Rewind to summer 1988, Troop or Nike FORCE sneakers, baggy Jeans the smiley face hoody and signature C.N.D Lanyarn. The sounds of Acid House and the British Hip Hop movement were at an all time high. 808 State, Bomb the Bass, Altern 8, Silvah Bullitt, Beats International, Blade & Hijack were a few of the artists of that era to be found in Aggravated Assault's aka Covert OPS (Thats John to friends) varied Cassette Collection.Growing up around 80's Electro, a Father Heavily into Led Zepplin and a half Jamaican sister; The Drums and Reggae Basslines soon became second nature. A few years later came the discovery of a harder edged sound... Hardcore Rap, N.W.A's 'Straight outa Compton'...The first AMEN drum loop! It was always about the beats and the Bass, the Profanity and the originality.The early 90's hit and along came a band named 'The Prodigy', This was his introduction to speeded breaks. Your Love, Jericho, Ruff in the Jungle, all classics in their own right. The early formation of the sound that would become known as Jungle/Drum & Bass. In 95, Goldie dropped his debut album, 'TIMELESS', and after hearing the track 'Still Life' he immediately ran out and snapped up a copy! After Timeless, came Bukem's Logical Progression, Platinum Breakz and Roni Size's 'New Forms'... For him, Drum & Bass had filled the musical void which new school Hip Hop had begun to create.1998 Rolled around along with an opening for a course in Dance Music Production at The Sottish School of Popular Music & Technology in Edinburgh. Whilst studying, he hooked up with Class mate Mikey Moore aka Static EQ, a local up and coming D.J... The man who taught him how to beat match! Through Mike, he was introduced to his fellow Selkirk co-horts, 'The General' (HeadRush/Formation Records) and MC Feelman (Manga/HeadRush). Which also led to John's awareness of
Manga, which at that point was without a doubt, Scotland's number 1 Drum & Bass Club.Through attending Manga on a regular basis he made a lot of friends and connections in the game. Namely DJ KID (Restless Natives Records/Highland Hustlers), Manga Front man G-Mac and Codenine. (Thank you for your guidance).After 6 years out in the States, the joys of 'Fatherhood' and the long, hard transistion from Analogue and outboard hardware to the Digital, millenial Revolution; Aggravated Assault is a man on a mission... and that mission is playing part in the ever Original, ever Evolving story of Drum & Bass music.Signed to Burning Plastic Recordings, expect to be hearing a lot more from MR. Assault and even bigger things with Dual Frequency in 2009!Aol Instant Messenger: ekobassmmvi/E-Mail: [email protected]
