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All DJing, all acting, all singing, all dancing, all writing, all directing all Goldie

For ten years, Goldie’s championed the sound of the underground by combining his roles as an independent label owner, a successful recording artist and an in-demand international DJ. Now the public face of drum & bass and sometime actor is making a movie, one which he’s written, directed and devised the soundtrack to.

\“x’ords: Tim Abrahams

ere's a question. With reference to drum ck hass

god (ioldie. what is the releyance of the name

Angel‘.’ Is it (a) the moment that the gold- gnashered one helped take jungle out of the cluhs and on to national radio with a tune of quite staggering splendour'.’ ()r is it (h) the natne of the deht collector he played in l;'(1.\'I(’II(/('I‘.\".’

The answer. of course. is hoth. though your answer will say more ahout where yott are coming from than it does ahout the multi—faceted personality of the man himself. Here is a man. after all. whose career takes the old undergrourid/mainstream dehate and runs with it. It was a decade ago that a grinning madman smacked on the door of the DJ booth at Rage to tell the man on the decks a certain (irooyerider that he was the creator of the acetate spinning. In 1994 he released the acclaimed 'limv/vss alhum. which entered the charts at no 7. and following a hrief spate of appearing in [Iv/lo with the whole .\let Bar crowd. (ioldie‘s hack to champion hoth the drum & hass genre and more specifically his own Metalliead/ lahel.

It does seem like a hit of an afterthought howeyer for .‘yletalhead/ to now launch a regular Scottish platform. Drum & hass has heen around for seyeral years and it has thriyed in Scotland without the permanent presence of a lahel which is \irtually synonymous with the darker side of the genre. 'l’o (ittltllc lltotlglt. the good health of the Scottish scene is

72 THE LIST .

‘I personally may not be selling as many records as I have done in the past but drum & bass is in good health’

proof that drum & hass is a dance culture which thriyes on neglect.

‘lt‘s like skatelmarding. .lust hecause you don‘t read ahout it all the time in magazines. it doesn’t mean people aren‘t doing it. It‘s there all the time hut eyery now and again. it drifts hack into people's awareness. I personally may not he selling as many records as l haye done in the past hut drum & hass is in good health. The lahel. and other drttm & hass independents too. are selling more records than eyer hefore.’

l).ls such as lid ('ase may haye progressed from playing drum & hass to garage and .\l(‘s may now he relishing the chance to toast oyer the less frenetic rhythms of the spin-off genre. hut (ioldie holds no truck with it.

'(iarage is different. It‘s a more commercially \‘iahle genre of music which drum & hass may haye made possihle hut shares little with. It just shows why drum & hass is stronger. hecause it can always just retreat to its underground hase when the tide of fashion turns.

.‘yletalhead/ is home to a new generation of

cayernous tunes made hy a younger crew that includes .lohn B. Total Science and the excellent Rulige Kru. hut with (ioldie himself. there‘s always the worrying suggestion that a successful recording career may slip away from him. It's there in the one— man-hrand title of his last release »— gu/(livxuuk -— and the way he claims to feel no urge to record another album. It's there even more when he starts talking about his work outside music. Suddenly. on the defensiye he admits that the Sine Tent/ms film project which he has written. directed and devised the soundtrack to is taking up most of his time at the moment.

If you ask him whether he‘s acting in it. you get a pause. followed by a ‘might he’. lle's ohyiously torn hetween wanting to proye himself as an actor without it interfering with his credihility as a label owner. musician and 1)]. You can‘t howeyer help hut admire a man who champions dark. colossal drum & hass whilst making a film with a poncey Latin name. It sounds like someone who doesn‘t giye a toss ahout what people think of him. Strangely though. he clearly does.

Goldie guests at Manga at La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, Fri 30 Nov.

Word Up

The latest club news...

EDINBURGH LIVE MUSIC AND clubland institution the Venue is at last under new management. Together Stuart Mackinnon, Mike Templeman and Lloyd McDermott have taken over the lease from local entrepreneur Ellis Johnston.

Under its previous mismanagement the Venue was rapidly falling into disrepair with much-needed refurbishment being continually postponed, contributing to the dilapidation of basic services such as lighting, sound and toilet facilities. The triumvirate now holding the lease plan to keep the building operative while services are upgraded over the coming months. The three- floor space will be given a ‘damn good clean’ before new sound systems are fitted on both the upstairs and middle floors and all three dancefloors in the building are skimmed and re-coated. The wiring and plumbing systems will also be overhauled and once these fundamental jobs are completed, work will begin on the fixtures and fittings.

Lloyd McDermott will be managing the booking diary, looking to reassure nights who’ve remained resident in the building while seeking new club promoters to reinvigorate the Venue’s programme. Many local club promoters have already expressed an interest, with Maggie and Alan Joy wasting no time booking in their massive Hogmanay bash. Stuart Mackinnon, former promoter of local club night Boogie Mo Dynamo, is confident that the Venue’s reputation can be re- established and he would like to thank all those who have shown their support of the new management.

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