Chris Cutler

Chris Cutler has led a varied and surprising career as a drummer, record label executive, hard line socialist, and ethnomusicologist, among other labels, spanning over four decades of work and over 100 records.
Born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1947, but raised in England, Cutler began drumming in beat and psychedelic groups around 1966. His first group, Louise, played the clubs in London's psychedelic scene until disbanding three years later. With Egg (2), Cutler formed the 26-piece Ottawa Music Company, which played seven gigs in all, highlighting the music of composers that they knew or had met.

Chris Cutler then ed Henry Cow in 1971 after he placed an ad in the paper, and for seven long years they recorded and toured, by themselves or in collaboration with of Telectu, and many, many more.

Politics were always important to Cutler and to Henry Cow who were looking for radical social change. Such drive is seen in his lyrics for Henry Cow and for subsequent Cow and Slapp Happy related bands, such as News From Babel, and in other later collaborations. Cutler's lyrics often tell metaphorical political tales using imagery from medieval English texts.

Cutler also founded and runs ReR Megacorp, which releases a majority of the work he either initiates or performs on. In 1984, he published "File Under Popular" a series of essays about experimental musicians and the theories of creating music against the mainstream.