In our new blog series we’re chatting to some Jungle Drum & Bass crews around the world about their favourite tracks, events and what they’re all about.
This edition is strictly stateside business. We’re chatting to a few Jungle Drum & Bass heads from across the United States, where Jungle Drum & Bass has been rolling out since the 90s. Read on for Part 2 of our US JD&B debrief..
Stunna
Tell our All Crews Readers about your podcast on Bassdrive, The Green Room.
April 2024 marked the 18 year anniversary of my weekly Wednesday radio show which airs 2-5pm Chicago via www.Bassdrive.com. It’s been my mission to showcase new talent as well as seasoned producers, DJs and labels that I believe are making great music from all around the world. I try my best to connect the dots between many different subgenres within the Jungle Drum & Bass scene, as well as spotlight talent that flys under the radar.
You have been producing great music at a high level for a long time, where do you draw inspiration from to continue to make great tunes?
Mostly from outside of the JD&B scene itself, but rather from a lot of Jazz, Funk, soundtracks and improvisational live music, that’s the music I listen to on a regular basis. I come from a live music background, so embracing imperfections and ‘happy accidents’ is what can really give music more depth and identity. Sometimes I’ll just hear a line of dialogue from a movie, or an orchestral string stab or horn line in a piece, and I can instantly be inspired to build a track around a few elements.
Tell us about the Jungle and Drum N’ Bass scene in Chicago.
It’s pretty healthy and diverse at the moment, where you can find a number of promotional crews bringing in great international & stateside talent alike and there are also some great producers/performers such as LO!, Jon Cross, Dioptrics, Danny The Wildchild, Christina Tamayo and Lailah Reich who are signed to global labels. I’ve been attending shows since the late ‘90s and have helped promote a few shows along the way. Currently, myself and fellow DJ/producer Renan have been running the DnBiD series of events around town, with upcoming shows at Epiphany Center and Nighthawk.
Find stunna on Instagram
X-Altera
Any plans to work with Soundermuderer and start producing tracks as a duo again?
As of right now, Soundmuderer and I have not been producing any music together.
Please tell our All Crews readers about a few projects that you have been involved in lately.
The projects I’m involved in are X-Altera, Dabrye, Charles Manier, and JTC, I also run the label Bopside, which are all of my releases under the different monikers that I have already mentioned.
Outside of music, what are some important things in your lives?
The most important areas of my life outside of music are being a dad to my daughter and my artistic work, painting.
Find X-Altera on Instagram, Bandcamp
Mark 8en Moss
Tell our All Crews readers about Impulse Detroit:
Impulse Detroit is a collection of Detroit JD&B DJ’s who are out to keep the Detroit Jungle scene alive through their bi-monthly parties in Detroit as well as each individual playing shows around the city and throughout the Midwest under the Impulse Detroit banner. We do this for the love of Jungle, not the fame.
You’re a great DJ and have been doing it a long time, how has your style evolved throughout the years?
In the early days of my DJ career I always tried to find what was new or what others may not have played, but as time went on I honed my own style, somewhat modeled after the way Jeff Mills used to play as “The Wizard” with very fast mixes. Sometimes only letting a record play for 45 seconds to a minute before mixing another one in. To me it creates a great flow, a great show and a way to take the crowd on a journey of styles. It’s no longer about what is the newest, but what fits just right.
As a producer, what other things besides jungle inspire you when making tunes?
As a producer I take a lot of cues from my upbringing in the Acid House scene and the early Rave days. I love the rawness and energy of those times. The days where anything goes.
Find 8en on Mixcloud
DEV/NULL
Tell our All Crews readers about your label, 8205 Recordings.
8205 Recordings is a label I started 11 years ago, which is focused on vinyl releases of tunes recorded between 92-96 that were never released back in the day. Most jungle labels now either focus on new tunes with a retro sound, or represses of rare, in-demand releases. While both those are cool, represses are less interesting to me personally since I’m a sad nerd who spent 25 years collecting these records and managed to buy the originals before they got crazy expensive. I’m much more excited for the stuff I still don’t have, tunes which never got released at all back in the day.
What are three of your most prized possessions in your vinyl collection?
1. Vinyl Distribution LP – thanks to my buddy Will for selling me this years ago. His label Sublogic Records was probably my primary influence for starting 8205.
2. The first Black Nation Records EP (BNR001), a super-rare Detroit techno EP on one of my favorite techno labels, which took many years to find.
3. Brown + Rhymeside – Maniac Drummer. An extra rare, extra fast & crazy (my preferred style) single which was one of my very first discogs buys back when I first joined the site in 2005.
You’ve played in the US and over in the UK, briefly compare and contrast the scene in the states with the one in the UK.
The UK has a longer history of mainstream appreciation of dance music as a whole as compared to the US. Dance music has been around for just as long in the US, but more in the underground, and didn’t really hit full mainstream consciousness until (urgh) EDM in the past decade or so. This means there’s more history in the UK and more room for specialized subgenre parties. Here in the US, some events and crews try to have parties like that, but often it ends up being more of a branding exercise, or something used for a couple one-offs before they lose interest.
The fact that there’s way less jungle specific parties here means there’s overall less chances for anyone other than the top 4-5 most well known acts to gig regularly. Even though I’ve been lucky to play a number of awesome parties in the US the past few years, it’s been almost exclusively for crews and individuals who “dig deep” and really love this particular style of music. In comparison, mixed genre parties who primarily feature techno/house/bass, or more standard dnb, are already going out on a limb booking music a bit outside their wheelhouse. Five times out of five they’re going to book the handful of jungle artists their crowd knows best.
Really though, the biggest difference between the UK and US is that the US is huge and spread out. Even though there are some dedicated crews doing great events, the distance between cities means the success of one party doesn’t necessarily help a similar party in another city. The fact it takes as much time and money for me to fly from Boston to LA as it does to reach London, shows how frustrating it can be for parties to try to coordinate and grow together. Still, there are some very dedicated people almost single-handedly pushing the more underground side of things, and some very exciting newer producers here (Soeneido, Dope on Plastic, DJ Airwalk, etc ) who are doing tons of great quality tunes.
Find DEVNULL on Instagram, Soundcloud
Krugah
DJing or producing, which one do you prefer and why?
I like both actually. Both processes are invigorating for me
Please give our readers a glimpse of your processing of putting together a tune.
Simply never overthink the process, because when you do, nothing gets done or you
end up dashing away something that could’ve become something by overthinking and getting frustrated.
What can people expect to hear from you in 2024 going into 2025?
They can expect more of what they already know of me thus far style wise and experimenting with newer sounds, patterns, etc.
Find Krugah on Instagram, Soundcloud
Ronin Selecta
Tell our All Crews readers about AGN7 Audio:
AGN7 Audio is dystopian Funk. I like music that allows Dancefloors and DJs to transition between different styles, and that can be played with older tunes just as easily as with new ones.
As a label owner in 2024, what do you think yourself and other labels should be contributing to jungle and drum n’ bass?
I can only speak for myself, I’m not motivated by sales or seeking relevance through social media metrics. As a label owner in 2024, I intend to stick to the mission of putting out timeless music that will outlive us, and will hopefully inspire artists in the future.
As a long time DJ, how has the art of Djing progressed from when you first started listening to jungle and drum n’ bass, to now?
The technology makes the craft of DJing easier for most people, with very little limitations. How you choose to express yourself as a DJ and distinguish yourself from others through music selection, in my opinion, has remained the same. There will always be DJs that are content with just playing the top 10/100, and for audiences, a lot of the music is new to them. There is nothing wrong with that. We’re no longer limited to only being exposed to this music when played on vinyl, the digital/streaming medium has made all of this accessible to those who just want to listen to the music. As a music lover, I feel I should use any opportunity I get to share music from my experience with the new generation, and likewise, I should also listen to what the newer DJs are playing.
Find Ronin Selecta/AGN7 on Instagram
Soeneido
Tell our All Crews readers all about Lotek:
Yeah so LOTEK Oakland is a label I started on bandcamp a few years ago, initially it was to just put out some of my own music. It’s pretty low capacity for the most part and I sort of just throw stuff on there on my own time. I have my first officially pressed vinyl release coming out on LOTEK Oakland in January/February 2025 so look out for that. LOTEK is also the name I gave to the club night I promote in the Bay Area, CA and I initially envisioned it as an all jungle/drum n bass type show, but lately it’s expanded a bit beyond those genres.
Give us a glimpse and take us through your process of putting together a track:
Sometimes I start with a piece of music that catches my attention and that I want to sample, or sometimes I start with some breakbeats that I want to process and chop up. I’m not a big fan of sample packs and I kind of prefer hunting down specific samples myself, either through looking up stuff on whosampled.com or from random clips on youtube playlist or sampling a random record I have laying around. I’ll spend some time listening through and recording samples from old sci-fi and horror movies, obscure new age cassettes from the 80’s and 90’s, video games and cartoons, the weirder, the more obscure, the better. I either decide to load breaks and samples into some AKAI sampler like the s2000 or the s5000 and sequence them through Ableton, or I’ll decide to do the whole tune in Protracker which is a stand alone 8-bit software used on the Amiga computer.
Music is a big part of your life, what are some other things outside of music that are important to you?
Outside of music I’d say social justice and community engagement are pretty important to me such as prison abolition, Gaza/Palestine liberation, housing and food equity, and so on. I don’t feel like I’m doing a whole lot with those area, but occasionally I’m able to help out with various organizing activities.
Find Soenido on Bandcamp, Soundcloud
BC Rydah
Please tell our All Crews Readers everything they need to know about Yeska Beatz.
Yeska Beatz Unltd is a jungle label and collective based in Long Beach, CA. The label has been a crucial part of the North American jungle scene, offering a platform for underground talent and authentic Jungle sounds influenced by the 90s era. Over the years, Yeska Beatz has released over 40 digital albums, including vinyl, CD, and tape formats, and has worked with a range of labels like Mad Breaks, Yellow Jacket Recz, Ruff Guidance, and more.
I have been focused on presenting quality music and authentic representation of jungle culture that has allowed Yeska Beatz to stand out in the North American jungle community. The label has also been involved in events, like the jungle stage at Rhymefest, and has helped by serving as an ambassador for Konkrete Jungle LA, further embedding Yeska Beatz into the Jungle and underground scenes in Los Angeles and beyond.
How did you get into Jungle & Drum & Bass?
I got into Jungle from a friend of mine in middle school around 97-98. I had a couple homies shoot me a few tapes and the rest is history. I remember the first time I heard Original Nuttah off this Jungle Hits Vol.1 compilation and completely lost my mind. Never heard anything like that before in my life. It was a style of music that captured every style of music I grew up listening to. I’ve been bumping it ever since.
Give listeners an idea of what’s to come from BC Rydah in the future.
I’ve been writing like crazy so next year the goal is to get more vinyl releases out. I have two in the works right now on Yeska Beatz as well as a tune coming out on PPJ Recordings. I also have a collab with the homie Setwon under the name Killasound Posse, it’s some rough ragga biz. Can’t wait for that to drop
Find BC Rydah on Bandcamp, Instagram
Poisonfrog
It’s interesting to hear the backstory behind a Dj/production name, tell our readers about yours, Poisonfrog.
I’ve always enjoyed artist names that are based on animals, as long as the artist doesn’t make that animal their ‘theme’. I don’t think people should overthink artist names, and once you find a name that resonates with your own notion of yourself, you should stick to it and allow your own personal style to start to blend and merge with the alias.
You have a Jungletrain show Cordycep, what producers should people keep an eye on that have made it onto your show?
Firstly, it’s very important to me to support my local NYC/Brooklyn junglist scene, so I always love playing tracks by 88 Katanas and Krugah because they’re incredibly talented producers. As a relative newcomer to the jungle scene, it meant so much to me to be welcomed by prominent members of the scene like them. I also cherish the ‘old-school’ internet style of the online jungle community, and without it I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today, so I’m frequently chatting online with and playing dubs and tracks from Dj Sofa, ODJ Pirkka, Blood Trust, MSC, Repertoire and Subtle Audio.
What were some things that got you into producing jungle and drum n’ bass?
I had always been interested in music production, I had fruityloops in highschool and would try to make boom bap beats and basshunter-esque trance stuff, but it wasn’t until I met one of my college best friends and they introduced me to djing and UK dance music that I realized I wanted to make jungle. I like how accessible jungle production can be, and how it doesn’t require huge amounts of gear or knowledge, and mostly requires dedication, discipline, and good taste.
Find Poisonfrog on Instagram
