J Roll - UK

Music:

Member Since: 6/26/2006
Band Website: madblunt.co.uk
Band Members:

About J ROLL

I was born in Bristol, then moved to Gloucestrshire and now live in Cheltenham... I have been interested in music from an early age as both my parents listened to a lot of music around the home and out in the car on day-trips... them not being into the same music, i was influenced by a wide variety of genres inc. reggea, motown, rock, blues, jazz and a big helping of funk.. mixed with another helping of E.L.O.

This i believe was the main drive for my love of BASS lines and almost nerdy obsession with drum patterns - my older brother was responsible for showing me early hiphop imports from the U.S.A (such as KRS1, Digital Underground, Snoop n the gang, Black Sheep, Cyprus Hill and numerous other pioneers!) which gave me a look into the world of breaks, loops, scratchin, and the whole b-boy element surounding the phunk phenomenom.

Then at the age of 14, me and my brother went 2's on a pair of KAM decks with the classic GM25 mixer (simple days !) and started playing around with our parents records, finding bits of their record collection which sounded cool mixed together, and with the hip hop and funk breaks my brother had collected.. from here i was just begining to pick up on the rave scene as it became more overground and was getting acces to mix-tapes of the Rat Pack, Prodigy, Altern 8, Grooverider, Ellis Dee, etc... and it was becoming easier out in the "sticks" to find the vinyl, although finding well stocked record shops was still something of a rarity outside the major cities...

Having family in Bristol and hanging about at the shops (daytime) and clubs (nightime) we stumbled wide eyed into the DNB scene. WOW. I found my home - every aspect of music rolled into one and played louder than any commercial stuff in clubs. This is when i realised what i wanted to do in life...

! DJ !

Now 16 and leaving school for collage i embarked on as many parties as possible, linking with other dj's and party people, learning the way things worked in this type of business and expanding my mind along the way!

First i started dj'ing at friends house's, then small pubs and village halls, then small clubs and free parties around the west country -meeting with my early partners in crime: MC AJ & DJ FLEX 1 - togethor we hosted a majority of the parties around cirencester and stroud in the late 90's and as the council's started to try and put a stop to outdoor gatherings we began to promote our own drum'n'bass nights to bring the music in and around the Gloucestershire region... with limited success mainly due to cash flow and planning problems this never really took off as hoped and money lost :(

During this period though the group grew sgnifficantly in size and diversity, now with photographers, video jocks, graphic artists and general party people creating good vibes and good times...

Around 2000 i started a sort of crew named "MAD BLUNT" which was to represent a no bullshit ideaolgy of people working together - we have since been involved with promoting at venues, music writing, artist support, web design, graphic design, video & animation, artist development, internet radio and much more..

Now in 2007 the crew is still around but has grown into its own entities:

Mad Blunt Recordings
Other Brother Recordings
Trapdoor Studios
Sensei Media
Moose Music
Bredda Ital

I am now concerntrating on studio production and internet/web services. The love of dj'ing is still there and always will be - i still dj at local events and gigs but am not looking to enter the circuit as such.. i just enjoy being creative and expanding ideas with other likeminded people.

I have prob missed quite a bit but will be filling in the gaps as i can :)

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO "MAD RAPPERS UK"

Influences: Life...
Sounds Like: NO OTHER...
Record Label: Mad Blunt Recordings
Type of Label: Indie