Drum'n'Bass has long since become a global phenomenon. A high level of international activity has raised the music to an entirely new level. Although today’s drum'n'bass draws on Detroit techno, Chicago house, hip-hop (born in New York) and reggae and ragga (with origins in Jamaica), Drum'n'Bass is British music. Its roots may be cosmopolitan, but its core was formed on England’s rave scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The United Kingdom was not only the birthplace of drum'n'bass: it also became one of the few styles successfully exported from the UK to the global electronic scene...
At the dawn of d'n'b, the people who created this music recorded their works onto various media and brought them to parties, where they played and exchanged them. This laid the foundation for the creation of various drum'n'bass communities. The music itself did everything else: its innate resilience, ultra-flexible sonic parameters and stubborn resistance to commercial pressure made it increasingly unyielding to the style’s opponents and increasingly beloved by connoisseurs around the world. As dance music approached the mainstream, d’n’b became the choice of those who preferred a heavier sound.
“I think that performances by British DJs abroad provided an impetus for the development of drum'n'bass culture in other countries,” says Gleb Solovyov of the Russian project Subwave. “Russia is no exception. Many British DJs have visited our country, and this definitely helped develop d’n’b here. The global scene is still centered around the UK, but the current situation shows that d’n’b talent exists outside Great Britain as well. It may be more than a single unified culture, but all the other styles are moving toward this and becoming closer. The main thing for all of us is to make quality music, and there will be noticeably fewer problems with promoting it.”
Subwave made a name for themselves in the UK with their debut release “Bad Ambition” on Tech Itch. The duo also remixed “Mercury Rising” by Technical Itch, and “Bad Ambition” was played on Radio 1.
Subwave are part of the growing army of global producers. The scene has already been shaken by the aggressive basslines of Concord Dawn and Bulletproof from New Zealand, the warm grooves of Greg Packer and Pendulum from Australia, the unconventional sound of B:Rok and Mathematics from the USA, tracks that became global hits from John Rolodex from Canada, Marky, Patife, Drumagick and XRS Land from Brazil, and Europeans such as D-Kay, Black Sun Empire, Rawthang, Random Soundz and others.
The emergence of a new wave of talent outside Britain was inevitable. The seeds sown by the leading figures of the UK scene took root, formed raging jungles and are ready to bear fruit in the form of sounds and rhythms. The d'n'b scene is now focused on gathering this harvest. The tracks we hear on dancefloors today have come to us from Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Austria and several dozen other countries around the world.
“Everything is becoming much easier because drum'n'bass has become more open,” says Matt Harvey (Concord Dawn). The duo has successfully collaborated with such non-British producers as Koldfront, Hive, Echo, Sinthetix, Mindgame, Rawfull, STA, Paul B, Sketchy and others. “Today, drum'n'bass culture is absorbing the influence of other styles, and there are people all over the world who have been making this music and involved in this culture for a long time. Practice promotes the improvement of skills and makes it possible to reach a high level.”
So, has the time finally come? In truth, non-British artists have been working on the d’n’b scene for quite some time; the Norwegian producer TeeBee is one example. However, the undeniable breakthrough at the end of the ’90s came from Brazilians Marky and Patife, who acted as a catalyst for the growing trend of the culture’s spread. The arrival of this pair, initially regarded as random passers-by, was received with great enthusiasm. This became the starting point for proving that drum'n'bass could also be made outside Great Britain, that it could be made well, and that the moods created by non-British producers perhaps could not have been conceived in England. Since then, a kind of exchange has taken shape: producers outside the UK gained access to the market, while a profitable scene, full of the exoticism pouring in, opened itself to new foreign talent.
“British labels cannot afford to ignore foreign artists,” says John Rolodex, who made a name for himself through Ray Keith and the label Dread. “The music is expanding its geography. Marky and Patife paved the way for foreign artists with their hits. It was only a matter of time. British labels became open to overseas artists. Great Britain is home to 90 percent of DJs, producers and labels, but good artists exist all over the world. We have an audience in Canada that we use to test our material. Good music is good music, and it doesn’t matter where it comes from. If you feel it, you feel it. Jungle is already a global phenomenon. People all over the world can listen to this music.”
This raises the question: is Britain’s former dominance of the drum'n'bass scene now under threat? Many foreign producers release on British labels, while British DJs still dominate the international scene, which means that the success of foreign producers depends on whether their release ends up in the record boxes of those very DJs. The simplest way to achieve this is to release a record on a reputable English label. “You will definitely receive more recognition if you are signed to one of the UK labels,” says Matt Harvey (Concord Dawn). “And it doesn’t matter whether your track is good if it was released on Timeless or Renegade Hardware, many DJs will get it, because these labels have high-level promotion and distribution networks. After we released “Morning Light” on Timeless, we received an enormous amount of attention, and now we have releases on nine British labels.”
The Denver duo D.Ecco & Sabotage received support in the UK from RAM Records, after which they signed tracks to Frequency (the label of Andy C and Red One), Ratio UK, Terraformat and Compound Records. “We believe that this year you will see the boundary between the British and American scenes disappear,” says Shawn Sabo (Sabotage). “We believe that an increasing number of American artists and producers from other countries will begin to earn respect for their music. New artists from around the world will have the opportunity to release their tracks. We also believe that drum'n'bass will become a more commercial phenomenon this year and next year; we believe this is good for the scene. With things like “Mo’ Fire” by Bad Company, the new album by Moving Fusion and others, new doors are opening and the market will be open to new talent.”
The American, or more precisely Brooklyn-based, project Mathematics (Roy Dank, Mike Genato, James Blueline) established its uniquely harmonious sound on the labels Frontline, Renegade, Defunked, Subtronix and Breakbeat Science. The Mathematics crew believe that the scene’s established diversity will allow new talent to move forward. “It has definitely become a little easier for people from outside London and Britain to break into the scene; this can be explained by the success of Marky, Patife and XRS, and by the fact that drum'n'bass has become more open than it was several years ago,” says Roy. “If you have great tracks—not only heavy and dark ones, but also melodic tracks with good vocals—then you will find your place in the culture, wherever you are. On the other hand, when you are in London, you have certain advantages, such as being able to communicate with DJs and hand them your music personally.”
Since 2000, drum'n'bass has been growing stronger. There are many reasons for this, such as the openness of UK labels, the increasing level of music production in other countries, the presence of drum'n'bass tracks in the charts, and the mass media’s attention to this music. Drum'n'bass is on the rise. The number of fans is growing, the music is developing and attracting critics’ attention, and musicians from the UK, Europe and the rest of the world are joining forces, exchanging experience, launching their own labels and releasing their tracks on labels run by producers from around the world. A great example is Estonians Stare and Phibbs, who released their work both on UK labels (DSCI4 and Blindside) and on the Canadian label Furious, the American Alloy, the German Protogen and the Finnish Mangofunk.
“I remember approximately five years ago,” says Stare, “London and the United Kingdom were a magical place for me, with unlimited possibilities for drum'n'bass. It is the home of the people who started it all, the home of the most cutting-edge labels and the best parties. I think it is good to have a center where different styles of drum'n'bass music converge from all over the world, but this will soon become a global phenomenon,” he pauses and adds, “In fact, it has already happened.”
Text: Paul Sullivan. Originally published by Knowledge Magazine (knowledgemag.co.uk). Russian translation and editing: Yegor; this English version is translated from that Russian translation.
