Born in London, Danny Williamson (Bukem’s real name) grew up under his parents’ strict supervision. “My parents were true lovers of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. I listened to music in all styles, and the seventies are my favourite musical period,” he says. Bukem got his nickname from a television series called “Hawaii Five-O,” whose key phrase was “book ’em, Danno.” As a child, Danny studied the trumpet, piano and drums. Gradually, the range of music he listened to began to expand. After school, at the age of 16, Danny began playing his records, and by the end of the 1980s he was a fairly good DJ. Inspired by the work of people such as Tim Westwood and Gilles Peterson, Bukem founded the Sunshine Sound System, where he played hip-hop and electro.
In 1990, Bukem recorded his first track, “Logical Progression”. “That track was born spontaneously. You know, you find a kick drum, add some sounds and then put it all together. The thing is, I never tried to write a composition that would change human consciousness or anything like that. People often say that I did do that, but, to be honest, I don’t agree with them. Thinking about our name now, I think there really was a logical progression in many directions.”
Bukem was very concerned that he could not personally control the release of his music. In 1991, he decided to found his own label, which he called Good Looking Records. Early Good Looking tracks such as “Demons Theme”, “Atlantis” and “Music” were more soulful and melodic than the hardcore that was at the height of its popularity at the time. “It seems a little strange to me when everyone calls “Music” and “Horizons” THINGS that changed their lives. For me, tracks such as “Atlantis”, “Demons Theme” and all the others I wrote in the early period of my work also changed my life. It seems strange to me that people usually choose only those two. Why not pay attention to all these things? In saying this, I don’t want to single out any composition, because they were all different and deserve attention. I still feel the same way about my music, even today.”
By 1994, Bukem had founded his second label, Looking Good Records, and began gathering like-minded artists: Peshay, Aquarius (also known as Photek), PFM, ILS & Solo, Blame, Nookie, Seba & Lo-Tek, Tayla and Funky Technicians. Their music was as soulful and lyrical as Bukem’s tracks. “My best move was to remain independent and keep control of the labels and the music. There was never a large corporation telling us that they needed an album within six months, or that we had to give an interview, or go on tour. We are all very good friends who share each other’s views on music, and I think it was quite clear from the beginning what I wanted to do with the label. I did not want to be some kind of god whom everyone looked up to from below. I wanted to become part of a collective of people moving forward and heading in the same direction. These guys had to be involved in the common cause and, at the same time, I wanted to help them find their sound.” The label Looking Good Records was organised in order to be able to release material with a more atmospheric sound: sharp cymbals, metallic beats, samples from science-fiction films about space wars.
The first mix released by Bukem, “Mixmag Live! Vol. 3”, confirmed his status as a drum and bass superstar. The jungle hysteria was gathering momentum at the time. Goldie added fuel to the fire with his album “Timeless”. Bukem kept pace with his colleague and began releasing a series of compilations called “Logical Progression”, which brought together the best tracks from the labels Good Looking and Looking Good. Bukem invited DJs playing 11 different styles of music to work on the project: Shake & Fingerpop, Gilles Peterson, Tim Westwood and Fabio took part in the project. It was a logical progression from funk to hip-hop and drum and bass. After a DJ tour of America (his first tour), Bukem began working in a new direction, releasing the compilation “Earth Vol. 1” in 1996. The “Earth” series consisted of tracks inspired by hip-hop, soul jazz and funk. The compilations also featured compositions by Bukem himself. A continuation of the “Logical Progression” series was also released, but this time the compilation was presented by Good Looking’s right-hand man, Blame.
In spring 2000, Bukem finally released his first solo album, which he called “Journey Inwards”. “At the beginning of ’99, I thought about recording an album. I figured it might take me about a year, but it was all finished in just eight months. I simply started writing it, immersing myself completely in the work. Since I am the head of the company, I cannot just take off and disappear for a long time. For that reason, I had to complete it in the shortest possible time. Sometimes it is difficult to do this every day but, overall, the recording process turned out to be very enjoyable. Having gone through this album, I truly found myself. Sitting alone in the studio, I did not think about the fact that I had to run my label and that fifteen people worked under me. At one point I could not even imagine that I would own a company or play for 5,000 people on a beach in Miami, but, to my surprise, all of this happened. Now I simply have to decide what I want. Who knows…”
Author: NoDa. Translated from the Russian original published by mixmag.ru.
