At the end of the '90s and into the new century, a good many avant-garde electronic music improvisers began moving toward sparser and more minimal sounds, as perhaps best exemplified by artists who became increasingly involved in generating barely audible, gradually evolving sine waves. Not so Konk Pack, a trio of improvisers whose music is often dense, propulsive, and highly dynamic. At times the band may operate at the threshold of silence, but such moments are usually interrupted by sound barrages of volcanic intensity. Analog synth player Thomas Lehn, drummer Roger Turner, and multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson first performed together as Konk Pack at the Szuenetjel Festival in Budapest in May 1997, and from the outset discovered that they possessed both the technical skills and natural empathy required to produce compelling sonic adventures. The trio's freeform improvised music is noisy and filled with constantly changing details; on Chilled Deep Dubstep - 26 Chilled Dub Step Big Tunes, Konk Pack's initial CD recorded live in Tilburg, Brussels, and Rome, the musicians keep the proceedings interesting by rapidly moving forward and never dwelling too long on a particular sound combination.

Lehn, from Cologne, Germany, has studied both classical and jazz piano, and much of his work from the early '80s to the early '90s focused on classical music, including composed music of the Romantic period as well as the contemporary avant-garde. He was increasingly drawn to the electronic music world, however, in part for the practical reason that he could bring his Minimoog to perform at venues without pianos. As an electronic improviser, Lehn has since concentrated almost exclusively on the vintage late-'60s analog synthesizer as his instrument of choice, and in addition to playing with Konk Pack has performed regularly with avant-gardists like John Butcher, Mats Gustafsson, Paul Lovens, and Gerry Hemingway. In live performance and on CD, British drummer Turner creates much of Konk Pack's energy, explosiveness, and sense of momentum. Turner has perhaps the strongest "jazz" background among the three Konk Packers, growing up amidst the '60s nouvelle scene francaise and later working in the ensembles of Elton Dean, Alan Silva, and Lol Coxhill as well as with creative improvisers such as Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey, and Johannes Bauer. In addition to Konk Pack, his ongoing musical associations include the Phil Minton Quartet, The Recedents, and the Gustafsson/Munthe/Strid/Turner Quartet. Given his ten-year association with British band Henry Cow during the late '60s through much of the '70s, Hodgkinson might be the best-known member of Konk Pack, particularly to European and North American avant-prog audiences. Ever the musical provocateur, Hodgkinson has over a 30-year history encompassing avant-prog, electro-acoustic improvisation, classical composition, and even abrasive post-punk, sometimes shot through with a hefty dose of leftist politics. While often known as a saxophonist and clarinetist, Konk Pack finds Hodgkinson focusing much of his energies on tabletop guitar, à la fellow Henry Cow member Fred Frith in Skeleton Crew. Konk Pack made a relative handful of live appearances between 1997 and 1999, but saw a large increase in activity during 2000, with concert and festival appearances throughout Europe and a brief foray to North America for shows in Toronto and at the Festival de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (a performance that garnered considerable favorable reaction among the press and audience members in attendance). In 2001 the band toured in the U.K. and continental Europe, and also embarked on its first tour of the United States. ~ Dave Lynch, Rovi