Fred Warmsley

Biography

Fred Welton Warmsley III (born September 22, 1987) is an American electronic musician from Sacramento, California. Initially known for his work with the East Coast hip hop collective Pro Era, he has since produced experimental electronic music. He released eight extended plays and two albums between 2013 and 2018, including Alternate/Endings (2013) and its follow-up, $uccessor (2016).

2010–2012: Early career and work with Pro Era

Warmsley, then known as Lee Bannon, first began to receive attention after self-releasing beat tapes between 2010 and 2012, eventually leading to collaborations with California rappers Souls of Mischief, Hieroglyphics and fellow producer The Alchemist. Soon after, Warmsley was introduced to Joey Bada$$ and the rest of Pro Era through a mutual friend. Bannon signed on as Pro Era's touring DJ in 2012 and doing production for Joey Badas$$' third mixtape Summer Knights. He appeared alongside Joey Bada$$ and The Roots when they performed "Waves" live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on November 2, 2012.

2013–2015: Alternate/Endings, Pattern of Excel and name change

After his time with Pro Era, Warmsley began to explore a more experimental sound as a solo artist. In June 2013, he self-released "NW/WB", which showcased strong jungle and drum and bass influences and garnered a significant amount of press, including Spin, who included Bannon on their list of the 5 Best New Artists for July 2013. The attention drew the interest of British label Ninja Tune, which signed Bannon in October 2013. His debut long play, entitled Alternate/Endings, was released on January 9, 2014, to critical acclaim. Rolling Stone placed Alternate/Endings at number 15 of its 20 Best Electronic and Dance Albums of 2014.
On April 27, 2015, Warmsley announced his second long play, Pattern of Excel, along with its first single "Artificial Stasis". It was also announced that the album would consist almost completely of ambient music. On May 26, 2015, Warmsley announced via a hand-written note posted on his Instagram page that he would be changing his moniker from Lee Bannon to "¬ b" (meaning "not Bannon"). He wrote that Pattern of Excel would be his final release as Lee Bannon, adding that he feels the name had "reached its limits" and that "the future can no longer exist in the same realm with music I created when I was 17, fickle and still developing." The following day, he released the track "disneμ girls" from Pattern of Excel, which was itself released on July 8, 2015.

2015–present: Second name change and $uccessor

On September 9, 2015, Warmsley released an extended play titled tHot eNhançeR under the new moniker "Dedekind Cut". He followed that up with a collaborative project with the musician Rabit titled R&D on January 19, 2016. On March 23, 2016 American Zen was released physically by Hospital Productions and digitally by Ninja Tune. In a review, Resident Advisor described American Zen as "new age" and having "chilling cinematic sound design". On September 1, 2016, it was announced that Warmsley would be releasing his debut studio album as Dedekind Cut, titled $uccessor, on November 11, 2016.

As Lee Bannon

Studio albums
Alternate/Endings (2013)
Pattern of Excel (2015)

As Dedekind Cut

Studio albums
$uccessor (2016)
Tahoe (2018)
Extended plays
LAST (2016)
American Zen (2016)
The Expanding Domain (2017)

Production

The following is a list of albums in which Warmsley has produced as either producer or co-producer, showing year released, performing artists and album name.