Being creative helps keep me focused allows me to grow as a person so its very important for me to be doing ma thing. I've been djing since 92, producing from around end of 92 beginning of 93, took out a bank loan and started my studio in the middle of 93. For me producing and djing is something I love doing which helps me from being to disheartened if I'm not playing out or having a break from making beats as its something I'll always be doing and coming back too, part of me. I also have a passion for design and have been studying the flash although I'm still very much a novice, much better with photoshop as thats what I trained in during the mid 90's.On this page I will put up some of my beats and links to stuff I've been doing over the years, it will be my creative section, now I have to put my dumb ass perfectionism behind me and get some stuff up.
I've been spinning tunes out and about since 1992 the year I bought my technics after saving for what seemed like an age. What got me into music was my love of electro and all the culture that was associated with hip hop, it was amazing the way it totally changed peoples perspectives, tagging, graffiti, breaking, djing and peeps dropping lyrics over some heavy beats, it was totally fresh and gave people loads of new ways to express. I always loved the electronic sound from tom tom club to the synth stuff coming out of europe.So it was kind of a natural progression for me from electro, hip hop, house, techno, acid and on into what was to become the rave scene, if it had beats, bass, synths and was conscious I'd give it a try as things were wide open. Around the end of the 80's my brother got an amstrad studio which was like a hi-fi covered in buttons, dials and sliders, he was into ragga and all the sound systems and used to mc at local bluez parties, I started to experiment mixing tapes and vinyl together caught the vibe and got immersed in sound.When the rave scene started to pick up I was totally absorbed in it, was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, still now I find it hard to put into words, all the different people who came together, no bad vibes, people going around hugging each other, sharing drinks, drugs and experiences it felt like family and gave my a very positive outlook. That was the point I knew music would play a very major role in my life, which at that time was like a mixture of all the stuff I'd been into.After I got my first residency in this pub function room that had a bit of a rep for brawlers and beer monsters, playing mainly hardcore, me and my friends started playing at parties, hustling for warm up spots at clubs and having sessions round mine, going out and enjoying the vibes. Around the end of summer in 92' last good rave that year for me was the book of love the scene started to fragment, this had been happening for a while as some folks loved the more mello house sound or techno, I got into the harder b-line sound which was the future as far as I was concerned and would go on to be known as jungle and drum and bass.Things went a bit more lowkey for a while, was playing at places like greens which was a nice little party in a community centre that served as an after hours spot, met quite a few heads down there, devise, devious, mc smooth, kut-d and robbo, ones I can remember. Played down parties around birmingham and was making beats with kenny k-go who was showing me the ropes and made me realize I needed more than just two yamaha keyboards with drum pads. He introduced me to people like ellis the menace, ms six and dubmaster, we started to form a sort of crew, played around clubs like a night hosted by mc smooth called sub-zero, travelled down to oxford and had a battle with some london peeps and tried to start a night of our own with a raver called dugie.There was a lot of negative vibes in the press about d n b, so things would remain underground for a while as it could be hard to get venues, we all started drifting apart and doing our own things. Around this time I met back up with one of my old friends I used to go raving with and helped him set up a night called reality, which was good at first, but then went down hill as some people started going on like gangsta's and bringing guns to the dance, which forced the club to move out into the countryside, where it didn't do very well.A few of the older heads linked back up when kool fm in the midlands started in 96, I was on kool till 97 and met a load of new peeps, but left as the politics behind the scenes did my nut in, but kool was a very well run station and to be fair I developed quite a bit so I can't complain too much. Linked up with the antidote crew and became a resident, played at quite a few different nights down que club, med bar, marco polo and a few other places, got a residency on mix fm and got into my producing a lot more. Played at boogie down brum, fluid, transforma, rendezvous and then the blueprint opened around 99.Blueprint was an amazing place ran by mel, with the help of vytol, tnt, zuke, silky rich and john the squirrel boy. One of them places you don't realize how good it is till its gone, met loads of people most of who are still giving it loads due in part to them two summers when everyone got together, quite a few nights emerged from there. Around the same time I played at house of god which was an honour as some of the people involved used to run a night called chaos, who got hyper on experience to drop a tasty pa, which is a night I'll always remember. Played at the west midlands arts festival, prosessions, got a residency on nice fm, nice, still playing at antidote and got signed to there label city rollers which a lot of people thought was my label due to the rollers part. Started playing at small festivals like sunbloc and a few free parties out in the sticks which were always my favourite places over the years, vibe wise.Just after this I worked at two magazines one I loved the other not so much, bordering on die bastardos, but that is for another section. This is a period where I'd moved off making tunes with outboard using an atari st and onto pc, which at first was wicked due to convenience, anyone used to getting all their loops in time via a steady hand and good ear and having one of your floppy disks fail will know what i mean. But my sound wasn't as gritty as before so now I'm getting all my outboard on the go again but I digress. Around this time I had a residency on hot fm, played a few more free parties, got a residency down drop beats not bombs, which has been one of the best nights in brum during the last 6 years or so, good mix of people and spreading awareness of the madness of war and empire building, in a very forthright way.Which brings me near the end of this long read sorry, got on one, at the moment I'm resident at drop beats, dss and pure fm which you can find out more about on the radio page, set my studio back up as it had a revamp so expect some gems shortly, playing at random places here and there, will be getting some more free parties in as I still love the great out doors from way back when, have to say shouts to all the kronik crew for the last few years out in fields and warehouses, if your still conscious, props you've just read what I can remember of my life dropping tunes, I will put up more of my mixes as a way to make it up to ya! peace.
Will be adding mixes here, some old radio shows, recordings from when I've played out, studio mixes and my new radio shows.Copy and paste into browser,Old Mixes:Love mix for stace---2001-2002http://boxstr.com/files/2242117_sg5ga/01%20 love%20mix%204%20stace%201.mp3Life is beautiful---around 2004http://boxstr.com/files/2242257_sjrol/01%20life%20is%20b eautiful.mp3
Events page will be finished when I find a widget that works with flash, for now got some flyers up in my photo gallery.
Im a resident on pure fm, you can catch my show on saturdays 2-4pm, playing a mixture of everything drum and bass but love the deepness especially, if you would like a shout or a very special request, drop me a message or text on 07760 461 054 during my show. If your in the midlands tune into 97.5 fm or if your at a compute, i-phone, pda etc check this link.http://www.afterdarkradio.infoThere are logos on the top right hand side of the page that support most media players.
Right I'll put this up for now and expand latter, I've worked at two magazines whats on uk and the absolutely magical at first blowback, twas an excellent little mag, which unfortunately went under, but spread some love while it was around. I did the web site, reviews, covered events and club nights at whats on and was the games editor at blowback, also dropped some music reviews, club nights, did a couple of interviews, had a wicked one with marcus and calibre which never was published.
60's, funk, p-funk, soul, lovers rock, hip hop, dub, electro, house, techno, acid, hardcore, electronica, ambient, jungle, drum and bass, downtempo, breaks, deep house, sound of bristol and brazil.To be honest, everything my senses take in has an effect, list above is just an outline of some of my favourite styles of music.