G-Stone Recordings

Their debut four track EP "G-Stoned“ (1994) which featured classic tracks such as „In Deep Shit“ or „High Noon“ proved highly influential and is considered to be the landmark release pioneering the electronic melange of dub, soul and rap music. When sampling technology became affordable, Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister pushed the then new artform to an formerly unknown dimension.

Adding to the hype surrounding the „G-Stoned“ EP, Kruder & Dorfmeister ́s debut album cover featured a remake of the famous Simon & Garfunkel „Bookends“ cover, putting the two Viennese in a context that invoked a timelessness within music, a spectre pursued in their sound: Warm, deep and with an acoustic inflection, the „K&D“ sound changed the perception of electronic music. Soon, the Viennese producers were bigged up by Gilles Peterson and received remix requests from artists such as Bomb The Bass, William Orbit and later Depeche Mode and Madonna amongst others, catapulting their odd artist name to worldwide fame. Calling their remixes „K&D Sessions“ the two sometimes worked weeks on the production of one remix in "G-Stone Studio 1“ (Peter Kruder) and „G-Stone Studio 2“ (Richard Dorfmeister). These literal sessions were an unheard effort for the reworking of a musical composition. Thus, the quality of the Kruder & Dorfmeister remixes, which most often surpassed that of the original tracks raised the concept of the remix to a new level. Quickly, their name became hot as countless labels chased Kruder & Dorfmeister with lucrative deals and even more high-calibred artists demanded a remix. But the two Viennese decided to stay independent and carefully selected the artists to remix. Selfdetermining their career, work and amount of touring, Kruder & Dorfmeister stayed in control and carefully built their name. Even today, the amount of original Kruder & Dorfmeister tracks remains little, as well as the amount of remixes. Thus, the compilation „K&D Sessions“ (!K7, 1998) became a global bestseller, with more than one million copies sold. Today, it is considered one of the defining albums of the 1990s.

The success of the „K&D Sessions“ fed on the ever growing craze surrounding the two Austrians when earlier, in 1996, Berlin label !K7 released the legendary „DJ Kicks“ volume by Kruder & Dorfmeister, which became a ubiquious soundtrack in public life up until today, with its unique blend of downtempo, instrumental rap, dub, bossanova, drum n ́bass and everything in between. With their „DJ Kicks“ release they showed a new non Dance audience, that DJ music not necessarily had to be confined to a monotonous 4/4 format or cold electronic sounds but could be open, melodious and eclectic and also highly playable in private context. The amount of airplay of the „DJ Kicks“ by Kruder & Dorfmeister in fashion shows, TV series, advertisings and movies is now legendary, not to count the numerous babies fathered with K&D as the seduction soundtrack.

In conjunction with their collaborations as producers and DJs, both Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister launched solo careers. Dorfmeister initiated the Tosca project in 1995, together with Rupert Huber. With Tosca, he released six albums and numerous remix releases of his Tosca productions. Later, together with Madrid De Los Austrias he released various club oriented records and remixes. Peter Kruder ́s solo work included remixes for Roni Size and Bebel Gilberto amongst others. The release of his solo album „Peace Orchestra“ in 1999 was highly acclaimed, leading to various collaborations in projects such as the club music project Voom:Voom as well as album productions for Marsmobil and, most notably, DJ Hell ́s successful album „Teufelswerk“.

Since the release of „DJ Kicks“, Kruder & Dorfmeister have been touring the world as DJs and have played most of the major clubs and festivals, in some years playing more than fifty shows per annum, developing a dedicated and loyal fan base. Since in their DJ sets they would play mostly tracks from other artists in 2010 they decided to rethink their live show. The "K&D Sessions Live“ were conceived featuring the most popular Kruder & Dorfmeister tracks and remixes of their career. Accompanied by long time K&D-VJ Fritz Fitzke as well as the MCs Earl Zinger and Ras Tweed, new versions of their early classics were presented in a context to encompass the Viennese duo ́s past, present and future. The show was performed at the Big Chill and various other high profile festivals around the globe growing in vision and breadth as it took on it's own creative momentum.