Fabio & Grooverider will probably be in the news a lot more than they are already over the coming months. Why? For causing more structural damage to central London than Crossrail, namely in the form of their 25 Year celebration at The Forum on May 8, that’s why. Rammed with special guests and with layers and layers of styles, expertise, influences and surprises smacking you senseless from every direction, the night will run seriously into the red… and even the break of dawn won’t actually stop it, as you’ll read.
Yes: actual Nature will be compromised as well.
Fabio & Grooverider! About the big night in May: what’s this we hear about special guests on the night? It’s rammed already: just look at the flyer!
As well as the massive lineup already advertised, yes: we have three very special guest headliners that will be announced on May 2. And there’s one set in particular you guys won’t be expecting.
So with something this big, how was the lineup chosen? From SS, to Digital, to Storm, Die, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, to Randall, Frost, Bryan G… can’t have been easy.
We tried to book as many acts from our history as possible. They’re acts we have supported over the years and visa versa. There’s some legends from all corners of the scene playing on the night.
How do you see the night panning out?
This will be a roadblock.
When the lights go up at 6am the next day those in attendance will have been part of something special. Expect some big tunes all night long! Get ready, is all we’d say.
OK, now going back in time to the 90s did you guys ever think AHEAD about the way Jungle/D&B would evolve in the future… you must have had some thoughts about how it would change?
We just went with the flow. We didn’t have any idea what was round the corner or how big this would become! We really didn’t think we’d still be here 25 plus years later!
All we wanted to do was play music.
What are some names that stood out for you at various points in time as being ‘special’? I think of High Contrast, Fresh, Artificial Intelligence… what are some names and why?
Yes of course the names you have mentioned stand out hugely, but there’s also names such as Photek because he was a genius; there’s Calibre who’s my (Fabio) favourite producer of all time and another genius.
Also DJ Krust because he’s so underated and has never really got the credit he deserves. Total Science who’ve been there since day one… they’ve made some legendary tunes and are still there making great music.
We spoke about time and in my books DJing is about ‘time’ too… it’s a journey. So when you guys begin your sets do you look forward into how the set will pan out, or does it happen naturally?
No, we never plan: the buzz we get is from things being spontaneous.
What DJs do you respectively dig nowadays that really do grip the audience’s imaginations and know how to smash the place up too? Proper risk takers and massive personalities.
To be honest unfortunately we don’t see many personalities coming through.
DJs seem to be hooked on what’s not important such as four-deck mixing and double dropping.
They have become like robots rather than personalities.
The night at the Forum promises to be memorable. Do you have any good stories you can share? I heard many, many on your show. This back at a time when the atmosphere could be pretty mean too.
A bad night that sticks in my (Fabio) memory was this: I remember once at a seminal event called Voodoo Magic and I was really struggling.
It was the premier jungle event in London at the time and my style was veering more towards the so-called ‘intelligent’ style, the Liquid vibe.
Anyway, I was sticking to my guns but the crowd clearly was not feeling me. I remember thinking I would have to play something to wake the crowd up. The previous week a young producer called Alex Reece had given me an unamed minimal track that I wasn’t sure of…
My mind was racing! Should I risk playing this track ? I decided I’d give it two minutes and mix it out if it was a a flop.
It got five rewinds and the day after I named it ‘Pulp Fiction’!
So back to the present what’s a tune or two that comes into your mind to sum up how you feel about D&B now. I heard some killers on the Hype the other night! That System tune dropped hard!
System’s new album is great: very forward-thinking, also ‘Strumpet’ by Calibre… it’s just Calibre at his finest.
‘Strumpet’ is fantastic. Back to the party in May. I take it it probably won’t finish when the house lights go up… you’re continuing afterwards?
Yes! Afterparty at Industry in Tottenham 5 to 9am. In it for the long haul!
OK, so any final shouts for now?
Big shout to everyone who’s supported us over the last 25 years and beyond. We can’t say enough how much the support means.
See you all down at the Forum on May 8.
Info and tickets at fabioandgroove.com
