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The (Alternative) Drum n Bass Awards: THE INTERVIEW
Drum and Bass | Monday 19th November 2012 | Ruth
Grabbing a quick chat with the man behind The Alternative Drum n Bass Awards.
As avid readers of our Drum n Bass section will know, last week I exposed the relatively unknown joys of The Alternative Drum n Bass awards, an online celebration of all things underground D&B. I managed to pin down the man behind it all - Fonik, DJ and founder of the blog which runs the awards - for an exclusive interview about what inspires his musical choices and his decision to run the titular awards ceremony.
The Guestlist Network: Hi Fonik! How’s it going?
Fonik: Good thanks! How are you?
TGN: I’m swell! Let’s talk about the alternative Drum n Bass awards. What inspired you to run the awards?
F: The fact that I’m a D&B nerd and obsessive! It’s an 'awards' for the nerds and obsessives like me, and for those that live and breathe the music rather than the masses that Drum n Bass Arena [DnBA] caters to on the whole. It is also kind of an 'anti awards'; an antidote to the glitz and the glamour and the mutual backslapping amongst the big shots at the DnBA awards… although not entirely.
TGN: Surely though those aforementioned 'big shots' were who you were listening to when you first got into d&b though? What made you segue into the more niche side of the scene?
F: Yeah of course, which is why I do feel a bit of a d*ck slagging it all off. Everyone starts somewhere but I branched out into the more niche stuff as I explored and listened on my own but I feel that DnBA just promotes the stuff that everyone knows about already; it doesn’t promote the more niche artists and music that could perhaps encourage people to go out and seek out other stuff, it just spoon feeds people the same old stuff over and over. What made me go 'more niche'? Love of the music really, I just wanted more and more, and I knew there was plenty more out there and I wanted to find it – so I went to nights, listened to mixes, bought records, read blogs/mags etc.
TGN: So do you hope that your ‘alternative’ awards is an opportunity to introduce people to more underground stuff, or a way to kind of promote/shine a light on the unsung heroes of d&b?
F: Exactly. I don’t want to make out like I’m some crusader of D&B or anything like that; we still do promote the more well-known stuff on the blog, lots of it is really good of course and I own/listen to/buy plenty of it myself, but in tandem with the obscure sh*t as well that perhaps other people don’t know about… and that’s exactly it, I want to highlight those that others may not be aware of. If it encourages just one person to go out and discover new stuff they haven’t heard before and support the artists and labels then it’s all worth it. Because for the smaller guys putting out each record is a risk and a struggle; if people don’t support them they will go under which I don’t want to happen. At the end of the day the underground is always where D&B has been and what it’s all about so we should support it!
TGN: Who are your hot tips for the coming year; any new artists on the scene that you think deserve a little more attention?
F: Plenty! There’s a guy called Es.tereo in Berlin who’s making some moves at the moment; and Ruffhouse, a trio from Bristol making some dark, industrial-ish half time stuff. They should hopefully become more well-known next year or so I reckon.
TGN: But is it a good thing, in your opinion, when these guys go mainstream? Or does it put you back to square one in terms of finding new unknown people? Is that all part of the challenge?
F: It’s a good thing if they don’t change what they’re doing, but all too often people 'make it' and end up watering down/changing their sound to fit in with the more radio friendly mainstream stuff which kind of negates the whole point really… But then who am I to say any of this?! It’s their career and if I was in a similar position it would be hard to turn down the gigs and the money and stay 'underground'! But new people are popping up all the time; so many people make music now that there's always some fresh talent coming through.
TGN: Sure. I guess it’s important for any musical genre to keep evolving and trying to do new stuff... surely this is why D&B is still massive after 20 years, because there’s people out there that are trying to doing their own thing with it, and create new sounds and stuff right?
F: Yeah. It has gone through his stale periods for sure but people are always trying new stuff. That’s what makes D&B so good in my opinion... there’s no other genre of electronic music that has the same potential for possibility and ideas. Those that say D&B is dead/all the same don’t know what they’re talking about: it’s the easy thing to do to bash it, almost the fashionable thing to do, but if you look a little deeper there's some amazing stuff being made and will continue to be made, you've just got to look for it… Which is what I hope we can help people do with these awards.
TGN: Your blog has grown massively over the last 4 years, ever been tempted to branch out and take your ethos into say, an event or weekly podcast/online radio show or something that brings the underground artists you champion to more people's attention?
F: Would I like it to be bigger than it is? Probably, yeah; but then I’d have the conundrum of staying true to the more niche aspects of it all and going more mainstream to attract more people etc. It’s a tough call to make, and exactly why I shouldn’t criticise others in the same position for making those decisions, whether I agree with them or not.
TGN: Yeah I guess it’s kind of like what we talked about a moment ago, like if what you like about these people is the fact that they’re different and under the radar, giving them more publicity/getting them known is always going to attract the risk that it might ruin everything
F: Exactly. I’ve asked a few artists this myself; whether they think being outside of the limelight has fostered an atmosphere of creativity. They don’t have commercial pressures to worry about as much, and these are the true artists: they stay true to their ideals and beliefs and do it for love, not money or 'fame'.
TGN: Who are you talking about exactly?
F: A guy called Nebula for one; such a good producer: makes jungle. One of my faves without a doubt.
TGN: With all this in mind, who would be on your dream line-up for the ultimate underground D&B rave?
F: Christ! What a question! dBridge, Equinox, Bukem (old school set), Calibre too, can’t forget Calibre… so many more though, I dunno. And me of course!
TGN: Haha! But dBridge, Calibre and Bukem are massive names; do you think they’ve stayed true to their original sounds despite being around for time and playing really popular events?
F: dBridge, definitely: he’s a legend, a pioneer and artist in the true sense. Got much respect for him, his music and label.
TGN: I’ve seen dBridge multiple times and his sets always attract a real mixed bag of ravers, from young’uns to old guys that you can tell have been listening to his stuff for years
F: Exactly. He’s got broad appeal, but in a good way; he’s stayed 'true to the craft', that’s what he’s all about.
TGN: And surely it really important to remain loyal to your original beats - and fans - whilst still appealing to and attracting the next generation of D&B fans. That’s how the scene is going to stay alive right?
F: Yeah for sure. That’s the hardest thing to do though… but he has pulled it off. You’ve got to try new stuff, and not be afraid to do something different. You have to take risks sometimes, otherwise it all goes a bit stale. Just look at the whole Autonomic thing he was part of… he breathed new life into D&B and got people in the wider music world talking about and excited about D&B again. It was ground breaking stuff. People will look back on those couple of years later down the line and realise how special it was.
TGN: So what you’re saying is there’s a delicate balance between staying true to your roots and experimenting enough to keep things alive and interesting to new audiences?
F: Yes, exactly.
TGN: Thanks for your time Fonik, and good luck with the awards!
F: Any time. Big up all the true music lovers!
And here's a little something from the man in question, to give you guys a taste of what he's talking about...
By Ruth Stewart
