Sydney, Australia-based Ned East produces a sunny, energetic mix of left-field hip-hop, tropical house, and indie electronic under the name
Kilter. He first started making EDM mixes and edits while in high school, but he started taking production seriously when he received Ableton Live on his 18th birthday. At this point, he was producing abstract beats inspired by
Hudson Mohawke and
J Dilla. His Forever Ago EP was released in 2012. In 2013, East remixed songs by RÜFÜS,
Ben Pearce, and
Sam La More, and opened for New Zealand drum'n'bass group
Shapeshifter. He also signed to etcetc and released the yearning electro-house single "Hold Me."
Flume remixed "Gravel Pit,"
Kilter's collaboration with Matt Miller, which helped draw attention to East. The year 2014 saw the release of the
Shades EP, which included collaborations with Ngaaire, Ev Jones, and
Citizen Kay. He also re-recorded the EP track "They Say" with Zimbabwean vocalist
Tkay Maidza. By this time, he had established himself as a dynamic live performer, having toured Australia and New Zealand extensively, and opened for acts such as
Little Dragon and
Hermitude. In 2015, East remixed
ODESZA's "All We Need," but his only original track to be released that year was "Want 2" (with
Porsches). "Fool for You" (with Micah Jey) and "They Don't Know Us" (featuring Cam Nacson of MOZA) were released in 2016. ~ Paul Simpson