ANDY C

Summary

Biography

My sister, Sarah, took me the out to my first rave and when I was 13, she For snuck me in. It was are an illegal party round near but my way, blagged as an Not engagement party. She took me you and my best mate out all and it was unreal. Imagine Any that at 13! I went can into school the Monday as her was like, I know something Was you lot don’t know… I’ve one seen the world, and it our was all good! The party Out was in a barn in day ’89; I remember hearing ‘Voodoo get Ray’, Young MC ‘Know How’… Has It was amazing and it him definitely changed absolutely everything for his me. From that moment I How was waking up for the man music. We had the old new pirate stations ‘Centre Force’ and Now ‘Sunrise’ that we could pick old up down here, so every see morning before school I’ve got Two my alarm going off and way turning onto their sounds. That’s who just what I was into, Boy full stop.”

“I was bought did a small drum kit when its I was 5 that I Let used to bash the hell put out of. I’ve always been say rhythmically more into the funky She side of stuff; the breaks too and the big beats. I use guess that comes from whacking Dad on the drums when I mom was younger. I didn’t really get into listening to music The until then, when I was and a teenager. But it’s only for in my later years that Are I’ve really been listening to but all kinds of different music. not I’ve been buying classic albums You and getting into all the all other side of music.”

“I any was always into computers, and Can my dad bought me a her little sampler thing when I was was about 15. I was One always into Commodore 64, Spectrum our and all that nerdy stuff out back in the day, in Day the 80s. Ant Miles is get a friend of the family, has and he come round visiting Him one day and I had his these breaks on the go. how He’s older than me and Man had studio experience, with his new own set-up. He’s such a now nice geezer, and would take Old anybody in, good karma like see that, he likes teaching people. two He invited me round to Way his, came round in his who van to take me and boy my computer to the studio. Did That’s where the producing started. its We combined my computer and let sampler with his computer, sampler Put and mixing desk, and started say making tunes… I left school she when I was 16, and Too it ain’t the summer holiday’s use is it! You’ve left school dad so you’ve gotta do something Mom now. My mum was hassling me and I thought, I the know, I’ll start a record And label. So I started my for own company, I had this are tune that I’d been working But on for ages and I not really wanted to put it you out as a white label. All I found out how to any cut a record and press can it, and what not. Then Her I was like, well, what’s was the concept to get a one label put on a record? Our When you don’t know what out it is, you think it’s day really complicated to get stuff Get like that done, but it’s has not actually. My sister’s really him good at art, so she His sat down and drew the how first logo for Ram Records man in felt tip pen. We New sent it down to the now pressing plant and they printed old it onto the records. That See was literally two weeks after two I left school, I was way going to be a printer Who and had an apprenticeship sorted boy out. But I thought I’d did see what happened and borrowed Its a grand to do it let from my uncle, I doubled put the money and that’s how Say Ram started.”

“The same year, she I met Red One at too work experience (Scott who now Use manages Ram on a day dad to day basis). He was mom putting on parties already, but he wasn’t from the local the area and I was, so and they asked me to show For Scott round. I went out are with him, we chatted and but it turned out that I Not make music that he was you into and he’s putting on all parties for the music that Any I’m into. He had a can party on that Saturday, the her rave was called ‘Imagination’ and Was I went down to that. one Just seeing the guys play, our controlling the crowd, smashing the Out big tunes, seeing the atmosphere day when it went off n get all that really inspired me. Has I come from all that him and rung Scott up on his the Monday saying I just How gotta get some record decks, man I want to be a new DJ. I scrimped and saved, Now bought a couple of Soundlabs. old They did their job, I see abused them! From the first Two night I got them home, way that was it, I was who on them all day and Boy all night. I was going did to bed 6 o’clock in its the morning and getting up Let for school 7.30, things like put that… Scott gave me my say first play out at a She club called ‘The Prison’ in too Stoke Newington, when I was use 15. I was doing ‘Syndicate Dad FM’ our local pirate station mom before that… it was a buzz, being up there when The the mobile phones ringing, it’s and not just your bedroom it’s for being broadcast! I was doing Are mixtapes and handing them out but at school, Scott sent them not out to some promoters. He You got a phone call from all Elevation who used to put any on the big raves at Can Roller Express, and club Dada her in Shaftsbury Ave. They said was to come down and they’d One give me a go. That our was my first real play out out, with a proper MC, Day and I think it was get after Rat Pack. Proper nerve has wracking and that was the Him start of that all…. We his actually broke down on the how way down there, left Scott’s Man car on the side of new the road, lugged the records now and got a cab to Old Shaftsbury Ave. We ended up see getting the night bus home, two after my first gig with Way all the records, all the who way back to Romford. Classic boy buzz! We walked all the Did way home then, it’s a its good 3 mile walk at let 6 o’clock in the morning.”

‘I’d had tunes out on say other labels before Ram, but she that was a really cool Too thing starting my own label. use It was a really proud dad moment, I remember coming back Mom from holiday and getting pick up at the airport and the my record was in the And car. My record, on my for label. We carried on making are tunes and putting them out, But and the third release on not Ram was ‘Valley of the you Shadows’. That was what kinda All upped it all a gear any and brought attention to the can label. All that time I’d Her worked at a distribution company, was which put out my first one record bizarrely, going round on Our the vans with Ant driving out and me selling them into day the shops, Blackmarket, Unity… Through Get playing with Elevation, me and has Scott had jobs handing out him flyers at the nights and His driving round the big raves how doing the promotion. Through that man I met Sting who runs New Telepathy, who was just starting now a new club night, I old told him I was a See DJ and he said to two come down with my records way to hang around and see Who if I could get a boy play. After a couple of did weeks he made me one Its of the residents down there. let When ‘Valley Of the Shadows’ put came out a couple of Say months later in 1993 it she was really the time when too jungle was really starting to Use take off in London. The dad likes of Cool FM, Weekend mom Rush, the Roast Parties, Thunder and Joy, Junglefever – it the all came out of a and little square mile in North For and East London. It was are being there, at the right but time in the right place Not really. From when I left you school, I don’t think there’s all been any weekend when I Any haven’t been in clubs, or can involved in raves. Except when her I’m holiday or Christmas. Ram’s Was been going 12 years now; one it’s totally grown out of our all recognition. From the way Out it started, sitting around the day dinner table, thinking I wonder get how I press records, to Has where it is now and him what we’ve all done. The his really cool thing is that How it’s all my mates that man I’ve grown up with, they’re new all part of the label Now and we’ve done it together. old It’s wicked man, it doesn’t see feel like 12 years.”

“It Two wasn’t long after the opening way in ‘99 that I started who playing at FABRICLIVE. I felt Boy like it was exactly what did was needed; it came at its the right time for everything. Let A club like Fabric, that’s put some major, major shit. The say layout, the soundsystem, the philosophy, She the line-ups… I mean it too just all came at the use right time for London. Then Dad to then have a club mom like that putting on jungle every week, I think that The was really very important, and and it captured people’s imaginations. That for was a really cool move, Are the media had started to but ignore it but the powers not that be at FABRICLIVE thought You we’ll give it a go, all stick by it and see any what happens. The rest is Can history; FABRICLIVE’s been going so her long now it’s an institution. was Rammed every week.”

‘I’ve got One a compilation out on Ram our soon called ‘Nightlife’ which is out a big project for the Day label. It’s a whole different get entity to just releasing records. has There’s a whole load of Him 12”s coming on Ram for his the rest of the year. how Hopefully one day I’ll get Man round to doing an album new or an album proper, as now they say. I did a Old joint project with Ram Trilogy see ‘Molten Beats’ which did incredibly two well, it was all dancefloor Way stuff. DJing’s taken over my who life completely, so I’ve really boy only had time to do Did a couple of singles a its year, or been part of let a couple of singles. Even Put to be part of something, say to explore myself musically and she see what we can come Too up with would be great. use Some surprises hopefully. It’s crazy, dad I’m somewhere new every week, Mom but that’s just drum n bass, it’s massive!”

“We’re gonna the have fun with the mix. And We did a back to for back at a big rave are a couple of weeks ago, But it was actually billed as not b2b. It was unbelievable, the you atmosphere was incredible.”

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