About the Band

Khruangbin--Thai for “airplane”—is a trio from Texas, comprised of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums; Khruangbin’s sounds are rooted in the deepest waters of music from around the world, infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia.

Since the release of Con Todo El Mundo, Khruangbin have continued their almost non-stop approach to touring, playing over 130 dates in 2018 alone, most of them selling out well in advance, including sold-out shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The fall of 2019 sees them continuing their whirlwind march.

Globetrotting Texan trio Khruangbin are set to release Hasta El Cielo, the band’s glorious dub version of their acclaimed second album Con Todo El Mundo, on July 12th via DeadOceans/NightTimeStories. The full album has been processed anew along with two bonus dubs by renowned Jamaican producer Scientist.

Statement of Vision

The band’s exotic, spacious, psychedelic funk aligns with the dub treatment particularly well. Indeed, keen fans won’t find this a surprising release. Dubs of tracks from their first album The Universe Smiles Upon You appeared on limited vinyl releases of “People Everywhere” for Record Store Day 2016 and “Zionsville” on the Boogie Futuro remix 12-inch LP. The especially eagle-eared will have caught a dub of “Two Fish And An Elephant” playing over the credits of the track’s celebrated video.

“For us, Dub has always felt like a prayer. Spacious, meditative, able to transport the listener to another realm. The first dub albums we listened to were records mixed by Scientist featuring the music of the Roots Radics. Laura Lee learned to play bass by listening to Scientist Wins the World Cup. His unique mixing style, with the emphasis on space and texture, creates the feeling of frozen time; it was hugely influential to us as a band. To be able to work alongside Scientist, a legend in the history of dub, is an honor. This is our dub version of Con Todo El Mundo.” — Khruangbin

Key Band Facts

First Performance

1996 - Anglers Blue Bar, Austin, TX

First Recording

1997 - Cloud Facts, Corpus Christi, TX

Key Influences

George Harrison, While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Les Paul, Golden Charade
Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower

Favorite Foods

Satay - Chicken or tofu skewers
Buffalo Hot Wings - Butter & Tabasco sauce
Rootin Ruby's - Original Long Neck Ale

Bandmembers

Laura Lee - Bass

Mark Speer - Guitar

Donald "DJ" Johnson - Drums