Pop quiz hotshots: what do these phrases have in common?
Definitely maybe. Open secret. Pretty ugly. Tragic comedy. Seriously funny.
Yup, today we’re bigging up oxymorons. The D&B scene really doesn’t celebrate contradicting terms often enough… Yet it’s home fair few itself. The most notable one right now being Justice & Metro’s brand new album. Entitled – you guessed it – Oxymoron, it’s a 14 track tale of D&B beauty. Icy, funky, subby and sharp, it’s one of their most comprehensive pieces of work to date. It also comes with its own weight concept of heritage and rich D&B history.
We thought we’d send the Modern Urban Jazz bosses a few questions about oxymorons, old school and plenty more….
Hey chaps. Props on Oxymoron… Dumb question but are you happy with it?
Hi Drum&BassArena, props back and thanks! Yeah we’re really happy with it, both as an LP as a whole and for the individual tracks.
Please both give us a personal highlight…
METRO-I think my personal highlight has to be Dope Boy, for the way it progressed over time changing into what it became. It’s a very complex tune in the drum programming and atmosphere, but the bass is simple with only one note. The melodic twisted bell and block sound that follows the bass throughout the second half is where I think the track really comes into its own and the vocal sample which came very late in the process just kills it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Do8fYyYRM
JUSTICE- I really love the more quirky off-beat numbers on the LP like Last Chance Before, it has that whole noise, field music feel about it which I love, the filmic vocal which you aren’t too sure what he is saying at first and just the whole off key feel to the track just does it for me.
In the interest of balance please tell us about any struggles or challenges the creative process threw you…
I suppose the struggle to be different in sound but to also be current is a challenge. Also the approach to the structure of tracks is always challenging. But it also works for you: you are free from any constraints. We don’t like constraints. Some tracks follow a similar(ish) structure to what’s around at the moment. And they have to in a way, in order to be current and appealing. But it’s the timbre in the tracks and the whole raw, naivety we wanted to capture in the sound that will set it apart. The whole creative process is a struggle at times and time and life throws itself into the mix as well, but the great thing is that the organic process takes over and things get made, comes together and all sounds coherent.
It’s inspired by your most formative days in dodgy parties and naughty raves. Give us some proper memories from that time…
So many memories and places visited in those days I could go on forever to be honest…
Sometimes we could start local in The Greyhound pub in my home town Dunstable which was a full on acid house rave in itself, then onto Hemmingways in Luton were the local sound system (Love Lite) would blow the roof off. It was very dark, very loud and full of dodgy looking characters with hearts of gold.
There was a bomb scare in there one night. The music was inspiring for a 17 year old, house, techno, breakbeat, acid, hip hop were all mixed together. Then after that, as the sun was rising we would go over to a garage at the back of a fried chicken shop and carry it on. I remember being given flyers for Sunrise and Biology then and thinking a big rave has to be next. We would skank the train to London and go to Astoria and I remember queuing round the side of the building for ages only to be refused as i was under age. I then passed my driving test, so we saved up our YTS money and get tickets for Raindance, Living Dream, Perception or Weekend World. Or we would go to regular haunts like the Dungeons in Lea Bridge Road, London or Milwalkees in Rushden, or locally to the Grid.
Most memories wouldn’t be printable but I remember Unique 3 and 4hero at the Luton Youth House smashing it around 91, I remember carrying keyboards for The Prodigy after they refused to perform and having a dance off with Keith.
Raves always had live PA’s: Prodigy, Shades Of Rhythm, Shut Up And Dance, Moby, even Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane! I remember Grooverider playing in a house party in Luton, climbing the big tops at raves, giant bouncy balls being thrown into the crowds, robots, fair grounds, portaloo soap smelling of poppers, being robbed, mcing for Carl Cox, finding my mate asleep under some stairs in a club with his shoes neatly place by his head, kissing DJ Rap on my 18th birthday, rag market (best rave ever), spending three days at PFM’s house at an after party.
I remember being locked in a club in Brighton when everyone else had gone home. I remember Exodus free party convoys going on for miles, having to use pay phones and pagers to find out where raves were, Spiral Tribe’s proper dodgy free parties in Oxford and Kings Langley. I remember getting chased for miles on foot by the police and finally finding the rave to then be attacked by bees. I remember getting nicked in Scratchwood services, getting caught by the security at the Eclipse Coventry. Good times!
If you could go back to those days would you do anything differently?
METRO- Personally I would go back now. I really loved it, all of it, and I have so many great memories. I do wish I had got more into producing back then as I only dabbled. I knew lots of people who produced like Justice, Blame, NRG, The Moog, PFM, JMJ (EZ Rollers) and more. I always wanted to produce but loved partying to much ha ha! I did however do a spot of MCing. Tapes are still available….
JUSTICE- I don’t think I would change anything. These were my formative years. I grew up with the scene and was responsible for its development and morphing into D&B. I feel honoured to have been a part of it and one of the pioneers driving it forward in the early days.
Give us a real life oxymoron in D&B…
I think there are a lot of oxymorons in D&B, thanks to the nature of it being dark and light and bitter sweet. Also… The fact that every producer wants to release on vinyl, but the pre-dominant medium has become digital and less people want to buy vinyl.
Give us a real life oxymoron outside of D&B
Plastic fruit! Virtual reality, too… That’s big these days.
So…. 839 preceded it. A much more experimental album. Do you guys work best when you’ve created a concept or set of boundaries?
We don’t really set out a concept. They form organically and very rarely set any boundaries. We may make tracks and completely destroy them or delete them if they don’t fit the sound. Maybe but I think we work best that way. I might start something, send it to Justice he’ll rip it to shreds send it back then I’ll put things back again and vice versa! I loved 839 as an LP but we wanted Oxymoron to be move up tempo and gritty. It’s good to work within a project-based scenario, as a label Modern Urban Jazz is very much LP-oriented as it allows for a body of work and a concept to evolve which helps with the whole writing and releasing process.
So what’s coming up next on Modern Urban Jazz?
A Modernists 4 LP which is a continuation of the limited hand finished CD LP series. We maybe introducing a cassette element this time and it’s definitely going to be different styles of bass music with some hip-hop, other slow and low vibes and a smattering of D&B. There will be some other boutique style releases, too.
Does running a label rob you of precious studio time? Or does it fuel and inspire it?
It can get in the way for sure. Plus getting to make music takes a back seat a lot because by the time you have sorted stuff you’re too tired. But it does also inspire you when you hear such great stuff being produced. It’s also a chance for relief, start a fresh and create something new.
Finally… please can you both give me an exclusive fact, factoid, titbit or tale about yourselves that you’ve never told in an interview before!
METRO-I’m not a great fan of dogs and I could be related to the famous author Jack London (so my nan told me). You can see me raving my socks off at 8:08mins on this Rag Market rave video from 1991!
JUSTICE- In an interview I did for a mag years back maybe in 97-98 time, they were looking for a similar kind of thing , five facts about you blah blah. My press people at the time thought it would be a good point to put that I had size 15 feet! I would like to put the record straight after all these years to say I do not have size 15 feet, they are only 11. Thanks…
Justice & Metro – Oxymoron is out now.
Listen and download.