'All Crews'
Journeys Through Jungle
& Drum and Bass Culture'.
Brian Belle-Fortune's
spectacular personnel journey through Jungle, Drum and
Bass.
'All crews' is the sequel to Brian's first best
selling book 'All Muss Big Up' giving readers an insight
into the evolving scene from its humble beginnings, from
the mid-eighties right through to 2004. This second novel
features interviews with many of the high profile artists
in the Drum and Bass scene giving a unique insight into
the ongoing events in the underground world.
'All
Crews' takes us back to the hedonistic summer of Sept'88
when Brian attended his first outdoor illegal rave. Like
so many other people back then, hearing about these raves
was either through word of mouth or on your local pirate
radio station. Then off you go to buy a ticket from some
guy in the back of a shop. You never knew its location
until the very last minute, it was during these times
Brians life was changed.
The site of the raves was
never disclosed right up until the last minute, for
obvious reasons, which resulted in Brian following a
convoy of like-minded spirits along the M1 to destination
Paradise!
There are many opinions as to how, and,
where Jungle began. Some say the 'Shut Up & Dance' vibe in
Hackney, East London. Others say a producer by the name of
Lennie De-Ice created it with one of the first ever Jungle
tunes entitled 'We Are 'I.E'. In order to give a more
overall perspective, Brian interviews many artists to find
out their views as to how the scene started. Starting from
its early roots in the acid house era, evolving thru into
Hardcore, Break-Beat and of course Jungle. We even
discover that International DJ Andy-C went to his first
rave at just 13! Magic!
We all need beats to dance
to, and who makes these beats? Producers. Brian interviews
some of the leading producers in '97 from DJ Hype, along
with others. He somehow manages to interview Shy FX at his
mother's house. We learn that Shy FX was a talented child,
but it was actually his mother who could see the potential
within him at a young age and wasn't she right!
Pirate radio has always been a major influence within the
scene right from the early days. It's a medium for not
only promoters, but producers, so the listener becomes
aware of forthcoming tunes and events. Eastman's Kool-FM
pirate radio station was a launch pad for many of today's
Drum and Bass DJ's and MC's, Brockie, Wildchild, Skibadee,
Mampi Swift, Ron, Det just to name a few.
Pirate
stations always had the DTI looking on, we learn about
some of the station raids with Brian having a stint with a
few radio stations in London, in the company of Ruud and
also Ruud Awakening going under the name of Zy-on. We
discover about how the radio stations are set up from the
technician, station security, right up to the DJ's.
Learning how DJ's would have to soldier on due to other
DJ's running late or not even turning up, some stations
even had a bed within the studio!
After Brian had
graduated from Sussex University in 1994, he was heavily
involved in BBC Radio One's 'One In The Jungle' show. With
Radio One in a bit of state at the time they tried to do
something different, trying to capture a whole new
audience, consequently in come: Shy FX, Goldie, Navigator,
Brockie, Kenny Ken, GQ, Moose, A Guy Called Gerald, Rap,
Det Roni Size and Dynamite. The show was a real roller
coaster ride with Brian's enthusiasm for Jungle and drum
and bass, trying to raise its profile and awareness to a
national level.
With the sets being pre recorded
each of the DJ's chose which MC's that they would work
alongside with. Brian includes some great stories about
them, including Kenny Ken having to bring down his own
mixer and decks, along with the infamous incident
involving DJ Rap and Moose's show.
Out of the
studios of Radio One we travel towards Soho, London as we
visit Blackmarket records. This was one of the scene's
influential record shops, dating back to '92. The Drum and
Bass section was run by Nicky Blackmarket alongside the
dark soldier Ray Keith. Brian talks to Nicky discovering
how he and Ray Keith were able to set-up the Drum and Bass
section of Blackmarket.
Raving for some people is
their life, people work through their jobs within the week
to scrape enough money to get out and party each and every
weekend. A place to lose themselves through escapism,
that's what really kept the scene ticking. Ravers coming
from all walks of life black, white, yellow, brown, old
and the young along with the rich and poor, all joining
together to make up the Drum and Bass scene.
Ravers
would attend certain clubs religiously such as AWOL at the
Paradise club or Grooverider's and Fabio's Rage, to name a
few. Brian talks to many ravers about their own
experiences, he talks to one raver in particular who
twisted her diaphragm and was so desperate to go back out
raving she laid flat out on the floor listening to Jungle
tapes solid. Now that's hardcore!!!
Behind the
raves are the promoters these are the guys who put on the
parties, from booking the DJ's, arranging the venue right
through to sorting out the security team on the door. We
find out quite a lot of what's involved from behind the
scenes of Telepathy and World Dance. He interviews each of
the promoters as they reminisce how they got into the
scene and why they decided to put on their own parties.
DJ's and MC's are very influential within the scene as
many of us have a desire to become either a DJ or MC.
Brian talks to Skibadee, Hype, also Kemistry and Storm.
Even Brian himself had stint at DJin' as he DJ'ed at the
'Reclaim the Streets' demo in London.
We fastrack
to 2004 as Brian took a stint out of raving and returned
to form the second half of the book, to find how the scene
had development since he left.
The Internet has been a
big change in the scene with forums such as DOA (Dog's On
Acid) along with DNBA (Drum and Bass Arena) both running,
were people can chat to each other and discuss the scene
from home and abroad. The DJ's and Producers themselves
use the Internet even having live chats with punters.
The way Jungle Drum and Bass is produced today has
drastically changed over the years. Brian talks to some of
today's leading producers such as BCUK, Hospital's High
Contrast and Formation's SS. He visits SHY FX's new
studio, which is a complete contrast from back in 97. As
today it consists of a MACG5 running on software and some
sleek monitor speakers.
Radio has changed with
technology, though the BBC continue to play Drum and Bass
with the successful Fabio and Grooverider show which has
been on air for 6years, to the introduction of digital
radio spawning 1Xtra with DJ's Bailey, Flight and L Double
flying the Jungle Drum and Bass flag high. Brian was
invited to attend one of Bailey's show whilst live on the
air.
The technology revolution has also affected
the way we shop especially Blackmarket Records. With
competitors selling online, at cheaper prices e.g. Red eye
records has a large customer base outside of the UK. The
independent record stores have started to suffer. With the
way the medium is distributed as well with vinyl not being
the only format the way the tune is distributed now with
the digital revolution of MP3.
2004 saw the first
Drum and Bass weekender in Spain which Brian had the
opportunity to attend. Witnessing how big the scene is
with ravers travelling from all over the world, with Drum
and Bass uniting them together for the weekend. Drum and
Bass its self has exploded not only in the UK but also
abroad with DJ's and MC's such as Andy C, IC3 playing in
Eastern Europe. Places such as Russia a former communist
country, now loving their freedom, a newfound sound.
Overall as you can tell this book is mind blowing and
explains the underground Drum and Bass scene inside out.
Talking not only to the Ravers themselves but also to
leading DJ's, producers, MC's etc, there are plenty of
interviews with the people involved in industry and some
good stories too.
The way in which Brian has
written the book you feel that you are with him every step
of the way, with him travelling year by year as the scene
evolves. It is a must buy for any Jungle Drum and Bass fan
or anyone wanting to get into the scene and understand its
cultural past.
The one thing I would say the book
lacks is mainly concentrates on London. With people like
the V crew based in Bristol making a huge impact on the
scene, who can forget the Midlands with events like Quest
hey I'm biased!
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