The man behind the legendary Drum&Bass Arena speaks exclusively to DMCWORLD
“I’ve never questioned whether it will be here or not and I couldn’t even begin to think Drum & Bass won’t be here. The Drum&Bass scene is always evolving & pushing boundaries, so I’m not surprised it’s still healthy.”
Most people got into drum & bass through happy hardcore, was this your way in?
“I got into the scene through playing jungle & old skool hardcore on pirate radio stations back in Sheffield.”
What DJs do you look back fondly at in that whole 92-95 era?
“Slightly hazy times, but DJ wise it would have to be Easy D, DJ SS, Krome & Time, Carl Cox, Kenny Ken, Jumpin’ Jack Frost, Grooverider, Randall, Slipmatt, Mickey Finn etc…”
A brand new album out this week – ‘Drum&BassArena 2012’, 40 very upfront tracks and no less than ten exclusives. Talk us through the exclusives on the release…
“We’ve got a great range of exclusive tracks on the album, from the uplifting sounds of ‘Children’ by the very talented up&coming producer Dimension, to the jungle flavoured ‘Look Sharp’ by Serum, to the minimal sounds of ‘Rude Industry’ by Stray & Halogenix. I’m really happy with all the exclusives on the album.”
What are your personal highlights of this stunning album?
“I think of all the Drum&BassArena albums in the last year, this one is the most rounded and I’m really happy with the exclusive tracks.”
How has the scene changed since you first got into it?
“The scene has changed in many ways, there are now more highly talented producers of drum&bass in every corner of the world, where as back in the beginning virtually all the producers came from the UK. There are now also more sub-genres of drum&bass than ever before, making the scene more diverse than ever before and for me all the better. Producing the music is now more accessible due to the software available for computers, also virtually all labels are providing their music on mp3/wav, where as many years ago we had real trouble convincing labels to switch over to the digital way of thinking.”
Was it difficult to gain acceptance from the established drum & bass industry when you began?
“Getting support from artists in the beginning wasn’t an issue, pretty much all the labels send me their promos on vinyl and I’ve still got everyone at home and will always keep them, as they remind me of great times. When we first started broadcasting our events live on the internet, alongside a live chat room in the club, the first artists to jump onboard and take a leap of faith in something totally groundbreaking were DJ SS (Formation Records), Grooverider (Radio 1) & L Double. Aside from them reppin’ the scene so well, I will always have huge respect for those guys, as that really was the start of something special on the website and live shows has formed a big part of the site still to this day.”
How many people are behind the site on a daily basis?
“We’ve got a team of 20 people here working on everything from editorial content to putting on events to compilations etc…”
At what point did the site start to make money?
“The first income from the site came in the form of labels paying for online banners advertising their releases, and also putting on Drum&BassArena events in Sheffield.”
Who are some of the new up and coming producers we should be looking out for in 2012?
“There are so many great up&coming producers around at the moment, just a few are Dimension, Harvest, Lung, Mattix & Futile, Halogenix, Rene LaVice, Emperor etc..etc..and even though they’ve been around a few years, keep a look out for tracks from Fred V & Grafix, Rollz, Rockwell, Mefjus, Coda, Stray…I could go on & on.”
What other genres of dance music could we find playing in your office and is there a type that always gets turned off?
“I pretty much listen to Drum & Bass all the time, if there is a rare day (and I mean rare!) when I’m not, then it would old skool hiphop (NWA, Gheto Boyz, Big Daddy Kane etc..) or ‘92 old skool hardcore. As for the office, drum&bass mainly, though we have airtunes, so everyone gets a turn to play tracks. Trance/Psytrance or anything like that would get turned off instantly.”
What are the plans for 2012, how are you looking to expand even further?
“One of our main focuses on 2012 is doing more editorial content, more events, compilations and just continuing to evolve every aspect of Drum&BassArena.”
Drum&BassArena 2012 is available now on 2xCD (HMV/Asda) and Download (iTunes/D&BA etc….)
CD 1:
1) Friction vs Camo & Krooked (feat. Dynamite MC) – Stand Up (Sigma Remix)
2) TC – Tap Ho
3) Hamilton – Rich Kids
4) Sub Zero & Supreme Being (feat. Grimm) – Why Can’t You See
5) Noisia – Tommy’s Theme (Loadstar Remix)
6) Wickaman & SuddenDef – Loud & Nasty (EXCLUSIVE)
7) Harvest – Evidence (EXCLUSIVE)
8) Serial Killaz – Cycles Of Time (EXCLUSIVE)
9) Krome & Time – Ganja Man (Total Science & S.P.Y Remix)
10) Bladerunner – Back To The Jungle VIP
11) Serum – Look Sharp (EXCLUSIVE)
12 DJ Nut Nut (feat. Top Cat) – Special Dedication (Sigma Remix)
13) DJ Oder – Rock The Place
14) Interface – Desperate Measures
15) TC – Psyco
16) Crystal Clear & Zen – Heavy VIP
17) Rene LaVice – Headlock
18) Coda – Shodan (EXCLUSIVE)
19) Optiv & BTK (feat. Ryme Tyme) – Ignition (EXCLUSIVE)
20) Phace & Misanthrop – What’s Wrong
CD 2:
1) Rusko – Somebody To Love (Sigma Remix)
2) Rollz – The Music (Be Strong)
3) Friction – Led Astray
4) Wilkinson – Tonight
5) Cutline (feat. Belle Humble) – Runnin’ (Rollz Remix)
6) Netsky – Give & Take
7) Dimension – Children (EXCLUSIVE)
8) Yasmin (feat. Shy Fx & Ms Dynamite) – Light Up (The World) (Benny Page Remix)
9) Crissy Criss – Let Go (D&B Rollers Mix)
10) Sigma & T-Phonic – Do You Love
11) High Contrast (feat. Selah Corbin) – The Agony & The Ecstacy
12) Dukebox (feat. KT Forrester) – Pressure (A.M.C, Mattix & Futile Remix) (EXCLUSIVE)
13) Stanza – Colonel Vibenhoff (EXCLUSIVE)
14) Sabre, Stray & Halogenix (feat. Frank Carter III) – Oblique
15) Stray & Halogenix – Rude Industry (EXCLUSIVE)
16) Rockwell – Tripwire
17) Die & Break – Grand Funk Hustle
18) Sub Focus – Stomp
19) Mr Explicit – Dirty Bitch
20) Wickaman & RV – I Need You
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