"Even though the music seems to have developed and things have changed a lot," he continues, "I've always been the same. I've always been into funky, hard stuff, but I think the older I'm getting now, the jazz is coming out a bit more. I'm really into jazzy stuff now. It's just been a natural progression from year to year, from vibe to vibe really."

When it comes to change, Frost considers himself to be proactive rather than reactive. "There's a group of people that adapt to change," he says, "and another group that set the change. I think I've always been in the group that has set the change. We've thought 'fuck it, we've had enough of this now, or we're getting bored of this now, we're going to move on.' That's just the way that it has always been. I remember being at an event at the Island, Ilford and most others walking in there would have thought 'what a brilliant party' - packed out, everyone was havin' it, but when I was playing I thought 'I'm not into this any more' even though the people looked like they were enjoying themselves. It was time to move on, and we had to develop again. I even wasn't playing that kind of music, just the environment and the vibe, I didn't want to be in there any more."

Times immediately after when he has moved on have obviously confounded the expectations of people who have thought they had come to listen to him play a different set with inevitable comments of 'he's lost it': "I've had people standing there, looking at me with their arms folded like 'what is this?'. When I first played tracks like "It's Jazzy" and "Brown Paper Bag", the whole rave was looking at me like 'what are you on?' I'll always be like that, I'll always be the man you come and hear and think 'what happened?'. When you hear the same set on tape later, you think 'this is from last week's rave' but it's from three months ago. However, because all the DJs are hammering it now, you can get your head around it. It's good for the scene, because otherwise it's just going to stand still and no-one is going to take chances, then what are we going to do?"

"I've been in this scene a long time, worked with a lot of people I've got total respect for and seen the way they've done their thing over the years," continues Frost. "People like Carl Cox. He doesn't give a fuck, he just does his thing and I respect him. I was a guest at one of his tour night's in the summer, and the geezer is just a diamond, he hasn't changed one bit since the first day I met him. He's just doing his own thing regardless - love it or hate it, it's up to you, take it or leave it, that's the way I'm looking at it. Right now, I want some George Clinton 21st century cyberfunk business and we're going to recreate that vibe again. I've recorded a tune and people have said it's speed garage, but it isn't. I've done it with DJ Face and he runs a garage label, but it's 130 bpm with little breakbeats and that, live double bass, live guitar and live vocals and it's coming out on Island Records "Cool Jazz" compilation and it's just jazzy, funky business. Everything I'm involved with just now seems to be going that way, that's just me, that's how I feel the happiest. I'm a Gemini, so things change a lot. Today it's running, tomorrow I'm not in it any more and then ask me again another day I'm back in it."

As you can see, it doesn't matter who the person is or what music they play or make, Frost respects anyone as long as they are doing their own thing. "Input from everyone makes the scene," he believes, "instead of everyone bashing out the same tunes or on a similar vibe. If everyone does their own thing, then you get a real wide range of music. Not everyone comes from the same background and not everyone is influenced by the same things, so obviously not everyone's music is going to be the same. London is the most cosmopolitan city in the world and this music is a reflection of that."

JJ Frost Interview 2 continued....