Raised in Blackpool & disillusioned with school, The Kut found comfort in the coils of punk rock, forming her first band at 14. They would gig in Lancashire & go on to win the local Battle of the Bands – but confusion struck when their drummer was hospitalised with schizophrenia. The Kut turned to psychology for answers & returned to London to study it. Inspired by London’s street artists, Maha assumed the tag ‘The Kut’, which would become her stage name.
It was here in London she became fascinated by mixing genres, drumming & breakbeats. Finally finding her line up, now a collective of 7 on rotation, she started selling guitars on Denmark Street post-studies & planned to build a studio, soon forming a bedroom label to release demos.
Tours began and major label interest followed but despite initial excitement, went cold. The Kut returned to psychology and started a PhD seeking precursors of psychosis-related illness. When the debut album did finally finish, it was later than hoped & The Kut had to decide whether to shelve it or trust in herself & her fans Team Razors to release it independently.
After a coffee meeting with Cargo Distribution, she decided to release the record, but with zero budget after self funding the recording, she turned to crowd funding to finance the release. In May 2018 ‘Valley of Thorns’ charted at #7 in the UK Rock Albums Chart & #18 in Independent Albums. An incredible feat, but one that was tainted by the closure of PledgeMusic, who folded with 70% of the funds. Four years on, The Kut, now a PhD Psychology graduate, recently signed a US distribution deal for her and her label roster – an announcement that signalled the release of her second album.
The sophomore album “GRIT” is the musical amalgamation of The Kut journey so far. On record, The Kut leads on vocals & guitar, moonlighting as drummer & bassist on two tracks, alongside her collective of women in music. Its story mirror’s The Kut’s journey and speaks to those channelling self-belief & self-identity. It’s a pep-talk on trusting your instinct & leads through the process of cutting the ropes, as heard in ‘Burn Your Bridges’ & choosing your passion, in ‘Runaways’ & ‘On My Own’. You maybe glimpse a light at end of the tunnel too, in ‘Fun When You’re Winning’ & the gratitude expressed in ‘Satellite’, while the closing punk-rock ‘And 1 More…’ calls in a new dawn. The recording of GRIT was funded by Arts Council England. Its 10 tracks include the hit single ‘ANIMO’, which won three awards (UK Songwriting Contest Best Rock Song, Best Music Video & the International Rock Award) & was debuted at The Kut headline set at Isle of Wight Festival.
GRIT released this summer and hit Number 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart. It concurrently became the 1st Number 1 Rock Album to feature women on vox, guitar, bass and drums since the chart’s inception in 1994! The Kut and her collective has not long returned from touring with Electric Six across UK & Ireland, following a couple of dates with them this summer. The recent single ‘On My Own’ is released with support from Arts Council England, and has spent two weeks in the Official UK Singles Charts ahead of tour dates with iconic Japanese pop-punk band, Shonen Knife.
“Remember the fuss people made about Paramore’s ‘Riot’? They’ll be saying the same thing about ‘Grit’ in a few years too… Expertly executed song-craft… The new queen of punk has arrived”
9/10 Vive Le Rock, Bruce Turnbull
Raised in Blackpool & disillusioned with school, The Kut found comfort in the coils of punk rock, forming her first band at 14. They would gig in Lancashire & go on to win the local Battle of the Bands – but confusion struck when their drummer was hospitalised with schizophrenia. The Kut turned to psychology for answers & returned to London to study it. Inspired by London’s street artists, Maha assumed the tag ‘The Kut’, which would become her stage name.
It was here in London she became fascinated by mixing genres, drumming & breakbeats. Finally finding her line up, now a collective of 7 on rotation, she started selling guitars on Denmark Street post-studies & planned to build a studio, soon forming a bedroom label to release demos.
Tours began and major label interest followed but despite initial excitement, went cold. The Kut returned to psychology and started a PhD seeking precursors of psychosis-related illness. When the debut album did finally finish, it was later than hoped & The Kut had to decide whether to shelve it or trust in herself & her fans Team Razors to release it independently.
After a coffee meeting with Cargo Distribution, she decided to release the record, but with zero budget after self funding the recording, she turned to crowd funding to finance the release. In May 2018 ‘Valley of Thorns’ charted at #7 in the UK Rock Albums Chart & #18 in Independent Albums. An incredible feat, but one that was tainted by the closure of PledgeMusic, who folded with 70% of the funds. Four years on, The Kut, now a PhD Psychology graduate, recently signed a US distribution deal for her and her label roster – an announcement that signalled the release of her second album.
The sophomore album “GRIT” is the musical amalgamation of The Kut journey so far. On record, The Kut leads on vocals & guitar, moonlighting as drummer & bassist on two tracks, alongside her collective of women in music. Its story mirror’s The Kut’s journey and speaks to those channelling self-belief & self-identity. It’s a pep-talk on trusting your instinct & leads through the process of cutting the ropes, as heard in ‘Burn Your Bridges’ & choosing your passion, in ‘Runaways’ & ‘On My Own’. You maybe glimpse a light at end of the tunnel too, in ‘Fun When You’re Winning’ & the gratitude expressed in ‘Satellite’, while the closing punk-rock ‘And 1 More…’ calls in a new dawn. The recording of GRIT was funded by Arts Council England. Its 10 tracks include the hit single ‘ANIMO’, which won three awards (UK Songwriting Contest Best Rock Song, Best Music Video & the International Rock Award) & was debuted at The Kut headline set at Isle of Wight Festival.
GRIT released this summer and hit Number 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart. It concurrently became the 1st Number 1 Rock Album to feature women on vox, guitar, bass and drums since the chart’s inception in 1994! The Kut and her collective has not long returned from touring with Electric Six across UK & Ireland, following a couple of dates with them this summer. The recent single ‘On My Own’ is released with support from Arts Council England, and has spent two weeks in the Official UK Singles Charts ahead of tour dates with iconic Japanese pop-punk band, Shonen Knife.
“Remember the fuss people made about Paramore’s ‘Riot’? They’ll be saying the same thing about ‘Grit’ in a few years too… Expertly executed song-craft… The new queen of punk has arrived”
9/10 Vive Le Rock, Bruce Turnbull
