Nebraska

London, England

Adrift

Electronic

Behind the Music

The Outlaw Ocean strikes me as especially poignant on a couple of fronts. With borders and national identity being hotter topics than they have been in a long time, life at sea reminds us of how vague these concepts can be. I also find it amazing how a seemingly innocuous can of tuna can secretly embody the highest hopes and deepest fears of those in a long chain of people — families, stowaways, indentured servants, along with the enslavers and big industries that drive it all. Coincidently, though I never managed to speak to him much about it before he died, my own father worked as a cook on ships around Southern Africa in the 50s.

Nebraska
About Nebraska

Informed by the golden age of hip-hop in both source material and technique, Nebraska makes music about records and vice-versa. His distinctive take on the deep house genre has often been the secret weapon of DJs with a more eclectic outlook.

Releasing tracks under various aliases in the early ‘90s, Southeast Londoner Alistair Gibbs made his first release under the Nebraska name in 2000. In the intervening 20 years he has amassed an enviable back catalogue of releases on labels such as Rush Hour, Heist, Mister Saturday Night and his own Friends & Relations label.

Nebraska's live Ableton sets have been seen and heard in the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Holland and twice on Boiler Room.

Winner of the 2021 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Innovation in Journalism

The Journalism behind the Music

All music in this project is based on The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times Best-Selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. This reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships and other topics.

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