Serial Killaz live life at a similar pace as the music: fast. It comes through in the music and in the way they communicate. A case in point, their work behind the new elbow-throwing Welcome to the Jungle 3 compilation, about which we donned the insect repellent and dived into the undergrowth. With a totally random country music moment too if you note…
Hey SK, how’s this year been for you?
Tobie: Hectic! Our DJ schedule seems to be getting ever more busy, which ultimately takes away from our studio sessions, which is a shame, as it’s our favourite part of being a duo. But we’ve made up for that by signing artists to our label and putting a lot of time into them and their music.
It’s just as satisfying seeing new producers break through and doing well and knowing that you helped them on their road to success. We have such a great roster of artists now, and we are continually impressed with the quality of music that they send us, if anything we are just waiting for these guys to be even bigger than us…
Graham: Really busy! With DJing all over the globe and running the label we haven’t had the time in the studio we’d have liked but all the artists we’ve been bringing through are really coming on and the label has been going strength to strength.
Next year we hope to get more Serial Killaz tracks out there as well as pushing the label.
And what was a big standout memory of the circuit this year?
G: Got to be Boomtown this year with General Levy..
T: I agree, Boomtown is always the one. I mean, we are so lucky in that we get to play at so many great festivals over the summer and there has been a lot of wicked ones this year: Illusive, Glastonbury, all those parties were great but, yeah, Boomtown pulled out all the stops yet again this year, and it was an absolute spectacular show.
The production and back stage hospitality is second to none, they always go the extra mile and it’s an absolute honour to be asked to play there year after year.
And who is out there inspiring you on the live front?
A. Dolly Parton
T: I don’t think they mean that kind of “front” Gray…
Soooo can you explain how the concept of this album came about and who is on here?
G: Jungle Cakes have been putting together a few of these albums over the past few years and they approached us to see if we’d like to compile one. We jumped at the chance and have included a whole host of artists.
Like?
There’s far to many to mention but off the top of my head there is music from Benny Page, Voltage, Serum, Jam Thieves, Kitcha, Upgrade, Turno, Ed Solo & Deekline, Chopstick Dubplate, Aphrodite, Hybrid and, of course, ourselves, as well as vocals from the likes of Sizzla, General Levy, Ragga Twins, Y.T, Parly B, Daddy Freddy, Cheshire Cat to name just a few.
T: Like with all these projects, we tried to include the kind of tracks and artists we’re playing in our sets, as well as including people on our label as well as producers that are almost like affiliated crew members, so you are always gonna have people like Benny, Liondub, Upgrade Serum, Bladerunner, Jam Thieves and all those guys that Graham mentioned.
And hopefully, a few people that people might not have heard of, but who are making great music and have featured extensively in our sets over the past twelve months or so, that we think deserve the exposure.
What’s a tune or two you’d take us through on the comp…
G: It’s worth highlighting a few in there that have never been released and so are exclusive to the album, ‘Shotta Talk’ and ‘Gun Talk’ are both collabs from ourselves and Serum which have been on dub for a while now and also ‘Kill Tune Time’ which has never seen a release until now but has featured in our sets over the last year or so.
T: There are also quite a few VIP mixes in there from people like Turno, who kindly gave his ‘Badman Nah Beg Fren’ VIP’ for the album, as well as an unreleased track from Upgrade entitled ‘Mr Bossman’ which is a wicked ragga-jungle amen track and quite different from the stuff we have released from him on our label and there are two new tracks from Jam Thieves which are absolutely wicked.
As well as those there are un-released bits from Kitcha, Cain 1, Hybrid, Bladerunner, Inna Culture, and a whole host of other producers. We were actually very lucky that everyone was so willing to be involved and were more than happy to supply us with tunes, without them the album wouldn’t have been such a success. I think the final tracklist was amazing and very representative of what we play in our sets each weekend.
Anyone who knows you will also know that there’s loads of accomplices and names with which you’re affiliated, so who are some of the people you regularly tour with and go in with in the studio?
G: Over the years we’ve worked closely with Congo Natty and all the crew, we’ve worked along side Runtingz bringing them through, giving them studio lessons and playing at there regular club nights all over the UK.
At the moment we’re really pushing our label so we are working closely with a host of artists like Upgrade, Turno and Kitcha, we are also finalising a release from T>I who we think is another very talented producer and someone who we hope to work with very closely in the future.
And on the release front?
T: As well as those guys, we have new releases from Canada’s Cain 1: I think his new single will be the next release on the label early next year, Beast Mode who are a duo from the UK and France and there’s Salaryman, another French producer who has just had a wicked ragga-jungle ep released through us.
There’s War Machine who is an extremely talented producer from the UK who recently released his debut album through us, FLeCK who is a fantastic jungle producer from Greece who works very closely with Parly B, a wicked Reggae artist from the UK.
Then there’s Madd-Inc who hails from London and has already had two wicked releases on the label, 5 Guns which are a duo from Holland and who make all style of drum and bass and dubstep… and not forgetting Frisk who has been waiting very patiently for his debut release with us, which features a very, very well known Reggae MC which will see the light of day in the early part of 2016.
… and last but by no means least: DJ Hybrid who won not one, but TWO awards at the ‘We Love Jungle’ awards earlier this year, he will see his debut release for our label hitting the streets in the early part of 2016.
Who are some DJs that rep the SK sound either directly… or are simply birds of a feather?
A. Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to have a whole host of DJ support from the likes of DJ Hype, Andy C, Mickey Finn, Nicky Blackmarket, Bryan G, Jack Frost, Uncle Duggs, right through to radio DJs like Zane Lowe and Todla T.
T: We’d like to give a shout to all the Jungle producers and DJs who help push this style of music. Special dedications go to Rebel MC and all the Congo Natty Crew, Jacky & Aries and all the Chopstick Dubplate Crew, Benny Page, Marcus Visionary, Liondub, Serum, Bladerunner, Voltage, and everyone who makes, plays and supports jungle music.
