MC Fearless, a household name to many of you but did you know he’s been in the drum & bass scene for 20 plus years? Rinsing Micky Finn hardcore mixtapes while locked away at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, Fearless was ready for the jungle scene before it had even begun!
We interview DJs on the regular. This, however, if life from an MC’s perspective. Read on for the information behind the fallout with GQ and MC MC, dancing with kangaroos and hijacking a radio show…
Interview: Jamie S23
Who were your main influences growing up with early hardcore and jungle?
“I was a DJ before an MC, spinning hip hop and rare groove around ‘86 to ‘97, what made me switch to being an MC was an advert I put together for Innocence FM. People were ringing up the station asking who the MC was and when he would be appearing on the show. That was pretty much it, after that came the radio show and the rest is history”
When practicing lyrics around this time, do you remember any particular tunes you used to test your bars on?
“Not really a particular tune, I don’t remember the names of any but the likes of L Double’s production and various beats on old tapes were always useful. I remember when I spent some time at HMP way back in the early 90s playing a Micky Finn set over and over then finally getting to meet him and thinking wow, that’s the geezer from the mixtape.”
It seems from the release of ‘AWOL: A Way of Life Live’ in 1994 your career literally blew up overnight, was 1994 your year or were you busy grafting in the scene way before this?
“Before AWOL I was busy all over the country man, from Wales to Manchester to the Isle of Wight. The funny thing about that album is in one of the images on the cover I’m wearing a Gators bandana, a short while after the release I wore the same thing out in America when we were on tour and got mobbed by avid fans of both Jungle and the American Football team!”’
At the time, the Jungle scene had a place crying out for your style of hosting and lyrical ability – do you think this was why you were so well received?
“Because I hadn’t really heard any other MC’s during my stay at HMP, my style was my own. It wasn’t a case of hearing other MC’s from the scene and basing my style on a mixture of my peers. I will always combine my style as being both a lyricist and a host, letting the music do the talking when it needs to.”
What’s the story behind the falling out with GQ in the AWOL days?
“Competition, simple as that. It’s all good now though. Gary and I are best of friends, at the time though it was really a case of the way we were booked at AWOL. Originally G was the main man at AWOL then when I joined the night and when Gary missed a few bookings I was asked to step up. Looking back at this time you have to laugh but we made sure we would stand at either side of the stage although deep down we both knew we still had a job to do, I don’t think if you listen to any recording from back then it’s noticeable. I remember one night after this had been going on for a while and we were both in a room together, getting up in each others faces then we looked at each other and said.. ‘Why do we hate each other again?’ And that was it, we couldn’t think of a reason and since then it’s been all good”
For me one of your most legendary sets was the Prophecy show on CIUT 89.5 with Shy FX and Skibadee. What can you tell me about it?
“This wasn’t planned at all, at the time I was with Kenny Ken in Canada as part of a tour. We knew that Shy and Skibadee were doing a show on the radio so made sure we tuned in, I think I lasted about 5 minutes before jumping in the car, driving down to the studio and jumping on the set with them. Simple as that!”
Download the set here
How do you remember so many lyrics?
“I’m always thinking of new lyrics, taking inspiration from everything, my surroundings, the raves, my children, anything goes really. I have a paper database, one of those old Filofax things, loads stored on my computer and of course my mobile.”
The lyric “put my pen to paper searching for a new technique” portrays life as a MC perfectly. At the top of your game was it hard to constantly develop your style?
“I wrote this at home when my kids were all running around the house, it was bar by bar just thinking about how I wanted to it to evolve. At the time I was also using an early version of Cubase to produce tracks on, so as well as constantly reworking my MC style I was also pushing myself with the beats. Like I was saying earlier, I just wanted to do me, not duplicate another man’s style.”
If you had to choose a favourite Fearless lyric from the 90’s what would it be and why?
“Definitely the Boom Boom Boom, Boom Selecta! one, hearing the crowd react time and time again is priceless”.
SAS, The Professionals, UNCZ – the list goes on with MC combos, did you ever ‘officially’ team up with another MC?
“Nothing really on an official level, although when Stevie Hyper D was with us I would work constantly with him all over the world.”
Many of the United Dance sets from the mid 90’s feature yourself and MC MC, this to me was a perfect combination of hosting and lyrics. Do you have any fond memories of working together?
“Man are you serious? I couldn’t stand the guy! This all goes back to when he had the thing with DJ Rap, me and her were tight and he couldn’t stand it so tried to warn me off. I wasn’t having that, it wasn’t his choice to say who could be friends with who so I took a stand and sooner or later he was removed from most of the line ups in and around London. It wasn’t until later on when Stevie got involved and suggested I should leave it that the whole thing died down”.
If you had to choose a dream team of rappers and MCs from any genre, who would it be?
“Without a doubt KRS1, Notorious B.I.G, Dynamite MC and Stevie Hyper D – that’s my dream team right there.”
United Dance at Stevenage is, in my mind, the home of MC Fearless. The events saw you MC over jungle, drum & bass and happy hardcore. Was their a time when you considered following the path of a hardcore MC. Or did you just enjoy the diversity of styles?
“I loved all styles of the music being played, when a DJ was playing happy hardcore I just saw that as a challenge to my style, I love being pushed and developing my style to the music being played. Sometimes I would even ask the DJ to play more happier stuff back in ‘94, the crowd would always be appreciative of the vibes it created.”
One Nation, one of the biggest players of the 90s in terms of D&B support… And certainly a big drawer for the junglists. Any memories?
“To me, One Nation was the event for pure Junglists, the crowd would go especially to not only hear Randall play a Randall set, Micky play a Micky set but also to hear the latest dubplates. When I say Randall play a Randall set, I mean the DJs seemed to also play that bit deeper at One Nation, perhaps it was because they always knew the crowd were so receptive to their unique style.”
Were you at any of the events with impersonators? The Queen, Ali G and Prince Harry lookalikes were all present over the years…
“YEAH! This was typical of Terry Turbo, he always wanted to give the best show, do something unique. Seeing the crowd looking up at the stage, you could see they were all trying to figure out if it actually was the real deal. The Ali G one especially, everyone thought it was the real guy!”
Your vocal talents were featured on many tunes in 90s with the likes of Phantasy, Ellis D and DJ Rap all getting you in the studio. How do these type of tracks come about?
“Usually it was a case of the producer having a beat, sometimes almost finished tune, they would call me and ask if I wanted to check it and add something in. We would always have ideas though you know, especially with the likes of Rap and Ellis D. I’m a firm believer though of having to feel the tune, if I don’t like the tune or it doesn’t have that certain vibe to it then I won’t touch it.”
Some DJs and MCs have been on our scene for 20 plus years. Where do you cross the line between enjoying your job and working hard to bring the scene to life to then trying to educate people about the past?
“I see drum & bass now as a passing trend for some, not to say this isn’t an important part of their lives but back when the crowd were growing up with a young scene it was literally a way of life in all respects possible for the promoters, the DJs, MCs and the crowd. I do enjoy what I do, it’s still a good scene, it’s just totally different from what it was.”
What’s the strangest booking you’ve ever had?
“It’s got to be a booking with Kenny Ken in the Australian Outback, we had finished our set and went outside to chill out and looked over a fence and saw loads of kangaroos – they all looked like they were dancing along with the music”.
And the perfect venue?
“It would have to be somewhere small and intimate, not much lighting, just a few lasers or something. DJs playing jungle, hip hop and rare groove with a crowd made up of the real heads.”
Is it true you brought your bride to a rave after your wedding?
“Yeah it’s true, after we got married I took my new wife to two events, the first being something in Cambridge followed by a night at Scala. I turned up at the rave, did my thing in my wedding suit, we also got pulled by the police on the motorway but after they saw my wife in her dress they let us on our way.”
What are your thoughts for the future?
“I want the noise to come back in the raves, the whistles, horns and crowd participation. The raves still get rammed but the response isn’t the same. The other side of this is production on the event promoters side, if you look back to the days of World Dance and Helter Skelter and see what kind of stage show they used to put on, it’s totally different now. Less DJs and MCs on the flyer and more money spent on production and giving the crowd a show to remember.”
Final shouts: Fearless would like to pay respect to Ruckus, Uniques, Skuff and Hustlin Beatz Hitsquad.