvK made good with fans by giving the profits from their third album “It’s Starting to Chafe” to various charities, such as “The Slightly Less-Privileged Republicans Foundation” and “Agnostic Atheists for Jesus”. NvK now reside in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the Labrador region of Newfoundland. They can often be seen passing overhead in their Cessna, likely on their way to play such exotic locations as Turkmanestan and Arkansas.
Ok, let’s be serious for a second…
There are very few producers who managed to put their first production on a track-listing from a Radio 1 Essential Mix. Even fewer can claim that feat after being featured by Sasha, and to top it all off, during the Delta Heavy launch party at the WMC. It was no surprise that this debut production from Nosmo and Kris B “One for the Road” was quickly signed to Hope Recordings, and was followed by the formation of the live electronic group Grayarea. Following a highly regarded guest mix on John Digweed’s Kiss FM 100 show, AM Only picked up the rights to represent the group in North America, and Grayarea took to the road for several headlining US tours.
A few years and several number one chart singles later, Nosmo and Kris B are back in Chicago, shacked up in the studio and aggressively pushing their agenda of on the edge, quality productions. Their imprint Nightshade Music has quickly risen through the ranks, mainly due to Nosmo and Kris B’s relentless pace and a keen ability to place their music in the right places in the industry. Nightshade Music’s Nosmo v Kris B & Ben Brown- ‘La Cocina'(Mazi Dubstrumnetal) will be appearing on Darren Emerson’s upcoming Global Underground 36: Bogota, while their productions and remixes for Baroque, Armada and countless other labels have been topping sales charts. The duo also have a new live show, once again pushing the boundaries of new technology, incorporating electronic drums, live guitar and bass, scratching, and on-the-fly remixes and mash-ups using Ableton Live. Expect to hear anything from Rick James to Moby, 2 Live Crew to Kraftwerk, mixed intelligently in with their ever growing catalog of their own original productions and remixes.
Nosmo and Kris B were able to achieve success from their first production to their most recent, through a simple philosophy of working smart. “One for the Road” was initially a self released, single sided white label record. This first release topped the UK Buzz Chart and Balance Promote Record Pool chart, and received support from Sasha, John Digweed, Pete Tong, Paul Van Dyk, Dave Seaman, Timo Maas and Hernan Cattaneo. Nosmo and Grayarea went on to release tracks and remixes on labels including Bedrock, Global Underground, Silver Planet, Distinct’ive, and remixed artists Hybrid, Steve Porter, Bedrock & Thrill Kill Kult. Kris B found solo success in his new home of Los Angeles, quickly becoming a resident for Spundae and later Godskitchen, with his first solo production “Last Minute Flight” reaching number one on the Balance Record Pool chart, and being featured (alongside Grayarea) on Nick Warren’s Global Underground 024: Reykjavik.
Their combined list of past gigs and studio accomplishments is extensive to say the least, with tracks featured on compilations from Tiesto, Global Underground, Ministry of Sound, Slinky, Moonshine and Ferry Corsten. They have performed at major US festivals Ultra and Area:2, with Dj sets abroad in the UK, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico. They have not limited their scope to dance music, having recently licensed music (co-produced with Bill Hamel) to Konami for the 10th anniversary edition of “Dance Dance Revolution”, with other commercial music clients including Beck’s Beer, ESPN, MTV’s LOGO Network and Falken Tires. They are host to Nightshades on DI.fm, and The Influence on Protonradio.com, having featured guest mixes from Desyn Masiello, Paul Harris, Dirt Crew, Pako & Frederik, in addition to regular guest spots on internet and FM radio around the world.
Perhaps the most refreshing part of their recent success is the dedication they have shown to their vision of artistic future in their personal lives. It is a never-ending story of young artists making it big and slowly fading away into our residual consciousness, and finally disappearing forever to some cubicle shaped reality that some insist on calling “real life.” Nosmo and Kris B have shed all the artificial life ideas that our society drills into us every day. “Cold turkey” is the best way to get it done and after launching Nightshade Music in February 2008 the guys have never looked back. They have dedicated all their time to studio work, managing and promoting the label, and extensive touring both as DJs and with their unique live performance.
edited & co-written by Voytek Tusz, Envivo/Exodos Magazine, Chicago
