The Clamps, the drum-and-bass name of Julien Carbou, took shape in Toulouse, where the French producer and DJ is based. Carbou started working on electronic music in the late 1990s, moving through hard techno, breakbeat and progressive trance before developing the project. His early work included several projects, and his background spans styles beyond drum and bass. The Clamps’ sound draws on techno and industrial music as well as drum and bass, while Carbou has described the project as open to more than one kind of music.
The Clamps’ early releases include the 2011 EP Nightmare EP and the 2012 EP Refuse & Resist EP. Kosenprod became a key part of Carbou’s work; an EP titled Seduction Scale also came out on Kosenprod. A later early release, the 2013 EP Antinomic EP, preceded his 2018 album Odyssey. Carbou has also put out music through Trendkill Records and Eatbrain.
Carbou works with Opsen in the drum-and-bass duo Burr Oak, and with Deerhill in Third Colony. Forum is another collaborative project, bringing together Carbou, SKS and Opsen. His wider list of collaborators includes K12, NickBee and A.way, while a collaboration with Dilemn produced the 2011 track “Audio Control.” He has also worked with experimental jazz musician Thomas Carbou. Burr Oak is identified as a neuro project, and The Clamps draws on industrial hardcore as well as techno and drum and bass.
In 2024, The Clamps released the album From Dust to Dawn with Eluun and Tryst Temps. Carbou’s work through The Clamps has also included music on Eatbrain and Trendkill Records, in addition to Kosenprod. The project remains rooted in Toulouse, where Carbou began its development as a new start and worked closely with Kosenprod.
