Robert Luis is the founder, co-owner and A&R for Tru Thoughts, the record label based in Brighton, England. He has worked with and introduced a whole host of acts into the musical world, signing Quantic, Bonobo, Belleruche and Alice Russell and releasing their debut albums, as well as signing the likes of Nostalgia 77, Hidden Orchestra, Zed Bias, Rodney P and Hot 8 Brass Band.
His background has always been in DJing. Promoting and spinning at some legendary club nights in Brighton and booking and DJing with the likes of Mr Scruff, Basement Jaxx, Ashley Beedle, Groove Armada, James Lavelle, Fabio, Gilles Peterson, Roni Size The Nextmen and 4 Hero. Many of which made their debut appearance in Brighton thanks to Robert’s forward thinking musical mind. His DJ style covers a wide range of music from beats, jazz, dub step, funk, bass, tropical, hip hop, reggae, soul to drum and bass. Balancing new and upfront music whilst also playing music from past decades. This eclectic style has resulted in him DJ’ing across the world, DJing everywhere from underground clubs in Moscow, USA, Europe, Australia and across the UK to MTV Party’s in Cannes, Bestival, Montreux, SXSW, The Big Chill and a whole host of festivals across Europe.
Although Robert had recorded a number of tracks which appeared on the first Tru Thoughts compilation “When Shapes Join Together”, the success of the label meant that he concentrated on his DJ work and running the label rather than making music, but when you have artists like Quantic, Zed Bias Nostalgia 77 and Lanu recording for you there was no rush to get in the studio.
As Nirobi he has recorded a couple of tracks with Barakas (aka Bonobo), both with an ear to the dancefloor: “Bungee Jump Against Racism” and “Partridge”. Nirobi has also recorded an album “Floating Heavy” with TM Juke under the artist name “Me&You”.
Keep half an eye on his Soundcloud page for mixes and cheeky re-edits of dancefloor bombs. Robert also hosts Tru Thoughts weekly radio show, broadcast live every Sunday 10pm-12am GMT on JUICE 107.2.
