The RAM bass raider
Drum & bass, dubstep, drumstep – no matter the sub-genre, right now, bass culture is the sound of the UK. At its centre is Andy C, one of the scene’s founders and most important figures. A legend in his own right, who began his label RAM at 16 years old and has pioneered drum & bass for two decades. This Autumn, Andy unveils his new state of the art show, ‘Alive’.
Dan Prince checks in…
Welcome Andy to DMC. Three dates tucked under your belt on the new Alive experience, for those reading this who have not had the pleasure yet, what can we expect from you over the next two months at these nights…
“The Alive concept is to merge music and visuals to create a whole new dimension to my sets. I’m performing on 3 turntables alongside a whole load of other gadgets that trigger various sounds and controls some of the visual elements and effects. It’s all housed inside my stage set. All the visuals have been made specifically for the show and are mapped on to my stage-set.”
How long has the Alive idea been running round your head, and why is now the right time to deliver…
“I’ve had the idea for a year or so but not really known how to proceed with it in the best way. Some fantastic new equipment has been coming out lately and that has enabled me to proceed and get the show off the ground. I perform at tons of festivals every year and the excitement that surrounds a big stage show is unbelievable. You get a totally different response from the crowd when your doing a show and I wanted to take what I do as a DJ to a new dimension.”
The capacities for the shows are around the 1000 capacity – are these a tester for something bigger for next year?
“Hopefully yes. We’ve been getting some great offers in for the show and I’m really excited about whats in the diary for Alive throughout the spring of 2012.”
David Guetta won the annual DJ tombola last week and when asked what the future of DJing is, answered that DJs playing to stadiums and massive arenas as well as clubs is the future – thoughts on that?
“Well he may be right cos there are DJ’s that are doing this sort of thing already so why not. Thats the beauty of DJing…I love the small intimate parties just as much as the huge festival stages. Let’s hope it can cross over to all genre’s of dance music.”
An incredible year with your beloved Ram label, chart success with your signings Sub Focus and Chase and Status. There are a lot of very good producers out there at the moment – is it easy for you to decide though who are hungry enough to see it through and warrant a recording contract?
“We get a vibe for who’s up for it with the amount of music we get from who we’re looking to sign and how versatile and ambitious they are in the early days. Everyone is obviously hungry for success but they’re all different in the way they approach things and what their ultimate ambitions are which is great for us as we like the new challenges this brings to the table.”
How do you balance keeping an artist underground knowing that artists like Chase and Status are going to be on Chris Moyles in the morning? Does it make your job harder?
“You just have to cite where everyone comes from. C&S didn’t just appear on the Chris Moyles show. They had a very organic growth with a huge amount of underground support. The hardest thing is keep all fans on-side so when you get the records played on daytime radio your underground fans don’t shun you for not being cool any more. The thing I love about those guys is they’ll play a huge live show and then come down to rave hard at RAM, Fabric for the party afterwards.”
What new acts that have been signed in 2011 should we be looking out for in 2012? Who are you excited about?
“We actually signed a lot of new acts in 2010 and have been developing them throughout 2011. I think 2012 is going to be a great year for Loadstar as we release their debut album. we’re also getting very close with some of our other acts who are working on albums… Culture Shock, Wilkinson, Delta Heavy, and DC Breaks should all have an album out in the next 18 months or so.”
You have come an incredibly long way since those early 90s evenings in your friend’s Ant’s converted garage making your first tunes. Twenty years on has the enthusiasm for making dancefloor classics cooled at all for you, is all this as exciting as it ever was?
“Nope I still love the music as much today as I ever did. I lover hearing and playing new tunes and cant wait to check my in-box everyday to see what’s arrived. As for making music, I’ve actually been getting back in the studio recently and working on a couple of new tracks along with some remix work – it feels great going back in and cant wait to start getting some tunes out there.”
What has been your summer anthem?
“There’s been a couple… Passenger by Loadstar, Pistol Whip/Tonight by Wilkinson, CUlture Shock Protection…actually there’s been tons!”
Not many people know this, but Andy C is really good at…
“Staying awake!! Man, there’s not enough hours in the day.”
What foreign country and club do you really love returning to the most?
“Metrocity, Perth Australia without a doubt as well as Guvernment in Toronto, Womb in Tokyo is always amazing as is LA…LA smashes it!
What have been the all time top 10 Ram releases?
Valley Of The Shadows
Body Rock
Turbulence
X Ray
Take Me Away
Roll On
Quest
Timewarp
Link To The Past
No Reality
What is the one record that got away you wished you had signed?
“‘Vault’ by Pendulum is one that comes to mind. A friend heard me playing it out after it had been signed to 31 and said oh I got this months ago when I was on tour in Australia but didn’t think you’d be into so didn’t play it to you!”
Other than music, what do you collect?
“Airmiles!”
You were with us all in the fields back in the day raving to the likes of Fabio and Grooverider – what was the best event you now look back on from those halcyon times?
What has been the most proudest moment of your career to date?
“All of next year is going to be a huge proud one as Ram reaches it’s 20th birthday. Kinda blows my mind that we’re gonna be 20! feels like 5 minutes….it really makes you appreciate the fact that so many people have contributed to RAM over the years and that going forward we are as hungry as ever.”
The club scene is changing all of the time, you are now appearing at events where the line up may not be a purely drum & bass line up with lots of different styles of DJs and artists on the bill. When you first noticed this happening were you happy about this, did you see it as your scene fragmenting or simply a great way of developing your sound further?
“Well, its gone full circle. Back when I first got into the scene as such there wasn’t any genres, it was just one big vibe. Infact the first tune I ever made was at 128bpm so we’ve kinda been there thru all the genres. It’s definitely a great way for D&B to develop further. everyone on a multi genre line up is bringing something to the party and if we all open up each other’s audiences to our music that can only be a positive thing.”
What is the best record you have ever played to a dancefloor?
“Now thats a tuffy…. one of the biggest reactions was when I first played Body Rock. It was at Bar Rumba just after an awards ceremony and it was full of industry all letting their hair down for the night. I played it and the place just went nuts. It got rewound god knows how many times and played from start to finish everytime… I even had to finish my set with it the reaction was that crazy.”
And finally – what is coming next in 2012 from the Andy C stable…?
“Well as I mentioned we’ve got 20 years of Ram next year which we’ll be celebrating with a special release package, quite a few parties, limited edition collectables and the like. Myself, I will be taking Alive on the road to the States, Europe and am in talks about possibly taking it to Australia at some point.”
