We Are 1 Year Old!!!!!!!
Well, unbelievably we’ve made it to our first Birthday! To dispel the myth, and to prevent me from typing ‘we’ for the remainder of this piece (even though I probably will by force of habit) there is no ‘we’, it is just ‘I’, Dan Inside, who prefers to write ‘we’ rather than ‘I’, because it sounds a bit less braggy! I’ve had a little help from outside from time to time and those names will me mentioned in due course, but basically this whole show is run by me, myself and I!
When I first started the site 12 months ago, I’d just finished a small second tenure with Knowledge Magazine AKA KMag. They’d resurfaced recently on-line after a long hiatus, and when I noticed some activity on the site, I immediately contacted owner and editor Colin Steven to see about getting back on board. I’d written for them from around 2009 to 2011 after they went digital. He gratefully accepted and I got straight back into it, interviewing Cliques, Marianna Ray, flowanastasia, Shadre & Salvage and M-Zine among others.
Unfortunately, the KMag project was mothballed quite quickly, and I was left with nobody to write for. I’d contacted some other major web-based DNB magazines and got no response, and I wasn’t ready to quit writing, having just got back into the swing of things and falling majorly back in love with DNB. I looked at the options and the only one I could come up with, having tried several times unsuccessfully to achieve my life’s dream of writing a book about the old skool rave scene (though this is now thankfully well under way) was to start a website of my own.
I’d managed to gain some small amount of credential through my recent work with Knowledge, and I’d also recently fallen headfirst into the Twitch DNB community, of which I am still madly in love with, and so I basically just thought ‘eff it, I’ll do it myself!’ – which I did! I’d run a small site just prior to and alongside my first stint at KMag called ‘old skool review’ and I absolutely loved it, doing interviews with absolute legends in the game like Bizzy B, Altern 8, the owner of The Sanctuary, (the UK’s best and most infamous all night rave venue, based in Milton Keynes, where I am also originally from) and countless other game changers. So, I had a little knowledge on how to build a site, but this was well over 10 years ago.
Things have changed since then. Professional web developers at the major DNB websites are turning out highly impressive and visually stimulating web pages now, and I understood immediately how much pressure I was under to make the thing look good, but in for a penny, in for a pound. I didn’t really have an image to damage, and I like to start at ground zero with everything I do because it’s how I learn best. By making mistakes.
So, I thought of a brand name (originally the site was going to look like a red top trash mag, something like ‘Take A Break’ or ‘What’s On TV’, with a humorous slant, hence the name ‘INSIDE DNB!’ but I soon realised how tricky that would be for a novice website builder and switched the format. I liked the name however, so I stuck with it, regardless of the multitude of ‘INSIDE THE RIDE’ type comebacks I’d get!
Then I signed up with a web host, got myself a WordPress account, and started playing around. This of course is when the real work began. I had little to no clue what I was doing, but I learned quickly and luckily, my work routine at the time meant that I had a bit of spare time to get my head around it. I pulled in a few favours from my KMag contacts, made a few enquiries and picked up on a few leads from my long distant past and used my nouse and got cheeky with people that I’d met online. I also drew on a brand-new set of friends that I’d made via Twitch, and when the site went live in November 2021, I had managed to cobble together a few interviews so that there was something to post.
The site format was wonky, I hadn’t worked out how to use the theme yet, I had no idea how to re-size images to make them fit, and I was relearning all the grammar that I’d forgotten from school (editors take care of this after all!). It was a challenge to say the least, and there are still bits of the site that I’m not completely happy with, like the way the main logo looks too big, the cover art widgets sit slightly to the left on mobile, and how some Bandcamp embeds won’t centralise, but I’m not a web developer, I’m a little bald bloke who likes to sit down and write stuff, so on the whole, for now, I’m at peace with it.
I had to two main objectives, which were to create a brand and to satisfy my creative desires. Both of these boxes are slowly being ticked. I also had two main outcomes. These were to create something people would like to look at (and find value in), and to grow a community around the site where people truly believed they have something worthwhile to contribute, as well as give them the space show it, and those two boxes are also slowly being ticked.
Twitch inspired this. While I see the value in Discord, I also find the platform a little elitist, because you can only be a part of that platform if you know how to. I just don’t find it very inclusive, and I have the most boring Discord ever. I write most of the static content on the site as if a person has just stumbled across it, and DNB generally, and know nothing about it. That little 14 year old kid who learns about Premiere’s might just come back to listen to more and this might spark a desire to make music, and that middle aged ex old skool raver might just like what they learn about the years since they left the scene on our Spotify. I love to learn, and I generally assume that most others do too.
I work in education and education should be inclusive by default. I wanted INSIDE DNB to have that same ethic running through its core. I have had to learn so much about the DNB industry in the last 12 months it’s ridiculous, but I love that. Learning is my number one passion in life, and so if a heavy metal fan (for example) with no knowledge of drum and bass stumbles across the website, and comes away a half hour later feeling like they know a bit more about the scene (and is intrigued enough to continue looking) then I’m a happy bunny. I’m just a conduit for information.
This is how I get my kicks. By meeting new people, making new friends, sharing information and being creative. Don’t get me wrong, we’re far from being the next UKF, but to be honest, that’s not where I’m heading anyway. I have my own agenda. And it isn’t corporate by nature, its community led.
I never set out to make any money. I have a plan to make a few pounds sterling in the long term, but for now I do all of this for free because it makes me happy. I’ve spun quite a few labels out with that notion, because I don’t think it’s really a thing in drum and bass. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, I don’t do politics. I do love and light and information and people.
Those people who stay up all night making music just so we can listen to it (and likely earning very little, because we all know that selling music on the internet isn’t the world’s best career choice), they need support.
Those people who are working two jobs (their own full-time work and then running a label on top, for example), they need support too.
Those people who are looking after children full time as well as trying to make it to DJ gigs or making apparel or designing clothing or painting or trying to earn a few extra pounds on Twitch? they also need support.
If we don’t support the new talent and the smaller corners of the community, the scene wains and the music stops, or lessens, and those who have dreams let those dreams die, and I’m not about that. I’m about dreaming big and working together. I have three children of my own who know the value of dreaming big, and I have a role as their father to show them that they can achieve anything they want, so I’m doing this for them too. If only two people a month visited the site, I’d be happy, so long as those two people saw value in what was happening and were learning.
I’ve met the most amazing people on Twitch. I came into that community while looking up DJ Phantasy (who has always been my favourite DJ), who featured in a YouTube interview with TC. He created the most amazing YouTube videos during lockdown and was one of the main instigators of this whole journey (BIG UP WOLFPACK). This in turn led me to a TC YouTube interview with John B, who had posted a video of one of his Twitch sets that I found on YouTube, and then we actually found the Twitch App, and then that was it. There was no looking back. Twitch DNB is a huge part of my life now, and quite often on a weekend evening we’ll lock in with a vodka and Twitch on the Firestick.
Ytimid and Miss Jackalope made me feel so welcome, as did the rest of the Loft Crew (which is the name for the John B Twitch collective) and I was absolutely hooked. Having ADHD can make people quite reactionary, and appalled that there wasn’t a one stop shop for Twitch DJ’s on the internet (and there still isn’t apart from us), this also influenced my decision to start a website. I was still writing for Knowledge at this point and started working on a piece on Twitch that I eventually took with me when the magazine was mothballed.
Even after well over a year of campaigning for a dedicated DNB tag on Twitch, there still isn’t one, so hopefully the web pages I created with as much info about the platform as possible, (including DJ links) is, and will continue to be, useful for people newly discovering DNB on Twitch. Just creating those very pages helped me learn more, so for me, it was worth every second. I managed to turn some of the information gained then into individual interviews, and having that extra content to post was a massively big deal for me, so I have nothing but love to give for those that took part.
Twitch crew, I appreciate you more than you will ever know, and those of you who use the logo on stream, or have set up commands to help promote the website, or verbally shout me out time and time and time again, I cannot thank you enough. As I have said from day one, you support me, and I’ll support you back. If all of the work I do to promote that platform gets you a handful of extra viewers than I’m happy, and the same goes in return. There is a core of people who helped me from day one and whom I consider original INSIDE crew members. The moral support and advice and guidance they gave me from the outset will never be forgotten. These are, on no particular order, Guddah, Ytimid, redefinitiondnb, Mr Rayner, Miss Jackalope, tpbee, Stellar Mat, Etown Junglists and RCA Trash.
Of course, there are costs involved in running the site, and the decision to offer a little bit of merchandise was taken to try and cover those costs and to help grow the site, but the writing? I do that for free, because that’s the bit that keeps my brain firing. The contact and the meeting of new people and the laying out and the final result is what I love the most. I love the thrill of the chase and the buzz of creating.
I’ve hit up so many people I’ve lost count. Some completely ignore me, in fact, a lot do, and that’s fine. Others commit to responding but have schedules so heavy that time is at too much of a premium, some turn me down, some come back straight away and others don’t see the value in answering questions via email. I respect all of that fully. It’s not for everyone. But as a working father of three I don’t have time to sit and transcribe a two hour long interview. It’s just never going to happen. Plus, I honestly feel that having the freedom to write down answers in peace gives a good enough response to publish. And if you’re Dyslexic, I am open to work around that. That must never be a barrier, but if you don’t disclose it to me, it already is.
So, with all that in mind, I guess now is the perfect time to tell you who the heck I am, and where I came from.
My dad was a mobile DJ before I was born, and I grew up with the house rammed full of vinyl. He was known as Steve Dee back then. He was an electronics engineer by trade and made almost everything from scratch, including light boxes and speaker cabinets. I used to go out to gigs and my mum has many tales to tell about me being in a Moses basket tucked behind the decks while people did the limbo out front. This was normal in the late 70s, like not wearing seatbelts and mixing radial and cross ply tyres.
This continued in various guises all through my youth until we moved to a county in England named Lincolnshire in the late 80s, and my dad met a couple of teenaged DJs in 1990 at a roller-skating rink called Skaters where he had picked up some DJ work.
These two, Nik Fox and Matty Wilson were barely 18 but were heavily into the emerging ‘rave’ scene and were keen to put on some parties. Records started changing hands, tracks like the KLF ‘What Time Is Love’, Adamski – ‘NRG’ – LFO – ‘LFO’ – GTO – ‘Bullfrog’, lots of Belgian new beat and many, many more. I was 14, and watching this unfold was incredible. They got their heads together and put on some raves, these two DJing with friends and my dad doing the sound and lighting, and I went to them all. When I say I started raving in 1990, I actually DID!!! I just did it behind the decks, and sometimes in my school uniform if it was a Friday!
Before long dad had bought some 1210’s, learned how to mix and was starting to get on a few mailing lists and was DJing at events in the county. He became Mr K, and later Stevie K. This was the time when by looking out at a sea of ravers in the crowd you’d see tie-dye t-shirts, purple or pink suede Kickers, dungarees and bucket hats, and it was immense! Waiting for the postman to bring those packets of vinyl before school was torturous, but we stood there listening to those records, not saying a word, just looking at each other and listening, communicating with our eyes and listening to the sub bass and breakbeats, or scratchy synths if it was a Belgian techno track. These are priceless memories that this communication doesn’t really do justice to, but hopefully you get the idea. This was life changing stuff for a 14 year old.
As 1990 rolled into 1991 the music kept coming, the scene kept mutating and the raves got bigger and better and Matty organised a rave at a venue called Champs Nightclub in King’s Lynn, Norfolk which was at what was then The Speedway Stadium. The event was called ‘Pulse’ and the very first one in February 1991 knocked my head off. It was the first all-nighter I’d ever been to and the vibe was just out of this world. I can remember it like it was yesterday, apart from the bit where I went to sleep in the back room at about 3AM for a bit, only to return to the spot behind the decks an hour later, still in my school uniform and ready to hear the last few DJs tear the place apart.
All the top DJs of the moment rolled through that venue, from DJ Face, Richie, Grooverider, even Trevor Fung made an appearance, and that was a set and a half let me tell you. Before long Pulse came to an end and Hyperbolic started. This was run by legend in the game Paul Grant and he and my dad started a close working relationship that lasted for decades. I can’t say I was at every single event, as I moved to be with my mum in 1992, but I’d get the train down regularly and when I learned to drive there was no stopping me. You will be able to read the full Hyperbolic story in a future post.
I met Lou Inside in 1992 and I started writing for Eternity Magazine in 1994, after writing them a letter with some rave influenced poetry attached. They sent a letter straight back and we joined the contributor’s team, going to raves up and down the UK almost until the end of the decade, as well as visiting Hyperbolic on a regular basis. And this is where the writing journey began. I’d often slip poems written at 4 in the morning into the hands of unsuspecting DJs as they left Hyperbolic, including LTJ Bukem, and I often wonder if they still have them. In fact, I know at least one does, because I emailed him about 10 years ago and he remembered me. DJ Unity, BIG UP!
But the real journey began with Eternity Magazine, and I feel like Paul Boote and ex-wife Louise deserve a massive shout out here, because they took a punt on a plucky little 18 year old with a bare modicum of writing talent (and not a lot has changed there, apart from adding nearly 30 years on!). By the Millennium, 10 years of raving had taken its toll and we decided to settle down and start a family and build a future, which we did.
And so, this leads us back to 2009 when I joined Knowledge and set up my first site, and then on to now and you reading this, only now I have a 30+ year old relationship and 3 incredible children as well as a website that I pour every spare moment into.
One other thing that has to be mentioned is DJ Krust. Around the time of the Pandemic, he was running some incredible Facebook lives called ‘Adapt the Canvas’. I made sure to try and catch as many of these as possible, and the advice and guidance this man shared and the encouragement he gave me via messenger was absolutely out of this world. I told him about the project I had in mind (INSIDE DNB) and he was just brilliant. If it wasn’t for Krust and his words of wisdom, getting this thing off the ground would have been a much different story, and might never have happened at all. We did a video call actually, and I have no idea what he thought of the Autistic/ADHD dude flapping with over excitement at the other end of the screen, but Krust, I thank you tenfold for helping me make a conscious decision to kick this project off.
I also need to send love and hugs and kisses to my wife Louise and my three children Aaron, Joel and Aaliyah, all of whom have to suffer me playing DNB at every opportunity and also remind me frequently to put down the phone and join reality now and then.
Also, Dave Jenkins and L Double for their advice and guidance and all of the people who have helped proofread pieces and come back with advice and suggested changes.
One last MASSIVE shout out has to go to Laura Label Manager. Without her guidance and assistance with Premiere’s, music platform advice and a continual supply of interesting people to interview and host, I’d be lost. She is a proper hard working DNB warrior and I publicly give her thanks right here!
I’m excited to see what the future holds, and I am in a space now where I can use my time wisely and help myself and others. I understand my place within the scene. I’m small fry in a world where people read less and less and watch more and more, but I’ll take my chances and I enjoy what I do, and hopefully you can enjoy it too.
So, in feature order, here are the pieces I’ve managed to curate and orchestrate so far from November 2021.
Guddah – one of the most viewed DNB DJ’s on Twitch and our very first feature and a key member of the original INSIDE crew. This interview was originally meant to form part of the Twitch feature mentioned below, with small excerpts used, but it was too good to chop up. Guddah is INSIDE DNB family and he gave me some good advice on Discord and Twitch when we first started. BIG UP GUDDAH!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-guddah-united-by-breakbeat/
Moondance Remix LP – ft Dope Ammo, Daniel ‘Billy’ Bunter and Danny Byrd. This was originally intended to be a piece for KMag but when they mothballed, I took it with me. It was way too good to waste. This project is absolutely bangin’ and is packed full of amazing reworks, and the responses from these three Dons is epic. BIG UP DOPE AMMO!
https://insidednb.net/moondance-remix-album/
Miss Jackalope – Part of the original INSIDE crew and a fantastic DJ with amazing stage presence. She will always be a firm favourite. This interview was also originally meant to form part of the Twitch feature mentioned below, with small excerpts used, but it was also too good to chop up. BIG UP MISS JACKALOPE!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-miss-jackalope-drum-n-bass/
Devious D – An original London jungle DJ with a history including events like Roast at The Astoria and many pirate station appearences. We were over the moon to have him on board to discuss his Schoolage EP. We are hoping to do more back tracking with the original jungle crews, so watch this space. BIG UP DEVIOUS DEE!
https://insidednb.net/5-minutes-with-devious-d/
MC Conrad – Resonance Records – This dude used to come through Hyperbolic with Bukem during the 90s. The guy is a living legend in the jungle and ‘intelligent’ jungle scene. I heard John B mention a new project he was working on during a Twitch stream, and I hit Conrad up to see if he would take a punt on featuring his new label on a brand new platform. Dropping the H bomb pricked up his ears and next thing you know we’re on voice call. BIG UP CONRAD for taking a chance on me! I will never forget it 😊. We also have a wicked Resonance Records guest mix here!
https://insidednb.net/label-profile-resonance-records-mc-conrad/
Inside The Vault is an extension of a series I started at KMag, where old classic get aired and shared, only this time I wanted to make contact with the artists to talk about the tracks. The Moog’s Rush Hour was one of my favourite ever tracks from 1992 and tracking the writer down was a bit of a mission. But I like those, and Andrew Wright was an absolute Don in getting back to me with the kind of info that gets me ticking over. He also gave me my first taste of web developing by showing me that individual posts should have their own permalink. For this I am ever indebted. BIG UP THE MOOG!
https://insidednb.net/inside-the-vault-the-moog-rush-hour-1992/
The Twitch DNB DJ Revolution – Another idea that was destined for KMag. Huge Ups to Ytimid for assisting me with this one. I was already madly in love with Twitch but knew naff all about it. A bit like now really, but Dimi was a huge help with this and I am forever grateful for the help. BIG UP DIMI!
https://insidednb.net/the-twitch-dj-revolution/
The Clamps – I made friends with this guy while writing for KMag and he always comes up with deep answers and explorative discussion. Part of the Kosen crew from Toulouse, France, he is always an active participant and I really hope to meet him one day. BIG UP JULIEN!
https://insidednb.net/the-clamps-anxiety-culture-and-10-years-in-the-game/
Malley – A great young producer who had this fantastic track ‘Whisper’ on Bad Taste Recordings, a label with a lovely attitude and great partnership ethic. Malley is in Canada now I think, but if he ever decided to return to DNB we are always here to take a listen. BIG UP MALLEY!
https://insidednb.net/get-to-know-malley-whisper/
Crash Comet – Now this dude loves his coffee and posts some very mellow videos on IG showing off his collection of fancy kettles. Curly from Texas (another original crew member) did this wicked interview with him and we hope she comes back to do more when the time is right. BIG UP CRASH COMET!
https://insidednb.net/get-to-know-crash-comet/
Jen Symmetry – Her contribution was also planned for the Twitch article but was way too good not to publish in full. A bad ass DNB DJ from Minneapolis, she kindly shared her story with us here. BIG UP JEN SYMMETRY!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-jen-symmetry-minneapolis-usa/
Pacific – A fully certified Twitch DJ and also owner of Nightfall Records from Vancouver, Pacific makes sublime reworks of lots of lush tunes and is a master of understated and vibey DNB. He had an interesting story to tell! BIG UP PACIFIC!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-pacific/
Sammie Hall – I first heard about Sammie through Cliques, and once I started to do the research it was pretty amazing to see just how many DNB tracks she’d featured on. A fully committed vocalist and owner of a brilliant Collab group on Facebook, I was chuffed to bits that she became our first vocalist feature. BIG UP SAMMIE!
https://insidednb.net/vocalist-interview-sammie-hall/
Jenks is definitely one to watch. We predict huge things for this young producer and are very proud to say that we were the first ones to interview him. This dude has seen amazing success through the summer of 2022 and we look forward to seeing him move up through the ranks in the coming years. BIG UP JENKS!
https://insidednb.net/1-to-watch-jenks/
I discovered Lance Hume on one of the DNB fb pages and was just blown away with his skills on the buttons. Creating the most interesting music via loops and FX and also an amazing multi-instrumentalist, I was fascinated by his story and love to listen to this guy make music. This interview also saw our first attempt to publish bilingually in a bid to become completely inclusive. Lance lived in Spain at the time. As time has gone on I’ve discovered that a huge percentage of the global population seem to speak English, but as and when required we will definitely keep this up. BIG UP LANCE!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-lance-hume/
VaSa is a resident of Moldova and when the EP covered in this interview hit the inbox I was completely hooked. The blend of late 90’s tech step and modern studio skills just hit a note with me and I was intrigued to find out how DNB was being made in parts of the world far removed from my own. Many thanks to Andrey at Kos.Mos.Music for the translation on this one. BIG UP VaSa!
https://insidednb.net/get-to-know-vasa/
Sticking with the tec step feel we then moved on to exciting new tech label ‘Root 97’. Label head BaySys hit me up asking for a feature about his brand new project and I love it when people do this. Accommodating them can sometimes be hard due to time scales and other commitments , but if people have the guts to come forward I always try and pay it back. Root 97 are properly rocking now BTW! BIG UP BASYS!
https://insidednb.net/root-97-the-uks-next-new-techstep-label/
I wannabe was another person that came forward with an enquiry, and this one was proper interesting because he’s from Ukraine, and this was right at the start of the current conflict. It felt right and just to try and tell the story of an electronic producer in the centre of such devastation, not just to support Ukraine and its people, and I wannabe, but also to prove that art can survive in the must unjust situations. BIG UP I WANNABE!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-i-wannabe-ukraine/
Stellar Mat offered his services around this time and as a one man band, I welcome every little bit of help I can get. I am in no position to pay for these services, but have multitudes of love and gratitude to offer, and I appreciate Mat doing this 100%. Beats Pacific Guru is a Canadian DJ who not only plays kicks ass DNB, but also has an incredible reggae collection. I used to listen to him on Twitch on Monday nights while slaving away at my laptop trying to do a history degree. This has since been binned off and my Monday nights look different now, but I was only too pleased for Beats to have a spot on the site. BIG UP BEATS PACIFIC GURU!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-beats-pacifik-guru-canada/
Birmingham lad K Jah is absolutely blowing up right now and I interviewed him after ‘meeting’ him on Twitch. He was playing the odd Saturday morning back then but has since moved to Bristol to destroy speaker stacks at raves far and wide. This dude is destined for huge things. BIG UP K JAH!
https://insidednb.net/artist-interview-k-jah/
As mentioned earlier, Laura Label Manager (GRID/DREAD/HOLOGRAPHIC) has been a great supplier of interesting people and leads. Damage Report makes sick DNB and this was our first ever try at hosting a Premiere and interview combined, which I think makes perfect sense. Why not speak to the people as well as just whacking a tune up on a platform? Gaining numbers with that gig is TOUGH, but I was overjoyed that Laura took a punt on us and trusted us to host music from one of his releases. BIG UP DAMAGE REPORT!
https://insidednb.net/damage-report/
Let it be known known. The CLIQUES boys are absolute Gee’s. When I was writing for Knowledge I did a piece with them, after being completely bowled over by the music I heard of theirs on a before mentioned TC video on YouTube. Even on a Saturday these guys were coming back and forth with messages and advice on setting out the article, and I still use that advice now, which is basically keeping bodies of text short enough to be manageable. These guys sent me some amazing merch, which I should have done an IG post about at the time to show gratitude (but my followers were so low that it felt a bit weird). That was another lesson learned. When people send you stuff, you do a post in gratitude! Anyway, I am a huge, huge supporter of this incredible DNB collective and we have since built a rapport based around mutual respect. I was over the moon that they took the time out to do a quick interview for my fledgling little site after moving across from KMag. BIG UP CLIQUES!
https://insidednb.net/5-minutes-with-cliques/
MV hails from the Spanish Islands and makes some wicked neuro. We clicked online straight away and I was delighted that French label Kosen agreed for me to a YouTube premiere of his killer track ‘Culture Shock’. I’ve struggled with YouTube since and have moved solely to SoundCloud now, but this dude is a proper nice guy and I was honoured to talk to him about his story. BIG UP MV!
https://insidednb.net/inside-premiere-mv-debuts-on-kosenprod-france/
MetaPattern is from Atlanta and I met him through Twitch. He worked hard for me on this piece, and was also extremely helpful with website based advice. I have a plan to work my way around every state in America to uncover the story of how DNB came to be in those areas and to highlight what’s going on in those states at time of publishing. MetaPattern made Atlanta, Georgia #1 and I find this kind of thing so interesting. Once the USA is done, I’ll probably turn my attention to the rest of the world, unless the opportunity comes sooner! BIG UP METAPATTERN!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-metapattern-usa/
There is an abundance of nice people in DNB. That’s not a big secret, but let me tell you, when you’re talking about nice people, this MoFo is one of the very best. Jordan Meyer AKA Jungle Junkie and I linked up through another one of those DNB fb pages. I saw this product he’d produced and I was just so into the work, the finish, the effort, the pride. Everything about this guy’s pin badges made me smile. I have one on my puffer jacket now. He sent me FOUR! I love music, but I am also fascinated by the work going on behind the music. The art, the promotion, the technology, the PIN BADGES! I’ll buy this guy a cold one at some point as I have no doubt our paths will cross, but for now, check out this guy’s passionate story about DNB pin badges. BIG UP JUNGLE JUNKIE!
https://insidednb.net/fashion-apparel-jungle-junkie/
Russian producer Prestige is the creator of some dark and dirty DNB. Just the kind of stuff I like as it happens, so again, thanks to Laura Label Manager for the dibs on this one. When you know very little about an artist apart from their music and an out of date bio, things can be tricky, but that is my personal challenge. A full bio with loads of info is a dream, but scraping info from next to nothing is a challenge, and that’s what this interview was, but we did okay! It was also our first premiere for Holographic Audio, so we were buzzing about that 1. BIG UP PRESTIGE!
https://insidednb.net/5-minutes-with-prestige-plus-premiere/
As you will have read from my massively oversized introduction to this run down, I’m from the old skool. I love modern DNB with a passion, but 90/91/92 is my time. It is the music from those years that fill me with the most joy. It was my initiation. I’d interviewed Mark Archer back in 08/09 with my old website ‘old skool review’ and it was a good one too. Unfortunately, I lost the entire folder with all of those interviews on and I’m still heartbroken about it. BUT, some of those steps can be re-traced, and that’s what I was attempting with this. Mark is deadly behind a mixing desk and his early work (for reasons stated above) still resonates with me massively. The DJ Nex EPs were stand out to me and this seemed like a good way to pay homage to the music on them. BIG UP MARK!
https://insidednb.net/inside-the-vault-dj-nex-mark-archer-altern-8/
Embarrassingly, I can’t quite recall how I came across Deazy. It was probably Twitch. What I can say though is that the responses this guy gave made me shed a tear. Autistic and ADHD people tend to be born with a bullshit-ometer and character assessment tool that develops over the years, and Deazy came out 100% nice. I could just tell he was a nice guy, and so this interview covers all sorts of topics in a very real and very honest way. Plus I love his music! This always helps when you’re a content creator! BIG UP DEAZY!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-deazy/
Minos hails from Germany and I have an integral policy to cover artists from as many countries and continents as possible. Because I find it interesting. In 1990 we were getting sent records that you could only buy in the UK and now 30+ years on people are making this music in every corner of the Globe. This still blows my mind TBH. This interview was based around an EP he had out on Four Corners and I listen to it a lot still. BIG UP MINOS!
https://insidednb.net/5-minutes-with-minos-germany/
Lana M is a very, very interesting lady and I think I discovered her via Thames Delta Radio. She made me realise how many people there are just endlessly making music and putting it out independently, all on their own, because its their calling. Not only did I want to hear her story, but I also felt like I needed to showcase her and her music. I hope I did a decent enough job. BIG UP LANA!
Seeing young artists develop over time and space is a joy. Burntboi is a lovely young guy living in Cardiff (and we’re based in Wales – so that’s an extra reason to push his music). We were getting used to the whole Premiere thing by this stage and this guy is well into the socials and promotion side of things, so his encouragement in this areas was very much appreciated, even though he probably never even knew what impact he was having. BIG UP BURNTBOI!
https://insidednb.net/get-to-know-burntboi/
Wow, What can I say about JUICE DNB? This lady gave me a run for my money I can tell you, but she was absolutely brilliant with it. I am ALL ABOUT learning and Chemynne, this experience taught me A LOT. Chemynne is an ex-graphic designer and found herself talking to a novice content creator with less than 12 months experience of running a website. Needless to say, there was a lot of back and forth regarding picture placement and text block sizes, and I was as grateful for the advice as she was for the opportunity and exposure. This was a truly reciprocal process and also very organic, as we traded ideas across the internet. I learned a lot from this and am never too proud to take advice. This was also the second of our USA SPOTLIGHT features and we covered Oregon DNB to the max. BIG UP JUICE DNB!
https://insidednb.net/promotor-profile-juice-dnb-usa/
Every now and then you spot an artist who just knocks you out, either because of their style or their output or both. Syncope is one such artist. She has a personal style that makes you sit up and take notice and I love that. I also love her music, which is fierce and punchy and fearless. I discovered her through Kosen Prod Records who we work with from time to time and I felt the need to reach out to her straight away. She is unique and this is why were such huge fans. She also provided us with a guest mix which is banging! BIG UP SYNCOPE!
https://insidednb.net/artist-interview-syncope-france/
Pat Fulgoni is an exceptional vocalist. I have discovered over the last year that DNB vocalists are quite unique in that many of them (though not all) have cross transferable skills by default. All they need is a mic and they’re off! Pat is one such artist, and while the list of DNB tracks this dude has featured on is as long as your arm, he also has experience as a bona fide blues singer and is as happy on stage with a blues band as he is at a DNB all-nighter. I found this absolutely fascinating and his voice is just beautiful to listen to in any context. BIG UP PAT!
https://insidednb.net/artist-interview-pat-fulgoni/
RCA Trash was/is part of the original INSIDE DNB crew, but make no mistake, I didn’t do this interview because of that (and never would, for anybody I considered ‘crew’), I did it because I fell in love with his first ever release. This Brazilian DJ has been a Twitch mainstay since way before my time on the platform and has been grafting away behind the laptop to make music for some time. When this banger came out I made beeline straight for him. I don’t want to sound condescending by saying I was proud of him, but actually I was. A first release is a big deal. I was pleased for him too. So here we have an insight into DNB in Brazil and original INSIDE crew representing. BIG UP RCA!
https://insidednb.net/artist-interview-rca-brazil-rolar-para-baixo-para-traducao/
I love The Clamps. He goes in deep and is never afraid to show his raw emotions. Mental Health and health in general is soooooooooo important and this guy understands that fully. I first worked with him via KMag, and he was one of the people that supported us from the industry from day one of this website, so I will always support back. Also, his music makes your teeth fall out it’s so impactful. BIG UP THE JULIEN!
I’m not kidding when I say that this interview took nearly a year to conduct. Moases plays Twitch sets in excess of 12 hours on the regular, just for fun. The dude is a trooper and clearly loves what he does. I sent him some questions so long ago I can’t even remember when it was, and months and months and months later they appeared in my inbox, and wow, it turned out to be one of our most read and most shared interviews. The best things come to those who wait my old Nan says, and this was one of those. BIG UP MOASES, YOU TWITCH NUTTER!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-dj-profile-dj-moases-canada/
Detached Audio is a London based label who I first discovered via Mr Burnt Yoghurt over on Twitch (and he one seriously nice guy). I hit the label up as I was interested in the music they were putting out and they got back to me. I’d listened to the music by Shodan they put out and that blew my head off, so it was interesting to see how they’d gone from a low-fi label to pushing out the harder, tougher music. BIG UP DETACHED AUDIO!
https://insidednb.net/label-profile-detached-audio-uk/
Canada is an absolute hotbed of DNB activity and Frankie Gunns and the Gunns Road Music collective are pushing things that little bit further. Frankie has been around the Toronto scene since day one and had a lot to say about the early days in the city, and I may just change this interview into a Canada Spotlight #1 if I can work my way around that country too. He is well into jungle and is also pushing the drumfunk sound to the max as well. Both of these we love dearly, so it was a pleasure to talk to Frankie about these things and many more! BIG UP FRANKIE!
https://insidednb.net/gunns-road-music/
SubPhreak came to our attention when my eldest son said ‘dad, have you heard this, he’s only 13!’…….He’d heard the track on BBC Radio 1. I’m all for supporting young talent and I thought this was absolutely exceptional. I hit the label up over in California and though it took a while, we eventually got this piece cooking and I listen to this track still. Watch this space, as SubPhreak is destined for big things. BIG UP SUBPHREAK!
https://insidednb.net/get-to-know-sub-phreak-uk/
The Polska interview came off of the back of the Frankie Gunns piece, as they know each other and do some web based work together, however I first ‘met’ Ploska on Twitch way back when. I knew he was from Ireland and I knew he produced, but I wasn’t aware of too much else at this point. Once I searched out his music however, I was blown away. Drumfunk is a very, very special type of DNB and the intricacies of it kind of blow the mind. I couldn’t wait to hear more about it and more about Polski and more about DNB in Ireland generally. I also managed a video call with him too, which is pretty rare for me as I’m quite shy in real life. You can also find a Polska guest mix here! BIG UP POLSKA!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-polska-republic-of-ireland/
Blue Frequency is from Austria and hit me up and asked for an interview. I said yes. It’s as simple as that. After having a good listen to his music I saw something special in his style and while I’m not more or less of an expert than anybody else, I liked it. We did a bit of ‘chatting’ and he also provided us with a gorgeous guest mix too. BIG UP BLUE FREQUENCY!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-blue-frequency/
The ‘Legendary Status’ feature is something that I came up with while at KMag, but the first one never came off. It was supposed to be with DJ Phantasy but not only did the site get mothballed, I also lost my way with it a bit and it fell flat. When I saw what Shodan was coming up with on Detached, I decided he should be the first one to feature in this category on INSIDE (if he agreed). Thankfully he did, and we managed to get an absolutely fascinating insight into a very talented and long standing artist. It covers the highs and lows of his early career and is a good glimpse into the way things have changed over the years. BIG UP SHODAN!
https://insidednb.net/legendary-status-01-shodan/
Omni Trio – Just those two words make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. So many classics. So much innovation. So many memories……….I’ve been on a mission to track down Robert Haigh for years. And I mean years. In the end I managed to contact a record company based in NYC that have released some of his later, avant-garde piano based music and amazingly they responded. Rob requested that the interview be short and sweet and this was a good thing, as I could filled pages and pages with questions! To be honest though, it was perfect just the way it was. Just enough mystery remained intact and I was absolutely honoured that he said yes in the fist place. It was one off of the bucket list. BIG UP OMNI TRIO!
https://insidednb.net/legendary-status-02-rob-haigh-aka-omni-trio-uk/
Gravit-E was another one I came across via Thames Delta Radio. Pablo G played some of hi choons and I instantly fell in love. He is also a regular on the Grid Records roster and so I reached out to find out more about him and his music. He had an interesting story to tell and gave some great, honest responses. His music is also blinding! BIG UP GRAVIT-E!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-gravit-e-uk/
I’m a huge fan of DUNK. His music is just so dark and brooding and he is a master at that minimal style of production. I just love it, so I was over the moon when I managed to secure an interview with him via Dispatch Records. They also agreed to two Premiere’s from the album, which was a massively big deal for us, as the more labels we can get on board the better chance we have of growing and supporting the industry. BIG UP DUNK!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-inside-dnb-premieres-dunk-brazil/
Mugshot is an old head. He is 1991 crew, and as we aim to cover as much about the birth of the scene and the old skool as we do the new, talking to people like him is really, really important. The Eclipse was a massively important club for the UK rave scene and I actually did an interview with the guy who ran it for ‘old skool review’ but as mentioned previously, this has been lost forever. Mugshot managed to fill in a few blanks though, and is also producing some absolutely amazing DNB right now. I love his style and there will definitely be a longer interview with this guy at some point. Another absolute gem of a guy. BIG UP MUGSHOT!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-inside-dnb-premiere-dj-mugshot-uk/
DJ Trax was instalment 3 of the Legendary Status series and wow, what a belter of an interview. This guy has been around since pre-old skool days and has a really fascinating story to tell. He was releasing music at THE VERY START of the hardcore scene as it was then, and this is arguably the start of jungle, or at least when the very first seeds of the sound were being sown. I learned a big lesson with this one. ‘work out how to send a draft copy’. I assumed it wasn’t possible until I Googled it. Lesson to ones self. Google stuff. I’d spent nearly 12 months fussing around sending people messages so they could check a live post when I could have just sent them a link to the draft via a gizmo available in WordPress. What a dork. Poor old Trax was back and forth like a yo-yo correcting typo’s, but fair play to him, he did it with grace and patience and I give thanks now publicly for that. It was another of the very many lessons learned! BIG UP DJ TRAX!
https://insidednb.net/legendary-status-03-dj-trax-uk/
Mr Rayner put me onto Thystle. I’d seen her floating about on Twitch for a bit making music on stream, but it was always once the washing up was finished (this is my main excuse to get into the kitchen to put Twitch on) or on the way home from work, so I hadn’t really had the full experience. Once we made contact though and I heard her music I was very keen to get it on the site. She was very helpful in other ways too, and I want to thank her now for listening to me and giving me advice. Her music is totally unique too, and full of twists and turns. I am excited to see where she goes next. BIG UP THYSTLE!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-thystle-uk/
Future Engineers have been around a bit, but also had a bit of time off, and I was thrilled when I received an email from them asking if I’d be interested in doing an interview about their new material. As you know by now, uncovering the past is an essential part of our mission and I was very interested about the early days with Good Looking, as well as what has bought them back to the scene. Thanks guys! BIG UP FUTURE ENGINEERS!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-future-engineers-uk/
So, this website was basically intended to be split three ways. Twitch/Old Skool/Nu Skool. I have done my best since day one to support the Twitch DNB community, and just the Twitch DNB section and subsequent pages was a mission and a half to create. I did it because I want people from outside to see the potential in the platform and I want the people on the platform to get extra support and followers from outside of the community. I have no idea how successful this has been, but I really hope it has helped in some small way. The other thing I really wanted to do with the Twitch 3rd was to showcase the hotbed of talent on that site that isn’t music or performance related. You can learn a lot from being in chat, and I discovered Tworaindrops in a JUICE DNB stream I think. She mentioned that she was an artist and anybody who knows me knows that I love art, despite not being able to draw a straight line. We got ‘chatting’ an she sent me a link to her work and I absolutely fell in love with it. One of the hardest parts about running this site is the constant back log of people to talk to. If you don’t have a big back log, you end up with an empty website once you’ve done the last person, so there is always the ‘to do list’ and Tworaindrops was on that for quite a while! Even so, we managed to get it together and her responses were completely compelling. I love her and I love her art and we’ve become friends which is a beautiful thing. Her husband streams on Twitch as Dj resolve and this dude mixes DNB video on Serato which is wicked. He has also become a friend (and this is the beauty of Twitch!) More on that in 2023. Anyway, It was such a pleasure to be able to offer something visual rather than audio for this piece, and to get this woman’s incredible artwork out there to the parts of the DNB community who enjoy it. BIG UP BRANDY!
https://insidednb.net/twitch-community-profile-tworaindrops1986/
notAgain was another young dude with the balls to email me. I love this guys style and the music he sent me which was guitar based DNB just had that little something that caught my ear. I’m pretty sure this fella is destined for some pretty big thing and I wish him all the best. BIG UP NOTAGAIN!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-notagain-spain/
DNBB Records are prolific to say the least! The volume of their output is quite astounding actually and they are completely committed to pushing new talent. That’s why we decided to interview them. This was another one that spent way too long on the ‘to do list’ and I’m pretty sure they thought I’d forgotten them. I always come good with my promises, but sometimes they can take a while! This was a good chance to reconnect with Brazilian DNB and hear about what happens behind the scenes in a busy DNB label. BIG UP DNBB!
https://insidednb.net/label-profile-dnbb-brazil/
Diligent Fingers is an absolute Don. His Twitch streams can be full of the biggest energy and yet be completely honest and open all in one go. The guys sincerity has helped him gain a good following on the platform and I love to catch him live at every opportunity. He’s a household name in my house and we all love Dili. Not to mention the many, many other DNB pots he has simmering away on the stove of bass music. This one was on the back burner for a while, but I was stoked to have finally got the chance to touch base. One word left to say. CHOPPER! BIG UP DILIGENT FINGERS!
https://insidednb.net/label-profile-spynal-records-diligent-fingers-uk/
Working with labels provides an excellent conduit for meeting new people, and L0g1N fits that catagory perfectly. He is from France, so that’s a point of interest. He’s a teacher, so that is a point of interest too. He also makes filthy DNB, and that too is a point of connection. Not everybody I talk to is a born writer, and not everyone is used to expressing themselves in a particular way, but L0G1N came back with some very interesting responses and I thank him for that. BIG UP L0G1N!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-l0g1n-france/
And then to top this crazy year off we have man like Juiceman! An absolute legend in the game and one of the iconic voices of UK DNB. There since day 1, and that actually means day 1, 1989, when the very first murmurs of UK breakbeat started to make themselves known, I was absolutely stoked to get him on board to share his memories of the early days, and of his journey through scene right up to now, with his Killa Watts and Beat Merchants with Jubbz. BIG UP JUICEMAN!
https://insidednb.net/artist-profile-beat-merchants-uk/
And so there ends the rundown of the first 54 interviews and last 12 months achievements. If you put everyone I’ve interviewed in a room together, you’d have the most amazing array of people imaginable, and this is just the first year! The DNB knowledge alone would be astounding, let alone the personal experiences and achievements. Thank you to everybody who has got on board in one way or another. Your input has been invaluable, and I want you all to know it, there are just too many people to list!
Finally, if you are still wake, please don’t forget to hit the COMPETITION tab and do your thing to be in with a chance to win a free INSIDE DNB coffee mug! Competition runs until Friday 11th November 2022.
