Jamie S23 gets together with General Levy, Bonnot, Tobie and Graham from Serial Killaz to talk about the latest album, production influences and the infamous ‘Jungle Council’.
Shy FX used a dubplate of ‘Incredible’ at the recent Red Bull Soundclash to devastating effect, how do you feel years on knowing that the tune can still do so much damage on the dancefloor?
Levy – “Yes it was amazing! This song has become a classic and to me it’s a great feeling, I feel Incredible! Rebel Sound – the amazing crew who won the clash featuring legends Shy FX, Sir David Rodigan, Chase and Status & Rage and other special guests played huge dubplates, special VIP versions & remixes and I’m really glad that ‘Incredible’ is still in the top choice of DJ’s and producers worldwide.”
Your career as an MC appears to have started way back in the 80’s as a reggae and dancehall MC, how did the switch to jungle music happen? What attracted you to the scene?
Levy – “I was in tune with the underground scene and it was the right moment to do it so it came naturally to me to go through differents but related cultures. I recorded ‘Incredible’ and the track was very well received by the public. It became the first jungle tune ever to go top 10 in the UK charts.”
Way back in 1994, MC 5-ive O called you out live on the mic at Roast over a Younghead set. Were you aware of his beef with you prior to the event? Was this all down to a missing jacket or related to the tune ‘Incredible’ and the drama surrounding it at the time?
Levy – “I was never aware of this thing, not before or even after.”
Way back in the early 90’s many of the big players in the jungle scene declared war on General Levy due to his comments relating to ‘running jungle’.
Tobie – “I remember this time very well actually, I especially remember the release of ‘Incredible’. I had first heard it months before though when Jumpin’Jack Frost played it on Kiss FM. There was a massive buzz about this tune as it was one of the first, that i remember anyway, Jungle tunes that used a live vocal, specially recorded for the track, rather than a sample.
I was working in a record shop at the time and I remember almost every customer was asking about this tune on the run up to it’s release. A lot of people forget the fact that tune had a massive buzz around it, it was getting played by everyone in the Jungle dances, it was a big tune!I also remember the Face article and the backlash it caused. I was actually surprised at all the fuss that followed. I remember the drum & bass scene at the time being very tight-knit and very enclosed due to producers being ripped off by big record companies and the fact that no-one really gave any of the drum & bass artists a look-in until they realised they could make a lot of money off them.
Everyone seemed quite paranoid and very on their guard, which was totally understandable as there was a lot of artists being fucked over, people that had spent the past few years striving to push this music through, when nobody really wanted to give it a look in, then all of a sudden, *boom*, it was everywhere; on mainstream radio, television programmes, adverts and magazines – everyone wanted a piece of it.
The problem was, like with the reggae scene, and hip hop scene before it, the people that had worked so hard to sculpt and forge the scene still weren’t getting their props, they weren’t the people that were being asked their opinions or being interviewed and so when someone like Levy, who being a reggae artist at the time was seen as an ‘outsider’, is asked to give an interview and the drum & bass community are going to go through it with a fine toothed comb. Unfortunately they didn’t have to, as the Face picked up on what were probably just a couple of throwaway comments and almost used that as the whole basis of the article, and predictably it caused uproar within the scene. Personally, I saw what Levy said in that interview as just typical Reggae artist bravado. I had grown up on the Ragga and Dancehall scene and it was not un-common for Reggae artists to reguarly state that they were ‘the best’ or whatever, both on stage and in interviews. It was standard to hear reggae artists, such as Ninja Man for example, to state that they were ‘The don gorgan’ or that no-one could ‘test’ them and I genuinely just saw it as Levy doing his thing, and I didn’t ever see it as him trying to take anything away from the drum & bass artists and producers of the time.We all know that journalists and magazines will edit things to make them seem more sensationalist and the fact that they honed in on this one quote certainly didn’t help things. I thought it was a bit un-fair and that Levy was kind of being used as an example, especially as a lot of jungle artists had used Levy’s vocals without permission in their tracks years before.
It must have been very hard for him, and it couldn’t have been a nice time for him. Im just glad, as im sure he is, that it is all over now. That was a long time ago, Levy has paid his dues, time to move on.”
Were you aware of the ‘Jungle Council’, apparently set up by a selection of the founders of the scene? Did you come into any direct confrontation with any members?
Levy – “Yes I’ve heard about it a few years ago but I have never had any direct confrontation over it.”
When ‘Incredible’ blew up it was known in most households across the UK and further afield. Did you expect this considering jungle at the time was very much underground music?
Levy – “I never expected it like that, it’ was a surprise in a positive way of course. It was a blessing to reach a crossover audience. It’s also great to know the song is still so famous worldwide.”
If you could name your top 3 jungle tunes from the 90’s what would they be and why?
Levy – “Of course, it’s a pleasure! Let me see, for sure…”
“I loved those cool basslines, fresh ideas and the tunes concepts. All three of them are classics and have always blow up in the dance.”
1Xtra Live featuring a #sixtyminuteslive session recently including a whole host of names from So Solid, PAYG, Heartless Crew and yourself. How did this massive collaboration happen? Can you explain the atmosphere in the studio?
Levy – “I was invited by MistaJam, we are all friends. It’s like a reunion in public, it was bless – 3 generation of music in one room, from jungle to garage to grime and reggae. We created a historical moment for sure! Hopefully this can help inspire the next generation.”
Tell us about the Forward album, some big link ups with the likes of Serial Killaz and Ed Solo. What was your inspiration behind the album?
Bonnot – “This year is a special one for General: 2014, exactly 20 years after ‘Incredible’ so this album is a true celebration. This one was the main inspiration although in the last 4 years we played a lot together, we did lot of shows and made many hits, so we felt that it was the right moment to fix this collaboration in a full LP.”
‘Success’ featuring General Levy and Bonnot is one of the albums gems and really maintains that Serial Killaz footprint. How did the collaboration come around? Have you produced anything else alongside either artist and do you have any future collaborations pending?
Graham – “We had met and played for Bonnot out in Italy a few times and he is a big fan of our work so he approached us and asked if we would get involved in Levy’s new album project. We are both big fans of General’s work and already had another project on the go with him along side Madd-Ice for our own label called ‘Professional Ganja Smoker’. (Which we just received final copies of in the post and is looking lovely with full artwork!). So we jumped at the chance to get another great project on the go. We’ve been chatting with Bonnot about doing some future works with various artists and we have also been approached by a French crew who are doing a new project with Levy so it sounds like there will be plenty more collaborations between the pair of us in the future.”
Serial Killaz have played a massive part in the development of jungle music for many years, what drives your passion for this style of music and how have you maintained such high focus?
Graham – “That’s a big compliment for us really as it’s hard to see the impact you have when you’re on the inside. We were both young ravers who fell in love with the whole Jungle sound when it came about. We didn’t know each other back then but when we met in 2004 we reminisced about that whole sound.
Tobie had already worked in the studio with great engineers from back in the day like Ellis D, Tango and the Back 2 Basics guys and when we linked we made a conscious decision to make more of the original style of DnB that got us into it in the first place. At the time the likes of Shy FX, Benny Page and Marcus Visionary were really pushing that style again and we timed it very well to do our first remix, which was Congo Natty and Peter Bouncer’s ‘Junglist’, just as the whole Jungle sound was making a big come back.
As for maintaining a high focus, I would say that is down to doing something you love. Life can be hard with lots of distractions but it has always been the love for the music that has kept our feet on the ground and given us the motivation to get up and keep going. Not such an easy task when you don’t have a strong passion for what you do.”
Tobie – “Yeah, we had both been involved in the Jungle scene from way back in the beginning. I was raving at all the usual clubs and events; AWOL, Voodoo Magic, Roast, Fever etc and was also working in various record shops in and around the London area. It was around 1995 that i was asked by Phil to manage the prestigious Record Basement in Reading, after a few years of doing that, i brought my best friend and music partner at the time (Mark C from Cause 4 Concern) and went onto to more in the distribution side of things. In mid 2000 Phil was already starting a new company, and he asked me to get involved at a very early stage, doing A&R and label management and as i was unemployed at the time I jumped at the chance.
Things were hard in the beginning, as we didn’t have many labels, but around 2003 I noticed that there was a small, but definite, influx of tracks that were sampling reggae and dub tunes. It wasn’t jungle as we used to know it, it was a kind of new wave of jungle. As Graham said, it was artists like Shy, Chase & Status, Benny, Marcus, Alex Perez, Calibre, all those guys, they were all making this new jungle sound. And while we didn’t have many of the bigger, more established labels at Nu Urban, we did have a long history and good friendships with a lot of the old jungle guys. So I made a concious effort to push Nu Urban in that direction and started contacting some of the bigger, foundation jungle artists and asked them if they were aware of this new wave of jungle coming through.
We got people like Rebel MC, Knowledge & Wisdom, Krome & Time, to all move their labels, or to resurrect them (as a lot of the artists weren’t even aware that jungle was making a come back) with Nu Urban.
I also got in contact with the newer group of jungle producers who were all pushing that reggae sound; Benny, Marcus, Heretic, Marvellous Cain, Jacky Murda and Aries and we kind of become this new Jungle distributor, almost over night.
So when I met Graham, around 2004, we both had a massive passion for jungle both from our old raving days and also from this brand new scene that was kicking off. I wanted to start producing again and was looking for a like minded studio partner, and Graham was the perfect candidate and I would like to think that that passion for jungle and reggae comes through in our music. And as Graham said, when you have such a strong passion for something it’s easier to maintain a high level of focus which, again, i hope comes through in our music.”
Producing jungle using modern technology must be difficult sometimes, especially when attempting to reproduce some of the earlier basslines. Do you use both analogue and digital technology when making music? What’s the biggest challenge for a producer making jungle?
Bonnot – “Yes I definitely use both kind of gear from the analogue and digital world. It’s hard to say only “one biggest challenge” as for someone its all about the bass, someone else is focused mainly on the breaks’ freshness and quality. We cannot ignore the importance of the mood and inspiration created by the choice of samples. Personally I love to follow all of these aspects.”
When writing lyrics how do you get in the right frame of mind? What’s your ideal environment to ‘get in the zone’?
Levy – “There are many differents things which can make me inspired. We keep socially aware of what’s going on in the world and we keep in touch with the underground scene, the real people and the real feelings. These things get me inspired and focused on the true vibes, the good contents of my lyrics.”
Talking of lyrics, the phrase “original General Levy alongside..” seems to have become a trademark when featuring on various tracks. Would you say this was something of a necessity even today or is this used in relevance to ‘Incredible’
Levy – “It’s a classic, I love to stay original, to keep it old school. To me it’s like natural, it means that I don’t change my real and positive attitude…To me it’s a fundamental point.”
What’s the best sound system you have performed on and which clash is his most memorable?
Levy – “I say the Rototom Sunsplash, the Summerjam Festival and the London Notting Hill Carnival. The most memorable clash to me is the Red Bull Soundclash.
