Moving Shadow Records

Moving Shadow is one of the UK’s most prestigious Breakbeat labels. It is run from a small lounge on the outskirts of Stevenage, near London, and I went over to interview the main man behind all operations, Rob. The label is also kept ticking along with the help of Shaun, who does all the graphic designing and also Simon, who does a lot of A & R-ing.

Rob has been running the label for about four and a half years now, starting off by making a track for himself under the name The Orbital Project called ‘Orbital Madness 2000AD’. He got the tracks pressed up himself and distributed the same way as most companies do from the start - out of the boot of his car. He didn’t bother sending it to anyone else because there was no one that he thought he could send it to.

"From this I did another two EP’s and by this time the ball was well and truly rolling. I got a distribution deal with S.R.D. who do the whole of the UK and export as well. This is when other people started to get involved, who I knew or who I was DJ-ing with. So we put out a tune by Earth Leakage Trip, which became a bit of a cult track. This stage in the history of Moving Shadow was the start of using Breakbeats, but mixed up with all the Euro Techno stuff that was coming out at the time, so it wasn’t really pure Breakbeat. It was when I did a track with Shaun and Simon under the name 2 Bad Mice, that the Breakbeat style really got recognised. It got away from the more ‘ravey’ stuff. We weren’t consciously trying to set ourselves apart from other people, we just knew what we liked and got on with it. I don’t think we’ve every done anything consciously, it’s the feeling more than anything and the way the scene has moved".

Really Moving Shadow just reflect the scene. If the scene is moving then they move as well, and they have proved this consistently over the years. Back in those early days Robs was beginning more than ever to realise what direction the scene was moving quicker than most people in the business. He was signing artists that no one else would sign in order to develop this new Breakbeat style.

"After Cosmo & Dibs and the 2 Bad Mice stuff everything picked up a great deal. Even more people who were complete strangers sent me demo’s and I signed up loads of new artists. Things have now developed to the point that we can release stuff and we know that a lot of people in the scene are going to like it.

This is because we are so heavily into the scene and we can’t really drift out of it and do something very weird that people won’t want".

Yet Rob and the Moving Shadow team do loads of different Breakbeat styles these days, including one’s that haven’t been thought of yet! They always seem to work, but for the reason for this is because they know what the people want. They’ve got Drum and Bass tracks coming out, which you can’t really call Drum & Bass because it is a lot more musical and they’ve got lots of tracks due for release that you can’t call Jungle, because Jungle has now taken on a whole new meaning with all the Ragga Jungle.

"We left the ragga stuff behind about this time last year, but now other people have started doing it and it is becoming quite commercial. We’re not thinking that because we can’t use the Ragga element, but we want to think of something new and original for ourselves. I don’t suppose we would mind if our music became commercial, but just as long as we don’t have to change what we are doing. Jungle seems now to have to include Ragga vocals to become commercial, which is not what it is all about. The Ragga Jungle bit is part of the whole Jungle scene, but it is something that we don’t agree with because you shouldn’t have to include Ragga vocals for people to like it. There is stuff that we are putting out that will do equally as well through the specialist shops, but it is not Ragga Jungle".

Because of the popularity of Ragga now, the record shops are realising that there is a sub-culture there that buy other forms of Jungle music. They are gradually getting the point that Jungle is not just about the Ragga lyrics. So, luckily they are now starting to stock some very heavy Drum & Bass or Hardcore Jungle tunes.

"The Ragga style has gone big for totally the wrong reasons. If a style goes commercial for the right reasons then it will stay for that little bit longer. This is why I can’t see anyone who is into the scene, making Ragga Jungle. Also the whole attitude of the Ragga scene is something that doesn’t tie up with that of Jungle. People into Jungle are very easy going, they don’t diss anyone and there isn’t much competition.

Also the whole attitude of the Ragga scene is something that doesn’t tie up with that of jungle. People into jungle are very easy going, they don’t diss anyone and there isn’t much competition. It’s all completely opposite to the way the Ragga scene is and the Hip-Hop scene is. If you want to be a bad Ragga boy then fine, but don’t bring it into the Jungle scene because we don’t want it. Jungle is a very close movement, about the music and the scene and attitude does not fit into that. It’s a British thing that came out of House music and is completely different to the Hip-Hop and Ragga culture".

Recently Rob ahs seen a lot of problems in the clubs, with the recent influx of people who don’t know anything about what Jungle is about. This has caused things to get moody, but hopefully when the Ragga Jungle scene finishes, then this will go. Nowadays you have to choose the clubs you want to go to carefully, but Rob was quick in mentioning one particular night.

"Earlier this year we decided that we wanted to be putting on events to promote the label. Also the rave promoters out there were not doing things quite the way we wanted to. As we’ve found out in the past, if we feel a certain way then a lot of other people feel the same way. So, we decided to put on our own events called Voodoo Magic. They move away from the early days of a dirty warehouse and there isn’t the excitement of driving around the M25 looking for the venue, but the whole idea of putting on a cheap rave doesn’t make sense anymore. We just want to give people somewhere clean and the cream of British DJ’s from beginning to end. That is why the events are held at a club called Equinox in Leicester Square with the countries best DJ’s like Randall, Andy C and LTJ Bukem".

The next one they are doing is on the Halloween weekend, starting on the Saturday night at 4am. If you miss this then don’t forget to keep your eyes and ears open for the next one - guaranteed to be massive.

Back to the label Moving Shadow itself, which released a track by Dead Dred called ‘Dred Base’ on the 24th of October.

Rob is confident that this will do very well, and even went as far as to say that this is the best record that Moving Shadow have ever had. The week after this will be Foul Play Volume 4, followed by Omni Trio Volume Five which is closely followed up by his album. The album will feature most of the tracks over the past year including remixes by various people within the scene and also new tracks.

"We’ve also just picked up a new artist called Higher Sense, who we have big plans for. This is about it though for new people because the old artists are still coming up with the goods".

How true this is. But I was sure with the amount of demo tapes they must be getting that there would be quite a lot of talent out there that should be on Moving Shadow.

"It’s surprising really, because 99% of the tapes we receive sound like either our stuff or someone else’s tracks. This is definitely not what we are about. We want something original, and if a tape has some good original ideas in it but still sounds like someone else’s track, then we will try and tell the artist to change it a bit. It’s hard doing it all the time though, but we do try".

If you do send a demo tape in and you don’t get any response, then keep trying but just keep your ideas original. I’m sure you won’t regret it when you get a call from one of the most respected labels in the scene!

It’s good that Moving Shadow have got to quite a high level now, without any push or promotion. It’s a good way to build solid foundations, especially because you don’t have to lie to anyone. Their whole attitude surprised me, because I expected Moving Shadow to be deeply into promoting their tracks, but they are not. Just think if they did - it would be dangerous!

The only promotion that they are doing at the minute is for their new label. It is called Re-Aminate and it is essentially a compilation label that will hopefully help the scene and Moving Shadow grow. Already they have brought out ‘Re-Aminate Volume 1’ featuring Jungle and Breakbeat tracks by many of the best artists around.

"We’ve just licensed the next Renegade Selector album to the whole of Europe, doing loads of promotion and interviews on television. The album is right across the board, which is what Jungle is, and it looks like the Europeans are into this, rather than just the Ragga side of Jungle.

All the compilations that we do are marketed and distributed around the world in much more of a wider record company way than Moving Shadow.

You have to do this really, because there is no way that you can attach the same sort of street credibility to a compilation label as you can with something like Moving Shadow. You’ll find exactly the same music on the compilation albums as we bring out on Moving Shadow, but the marketing is so very different".

Rob does not want to lose the amount of respect he has gained for Moving Shadow, so Re-Aminate had to be a completely separate label.