Stepping in the JungleTechno hot seat is the 2003/4 Award winning MC FEARLESS.

As part of my 25th birthday visit to London, not only did I conduct an interview with MAD P of Topbuzz fame, but also caught up with award winning MC of 2003 and 2004 MC Fearless. I met up with Fearless in north London driving through rush hour traffic , whizzing through traffic whilst listen to a tape of his set from Ruud Awakening, before stopping off somewhere to eat and conduct the interview.

Whilst we were driving around London we reminisced about past event's such as the Innovation weeeknder parties and other past events, also catchinh up with what's been recently happning in the scene.

1. Where does your name 'Fearless' originate ?

From when I was yout. I was a mad adolescent, always the first to do dares,always the first.

2. You’ve been part of the scene since its beginning, one of the original soldiers. How has the scene changed for you in the past decade and what have been your favourite years?

The scene has changed a lot. Music... Characters.. The ways things are run and done. I’d say my best years are from 94 to 97.

3. What was it that caused you to pick up the mic? Who have been your inspirations, in and out of the scene?

The original guys I was with were the Brainkillers, they got me to pick up the mic, originally I was shy, I was good but I was shy. My inspirations were Hip-hop and Reggae that’s were I’m originally from.

4. Not only do you MC,but you also DJ. Did you learn to DJ first, or did that come after the MCin ?

I DJ’ed before I MC’ed, but in life you got take the road that’s in front of you. I could have pursued the DJ thing, but the MC thing would have got slept on. So,coz the MC thing came first I persued it, and now I’m at a position were I got this locked and can now utilise the DJ thing.

2nd time felt good because I actually trained for it. First time you knew what you were going there for. It came to about 6th place and thought why haven’t they mentioned my name yet? It got down to number 3, I thought nah I aint in this, when they said number 1 I was like whoa I won this!

It still wasn’t in my heart, Big up everyone for voting for me, but I didn’t think I actually prepared for it. When I actually got it that year I’m gonna do this for myself I gave that one to my mom, next ones mine. I went in, new crowd, hype, styles, kicks, and flow. I don’t think I’ll get it this year though think it’ll go to IC (IC3) It better go to IC!

6. You worked with the late great Stevie Hyper D.How did his death affect yourself and the scene in general back in 98?

Well, we were basically partners. We were on the same agency from day dot, we went all around the world together, shared secrets. We were friends, but when he actually died me and Kenny(ken) was in Denver, Colorado. We got the phone call, GQ phoned. GQ was actually the last person with him. It really did affect me badly seeing his mom, the funeral everything we had to get prepared for the funeral. It really did hit me hard.

Even now, there don’t go day go by where he doesn’t pop in my head. You hear something or even something not to do with him. It’s related in something we done or something we joked about or i see someone i know spent time with him. He’s there constantly in my mind, in the big rave in the sky! He’s giving me my blessing, know he had something to do with me winning them awards!

7. What’s going through your mind when your up there on the stage, MC'in hyping up the crowd especially hearing the crowd recite your lyrics back to you?

There is nothing better than that in the whole world! You see that sort of shit on telly, you watch that brit pop awards with thousands if people on stage with them singing. We got that, I got that. It took me a while to realise that these people are eating out of the palm of your hand. It’s what you give them that determines how they react to you. I love it! Big up the ravers, that my people man!

8. You’ve MC’ed at small venues, and of course huge events such as Helter Skelter Energy ’97, Global Gathering, Innovation Weekender, WEMF etc.. What has been your favourite booking to date?

There’s been a couple, off top of my head now, gotta be one of the Barcelona Weekenders, maybe not the last, but definitely the first (2004). The first one was heeeeeeeavy, it was the guinea pig, no-one didn’t know what to expect it was the nuts I had so much fun there!

9. How much are looking forward to next years weekender in Amsterdam?

Yeah I am, me and Mickey we’ve got a history. We’ve been working since 89-90 together when we was part of the AWOL squad, we used to do that. The guy who used to own AWOL and World Dance had clubs in Amsterdam so we used to do AWOL in Amsterdam and Hellraiser parties. There would be 15 of us, all AWOL booked out there in a hotel there having it large. We’ll go to the venue and everyone was buzzing, anyway, so yeah, you aint going nowhere else, we were there for a couple of days.
So yeah Amsterdam is gonna be wicked!

10. Having played on Pirates such as Weekend Rush in the early days, right up to Kool FM now...What influence in your opinion, does the new wave of Internet stations have over the dnb scene?

Nothing, only that the internet is worldwide and the other ones are straight up in the ghetto. Now the good thing is with the internet, is that there getting the ghetto sound worldwide nobody can put tabs on that and say we gotta play this or play that. Middle finger Up! Now we play what were doing, what have been doing for ages, on a WorldWide set.
That’s helping us, the internet has really pushed Drum and Bass forward.

11. You are the CEO of Hustlin’ Beats, how did you get involved with Hustlin’ Beats especially with them based in overseas in Canada?

Because, in this scene, every artist has a got their place of choice. Like mine is Canada Skibadee probably could be the States, IC could be Germany someone else’s could be Japan or Australia. Just someone were you go regular, somewhere you build friendships. In Canada I played for Ruckus as a favour for my boy Robbie, this guy Ruckus my partner then, he was making big waves in a small pond.

The first rave he actually booked me for, I was headlining the Drum and Bass room and in the hip hop room was ICE-T and Evil E. We met so I thought I’m thinking ’yeah yeah he got me rubbing shoulders with Ice-T and Evil E’. I sat in the hotel room and got ICE-T knocking on my hotel room getting me to go to strip club.

From then we sat down, and I played for Ryan a couple of times. That was the next thing, to everybody out there I’m cool with but didn’t click with but you I have clicked with them. On the same wavelength, we’re talking bout parties. How about a label? Just after that ideas just came about. We did it, and it worked Hustlin’ beats UK and Hustlin’ Beats Canada.

12. What did it feel like to MC at the Sanctuary for the final time (July 2004) after having MC’ed there for so many years?
Have you any fond memories of the Sanctuary, if so what have they been?

So many, I had a lump in my throat, I really did. I thought someone was gonna come and save us and say nah this aint happening. You can’t mess with Wimbledon Football club that’s like major, but we had to go out with a major bang! You can see it in the crowd peoples eyes were fillings up. Its like guys have met there girls there, girls have met there guys there, friendships have been built up.

That place was a Mecca, a lot of people from Birmingham, North, South, it was like a medium. In the middle, no-one didn’t have to travel all the way to London. That was the shit! Now that’s gone there hasn’t been another place, they had that other place in Milton Keynes ( The Empire). It wasn’t the same, nobody could get that buzz back and everyone is using SE One.
No disrespect to the club, it aint no Sanctuary man, it’s going to be a while till we get another. The Sanctuary goes down like the AWOL episode with the Paradise club. When AWOL moved from the Paradise to the Ministry, it was like rubbish. AWOL was Paradise. So when it comes to Drum and Bass, people come from all over the world they remember the Sanctuary. Everybody felt comfortable there.

13. My first experience of hearing MC Fearless was when you were MC'in for Andy C at Helter Skelter Millennium jam and what a memorable set that was! You and Andy work well together, what other DJ’s do you enjoy MC'in for?

It depends what mood I’m in. Now I’m at the stage in the game like 16 years deep, you learn to adapt. You know what the DJ plays, what style, how he’s gonna mix up. Now I stand, and I watch them DJ’s gonna play tunes I wanna hear, tunes I haven’t heard before.

Recently I’ve been doing some cracking sets with Swift. He hasn’t been so manic, before he’ll be crazy with top ten. I think Swift is finding himself, and there are a lot of mellow bits, more abstract and I can work with that. I know when he’s gonna go in, when he’s not going to go in, when he’s gonna pick it up, and when he’s gonna slide it down. It’s not so much more lyric, it’s more of a party set.

There’s Andy, Bryan Gee, Friction. Friction phoned me up before Hysteria he’s like ‘I need you on my set !?!’ Me and Friction do good sets, and Zinc. I do wicked sets with Zinc. It’s got to the stage now when they're at certain raves, and they’ll ask the promoter for me, that’s like big up, Bare Love. The promoters ask me who I do sets with and they are the top names I’ll come out with.

14. Your chats are very entertaining what inspires you to write your lyrics?

Seeing the ravers turning up at raves. It could be anything, you get that buzz on anything. Just for instance you’re seeing a couple of ravers having a laugh or doing something, or something they do might just put a word in your head and i just started elaborating on it. You start making things off on that and you get home and start typing away. You’re like, 'I’ve been in that situation before’, then it becomes a fun thing and everyone can relate to it.It becomes a fun thing. Party fun!

15. Apart from Drum and Bass what other styles of music do enjoy listening to and how do you chill out after a hard weekend of MC'in?

After a hard weekend I’ll get in the car for the drive home an put on some Hip-Hop, or Rare Groove, something different. That’s me, Rare groove, hip-hop, reggae, that’s what you’ll find in my car apart from Drum and Bass.
Get home, phat draw, feet up, DVD’s, me and the misses or go and pick up my kids. I love my kids, I have to have my kid’s around me, I’m sick if I don’t, I’ve always been there for my kids. I can’t tick if they're not around, they're at that age when they need that male role model.

16. What advice would you give to any of the up and coming MC's trying to break through into the scene?

It’s gonna be a hard road. You’re gonna be pulling out all your hair. Blood.. Sweat and Tears. If you got the heart, stick with it, don’t let anybody tell you no different. You’re the Shit ! Don’t follow what these other boys are doing, coz your gonna get stepped on, somebody’s already doing that. There’s not room for two Skibbadee’s, two Shabba’s or two Fearless'es, so the only way you’re gonna come in, is to have something Different. If you think you’re the shit, Stick with it!

17. What career path do you think you would of taken had you had not become an MC?

I would have been a Burglar!!!

I was good at creepin’ man, fo’ real ! I’m little, I can get in places. Probably I’d stick with the jewellery thing. I was doing the jewellery thing, doing the bad side too. But yeah I was a good burglar, it was a career move and it wasn’t a good one but I would have been.

I’m used to a certain life style and I’ve always been that way, it’s by any means necessary. It was a good thing I got into MC'in, because I was doing that when I was doing the jewellery and with the jewellery it was good money and the MC'in is good money. In between that I was selling that and running that and out of peoples houses!!

If I was 9-5in it, and someone telling me that you’re a dickhead, go do this, do that for £2 an hour it wouldn’t happen. I would have been ‘Fuck you’ and be climbing in and out of peoples houses robbing their shit.

I think I’ll let the ravers know that about me. Everyone went through that shit, finding your feet, but I was good at it. If this was to crash I still know I got a job in burglary!

KFC or MacDonald’s?

It depends I like hot wings but I also like fillet-o-fish, I have a fillet-o- fish every single day, wont have burger with that.

Top ten tunes in any order

I don’t know many names of them, though top 6 of them tunes will be Hazzard. Most of the tunes I’m hearing I’m like ‘oh my god who’s that by?’ and it’s Hazzard!
You can tell that gritty dirty ghetto 4 to the floor bad boy sound, Hazzard’s got that sound to a tee he’s the man!

Take me up ‘Omni trio - Renegade Snares’ the original that blew me away, like your first buzz it felt like that the woman was right there singing to you!

To my Kids to my Mom, Pops, the whole family Brothers Sisters, Ruckus, Hustlin’ Beat clan keeping it real, Lauren, Hannah, Aaron and to my misses Eden hopefully we’ll be getting married soon! (I’m too old for this shit man!)

Everyone that knows me, if I forgotten anyone, no disrespect, your in my heart that’s why I’m here!

Biggin’ up all massive at JungleTechno.co.uk raaaaaaaaah the place to be!