Ed Rush

West London-born Ben Settle began in the underground rave scene after starting out as a b-boy; Ed Rush became his name as a drum-and-bass producer and DJ. His first releases were the 1992 white-label singles “I Wanna Stay in the Jungle” and “Look What They’ve Done”. The following year, he made the track “Bludclot Artattack” with neighbour Nico Sykes. Settle later collaborated with DJ Trace on “The Mutant” in 1995, and the pair made the album Torque with Nico, released on No U-Turn in 1997. Rush and DJ Trace first connected through Don FM, then began making tracks together and eventually formed No Turn.

Early releases appeared on No U-Turn, followed by the Skylab EP on Metalheadz in 1996. The same year, Metalheadz released the single “The Raven / Density / Skylab”. Ed Rush’s music is associated with darkcore and techstep, and his work is also linked with neurofunk. Rush became known for dark, aggressive drum-and-bass styles. From 1997, he worked closely with producer Optical, whose real name is Matt Quinn; the two formed the duo Ed Rush & Optical and co-founded Virus Recordings. The label released their music as well as work by other drum-and-bass artists.

“Medicine” and “Punchbag” were Ed Rush and Optical’s first release on Virus, followed by their 1998 Wormhole EP. Their notable releases also include the single “Funktion” and the album Wormhole. The pair later released the Creeps EP. Later, their album The Original Doctor Shade featured Scratch Perverts. Ed Rush also formed Killbox with Audio. Ed Rush and Optical’s Fabriclive 82 received reviews in 2015.

In a 2003 interview, Ed Rush recounted remixing Adam Freeland’s “We Want Your Soul” without a studio session, after the two crossed paths at an event in Texas and later at a hotel. In 2024, Ed Rush released the single “Selecta (2024 Remaster)” on No U Turn Records. His 2025 singles include “Burnt Bridges” on Blackout Music NL, “Supreme Entity (Ed Rush Remix)” with Burr Oak on Eatbrain, and “Respawned: Forbidden Planet (Ed Rush Remix)” on Evolution Chamber. In 2026, he released the single “Killer of Killers” with Audio as Killbox on VALKYRIE MUSIC.