Submitted By: |Sup|pa|

Genre: Jungle / Drum and Bass

Date of Set: 1996

Filesize: 58.00 MB

Total Downloads: 16

Biography:
Once the underground's best kept secret, drum 'n' bass has crept into mainstream
consciousness. A sub-genre that traditionally held second-class status in the
rave music scene, the style also known as jungle now seems ubiquitous -- in
TV and radio ads, background music, even in the works of some prominent artists.
As Roni Size, from the drum 'n' bass hotbed of Bristol, England, recently told
Rolling Stone: 'Drum 'n' bass is on fire right now.'
In the United States, the foundation for this surge in popularity was painstakingly
laid with the dedication and sweat of the music's earliest Stateside proponents,
among them Dieselboy, aka Damian Higgins, 28.
DJ Dieselboy, dubbed 'America's finest' by The Risky, owner/editor
of the British Drum 'n' Bass Arena Web site, has earned respect for fighting
on the front lines of this American subcultural revolution since the early '90s,
playing every major city and many in-between, and for his surgically precise
and devastatingly dramatic mixing skills. In 1998, Dieselboy became the first
American nominated for a Global DJ Mix Award. Damian shared the award for Best
Drum 'n' Bass DJ with legendary British DJ/producer LTJ Bukem. AK1200, aka Dave
Minner, the longest running jungle DJ/producer in the U.S., has called Dieselboy
'an icon for American junglists. His talent and likeness have made him
the most popular jungle DJ in America.'
'The 6ixth Session,' Dieselboy's sixth commercial CD release, is
his first on Palm Pictures and his first double CD-set. The first disc is a
mix-CD compilation of tracks by cutting edge drum 'n' bass artists, and includes
his original introduction and remixes of two of his own tracks, 'The Descent'
and 'Invid.' In his words, this 15-track stream 'starts off very
MEGA and ends on a nice uplifting vocal note. It sorta goes EPIC HARD to ROLLERS
to INTENSE to VOCAL / DEEP. Nice flow.' It was mixed live in one take at
his home studio in Philadelphia in the wee hours of a Sunday morning in early
August. The second disc contains all original tracks.
A Pittsburgh native, Damian played drums in his school band from 4th through
8th grades. He became a breakdancer in junior high, learning moves from watching
'Soul Train' and going to clubs. 'All of that added up to my
having a good sense of rhythm and beats, being able to count music and hear
musical time,' he says. In his senior year of high school, he DJed a few
dances fading between CDs, cassettes and one turntable.
As a student at the University of Pittsburgh, Damian threw and DJed two house
parties where he met two local college radio DJs. They offered to teach him
how to beat-match records at the Carnegie Mellon University radio station, where
Damian soon was playing a weekly hour-long radio show.
Going to Internet chat rooms when he started college, he used the name 'Diesel.'
He discovered that a local graffiti artist also called himself Diesel, 'So
I made it Dieselboy. Back then I looked like a kid - I was 19, but I looked
like I was 14. Also, it reflected my interest in such things as video games
and animation.'
In 1994, using borrowed turntables, Damian made a mix-tape called 'The
Future Sound of Hardcore.' He offered the tape for $5 on rave-related Internet
mail lists and sold about 100 tapes. 'Through that, people heard about
me and I started getting bookings on the East Coast. It was a very slow process
that eventually snowballed into my getting flown various places,' which
eventually grew to include the U.K., Hong Kong, Tokyo and Israel.
In 1997, Nigel Richards, DJ and owner of 611 Records in Philadelphia, was looking
for a roommate, so Damian moved to Philly, became the drum 'n' bass buyer for
the store, and designed T-shirts and logos for 611.
The following year, he started 'Platinum,' a weekly Thursday night
event at Philadelphia's Fluid club, which many well-traveled hardcore junglists
consider to be the premier drum 'n' bass club night in the U.S.
Dieselboy's mix-tapes have long been prized and shared by his fans. His first
commercial mix-CD was 'Drum and Bass Selection USA,' a compilation
for the British label Suburban Base in 1996, followed in 1997 by '97 Octane.'
In 1998, 611 Records released Dieselboy's 'SixEleven Mix Series Volume
I.'
His 1999 album, 'A Soldier's Story' (Moonshine) was a comment on
junglists' (who often call themselves 'soldiers') second-class status
in the scene, relegated to substandard rooms and sound systems, while house
and trance DJs took center stage. It also marked his debut as a producer with
'Atlantic State,' co-produced with Technical Itch, aka Mark Caro,
of Bristol. 'System_Upgrade,' released in March 2000, was for Damian
the most accurate representation of his sound and style as an artist that he
had produced up to that time.
Damian's successful follow-up singles, 'The Descent,' 'Invid'
and 'Render,' on Palm Pictures, reflect the aggressive, high-energy,
mind-bending, futuristic style he is renown for. But his haunting, ethereal
remix of the Baby Namboos' 'Hard Times,' co-produced with Decoder,
aka Darren Beale, another Bristol artist, introduced new depth to his range.

In the relentlessly innovative world of drum 'n' bass in which new sounds are
turned over rapidly, each of Dieselboy's albums represents more of a departure
than a progression from the last. 'The 6ixth Session' is a quantum
leap into hyperspace. Dieselboy's mixing skills still dazzle - he is a DJs'
DJ - but his aural vision has expanded to encompass musical sensibilities exciting
not only to the dance music-educated, but also to newcomers. Dieselboy has won
many new young fans who first heard him play at massive alternative rock festivals
in D.C. (1999 and 2000 HFStivals) and Boston (2000). 'The 6ixth Session'
rocks as compellingly as film or video game soundtracks, yet solidly translates
into the magical dance floor energy he is famous for generating.
Damian's latest initiative is to unite with friends and fellow pioneers DJ
Dara and AK1200 under the logo of 'Planet of the Drums' to further
promote solidarity in the U.S. jungle scene through various joint projects such
as mix-CDs, tours, and original music.
Since the birth of jungle, the U.S. pioneers have spread the gospel of drum
'n' bass across the nation, winning converts to the wicked sounds of the U.K.
masters. With 'The 6ixth Session,' American drum 'n' bass boldly and
confidently asserts itself on the global stage. Dieselboy and all of the American
d 'n' b posse stand ready to show the world that the Yanks can kick ass, too.

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