Things to do:
(1) Promote a split from 'drum n bass', which is doomed to shitness for ever more.
The evidence of this doom? The majority of the former leaders and true explorers have become 'embedded' in the d+b industry, and are now comitted to issuing dumbed-down lame-assed excuses for pieces of music in the apparent belief that they represent 'progress' for this scene. Clearly bollocks when you pause to consider what this scene was doing many years ago, but as the d+b scenetroopers are fond of reminding us: how can you argue with what the kids want? Y'know, ten million 'Dilly' fans can't be wrong, no?
They're all saying it - check any interviews: the d+b industry wants in on the charts, wants in on advertising etc. etc. etc. TeeBee talks about how the important thing is to make as much money as possible, while Fabio sees hip hop/rnb's commercialisation as THE route to follow. And all the while, Goldie brings his talent to bear on representing the latest in Burtons Menswear...
Thus, there is NO turning back. Drum n Bass as we know it will NEVER EVER be reinspired to turn the clock back, or to take risks again. It's cash now, all the way - first and foremost for those that control the genre. And as we know, that means dumbed-down LCD muzak for kids doing their first amphemtamines.
Thus, a split is called for. Let them keep their Happy Hardcore 2003. The music we appreciate has no place there, and vice versa.
(2) Promote what we do as a distinct entity. WE know what unites us - more so even than opposition to the shitness of d+b - we are heads with a love for music and with open ears and minds. Not only can we handle change/variety in music - we relish it! Bring it ON! We WANT to be surprised, we WANT to be pushed that bit further. AND that for me is more about a ATTITUDE to this music, than about how many beats there are in the bar, or about whether subs are better than midrange or whateverthefuck... I cna handle 2-step beats, vocals, nasty noises, Amens, comedy shit next to deadly serious - anyfuckingthing!!! ... once I know that the script is gonna be flipped, that change is the only constant, that the attitude is like-minded...
And that attititude is what we have in common. A STYLE of making the music and a style of playing it out, which I am inclined to call JUNGLE STYLE... cutting up the beats, changing the tempo, mixing live instrumentation with DJing, in other words: giving people some of what they want in order to further defy their expectations......... in the proper tradition of a real funk or a real hip hop DJ mixing art and partying - with surprise as a key element rather than as the enemy...
(3) Maybe all scenes have a shelf-life but the way I see it, this one is only beginning. And we need a scene for ourselves - that sense of community, that network of media, to fall back on. Not the deaf ears of tired cynical unappreciative industry hacks who baulk at every step of the way, but of people who know that drum n bass is just another form of MUSIC, albeit a very adaptable and exciting one when approached with the right attitude. And when delivered with the right style... We need to stop banging on the door of something that, in reality, no longer means anything to us other than as a hint of what might have been. And that means we have to build this ourselves and gather those to us who understand what our style is all about, and who want to share in it.
(1) Promote a split from 'drum n bass', which is doomed to shitness for ever more.
The evidence of this doom? The majority of the former leaders and true explorers have become 'embedded' in the d+b industry, and are now comitted to issuing dumbed-down lame-assed excuses for pieces of music in the apparent belief that they represent 'progress' for this scene. Clearly bollocks when you pause to consider what this scene was doing many years ago, but as the d+b scenetroopers are fond of reminding us: how can you argue with what the kids want? Y'know, ten million 'Dilly' fans can't be wrong, no?
They're all saying it - check any interviews: the d+b industry wants in on the charts, wants in on advertising etc. etc. etc. TeeBee talks about how the important thing is to make as much money as possible, while Fabio sees hip hop/rnb's commercialisation as THE route to follow. And all the while, Goldie brings his talent to bear on representing the latest in Burtons Menswear...
Thus, there is NO turning back. Drum n Bass as we know it will NEVER EVER be reinspired to turn the clock back, or to take risks again. It's cash now, all the way - first and foremost for those that control the genre. And as we know, that means dumbed-down LCD muzak for kids doing their first amphemtamines.
Thus, a split is called for. Let them keep their Happy Hardcore 2003. The music we appreciate has no place there, and vice versa.
(2) Promote what we do as a distinct entity. WE know what unites us - more so even than opposition to the shitness of d+b - we are heads with a love for music and with open ears and minds. Not only can we handle change/variety in music - we relish it! Bring it ON! We WANT to be surprised, we WANT to be pushed that bit further. AND that for me is more about a ATTITUDE to this music, than about how many beats there are in the bar, or about whether subs are better than midrange or whateverthefuck... I cna handle 2-step beats, vocals, nasty noises, Amens, comedy shit next to deadly serious - anyfuckingthing!!! ... once I know that the script is gonna be flipped, that change is the only constant, that the attitude is like-minded...
And that attititude is what we have in common. A STYLE of making the music and a style of playing it out, which I am inclined to call JUNGLE STYLE... cutting up the beats, changing the tempo, mixing live instrumentation with DJing, in other words: giving people some of what they want in order to further defy their expectations......... in the proper tradition of a real funk or a real hip hop DJ mixing art and partying - with surprise as a key element rather than as the enemy...
(3) Maybe all scenes have a shelf-life but the way I see it, this one is only beginning. And we need a scene for ourselves - that sense of community, that network of media, to fall back on. Not the deaf ears of tired cynical unappreciative industry hacks who baulk at every step of the way, but of people who know that drum n bass is just another form of MUSIC, albeit a very adaptable and exciting one when approached with the right attitude. And when delivered with the right style... We need to stop banging on the door of something that, in reality, no longer means anything to us other than as a hint of what might have been. And that means we have to build this ourselves and gather those to us who understand what our style is all about, and who want to share in it.
