DJ I.F.U. aka Alexi Kutuzov was born in Minsk, Belarus, son of a piano teacher and a trumpet player. So, from the early days music was one of the main topics at home. He was encouraged by his parents to take years of piano lessons, as well as guitar and accordeon. At the same time his music collection started to grow widely. Since then he`s collected an enormous amount of electronic music, as well as all sorts of alternative guitar, avantguard, classical albums and pop music singles which have had a great influence on his future career.
Club life in Belarus didn`t exist at that time. It was at the level of regional dancehalls in Palaces of Culture and cinemas. In 1991 at the age of 14 Alexi started to work as a light operator then dj at one of the central Palaces in Minsk. Then all the crew left to the Palace Of Proftehobrazovaniya (of professional technical education) and formed Music Cafe Red Hall, where Alexi became a resident. Probably in that place, underground dance music was heard for the first time in Belarus, for that reason I.F.U. is known as a godfather of dance culture and probably the first dj in Belarus. Soon he joined forces with F.U.Entertainment, and the guys started to organise regular club parties in Minsk. Word of mouth promotion made those first nights legendary, parties at the Alternative Theatre, Shapito Circus and the House of Authors still shine brightly in the memories of old clubbers in Minsk.
F.U.Entertainment couldn`t last long, and I.F.U. (under the first name IFEELYOU) had to create several promogroups including Intensive Music Club, The Switch Club, Vacuum Centre, holding regular parties for Minsk clubbers. Some dj`s who grew up in those clubs became top jocks in Belarus, Russia and later Ukraine.
Belarus didn`t have any record shops, so from the very beginning Alexi used an exotic way of mixing tunes on reel-to-reel tapes, then moved to tape recorders mixing cassettes with a self-made pitch control.
In 1995 Alexi switched from acid house and trance beats to everything broken and started to push d`n`b and breakbeat. At the same time he began to produce, organising live project Vacuumable with Graf (ex-66 Beats Against The Human, Drum Extasy), which is known as the pioneer of breakbeat in the Belarussian electronic music community. Delta 9 records, which they founded with their mates Autism, started to be as a platform to release their albums, the same as other belarussian musicians. Vacuumable released 2 albums on Delta 9 and had several gigs in Germany and Holland, the same as all around Belarus. I.F.U. organised The 1st Electronic Music festival in Belarus - Future Sound Of Minsk - in 1996, which gave an opportunity for all electronic music live acts to showcase their work over two floors, with Sound Lab of Ministry of Psychodelia from Moscow headlining.
In 1997 Alexi tested himself with different social projects, such as the Eindhoven-Minsk Cultural Exchange, which was organised with the participation of over 60 artists, musicians, dj`s, graphic designers, ecologists and social workers from Holland and Belarus. He was also interested in playing for exhibitions and galleries, supporting artists with his lounge sound sonics.
After splitting up with Graf due to lack of equipment and artistic differences, I.F.U. concentrated on djing and club promotion. It was Liveground Sound System which made the next noise through the whole country from 1998 for another 3 years. Alexi gathered under one wing about 10 musicians , dj`s, designers and photographers to drop regular parties in Minsk with occasional tours to other cities in Belarus and abroad. The local A-Club served as a platform for the underground sound of Liveground parties with a wide spectrum of music: from d`n`b, breakbeat, techno, electro and even speed-break-core to jazzy, funky, hip hop and IDM tunes in chill out rooms. Popular dub-reggae festival Legalize It! was also part of the Liveground activities, involving all the local dub-reggae bands as well as guests from Russia.
I.F.U. put his hand to every style he found interesting, innovative and powerful. His popular d`n`b sets started to gain recognition at big Russian festivals as well as in Poland, Germany, Holland. You could find him playing for big d`n`b floors, as well as in backrooms with early breaks and electro-funk records. His sets are always full of meaty bassy sounds, which give him full control of a dancefloor, with a good portion of eclecticism and funk.
In 2000 I.F.U. was named The Best D`n`B DJ in Belarus, by A-Club in Minsk, in 2001, The Best Breakbeat DJ, by club Reaktor, in association with Moscow club culture magazine Ptuch.
In 2001 Liveground S.S. wound up and Alexi decided to get more experience in the music industry and to find some more luck djing by moving to London, the world clublife and music production mecca.
London was the right city to move to for I.F.U. He dug deeply into local club life, checking out what was going on, finding fresh sounds and getting contacts all over the place. Soon, he was disappointed with the condition of UK d`n`b, but started to pay more attention to electro, and especially breaks, which started to grow hugely there as everywhere else in the world. I.F.U. was lucky enough to be booked for his first gig in Propaganda, with headliners DMX Crew (Rephlex, Breakin`) and Solar X (Worm Interface, Hymen). Soon he hooked up with Worm Interface records to help with the promotion of their regular night in London.
In 2002 Kautchuk promo group was formed. It was under this name I.F.U. started to organise small parties in local dj bars. Soon Kautchuk were arranging bigger nights in London club Elektrowerkz, with big names in breaks and electro music, including Koma & Bones, Bass Junkie, Atomic Hooligan, Exzakt, Klaus Heavyweight Hill, Jo Jo de Freq.
The next three years I.F.U. spinned the decks in lots of London night spots such as 333, The Egg, AKA, Medicine Bar Shoreditch, Catch, Foundry, Dragon Bar, The Pool, Public Life, The Eye as well as at various private and warehouse parties.
Soon he found new skills working as a booking adviser and agent for the clubs and festivals in Eastern Europe. He was responsible for bringing The Mixologists & MC Trip to Moscow; Meat Katie, Adam Freeland, Friendly and A-Sides to St Petersburg; Kid Loco, Leeroy Thornhill, Meat Katie, Hyper, Luke Chable, Herbaliser DJ, Dr.Kucho, Serge Santiago, Organic Audio and Jay Hannan to Belarus and Master H to Ukraine.
In the beginning of 2005 I.F.U. made another move, back to Belarus, cause started to get more gigs around Eastern Block. With regular appearances in Moscow, St.Peterburgh, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia and, of course , United Kingdom and Belarus I.F.U. can be named as the busiest belarussian professional DJ and promoter.
He opened another company - I.F.U. Entertainment, under which name organised numerous nights with such names as Meat Katie, Elite Force, D.Ramirez, Santos, Friendly, Paul Arnold, Klaus Heavyweight Hill to name but a few.
One of the highlights was New Years Eve night 2005-2006 in Belarus organised with Renaissance UK with Montero, Jonathan Ulysses and Asha which gathered 3000 clubbers under the roof of central exhibition hall Belexpo in Minsk. Another festival was organised with Mild Seven company, where Hybrid Live and Banco de Gaia played on the main stage.
In the beginning of 2006, 1300 Internet users voted in a poll for the Best DJ in Belarus 2005, the award was proudly won by dj I.F.U. In 2006 Alexi won a 5-months DJ Battle, which was organised by the biggest and most respected club in Belarus Bela Veja.
At the moment Alexi holds residencies in the biggest and most successful clubs in Belarus ( Bela Veja) and Latvia ( Banzai), continuing playing internationally ( C64 night with Rogue Element, Def Inc., boat party with Matt Brown, Ministry of Sound ( with Steve Angello, Green Velvet and Finger Lickin` Allstars), The End ( with Layo&Bushwaka and Stuart Patterson) were just part of his October gig-schedule in London this autumn) . His unique style of mixing can be characterised as an eclectic mix of minimal house, techno, electro and breaks music, with a splash of electronic soundscapes and funk in it.
After 16 years experience playing music in public and club promotion I.F.U. is keeping going, with more and more sounds and projects in his mind.
SOME IMPORTANT GIGS:
(as Vacuumable):
1995
- im Eimer (Berlin)
- Art Academy (Dusseldorf)
1996
- Effenaar (Eindhoven)
- 2B (Eindhoven)
(as DJ I.F.U.):
1998
- Kazantip festival, Ukraine (www.kazantipa.net)
1999
- Effenaar (Eindhoven)
- 2B (Eindhoven)
- MS Stubnitz (Rostock, D)
- im Eimer(Berlin)
- Kazantip festival, Ukraine ( www.kazantipa.net)
- Mama (St.Petersburgh)
- Spartak (St.Petersburgh)
2000
- Maria am Ostbahnhof (Berlin)
- 2B (Eindhoven)
- TNT 2000 festival (Kielce, Poland)
- www.twenfm.de (net radio, Berlin)
- Metro (Riga,Latvia)
2001
- Poland tour
- Acud (Berlin)
- www.dj-sets.com (net radio,Berlin)
- Vostochni Udar festival (www.udar.info, St.Petersburgh)
- Kazantip festival, Ukraine( www.kazantipa.net)
Whist in London has played regularly in local clubs and dj-bars such as Propaganda ( with DMX Krew ( Rephlex, Breakin` rec.), Solar X ), 333 ( with Olli Teeba ( The Herbaliser ) ),Medicine, AKA, The Pool, Dragon bar,Catch 22, The Foundry, Public Life, The Eye as well as at different private parties and warehouse raves.
2003
- Nokia Velocity Festival, Moscow with The Mixologists and MC Trip
- Eastern European Fat Funk Food tour in Belarus, Russia, Lithuania
- Kautchuk, Elektrowerkz, London( with Koma&Bones, Atomic Hooligan, Klauss Hill, Exzakt, Bass Junkie, Jo Jo de Freq)
- The Egg ( London) with DJ Hyper and Kenny Hawkes
2004
- Poland, Russia, Belarus tour
- Zona club, Moscow
- Tunnel club, St.Peterburgh ( Bedrock Breaks album launch tour with Meat Katie)
-Bronx club, Minsk, Belarus ( with Kid Loco)
- Platform 12, Al Hambra, London ( with Krafty kuts, SOTO, Madox)
- Kautchuk nights at Medicine Shoreditch, London
2005
- Pulkvedis, Riga, Latvia
- Banzai, Daugavpils, Latvia
-Kautchuk @ Tunnell, St.Peterburgh, Russia
- Kazantip fest
- gigs with Meat Katie, Luke Chable, Hyper in Belarus and Ukraine
- Tunning Hall, Moscow, opening of the club
- official Renaissance NYE, Belexpo, Minsk, Belarus with Jonathan Ulysses, Montero and Asha
2006
- 5 Element Festival ( Tallin, Estonia) with Marco Bailey, Meat Katie, General Midi, Heinrik B, Hive, Chase&Status, etc.
-Banzai (Daugavpils, Latvia) with Meat Katie
- Banzai ( D-Pils, Latvia) with Elite Force
-Bronx ( Minsk, Belarus) with Jimi Tenor live
- Mild Seven Festival ( Minsk, Belarus) with Hybrid live, Banco de Gaia live
-Medicine ( London, UK)
- gigs in Minsk, Belarus with Paul Arnold, D.Ramirez, Friendly, Adam Freeland
- Ministry of Sound ( London, UK) with Green Velvet, Steve Angello, Soul of Man, A-Skills, Rogue Element, Move Ya!
- The End ( London, UK) with Layo&Bushwaka, Stuart Patterson
- C64 ( London, UK) with Rogue Element, Def Inc., Ctrl - Z
- Helloween boat party London, UK) (with Sancho Panza)
- www.ibreaks.co.uk Higher status radio show
- official Renaissance NYE, Kiev, Ukraine with King Unique, Montero
2007
- gigs in St.Peterburgh and Communar, Russia ( with Mr. Velcro Fastener)
Releases: ( as Vacuumable)
`95 - Out of Net ( Delta 9 rec.)
`96 - Organics ( Delta 9 rec.)
( as dj I.F.U.)
`98 - Breaking the Step ( Delta 9 rec.)
`98 - Up and Down Grooves ( I&I Group rec.)
`02 - Fuck Happy ( Kakiye Takiye) ( Live dj set from Ama-day ( Minsk) May 2002, 5CD set)
`03 - Fat Food ( Gizmo - Lab rec.)
`05 - Funky Breaks ( Gizmo - Lab rec.)
- Fake Love ( X-Muz)
- Kautchuk breaks mix ( Tunnell rec., St.Peterburgh)
