Nyquist real name Meredith Jones is one half of production outfit Ambisonics who released Drum & Bass records on Flex Records & Labello Blanco from 1996-1998.
The artist name 'Nyquist' comes from the 'Nyquist Theorem or Singularity' named after Harry Nyquist.His theory stated that in order to accurately record a sample you must record it at twice the frequency you want to play it back at.i won't bore you with the details but this 'theorem' basically invented sampling @ least theoretically way back in the 1920's which is why i chose the name as sampling is the cornerstone of what i do.The name Ambisonics was chosen because it represented where we were at,at the time namely 'Ambi' interpreted as meaning many (ways) & 'sonics' as music,so you end up with 'many ways in music'.Born 7th March 1973 in Newport,South Wales my journey in music started very young with my grandmother teaching me piano before i could walk.from there i learnt to play cello,reaching grade 7 by the age of 11 passing all exams with distinction & passed grade 5 music theory by the same age.In 1985 at the age of 12 i won a music scholarship to Wells Cathedral School (i also got accepted to the Yehudi Menuhin School but chose Wells),from there on in my interest in the classical side of music started to fall apart as i realized i had very little in common with the other kids there coming from a predominantly working class background & the music started to lose it's appeal.
i passed grade 8 cello again with distinction while at Wells & then pretty much gave up playing and have never looked back since.
fast forward to 1989 i left Wells having got my GCSE's & went to 6th form college,got my A levels & started getting into early Hardcore/Jungle (LTJ Bukem's Altantis really springs to mind) & UK Electronica (think Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works Vol.1/Orbital The Brown Album)
after this i went to Bath in late 1992 to study a degree in Sociology & Study of Religion.
this was where i got my real musical education at the height of the rave scene in the west country with crews like Spiral Tribe & DIY hosting major free parties on a regular basis.
i started buying loads of vinyl/CD's & really got into the Detroit Techno/UK Electronica sound as well as what was now becoming D&B.
i learnt more about the true meaning of what music is/should be from 92-95 than i had in the whole of my life up until that point & really formed my own personal definition of what i wanted to make in those years (ie artistic expression or direct communication on a deep emotional level while at the same time pushing the boundaries of sound & technology)after Bath i moved back to Newport for a year to work & save cash then i moved to Kingston in late '95 to start a course in sound engineering @ Gateway School Of Music.
this was where i met Ian Howick through some mutual friends & we decided to give it a go making Drum & Bass.
i'd just bought my first sampler an Akai S30000xl & a few other bits & really was at the beginning of the learning curve production/engineering wise,Ian had been into it a little longer than me.
our very first tune 'Sub' got picked up by a local pirate radio station Flex FM & received some very positive feedback late summer '96.
shortly after that a local DJ/Promoter Timmy Compton) from Newport heard what we were doing & started using his connections to get our tunes out to labels/DJ's in the scene.
by that time (autumn 1996) we had a few tunes under our belt,namely the original version of 'Project 5','Nyquest' & 'Logic',Timmy had gotten some interest from Flex Records,so we decided to head up to Music House to get some dubs cut & more importantly check the reaction.
back in those days it was like a who's who of the D&B scene on any given frid,we spent most of the afternoon up there waiting our turn & had a few tapes to hand out while we were waiting.
i gave one to Kenny Ken who didn't seem interested,but eventually he played it on his car stereo & came running out of his car screaming @ us "are you signed yet" repeatedly - we knew we were onto something !
next up DJ SS heard the dub being cut & wanted one for himself as well as a few other DJ/Producers who were there @ the time such as Marvelous Cain.
eventually we got the dub cut & walking out of music house properly buzzing,now with three label options,not bad for our fourth & fifth tunes together we thought ! (i'd only made 2 tunes before Ambisonics full stop).
shortly after that we took a trip up to Leeds to see L Double & basically after about a week decided to go with Flex records.
after a lengthy delay our first release (Nyquest/Logic) was pressed on 12"/artwork sorted etc & copies sent off to the music press who we got nothing but good responses from particularly Knowledge & DJ Magazine.
Dj's playing our tunes included Randal,Andy C,Peshay,Mampi Swift,DJ SS,Kenny Ken & Marvelous Cain amongst others (according to L Double our tunes were going down well in Germany,Canada & the USA in particular) & Hype played Nyquest on Kiss FM.
we also had both the tunes played on Radio One's 'One In The Jungle show' in a Flex Records special which we all headed up to the Radio One Studio's for which was one hell of an experience !
Nyquest got licensed out to various CD compilations (see the Discogs link) & was also used as a theme tune for a show on MTV for a while.
at it's peak Nyquest reached number 5 in the UK D&B charts.
another release followed shortly after 'Project 5 (reworked for Flex)/The Uncertainty Principle' & two tunes for Labello Blanco which all received good press & once again were all played on Radio One's 'One In The Jungle' show.
this was all well & good but after the initial advance we each received the weeks turned into months & what seemed like hundreds of phone calls little or no payment had been received for any of our work we started becoming increasingly concerned.
we got bits & pieces though via cheque but it seemed like Flex were taking the piss big time.
eventually i threatened Flex with Legal action,they paid up a relatively small amount to both me & Ian & we went our separate ways.
at the same time all this was going on our creativity had taken a nose dive,things were not going well in the studio & eventually i could no longer afford to live in London so i decided to move back to Newport,which in the pre internet era obviously meant Ambisonics splitting up.
The last tune we made was 'Mobius' which we both agreed was our best tune,but it was also to be our last.most annoyingly of all Flex have recently re-released Logic (& renamed it Logik) on the 'Flex Classics - Volume 3' (2002) release & also re-released & remixed Nyquest (trying to make out it was an unreleased version we made when in fact we never heard it before !) on the Nyquest (Original / Unreleased VIP) (2005) release & yes you've guessed it neither me or Ian have recieved a penny for either.i moved back to Newport in late 97 & had met a few DJ's/Producers from the area though Timmy,people like Develop,10B,AP Bolan & DJ Buzzerk & continued to make D&B.
recently i've decided to move away from Drum & Bass as i felt it was starting to get a bit boring/set in it's ways but i'll never turn my back on it completely or rule out making D&B in the future,but i have different goals now to what i had when i was younger.
i've really been feeling all sorts of music of late,particularly Electronica/Detroit Techno again & have a project lined up involving 2 mic's a laptop & a cello in the not too distant future !