Chris Liberator

Chris Knowles aka Chris Liberator, is a pioneering British DJ and producer, who has been responsible for pushing his distinctive brand of acid techno around the globe for over 20 years. As one of the Liberator DJs and founders of the legendary Stay Up Forever Label Collective, Chris has trail-blazed electronic music since its inception, yet has never compromised the anarchistic and underground principles that have come to typify his career.
In the early 80s he was a member of reputed punk band, Hagar the Womb, before becoming the first Western DJ to play in the Eastern Bloc. Gigs at Glastonbury followed, as well as his heralded Trust The DJ compilation series and recently Chris has formed a new band, called Dogshite, to again brandish his non-traditional manner for expressing his musical talent.
Renowned for the way his music ‘annihilates’ dance floors, Chris in full throttle remains one of dance music’s most enduring and epic experiences and he continues to tour all over the world, taking his indomitable sound to Australia and Japan, throughout Europe and the Americas.
As well as somehow finding the time to co-manage the Stay Up Forever Label Collective, which encompassed over 20 individual labels at its peak, Chris has a colossal production history. On top of an extensive release and remix history as Chris Liberator, his discography now totals well over 50 different collaborations and pseudonyms.
==Links to Peel==
In a 2013 interview with Louder Than War, Chris mentioned Peel's name when asked who were his musical heroes when he was a kid:
"Absolutely! I lived and breathed music from an early age, a massive fan of Slade and Sweet when I was only 7 or 8, then my tastes quickly matured into Queen and Pink Floyd, but of course these were all thrown aside when Punk came along in 1977. I was only 12 but the energy and anger connected with me immediately, and for me it changed everything forever. The mundane and shitty closed society that surrounded me as I went through my teenage years growing up on the edge of London in Hornchurch, Essex, was suddenly and irrevocably challenged. It completely and utterly blew my mind. I remember seeing Mark Perry (from Sniffing’ Glue fanzine and the band ATV who I later met, a definite hero of mine) on TV slagging off all the prog rock bands and in the same week discovering the Stranglers, followed by the Adverts, Pistols, Clash, Ramones, Slits, and all those other bands from the original punk era. I was hooked and I stayed hooked, following punk avidly as it progressed through the coming years into all it’s digressions (with massive amounts of help from John Peel)  including early electronica like Cabaret Voltaire/ Normal, etc., and all the Rough Trade stuff (Kleenex/ The Raincoats and suchlike). I was in a band called Hagar the Womb at this time and I got involved in the anarcho punk scene (Crass/ Mob/ Poison Girls and similar bands) playing at punk squats and anarcho activist centres, and loved the DIY culture it inspired." 
Peel would play many of the bands that Chris was involved in the 80's. When Chris started to DJ, his music started to get noticed by Peel and he invited the DJ, who collaborated with other DJ's (Aaron Northmore and Julian Sandell) to do a session for his show in 1997 under the name of Liberator DJs & The London Acid Techno Mafia. He also invited the DJ again for another session in 1999 which he collaborated with another DJ (Henry Cullen), but this time under the name of Ha-Lo. Peel continued playing his music into the 00's and nominated his 'Maximum Minimum' single as one of his records of the month for June 2000 (Peel's Record Box), as well as his collaboration under the Punk Floyd name for the album, 'Have Landed', as one of his records of the month for November 1998 (Peel's Record Box).
==Sessions==
thumb|220x220px
Under the name of Liberator DJ's & The London Acid Techno Mafia
1. Recorded live on 02 April 1997
*Radio On One / Creeper / Dynamo City / Carbine
Under the name of Ha-Lo
1. Recorded live on 07 July 1999
*Theramin Carousel / Rapid Descent / Regenerate House / Life Force 
==Other Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220pxChris Liberator / Star Power (Chris Knowles)
*19 August 1994: Bay Of Rainbows (12" - Sonar / Bay Of Rainbows) Stay Up Forever
*02 June 1996: Nothing Can Save Us London (Chris Liberator's Sonic Mix) (12" - Nothing Can Save Us, London - Remixes) Stay Up Forever Remix 
*27 July 1996 (BFBS): 'Thirteen (Compilation CD-MC Teabag's Herbal Highs)' (Bag)
*16 February 2000: 'Compressed To Impress' (LP - 'Set Fire') TEC
*19 February 2000 (BFBS): 'Compressed To Impress (CD-Set Fire)' (TeC)
*February 2000 (FSK): Compressed To Impress (CD - Set Fire) TeC
*24 February 2000: Fiesta Diablo (LP - Set Fire) TeC
*09 March 2000 (Radio Eins): 'Compressed To Impress' (LP - 'Set Fire') TEC
*16 March 2000: Set Fire (LP – Set Fire) Truelove
*16 April 2000 (BFBS): 'Compressed To Impress (CD-Set Fire)' (TeC)
*15 June 2000: Maximum Minimum (12") Blah Blah Blah
*21 June 2000: 'MAX Untitled (Green 368)' (Maximum/Minimum)
*17 January 2001: XXX (12") Band On
*15 March 2001: XXX (12") Band On
*24 September 2002: Untitled (Minimum Side) (12") Maximum / Minimum
*23 October 2002: Untitled (MAX side) (12") Maximum / Minimum
*24 September 2003: Untitled (12") Power Tools
*03 December 2003: Untitled (12") Liberator
*30 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank): 'Untitled (12"-Steel Grey 45)' (Maximum / Minimum)  
;thumb|220x220pxCosmic Trigger (Chris Knowles, Dave Lalouche, Paul Harding)
*30 June 1995: Marauder (12 inch - Marauder / Ghost Of Acid) Stay Up Forever
;C.A.T. / CAT (Chris Knowles, Natasha Mardon)
*05 August 1995: Break It Down (12 inch) Choci’s Chewns
*01 September 1995: 'Break It Down (12 inch)' (Choci's Chewns)
*09 September 1995 (BFBS): 'Break It Down' (12") (Choci's Chewns)
*22 October 1995 (BFBS): 'Break It Down (12")' (Choci's Chewns)
;Creeper / Dynamo City / Ha-Lo (Chris Knowles, Henry Cullen)
*21 July 1996: Urban & Free (12") Stay Up Forever 
*18 August 1996: Speaker Crack (12" - Undulator 23 / Speaker Crack) Cluster
*31 August 1996 (BFBS): 'Speaker Crack (Bullet Mix) (12")' (Cluster)
*September 1996 (FSK): Speaker Crack (12" - Undulator 23 / Speaker Crack) Cluster
*29 September 1996: Speaker Crack (12") Cluster
*10 October 1996 (BFBS): 'Speaker Crack (12")' (Cluster)
*14 April 1999: Urban And Free (EP: John Peel Remixes) Stay Up Forever
;Three Stooges (Chris Knowles, Henry Cullen, Mark Mackenzie)
*23 November 1996: Respect (12") Choci's Chewns
*01 May 1997: Respect (12") Choci's Chewns
*08 May 1997 (BFBS): 'Respect (12")' (Choci's Chewns) 
;thumb|220x220pxMish Mash (Chris Knowles, Paul Harding)
*January 1997 (FSK): Hopper (12" - Fuck With The Programme / Hopper) Stay Up Forever
;Lochi (Chris Knowles, Lawrence Dunster)
*25 January 1997: Sinistacid (12" - New Wave Of Acid Techno / Sinistacid) Routemaster
*25 January 1997 (BBC World Service): Sinistacid (12" - New Wave Of Acid Techno / Sinistacid) Routemaster 
;Carbine / Ice Pack (Chris Knowles, Guy McAffer)
*20 February 1997: ‘Psycho Thrill (12 inch)’ Stay Up Forever
*05 May 1997: Jagged Edge (12") Cluster
*15 December 1998: Don't Try This At Home (12") Cluster
*20 December 1998 (BFBS): 'Don't Try This At Home (12")' (Cluster)
;thumb|220x220pxPunk Floyd / Dot Dash (Chris Knowles, Dave Lalouche, Guy McAffer)
*24 June 1997: (JP: 'This is Punk Floyd, Punk Floyd, what a great name, don't you wished you thought of that, perhaps you did, Can't Breathe') Can't Breathe (12") Smitten
*15 October 1997: I.B.S. vs A.B.S. (12") Cluster 
*16 April 1998: Top Banana (v/a 2x12" EP - It's An Acid Thing) Smitten 
*04 November 1998: 'PF ITA (CD-Have Landed)' (Smitten)
*11 November 1998: Top Banana (CD - Punk Floyd Have Landed) Smitten 
*27 August 2003: 'We're Getting the Band Back Together (12")' (Stay Up Forever)
;Big In Germany / Umbilical Chord (Chris Knowles, Dave Lalouche)
*14 January 1999: Glass Fibre (12") Cluster
*24 April 2001: Kangaroo Court (12") Antidote
;Cyborg X (Chris Knowles, Julian Sandell)
*01 April 1999 (Radio Eins): Cryogenic State
;Fuzz (Chris Knowles, Christine Bartholomew, Guy McAffer, Mark Grattan)
*15 June 1999: Night Chase (EP – Killer Squad) Cluster
*24 June 1999: The Beginning (part of John Peel ('Fat Boy') and Steve Lamacq ('Slim') Mix)
*03 December 2002: 'Fuck My Bitch (12" EP-Dibble Dabble)' (Cluster)
;thumb|220x220pxSpeaker Pimps (Chris Knowles, Ben Balafonic)
*25 November 1999: 'Octagon (12")' (Smitten)
;Headrush Tactics (Chris Knowles, Anthony Wilson)
*04 October 2001: 'Stop-Go (12 inch)' (Stay Up Forever)
*18 October 2001 (Radio Eins): Stop-Go (12 inch) Stay Up Forever
*18 September 2002: 'Body Rock (12")' (Stay Up Forever)
;Rebel Shaker Gang (Chris Knowles, Darc Marc)
*05 February 2004: 'La Musica Y La Mente (12")' (Stay Up Forever)
== See Also ==
* Cold War
* We Are Going To Eat You
==External Links==
*True Love Music
*Discogs
Category:Artists