They dusted it off, popped it into a Walkman, and were stunned to hear a live recording of a jungle set of Ron's from 1994; the glory years of London's jungle scene. As Rinse FM gears up for another year of broadcasting and with DJ Ron headlining the legendary FWD>> this Thursday in London, we thought it was fitting that we had a chat with DJ Ron about the tape, his memories of the scene, and how the energy and attitude of jungle remains today.
You can stream and download a nicely re-mastered version of it in full below.
Tell us about this mix; where and when was it recorded?
This was a live mix recorded at Roast, which was a big jungle event at the Astoria. This was back in 1994 and I'm sure this recording was part of what we called a tape pack. Back in the day, tape packs were what promoters used to put together to promote the events. They'd have a rave, record individual DJ sets, and then they'd package them all onto five of six cassette tapes. Then they would get these tapes, pack them up get them into a bigger box that would look kind of like a DVD case, and then they'd be distributed in bulk. The version that we found was actually a copy of one of the tape packs, but god knows how many are still working and available today.
We were moving some of the Rinse department up into the bigger office, and Sarah - she's like the mother of Rinse - was having a clean out. Coming across all sorts of things; records, old flyers. Then she was like "Oh shit, look at this!", and it was a tape with my name on it. It was really weird considering I'd only been in the office for a year, but I'd known Sarah since the time of the tape.
So, would these tape packs have been sold after the events, or handed out as a promotional tool? It seems odd that they'd record your sets are just, hand them out.
They would be sold weeks after the event. It was a common thing. There was obviously a massive pirate radio culture at the time, and it would get announced on stations that the tape packs were coming out. It was all about the hype of the next big night.
Old school jungle rave flyers, doin' it big.
Was listening to the mix on cassette quite a nostalgic listen for you, or do you feel there's still something fresh and relevant about the sound?
Well, it's a nostalgic listen for me, definitely. That's how I lived my life. Considering that I started playing music from the days of hip hop, and my earliest introduction to electronic music was the acid rave scene, and then from that into jungle - I went decades from living one weekend to the next. It was nice to hear as well because I wouldn't necessarily listen to it when I'm at home. I wouldn't sit down and listen to an old tape pack, and have a rave in my front room. When I heard it, it made me think of other places of that time, and certain groups of old friends. It definitely painted a picture in my head.
What do you remember fondly of the time of this mix, and those nights at Roast?
It mostly reminds me of all the nights I played with people like Grooverider, Younhead, Tamsin and Jumpin Jack Frost. We all grew up together; all these flash, twenty-one year olds earning decent money from DJing. We felt like we were the first of it's kind; giving it large in the area, thinking we were great. We don't speak to each other all the time but if we see each other, we always have a laugh I saw so many people from my history at the Red Bull Revolutions in Sound event recently in London, when Rinse Fm hosted one of the pods in the London Eye. Honestly, that went all the way back to 1989 for me; we all just kept on bumping into people we hadn't seen for over twenty years.
More contextually, where do you place the tape and that jungle sound?
That tape was pretty much the peak of that jungle experience. I was so involved in jungle and drum 'n' bass scene that I kind of lost touch with other music that was out there. Now that I'm working at Rinse I'm getting into a more eclectic mix of music, but I don't think that energy and attitude has gone at all. It's not just in jungle. I can hear it in house, I can hear it in samples people use, I can hear it in other artists who are doing their own, special thing. It's interesting that other people who are getting into it - who didn't experience it then and are wishing they were around at the time to experience it – are loving it now. It's nice to have that kind of nostalgia, yet in a modern day context.
Seriously, really big.
There's been some interesting, if odd, talk lately about how jungle is making a "comeback" in production, and that sounds like footwork (through producers like DJ Rashad) have been part of a resurgence of interest in this field. What do you think of that?
Well, I'd say that - and I said this for a long, long time - that drum 'n' bass and jungle producers are some of the most technical producers out there. Ever. They get the most out of a pin-dropping sound. It's just amazing. If people are using that to inspire themselves to do other forms of music then I think that's great. I'm going to check out that DJ Rashad guy.
Cool. What's your lasting memories of jungle in 1994?
Definitely. I think there was an energy in jungle in the 90s that was universal. It wasn't just about the music. I go to a lot of clubs now and it's just about the music. Everybody's dancing and they might have MCs and whatever, and it's great, but I remember there was just this energy at the time. The fashion too, the fashion had so many attributes that we took for granted at the time. There was a fashion, an attitude, almost an arrogance.
For me, what was great about it was that I'm from the hood, and I'd turn up constantly think "Oh shit, it's going to kick off any minute now!" - and it never did. For years. So I was eventually like, "I could roll with this". What was cool is I'd see villains from different areas (and I knew them as villains), and you'd think "Any minute now it's going to go wonky", but because it was their first introduction to ecstasy and all of that, they were just having a crazy good time! The thing about it is, once you make friends with someone in that way, and you see them another day out in the street, you're still going to be friends with them. That's what I think developed over the years.
With this tape, I just think of all the different faces. I thought about them then, and I think about them now.
DJ Ron plays alongside RIP Productions, Mr Mitch and Slackk for FWD>> at Dance Tunnel, London, on Dec 19th.