 There are few names in British drum and bass as well known on a
worldwide basis as that of Roni Size. Today, he is simply one of
the scene’s elite producers, an ambassador who has taken the
music to new heights and places.
First and foremost you’ll know him as a producer, whether
its for his solo records under a host of pseudonyms, or, more likely,
for his work as part of the Reprazent collective. More recently,
he’s also attracted attention for his DJ sets, employing a
sonic arsenal of his latest dubplates. In fact, he and Bristol cohort
DJ Krust, have often been known to write, produce and cut a new
tune on the very day that they are playing out, premiering the tune
straight off the press - testimony to the sheer enthusiasm the Bristol
jungle crew have consistently displayed for their music.
One way or another, the town of Bristol has always been crucial
to the history of British dance music. Nellee Hooper (of Soul II
Soul fame), Massive Attack, Tricky, Smith & Mighty, Flynn &
Flora and Portishead all hail from the Bristol region. And it’s
here that Roni was born and bred, growing up under the influence
of his brother’s record collection, full of Studio One, soul
and rare groove gems. US hip hop was also an inspiration, especially
Wildstyle, the Charlie Ahearn film which documented B-Boy culture
in all its forms, graffing, breaking, DJing and rapping. By his
late teens, Roni had begun building his own sound system in the
DIY traditions of Wildstyle, a system which Krust hired for a club
night he was putting on. For Krust too, music was his chosen vocation,
having grown up on the sounds of 70s soul and funk, as well as US
hip hop. In fact, before either became known on the drum and bass
scene, Krust had achieved chart success in the UK with childhood
friend Suv, as part of the group Fresh Four, whose version of the
Rose Royce classic ‘Wishing On A Star’ was a hit in 1990.
By ‘92, Krust and Roni had decided to work together, both
hooked on the new sounds of breakbeat hardcore and jungle that were
emanating from the London post-acid house club scene. Together the
two would head over to the capital to check out the latest clubs,
regular journeys which led to a meeting with one of the scene’s
most respected pioneers, Bryan Gee. In the meantime the pair, along
with Suv, had found yet another kindred spirit in DJ Die after a
chance meeting at the Glastonbury Festival (in Underworld’s
Experimental Sound Field). Die had already bumped into Roni at Bristol’s
Replay Records, both sharing a similar taste for hip hop and hardcore
sounds. All together at Glastonbury, the idea of working as a group
began to take shape. Together, the four of them would become the
core of the Bristol jungle scene and the collective project Reprazent.
Hoping that Bryan Gee could help them bag a record deal for their
music, Roni and Krust gave him a tape of the tunes they’d been
working on, a tape which instantly grabbed the attention of both
Bryan and long-time DJ partner Jumping Jack Frost - another major
player on the early jungle scene. But at the time - even given Bryan’s
extensive connections in the A&R world of the industry - record
companies were prejudiced against any sound connected with the hardcore
scene. No matter: so impressed were the duo by the early productions
of Roni and Krust, that they decided they would be the first artists
to feature on their very own label - V Recordings - today one of
drum and bass’s consistently outstanding labels.
What Bryan Gee and Frost had recognised in Roni and Krust was a
whole new take on the jungle sound. Similar to the style pioneered
by DJs such as Fabio and Bukem - a move away from the darker, edgy
hardcore sound with its speeded-up ‘Mickey Mouse’ vocals
- this was a new jazz-inflected, rhythmically complex take on drum
and bass, best exemplified by ‘Music Box’, the Roni Size
and DJ Die collaboration that hailed the beginning of a new era
for the music. It’s hard to put into words the effect that
‘Music Box’ had on the jungle scene at the time. Even
today, it remains as fresh as ever, with its shuffling rhythms and
wrap-around guitar samples. Like LTJ Bukem’s classic ‘Music’
tune, it defied description - it was simply unimaginable, the quality
the techno pioneers of Detroit had always defined as the goal at
which electronic music producers should always aim.
By ‘93, Roni and Krust were alternating releases between Bryan
and Frost’s V label and their own Full Cycle imprint which
the pair had set up with Chris Wharton (who had released Roni’s
first ever production on his Where’s The Party label), alongside
sister label Dope Dragon (the latter being a more dancefloor/hardstep
- oriented outlet for the Bristol collective’s work).
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