International Rescue Sounds

International Rescue Sounds were formed in 2004 by London DJ Dr Khan and producers Swamijee & Vodka, based out of St Gallen, East Switzerland. They first collaborated on the 'Foolish Remixes' 12" and have gone on to release four 12"s featuring tunes from both the d&b and breaks genres to great acclaim. Their debut release IRS001 'Foolish (Breaks Mix)/Foolish (Drum & Bass Mix)' hit the shops in October 2004 and became a highly sought after item, completely selling out of it's white label press. The second 12" IRS002 (Swamijee & Dr Khan:Innovate/ Vodka:Solid) followed in Sept 2005 while their third 12" IRS003 (Vodka:Bitch Slap/Swamijee & Dr Khan:Inlove) was unleashed in February 2007. The 4th release on the label, IRS004 (Vodka:By My Side/Swamijee & Dr Khan: Dustbowl) was released in July 2007 and promptly sold out, leading to a repress in August of that year. IRS have toured extensively as a crew (2 djs and 2 mcs) with Madd Family's Mchizy CD also contributing to microphone duties. They have performed together in London, Barcelona and all over Switzerland and have supported the likes of d&b heavyweights Commix and Blame.
VODKA (PRODUCER/DJ)
Vodka started out as a dj back in 1992, playing at local parties in St Gallen, East Switzerland. By 1995 he had formed the Ill Smoking Junglists, who are credited as the first crew to actively promote the jungle sound throughout the St Gallen area and Vodka started to produce tracks covering a broad range of electronic styles. For his djing, however, he focussed fully on jungle and the emerging drum & bass sound and went on to form The Future Sub Junglists in 1998. In 2001 Vodka hooked up with Earthbeat Records' Swamijee and his first output for the label was a split d&b/ breaks 12” which reflected the diversity of Vodka's approach to production. A number of high profile local gigs have followed with Vodka supporting the likes of Ed Rush, DJ Storm, Zinc and Jenna G. Since 2004, when Vodka and Swamijee teamed up with London DJ Dr Khan to form the International Rescue Sounds label and collective, Vodka has produced four banging releases for the label and represented the IRS sound at dates in the UK, Spain, Austria and in cities all over Switzerland including St Gallen's massive Open Air Festival.
SWAMIJEE (PRODUCER/MC)
Swamijee could rightfully be classed as a jack-of-all-trades. As head honcho of the Earthbeat Records label based in St Gallen, East Switzerland, which he founded back in 1995, he has been a key figure on the regional music scene for over fifteen years. Having nurtured an overwhelming amount of talent in an A&R and management capacity, he has also been behind the mixing desk for over thirty album releases as either producer or co-producer. His first drum & bass release was back in 1996 under the Fundamental Groove Family moniker and he has gone on to produce albums from the likes of Bubble Beatz, Madd Family, Andrew Robinson, Pat MC and Namusoke covering a broad range of musical genres. Swamijee co-founded the International Rescue Sounds label in 2004 with fellow Swiss producer Vodka and London based dj Dr Khan. They have thus far released four critically acclaimed 12”s featuring Swamijee's collaborative productions with Dr Khan covering both breaks and their more favoured genre, drum & bass. The IRS collective have represented at gigs both in the UK and all over Switzerland with Swamijee taking microphone duties as an accomplished MC. Swamijee has performed with d&b heavyweights such as Commix and Blame and mc'd at a number of large festivals including St Gallen Open Air, Gena Festival, Uferlos and the L.I.N. D&B Festival. Swamijee is also a highly respected tabla player and percussionist. His skills have enabled him to travel Europe extensively with over 200 concerts over the course of the last ten years in countries such as UK, Germany, Austria, France, Spain and Italy.
MCHIZY CD (MC)
Mchizy CD is best known as the frontman for urban artists Madd Family who have clocked up over 100 gigs throughout Europe and Africa. Originally from Kenya, now based in Switzerland, Mchizy contributes to the IRS live set with some amazing mcing which mixes English, Patois and his native tongue Swahili.
DR KHAN (DJ/PRODUCER)
Dr Khan started djing in 1995, having been drawn into the London d&b scene. He initially championed the more traditional darkside d&b but since 1998 he has also been playing liquid/vocal styles and breaks. Dr Khan has played at numerous London venues over the years (including a two year residency at Cargo) and has played alongside the likes of Andy C, Ed Rush, Total Science, Mampi Swift, Blame, Aquasky, Tayo and Paul Arnold and worked with MC's such as Eksman and Lowqui. Dr Khan regularly plays at underground parties and also promoted South London d&b event Urbanology which ran through 2000-2001. He has djed in the USA, Germany, Holland, Spain and has clocked up nearly 40 gigs in Switzerland. For four years he hosted his own weekly show on London pirate Ruud Awakening 104.3 FM and regularly played at their Ruud Nation raves as well as hosting several guest shows on internet & legal radio stations. Among his more unusual residencies round town was a two year stint at The Hilton, Trafalgar Square playing downtempo/ chillout styles. Formerly a staff writer with underground drum & bass magazine Lexicon, Dr Khan now contributes features and club & album reviews for Knowledge Magazine and presents the monthly Knowledge show on internet station Life FM. He also fronts a fortnightly show on drumnbassworldwide.co.uk with DJs Quest & Freeze. Dr Khan worked as Juno Records main d&b and breakbeat buyer for 5 years then moved on to run the distribution department at Futureproof Records. He is now distribution manager for Exodus Music Distribution looking after the legendary Knowledge & Wisdom jungle label.
RELEASES
IRS001: IRS-Foolish (D&B Mix)/ Foolish (Breaks Mix)
IRS002: Swamijee & Dr Khan-Innovate/ Vodka-Solid
IRS003: Vodka-Bitch Slap/ Swamijee & Dr Khan-Inlove
IRS004: Vodka-By My Side/ Swamijee & Dr Khan-Dustbowl
IRS005: Vodka ft Andrew Robinson: Take Control/ Swamijee & Dr Khan: Hold On