Jamie hooks up with Liz-E for a chat about the past, present and future with a stop in the middle for a spin on the well-known Jungle Roulette wheel. This isn’t a typical “how is it being a female in drum and bass, we’re done with all that for this year!”.. Talent is talent after all.
Let’s start with the present. You got into raving around 2003 and what better way than with the likes of Helter Skelter and Slammin’ Vinyl! These obviously go hand in hand with The Sanctuary, one of the best venues of the rave scene at the time. Can you share with us a golden memory from one of these events? Do you have a special set from a tape pack that you still reflect on from this era?
“I was attending The Sanctuary religiously from the age of about fifteen, obviously I was getting in underage. I would just be completely sober and watch the likes of Distorted Minds, Andy C and Nicky Blackmarket just to name a few. I have too many memories from that era, just picking one was difficult but I actually found a clip on YouTube of the one I would have said was the rave to remember for me.
I would just study the set styles with my group of friends and the next week we would all go vinyl shopping and be discussing it till the next one came along and we would go again.
We would always cheer when Andy C teased Omni Trio and I remember the smell of smoke at 6am when Nicky Blackmarket was usually playing.
The 90’s was where I developed the love for drums through metal music which I’m still heavily into. Artists such as Deftones, Korn, System of a Down and Incubus are all favourites of mine.”
When you decided to try your hand at production, can you remember the first thing that really stuck in your head that you wanted to make? Was there a tune doing the rounds at the time that you wanted to recreate in your own style?
“When I first started to produce I wanted to make everything and try everything. I wanted to have a shot at all styles. As I have an eclectic taste in drum and bass I would experiment with breaks first and also just play with ideas and as I worked on my production it would be easier to get my ideas out but I still struggle sometimes.”
In the early days of production what did you find most challenging? Was it learning your way around a DAW or simply getting the ideas in your head out?
“I found the actual production I struggled with at first not my ideas. I have too many ideas and that’s sometimes the problem! I’m always learning new things, I don’t think that ever stops in music production.”
There’s always a fun element to making music that people sometimes forget. Can you put your finger on that one tune that made you smile the most?
“I think we would have to go back to 2012 to when I made ‘The Last Time’ and ‘Something Inside’. It would have been my face when I accidently made the riff to ‘The Last Time’ and then followed by the plays I had from Friction, Annie Mac and DJ Storm.”
What would your advice be to people feeling like they are constantly banging their head against a wall in terms of getting their tracks listened to by anyone important to them?
“Have faith because everything takes time and persistence is the key. I think it’s good to be individual and not follow what is popular as you could be the new sound that then turns into the popular style.
I remember all I wanted was for Hazard to play one of my tunes years ago and now he supports my music regularly and it feels great that he supports me so much. What I’m saying is it can happen but it usually happens when you least expect it so just keep going.”
Who’s your go to producer as a DJ in terms of promo support?
“Absolutely everyone….ha ha I really don’t know maybe Marky, Hazard, Hype, Guv. Just to name a few.”
Talking of DJ support, how did the set at the Shadow Demon ‘Suicide Squad’ event go?
“It was great, I really enjoyed playing with Modified Motion I think that’s the first time we had ever gone back to back. echoua.com. It was good to see everyone there and nice to push some of my new music.”
Your connection with SDC appears to be pretty recent or is this something that’s been undercover for a while now? Who’s your favourite member to work with?
“It has been undercover for a while but we were thinking of the right time to announce it. I love working with Trigga, he’s one of the nicest guys I know.”
Is a back to back 2 hour set with Voltage a possibility anytime soon?
“Who knows! But we have discussed collaborating together.”
Aside from SDC, what’s on your calendar running up to Christmas? Let us know events, production currently doing rotation on dub etc.
“OK so I’ve got a single coming on Shadow Demon which will be ‘Ducks and Ladders’ and track called ‘Nightwalker’.
I also have a single coming possibly on DJ Guv’s label but we are currently selecting the tracks for it.
My next few gigs are one on the 4th in Worcester and that’s for Shadow Demon at Crave. I’m playing at Viper 100 at Fire on the 25th of November also.”
Let’s play a bit of Jungle Roulette to end the article, I’ll provide the links below and you tell me about the tunes.
First up Firefox aka Roni Size with the original version of ‘Bonanza Kid’ which was released way back in ‘96! This sound has made a huge comeback this year – what’s your take on the original?
“I really like this style of drum and bass I was a big fan of this. You are right, a lot of people are trying to bring this sound back but I think that’s great.”
Moving on a year to 1997 with ‘Body Rock’ by a very well-known happy hardcore producer who also turned his hand to Aphrodite style jump up. He’s been back in the news recently with a huge remix competition but how do you think this style has aged over the years?
“I wasn’t really ever a fan of this kind of style and I really don’t think I am now. Maybe it will come back but who knows what way things will go. Production has become so complex that this style of production has aged massively now. I wouldn’t draw for this in a rave I would of usually walked out of a happy hardcore room when I was younger to be honest with you but I didn’t mind the jungle tunes that where influenced by it so much.”
Going way way back now to the early days of hardcore. This tune was heavily supported and to this day still sounds fresh. Do you think you could get away with dropping this at 3am to a packed dancefloor? More importantly, do you like it?
“I’m a fan of old school rave pads, this is the kinda sound I tried to recreate with some of my early releases like ‘Fred’ and ‘Time and Space’ when I first started to dabble in jungle. The breaks are sick, I would of loved to have got my hands on this to make my version of it. I can’t really say I dislike anything about this tune.”
Something a bit more current to end, DJ SS’ ‘Dual Voltage’ remix which to this day is still a certified banger. You must have some serious memories of this tune?
“This is just another one of those tunes I would of just drawn for mixing with my friends when we used to all meet up. But I was a big fan of SS and Formation when I was growing up.”
Any shouts and big ups?
Big shouts to anyone supporting my music, playing my music and coming to see my shows. Big up Shadow Demon and Viper Recordings.”
