My introduction to Drum and Bass, well Jungle actually, was in 1992 when my brother would bring home mixtapes from the clubs in Florida. Having also been influenced by my brother's taste in Hip Hop, I was immediately hooked on those crazy new beats that were like hip hop on steroids to my young brain. A few years later, I started raving with friends in late 90s Florida where breakbeat was king. I
quickly fell in love with the broken beats of DJ Icey, Huda Hudia, RITM, and all the other familiar names from that time. A few years later, I moved back to my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland and fell in with a rave fam full of DJs. DJs Dieselboy, AK1200, and Aphrodite made regular appearances at local events and so began a serious interest in DnB. I can't say I was entirely convinced to switch genres yet, but then I began discovering Ram Records, Metalheadz, and the like. Conversion complete. Life eventually pulled me away from the rave scene and DJing. It was a dark period in my life ;) but I never stopped listening to the music. But then in the Summer of 2022, I got this unexplainable urge to get back into DJing, and by extension raving. I picked up a Pioneer DDJ-400 and off I went. After several months, my modest setup became a legit DJ booth. After exploring several different subgenres of DnB in an attempt to find my sound, I finally realized an important thing about DJing...you have to love what you play or it's just going through the motions. I began to strip away anything incongruent with my personality, which left me with my current sound - a mix of upbeat, ravey, vibey, trippy beats. To me, a party should be fun and energetic. I want to see people smiling, joking, laughing, dancing, vibing. Being from a time when PLUR was taken seriously and was what set ravers apart from the mainstream mentality; my goal is to promote PLUR in my sets and at my events. Another goal, and perhaps more important than my success as a DJ, is to bring DnB back into the conversation here in the U.S. Lofty, I know. I'll just say I have plans for the Spektrum brand, but one thing at a time.
