Bailey and Planet V's night, August 5 at The Qube.

Bailey is part of Planet V’s – let’s face it – phenomenal lineup at The Qube Project on August 5th which includes Jordan V, Cleveland Watkiss, Ic3,Darrison, Fabio & Grooverider, Stamina, Randall, a Brazilian injection courtesy of power-duo Alibi plus Patife; Frost, Ruffstuff and of course Bryan Gee, each showcasing a different facet of the genre… from the Movement era, to ‘Future Classics’, elemental history selections, V selections and in the case of Bailey and Randall, to the AWOL era. And did we mention the special guest mc? CRIKEY.

It was time to get stuck in with Bailey about the night, the heritage of the scene to where we are right now – and check the insight in this dept – and of course his killer radio show.

Bailey hi. How is your show going? As always it is full of the unexpected! Dubs, lost tunes, chatty moments…

Radio is going really well. I love radio and even moreso love doing it for Mi Soul. Radio is the perfect place to tell such stories musically without the usual pressure in clubs to rock to dance floor.

I think it’s easy to take the many sides of Drum & Bass/Jungle for granted.

What do you mean?

We’re still here 22 years later running mainly as an underground genre.

The long history behind it, what influenced it, it’s global reach and who it’s influenced are all greatly underestimated. I see it as part of my radio duty to remind and show people how great it is.

I always feel that your DJing and presentation skills come from your EXPERIENCE out on the road in the front line. This leads me to the V night. Tell us about the selection you personally are bringing… what era of V?

Yes, literally and there have been more than I can possibly remember. I bring all experiences in life and music to every set I play. For the V party, Randall and I going back2back it will mean going back to the AWOL era which was a golden time.

We’re talking early to mid nineties Jungle here and you can bet there will be some unreleased versions of classic Jungle tracks in the set too.

The Brazil sound: people forget MUCH these days and they seem to forget how insane the Brazil sound was when it erupted, how Bryan was instrumental in this… and how it continues to be! So on the night we have Patife, and also Alibi AKA Chap and Level 2 (below), is that right?

Correct! I can’t get enough of that sound. I even attempted to play a section of Brazilian D&B in one of my recent radio shows. It made me realise just how much more I need to get. I’m looking forward to hearing sets from these guys to give me an update on where the Brazilian sound is now.

Maybe I should ask Bryan too. After all, he championed that sound like no other.

How DID Brazil affect you? Have you been there? The clubs sound great, more crazy than some of these fabled Euro clubs, to me.

Ok, here’s the sad news… I’VE NEVER BEEN TO BRAZIL. I’m a person who grew up with music serving the purpose of guiding me through life. I feel music is a big part of life for Brazilians too so I hope to get there some day. In the mean time, I’m happy to have experienced the sound within the realm of Drum & Bass.

It’s an upbeat, summer, refreshing vibe that I also witnessed when it came to the UK. Exciting times.

On the subject of the ‘Movement’ era: Is the West End ever going to recover, re D&B? I’m thinking of Bar Rumba. I miss that place (BR)… people like dBridge and AI and you levelling the place, but also the fact you’d hear other genres too, like Broken Beat at the time.

That’s a tricky question. Dance clubs generally are under pressure in all of London mainly due to rich folk who want to live in a happening/busy areas but without the excitement/noise of clubs that make it ‘happening’ in the first place.

Amen to that.

I feel a wind of change in the air.

There’s a newer, cooler place just around the corner for us music lovers to go. The only thing is, we haven’t chosen it yet.

Have to ask: anything on V is very very exciting, always is… what are some big moments on the label for you?

Adam F ‘Brand New Funk’