basswerk is a drum and bass label founded in Cologne in 1997 by Heiner Kruse, who records as The Green Man, and Laszlo Milasovszky, known as Cheetah. It grew out of the Junglegrowers crew, who had run monthly breakbeat parties since 1994 and put out an EP in 1996. The label's sound blends drum and bass with jungle, dub and techno, with soul, punk, jazz and ragga feeding in too.
The Green Man, Digital, Daddy Freddy and Camo & Krooked have all released on the label. Camo & Krooked's "Basswerk 30" came out in 2008, and Daddy Freddy, Digital and The Green Man teamed up on "Freedom" in 2023. Basswerk Sessions, Volume 1 appeared in 1998, and the 21-track 25 Years Basswerk Sessions marked the anniversary in 2022.
Kruse has steered basswerk since the start, while Cheetah moved to Hungary in 2007 to concentrate on painting. The label set up its own studio in its first year and runs offshoots including the digital sub-label Basswerk Files and Basswerk Limited. Its events in Germany and abroad also take in reggae and dub, and it won the Future Music Award for Best National Label in 2004 and 2006.
