About Sweatson Klank
Hometown
Paris, France
Genre
Electronic
Sweatson Klank is the stage name of Thomas Wilson, a longtime fixture of the fabled Los Angeles beat scene. Previously known as Take, he started making dusty breakbeats in the late '90s, forming hip-hop duo the Shinin' and launching an extensive solo discography of atmospheric hip-hop productions. He became a resident DJ at an event series called Sketchbook, which preceded the scene-defining weekly Low End Theory, and worked with producers like Ras G, Caural, and Daedelus, while concurrently developing his career as a film and television composer and DJ/music supervisor for commercial events. He retired the Take alias following 2010's abstract, bass-heavy Only Mountain, then concentrated on producing solo work as Sweatson Klank. His releases under the name have ranged from fluid fusions of hip-hop, R&B, and IDM, such as 2013's You, Me, Temporary, to the meditative ambient pieces of 2021's Path of an Empath EP.
Born in Paris, Wilson was raised in Topanga Canyon, right outside of the Los Angeles city limits. His parents were involved in the entertainment industry, and he was exposed to a wide range of creative arts and music, with hip-hop having the biggest impact on his musical taste. He moved to Olympia, Washington to attend college and started to DJ under the name Take One, while collaborating with his friend Jamie Carrillo (aka DJ None) as the Shinin'. Take One released a breakbeat LP called Emergency Breaks on indie rock monolith K Records in 1999, and the Shinin' produced an EP titled Director's Cut, recorded in Washington and California and featuring several rappers from throughout both states' underground hip-hop scenes, including Dr. Oop and Bedroom Produksionz. K and Drunk Decibel Records co-released the EP in 2000. After returning to Los Angeles and trimming his moniker to simply Take, Wilson released Third Story, an EP of lush downtempo instrumentals, on Seattle's Buttermilk Records in 2003. Pieces from the Puzzle and two Colossal EPs (combined on one CD) soon followed in 2004. Wilson became involved with Sketchbook, a short-lived but influential club night launched by Kutmah that focused on instrumental hip-hop, paving the way for the widely celebrated Low End Theory, considered the epicenter of the Los Angeles beat scene.
Wilson released several EPs and a 2007 full-length, Earthtones & Concrete, while making a name for himself in the entertainment industry, composing music for film, television, and commercials in addition to DJing and being hired as music supervisor for launch parties and other corporate events. He began using the DJ name Sweatson Klank near the end of the 2000s, putting together mixes for Brainfeeder and Dublab. After releasing a 2010 split EP with Matthewdavid, credited to both of his monikers, Wilson put the name Take to rest with the full-length Only Mountain, a mixture of neon funk and wonky hip-hop. Only Mountain: The Remixes followed in 2011, with contributors including Shigeto, FaltyDL, and Om Unit. Sweatson Klank's Elevate Me EP was released by Project: Mooncircle in 2012, preceding the ambitious 2013 triple-LP You, Me, Temporary, which featured guests including Vikter Duplaix, Illingsworth, and Deniro Farrar, and included a disc of instrumentals.
Wilson began instructing at the Los Angeles branch of the Point Blank Music School in 2015, teaching music production and mixing courses to aspiring artists. Sweatson Klank signed to the Friends of Friends label in 2017, releasing the EPs Then I Was Me and Like I Need You in front of the moody 2018 full-length Fine Lines. Super Natural Delights, more upbeat than previous Sweatson Klank releases, appeared in 2019, with the sunny, laid-back Good Days following in 2020. The nearly beatless ambient EP Path of an Empath surfaced in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson
Similar to: Sweatson Klank
Discover more music and artists similar to Sweatson Klank, like Hermanito, santpoort, GhostChant
