KRTS — Photo from the artist’s MySpace.

When KRTS is on stage, he makes sure his presence is felt. With exaggerated movements, the East Williamsburg transplant bangs drum machine pads, twists knobs, and taps keys with the flair of a performer. Through all these motions, he releases pronounced drums and soulful melodies from the speakers. The mostly instrumental music is centered around the boom-bap of hip hop beats. But he adds glitchy elements, along with the creation of ephemeral sounds and layers of heartfelt piano. Much of his music has a sort of tribal spirituality to it, with big drums often being paired with angelic synths. 

When he was four, the Pittsburgh native says he was exposed to The Art of Noise by his father, which laid the foundation for an interest in electronic music. But as a teenager, he created a lot of beats for his friends to rap over. Now, the dual interests coalesce with a balance of hard beats and introspective melodies.

KRTS, real name Kurtis Hairston, recently performed at the MBP Urban Arts Fest at the Castle Braid on Troutman, where he tried out some new material, including a new remix for London’s MC Zulu. You won’t hear most of his material online. He’s being strict about posting it, so that he’ll have lots of unheard material to bang out at his shows. KRTS’s next show will be with Avaaz at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, followed by a Halloween party with his music collective, Powerstrip Circus, at Coco 66 in Greenpoint. 

The track we’ve included here is a remix of a song by British soul singer Blu. The beat is entirely original, featuring Blu’s lyrics from “Dreamin’”. A number of big drum patterns set the pace while a deep, rolling bass shakes your chest. Soul claps make nice with the dream-filled vocals, which touch on the topic of purposeful escape into the mind. Piano keys float the track into clouds of dreams.

Blu, “Dreamin’ (KRTS RMX)” (download track)

Find more of KRTS at SoundCloud, FaceBook, or MySpace.

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