I n v u r t

Every DJ has a story to tell, and every story has a beginning, and for French d’n'b artist Naibu, those beginnings stemmed from the wellspring of early 90s electronica that seems to have given inspirational birth to so many masters of break beat. Whilst providing a muse for so many across the board, it is a guide that has allowed artists such as Naibu to help evolve the nature of the music we often love and nurture, and, as he happily explains his roots, the elements that make for good electronic music of any genre are often firmly rooted in the internal narrative that a listener formulates for the duration of a tune, or the over symphony of a well constructed set.

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I’m squinting hard as the early dawn light is pummelling through the vans windscreen. We’re hurtling down the highway, somewhere between Rhode Island and Brooklyn – its post-party hour and some friends and I are dropping Reid Speed back home after an all-night rave in an abandoned bank vault. The gig is all done and dusted, and we’re talking shit about breaks, d’n'b and all the things in between – the details are murky, its the start of the new millennium after all, but I can still hear the passion in her voice and I’m still feeling the vibe of the set she played, and I easily recall my predominant thought at the time – “this girls really going somewhere, can’t wait to see where she ends up…”

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“The day that you feel comfortable and happy with anything, is probably the day you give up and retire,” cites Gareth McGrillen, who, along with Paul Harding and Rob Swire constitutes a founding members of Pendulum, arguably one of the most progressive musical groups producing music today. “You always need that drive, its really essential to us – our drive has always been about 70% competitive and 30% love, and having that competitiveness as a lynch-pin of what you’re doing ensures you’re never really happy with where you are.”

Their need to constantly reinvent themselves has seen Pendulum rise from their humble origins in the drum’n’bass genre, to the heights of a gold album producing band. Having played to some of the largest crowds at some of the most prestigious festivals across the world, they are often surprised at how swiftly time has passed. Read more »

On the European mainland, Drum’n'bass vies for attention from its fans amongst a swarm of diverse cultural and musical frameworks, and yet it is artists like Germanys Tim Eliot, aka Current Value, that have managed to help persuade people from across the world that the dark and eclectic side of drum and bass can attain as much soul and musical emphasis as even the smoothest tune. With glitches and often hectic, scattered drum arrangements, Current Value wields a sense of independence in his production that, over his past eleven years of production, has helped to endearing him to fans who enjoy a creative kick in the ass to the more rigid and formulaic sounds of mainstream d’n'b.
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From an incredible live act that helped shape the face of live electronic music, to running one of the most prestigious record labels in the drum’n'bass world, to producing his own successful and game-changing music, Tony Coleman, aka London Elektricity, is considered a stalwart amongst the greats. Having invigorated a new direction in sound with his own output, as well as helping to discover artists on the seminal Hospital records label that he helps run, Coleman has, over the years, offered a distilled essence of creativity and work ethic that in many eyes has helped keep d’n'b from becoming a mere backwater of electronic music.
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When a person thinks of drum’n'bass, they don’t necessarily make the connection between the genre and a bastion of cultural temptation such as France. To make the judgment that the genre is not alive and well in the back alleys and clubs of the nation, would, however, be a mistake, and one group is showing the world the French scene’s vibrancy.

Forming over five years ago, the five lads from Dirtyphonics, Playte, Capskod, Pho, Pitch In and MC Youthstar have captured the soul of d’n'b in a way that once again helps to invigorate the genre. Combining production techniques with an innovative and exhilarating live performance, and having been signed to the salubrious RAM record, their sound has managed to grab attention world round.
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One of the most successful, well known, and respected names in the drum’n’bass scene, both today and over the past decade, is Andy C. From his position founding RAM Records, to his solo and group production work with the RAM Trilogy and Origin Unknown – not to mention his often explosive and sometimes unbeatable DJ sets, Andy C has been riding the high roads of d’n’b for some time. Reaping the rewards of his talents and, by all accounts, loving every minute of it, Andy C is a man both happy with his place in life, and passionately optimistic about the music that he loves.
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When a familiar face from a successful group goes solo, there is always slight trepidation that the strength of their work may diminish, however, for drum’n’bass performer and producer Audio, undoubtedly one of the top notches in the tech-heavy d’n’b echelons, going solo after several years with the popular Resonant Evil has proven to be a boon, as his success continues on an upwards spiral of popularity amongst lovers of the genre.

“I always worked solo, and, obviously, I started solo when I was sending tunes to the guys from Resonant Evil (Mackie and Risk),” Audio explains. “I’d send Mackie a little material to sign, and he said come to the studio and we’ll see how it goes. So I did and we wrote a few tracks, and the rest is history. So it wasn’t really a conscious decision or something new for me, but it was more convincing myself that yeah I could do it on my own and that I could be successful, and that people wanted to hear what I do on my own. I’ve think I’ve got something different to offer, so, it wasn’t too hard.”

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Amongst the drift and tide of the musical realm, it is a rarity for an electronic music group to have mass market appeal, and yet several years ago, three guys from Perth embarked upon a journey that would take them not only to the top of the drum and bass charts, but also into the living rooms of anyone with an interest in cutting edge music. No stranger to fans since breaking out with their seminal album, Hold Your Colour, Pendulum are now poised on the verge of being one of the few bands who have been able to escape their niche, as their upcoming new album, In Silico, is sure to prove. Read more »

When it comes to political consciousness within drum’n'bass, there is no other group that has made more of an impact with their message of equality and tolerance than Asian Dub Foundation. Now, after having spent years as the front-man for the seminal and oft acclaimed group, MC Spex is now branching out from his long time association with the band, and entering new territory as a solo artist. In the past few months there has been some speculation as to why Spex left ADF, and the truth is, as always, much more realistic and down to earth than the rumours.

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Without innovation, there would be no progress, and nowhere is that saying more appropriate than within the world of drum and bass, where new stars rise from bedrooms studios every week. With such a huge influx of producers emerging, it is often difficult for new comers to maintain an edge and to separate themselves from the pack, yet one such trio of artists, Sigma, comprised of friends Cam, Wooz and Ben, has managed to do just that. Read more »

The turns and tides of an artists journey through a musical genres is not always without its ups and downs, and quite often riding the wave of popular opinion stands many in good stead, but amongst all genres there are always those who eschew the pro-offered, well laid down route towards success, and there are few who have a less care of the “proper” way of doing things than the enigmatic Mampi Swift.
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Last weekend saw a veritable feast of electronic music. With such a large range of events to choose from in recent days, a sampling of what is currently on offer here in Perth was definitely in order.

Friday night saw a large swath of punters descend on The Nine for the inaugural Boogaloo tracksuit part held in the Bar Open area downstairs. Forgoing the usual route to the upstairs Dnb arena, our group entranced Bar Open, plonked ourselves down, orders drinks, and took stock of our surrounds.

The dulcet sounds of Midnight Star pumped, the dance-battles ensued, and the night was on. Upstairs the DnB continued to pound away, but it was curious to note that many of the Nine regulars were, instead, sitting down below in Bar Open enjoying the smoother sounds of old school electro, boogie and funk whilst we watched the parade of track suit festooned individuals getting down and dirty. Read more »

In the ever shifting and tumultuous landscape that is the modern drum and bass world, producers and DJs rise, fall and stay fast. Yet in the past few years Chase and Status made more waves in such a short amount of time within the genre than most others, and after only four years in the business, have managed to produce music that is now to be found at the front of every Djs crate.

Their meteoric descent into the forefront of the drum and bass does, however, seem to contain almost a hint of a conscious decision on behalf of the duo. “We’ve DJed since we were about fifteen or sixteen, and for ten or eleven years we’ve been DJing in our bedrooms and at house parties, anywhere we could really,” Chase explains. “Then we kind of realised that unless you really put effort into it you wouldn’t make it just on DJ merit alone, so we decided to pack in university and quit all that, and got a studio in Manchester and just sat in there every day for ten to twelve hours and learnt how to work on tunes.” Read more »

The world of drum and bass as a genre has never been short of creativity and has, in fact, mostly gained its popularity by being a positive force of experiment within the electronic music field. Although it can be quite hard to pin down specific leaders in the field of Drum’n’bass production, there is no mistaking that both Calyx and TeeBee clearly sit within that circle of prominence. Whether it is within their own solo productions, individual DJ sets or as the incredibly energetic performance and production duo, Calyx and TeeBee have risen over the years to prominence with their blindingly powerful, yet meticulously rendered talents. Read more »

Having flown the flag for Australian electronic music for so long, Greg Packer now finds himself in a position that many DJs would be more than envious of, and it is this hard work over the years that is to be celebrated this Friday night in his very own showcase at The Nine. For years, Greg Packer has been one of the major faces of Australian drum’n’bass, with international recognition and acclaim.

Since his first release on Hardleaders in 2001 he has clocked up a remarkable ninety releases on over thirty two different labels, including the likes of Good Looking, 31 and Tangent. Yet with this astonishing average of one release every month over seven years, it may only just be now that he is really about to hit his stride with the resurrection the once stalled Interphase, Australia’s only dedicated drum and bass record label. Yet the question on many peoples lips is; why did Interphase go through such a long hiatus after between releases? At the end of the day, Greg believes that the finger may point at the economic problems that have plagued the record industry in the past few years. Read more »

Makoto is one of the reasons why Drum and Bass continues to be a musical representation of enigmatic purpose, and why there is truth in the cliché that music really is universal. Hailing from Tokyo, Makoto has, in many respects, brought DnB to his homeland with his passion, drive, and unwavering creative ability. Traditionally, one does not think of DnB when Japan is brought into a discussion; however Makoto’s very name is intrinsically joined to that of his chosen genre within both his homeland, and the rest of the world. Read more »

Matrix and Futurebound

On their own, both Matrix and Futurebound have made their own waves through the world of drum and bass through both their DJing and production efforts, and yet it by collaborating together that they have also now managed to reach a whole new level of both talent and innovation.

“We’ve known each other for a long time just DJing and exchanging music and such, but Brendon (Futurebound) lives in Liverpool and I live in London so we are quite a ways away from each other so that’s probably why its taken us so long to get into the studio together,” Matrix explains of their eventual hook-up in the studio. “We kinda talked about this for a year or so. When we’d bump into each other we’d be like ‘oh we should do some music together’ but we never got around to doing it, and when we did get together it was really easy for us to write together.” Read more »

For almost a decade, the partnership that is Ed Rush and Optical have been changing the face of the increasingly popular genre of drum and bass with their production skills. From the moment they smashed onto the scene with singles such as the seminal Alien Girl and Bacteria, these stalwarts of the UKs Virus label have maintained a consistent attitude of difference, or indifference as things may be, to the trends of a genre that is all too easily pockmarked by copycat production.

There are defining moments in the growth of any art form, and when the dark and utterly xenotypical rumblings of tracks such as Alien Girl hit, one of those points was reached in dnb. “There was this realisation that there was a completely different way of doing a breaks mix than everyone else,” Optical explains. “It kind of vindicated our attempt to do something different. There were a lot of people who were against what we were up to at the time, well, not against it but just like this isn’t what other people are doing so they weren’t really interested you know?” Read more »

For the past fifteen years, A Sides has been pumping out a plethora of tunes. With almost seventy five releases under his belt since he started producing electronic music in 1990, it has been the last five or six years that he has really cemented his mark with his progression into drum n bass. Yet it wasn’t an instant transition from love of his previous genres. “When I first went into jungle, I liked it but I was more into the hardcore stuff, ” he says. “I got kinda fed up with that and went, alright okay, lets try some jungle and d’n’b.” Read more »