Kieran Hebden

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Don't even try to pigeonhole the artist known as Four Tet

If one were to draw a Venn diagram of London's myriad music scenes, with circles depicting rock, folk, jazz and techno, Kieran Hebden's name would doubtless be the single occupant of that central overlap.

When he's not making electronica albums as Four Tet or playing guitar with Krautrock trio Fridge, you might find him remixing Radiohead, playing with the reclusive folk siren Vashti Bunyan, producing Beth Orton, co-hosting a hard techno night at The End, or jamming with the legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid.

"Everything enhances everything else," he says. "If I play eight- hour techno sets to topless Italian guys, it teaches me to be responsive to audiences and not get too self-indulgent, which influences my jazz work."

Hebden, 27, was born in London, the son of a South African-born Indian mother and a sociology lecturer father. While at Putney's illustrious Elliott School (which also spawned Hot Chip), he bagged a record deal aged 15 and was on his way.

His dizzying array of projects continue to pile up. Massive Attack and Radiohead both chose him to star at festivals they've curated; he's just released a Four Tet EP of uptempo techno called Ringer; he recently finished his fourth jazz album with Reid; and produced a folk album by One Little Plane - a remarkable singer- songwriter from Chicago called Kathryn Bint, who also happens to be his girlfriend.

The message? Don't even try to pigeonhole him. "Journalists love describing what I do as 'folktronica', as they like discussing Pentangle and Aphex Twin with the same enthusiasm," he says. "The kids who buy my records don't care about Pentangle. They just want to watch the Chemical Brothers, then get stoned to my records."

'Ringer' is out now on Domino. Hear tracks from it at independent/ newreview

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