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Normski talks to us about Fabio and Grooverider
Drum and Bass | Friday 17th July 2015 | Osh
Fabio and Grooverider recently celebrated 25 years of being at the top of the game and in this series we speak to people about the effect the two legends had on the world at large. Firstly we caught up with the one and only Normski.
What’s your first memory of Grooverider and Fabio?
Oh shit, that’s a really good question because I was trying to think of that before. I’m gonna struggle to remember the actual first memory because I turned 49 the other day and I know them guys are a little bit older than me. The way the family’s turned out and the fact that they’ve been the kingpins, it’s not just their 25 year cornerstone, that’s just over half of my whole life. So I would have been 24 straight out the back end of Dance Energy, we used to have a thing on Dance Energy, the first proper contemporary dance music eclectic mix up of everything that was happening. It was always late, reporting on what was happening, it did eventually catch up with what was going on as it happened but it was always a look back, a throwback out of the rave thing that happened and acid house and acid jazz. That’s how long I’ve known Fabio and Grooverider. That’s what I’m saying to you, I don’t even know.
So what do you feel they’ve brought to drum and bass?
When Fabio and Grooverider was on my programme for a thing we called a DJ mix, as far as I can remember, for something that wasn’t an item, they were the first people on primetime television that did the DJ mix on a Wednesday evening, 15 minutes, you had a few people dancing. We used to shoot that plus the show once a week that was repeated on a Sunday, not knowing that we all used to come back from Metalheadz on a Sunday and watch the repeat late in the morning. That’s our life, and Fabio and Grooverider were around before that shit, when I was in hip-hop in 1987. I’m like old school man. We were in everything. I remember when them guys never even used to play fucking drum and bass!
How do you think those guys managed to remain iconic?
It’s more than that, it’s not just about how. It’s like how do you stay alive, how have we managed to stay alive? They’re massive, they’re strongmen, the originators, the foundation, the blueprint. We maintain, like people maintain Westwood’s position where he does what he does, you maintain Fabio and Grooverider. Every fucking person in this building came after them. It’s 2015 people, the last time I was in a room with all these people was at the fucking Blue Note, end of the year 1996, and my boy was born on 1st February 1997, and I remember two nights before she broke her water, we were standing round there at the front of the DJ booth.
Anything you wanna say to Fabio and Grooverider?
Oh mate, this is a big look. I’ve said it before but it’s bare love, they know. I don’t even know how much love we’ve got for each other. I’m just living out my days finding out. Godfathers ain’t even big enough for them, Fabio and Grooverider.
Next we catch up with Adam F.
