Ross Allen - Fabric Podcast - London UK - Feb 2008

Biography of Ross Allen

Stripy jumpers. Floppy barnet. Geezer cackle. For anyone who has ever come in contact with Ross Allen, these are the key elements that make up his personality. But it is not just these components that make Ross an intriguing face on the scene. He has more fingers in pies than Frank Butcher. From being the musical brains behind Cargo-backed Casual Records - which, to date, has witnessed the Soul II Soul and Country Got Soul compilations plus singles by UKG outfit Medasyn and twisted house dons The Loose Cannons - Ross is also A&R consultant for Island Records and Ninja Tunes.

He also finds the time to host radio shows for 6 music, cover for Gilles Peterson on Radio One, write a column for dance music rag Jockey Slut and getting nifty behind the decks on a regular basis. He has residencies at London?s Sunday Best, the Notting Hill Arts Club and the 333, not forgetting his own monthly promotion Destination Out which is held at Cargo every second Saturday of the month. He also DJs at happening parties all over the globe from Venezuela to Dundee, where he drops his mixed soulful bag of reggae, house, techno, R&B, hip hop and drum n' bass. If it?s good, he?ll play it, attracting a broad spectrum of fans such as Laurent Garnier, Fabio and Matthew Herbert. He also hosted the London Jazz Festival last year. So how did he get here?

Ross Allen, now 33, grew up in south London and was a soul boy from the off - hanging out in clubs in the 80s like The Special Branch and The Wag as well as taking up DJing which saw him dropping acid house, hip hop, soul and rare groove. After university Ross ventured toward the more jazzier end of things and began writing for jazz and world music bible Straight No Chaser. Through their connections he started working with acid-jazz-funksters, Izit, and helped bandleader Tony Colman and Chris Goss (later to become London Elektricity) run their Tongue & Groove label.

After two years playing at various clubs with the likes of Patrick Forge and running a record shop in Streatham, Ross landed a job at independent imprint Dorado. Originally employed to do club promotion, he soon started representing the label as a DJ and sorting remixes for the bands. He then convinced Dorado to give him his own sub-label, and in ?95, Filter Records was born. From the futuristic drum ?n? bass of Kid Loops and the funky Detroit/Chicago blend of DJ Q to the 2-step of a resurrected Sunship and soulful ambience of The Amalgamation of Soundz, Filter quickly became a by-word for a label that straddled music of the highest quality. Feeling musically compromised by internal politics, Ross quit in ?97. He was then offered a slot on independent London radio station GLR (now BBC London Live). His thrice weekly show ?Destination In? quickly became the Capital?s mecca for all things eclectic, and won a Sony radio award. Unfortunately the show met its demise in 2002 due to a programming reshuffle.

Ross?s years of experience finally reaped its rewards when he was courted by various record companies from Hard Hands and Heavenly to major players Virgin and London. He eventually hot-footed it over to Island, where he set up Island Blue. He has also released self-compiled/mix albums, such as Abstract Funk Theory back in 2000 and Meltdown the following year. Bands to date Ross has signed and worked with include Peshay, Boxsaga, Tom Middleton, Mark Pritchard, Talvin Singh (who won the Mercury Music prize), The Stereo MCs, Lady Sovereign, Spacek and the Sugababes, whose single Freak Like Me made it to the number one slot. The rest is history.