Mr. Chop

Mr. Chop is the pseudonym of musician and producer Coz Littler, who has made a niche for himself with his love of vintage sounds and technology. He has said his most important musical education came from exploring his father's record collection and through a lifetime of record collecting. That encompassed beat-era pop, progressive rock, psychedelia, early funk, hip hop, library music, soundtracks, krautrock and electronic music. Soaking it all in, the youngster developed a keen appreciation for a rich variety of styles and recording techniques that flourished in the 1960s and since beyond. As he became dissatisfied with many of the recording studios he worked in, he opted to open a facility of his own, and now runs APE Studios (APE standing for Analogue Production Environment), which features a full complement of vintage analog recording and processing equipment and period instruments, as well as state-of-the-art digital software that allows him to combine the best of old and new studio methods. He stepped out as a recording artist in 2008 with the first Mr. Chop album, Sounds from the Cave. Chop teamed up with at the time Stones Throw subsidiary label Now Again who released his debut Lightworlds in 2008. In 2009, Mr. Chop released a tribute to hip-hop legend Pete Rock, For Pete's Sake and he became a studio collaborator with MF Doom, who has described him as "the illest to grace the boards," and developed an estimable reputation on the U.K.'s electronic music scene. 2011 brought Switched On, a celebration of the various classic sounds that influenced him as interpreted through a 21st century perspective. He later teamed with A&R guru Joe Fearon from Deltasonic Records, with guests guitarist Bill Ryder Jones former Coral and Heliocentrics drummer Malcolm Catto for the futuristic 2013 album, Illuminate. Since then Chop has been busy with mainly production and mix work, most recently for Paul White, Dave McCabe and the Ramifications.