DJ Doc Scott - Interview 1994 part 2

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Well, what do you think about the way the music has become so categorised?
"I suppose it’s a shame in a way, but it’s inevitable as well. If you look at the 1990 to 1991 era, you had euro techno which was more kind of industrial house being played along side house. Everything was the same tempo and everything had the same kind of feel, so you could play across the board in a set. You could have DJ’s playing all different types of music in a set, because it was basically all at the same kind of tempo. What was classed as early kind of jungle tracks came along and the bpm within the space of twelve months went from 135 to 155bpm. That broke a lot of boundaries in the music. The music started getting categorised rapid. My personal taste on all nighter is that I would like to listen to a certain flavour of DJ’s and that would be it, but I know that wouldn’t work with a crowd of 1,500 people. There are certain clubs that operate a pure happy policy and people are going to get fed up with that in six months time. No matter how much you like your music, if you listen to it totally, you’re going to get fed up with it. Like me at home, I can’t listen to what I play at the weekends all day long because I would be sick of it. I wouldn’t want to go out and work."

But how do you think this has affected the scene?
"The way I look at it is that there is a lot of misunderstanding between the music types. There are a lot of people out there who will listen to me and say, 'He’s dark’, or they will listen to LTJ Bukem and say, 'I don’t like this, I don’t understand it.' This music changes so quick. People should try and listen to the music itself rather than listen for anthems to throw their hands up in the air. The scene is predominantly a young scene, so there are a lot of people who have only been going out for two years.

For DJ’s like myself, Fabio, Grooverider, Randall and Bukem who are playing on the progressive tip, we are playing music that developed from six months ago and that developed from six months ago before that. These people that are coming into the scene - they are kind of behind. They have not listened to the progression to where we are at. I think that is one of the problems and why people are saying, 'Oh, this music’s too heavy or too dark.' This is because the DJ’s are playing on the progressive tip - the progressive edge of music. It’s accelerating away from what these people can probably handle listening to. My main priority as a DJ is to make people dance and if I’m not doing that then I’m doing something wrong.

If I am going to a place people can’t handle this progressive edge of music, it would still contain a quantity of intelligence. To me a pure happy policy is regressive - it’s going backwards. They are going back to old ’91 classics and speeding them up, it sounds terrible. All it’s about is getting on the level with the DJ and the DJ getting on the level of the crowd that he is in front of. That to me is keeping people happy. A lot of young people would find it hard to understand a full on Fabio set of what he wants to play. A few people might say, 'Phew, what’s going on, this is too deep - NOT DARK. That’s the word - DEEP. Take the Paradise Club in London, this has a very mature crowd with the average age of around twenty four years old. It’s the sort of place where your more adult person can go and hear more adult music. Where as there is Pandemonium over at what used to be JJ’s, which is aimed at a younger crowd, they are promoting happy music."

Who do you think is making good music in the scene at the moment?
"Goldie has taken the music now to a different level with a ‘Still Life’. He is doing a twenty two minute piece using live vocalists and he is even talking about using live breakbeats for this album which he is working on. LTJ Bukem I rate immensely, I feel he is underrated and the criticism which he sometimes gets is unfair. Grooverider, Peshay, Ronnie Size and DJ Krust, Wax Doctor, Rupert from Certificate 18 Records is making some blindin’ tunes at the moment. I have got a lot of respect for Moving Shadow because they are bridging the gap between underground music and commercialism so well. Nookie, Gavin at Cloud Nine - a person who is an A1 producer, but doesn’t normally get mentioned and should do because of the quality of music which he is making."

Where do you see the future for music going?
"It’s hard to say, this music is progression. The people who are making the tunes now, sticking to their guns and believing what they have always believed in - those are the people who are going to be big next year. Goldie has just signed an album deal with FFRR and this is already getting media attention. When this LP takes off the spotlight will be on a few certain people. The people who are on the cutting edge like LTJ Bukem, Peshay, Wax Doctor, certain elements from Formation, Moving Shadow, that’s where I see the future of music. You know, the jungle thing is really popular at the moment, but I can see what happened two and a half years ago happening again. There’s some damn good jungle tunes being made, but I doubt if they’re the tunes that are going to cross over, just bullshit tunes that give a distorted picture of what’s really going on. Just remember what happened with Sesame’s Treat. I’ve just heard that General Levy has done a track with Apache Indian!! I don’t know if this is true, but if it is then that’s a load of crap. People like that are taking the piss."

What are your plans for the future?
"I’ve just finished some new material for Metal Heads, which should be out for October. I’m also starting up my own label which I’ve done a few tracks for, I’ll be putting some other peoples stuff out on it too. I plan to get together with Peshay later on this year to do a couple of tracks together, and hopefully do the same with Goldie and Wax Doctor before the year’s out. Some collaboration kind of business."

And finally, any best experience which you want to share with us?
"The first time I ever heard one of my records being played out, it was the Summer of ’91, Amnesia House, Donnington Park and Jack Frost played Surgery in front of 5,000 people, that was a pretty good experience."